The Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) Trifecta

The Nerdy Book Club, Mr. Colby Sharp, and I are celebrating Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book). We hope you have fun jumping from blog to blog. 

When I received Julie's manuscript... Let’s just say that I had a difficult time remaining calm and believing that it was real. The tone and humor spoke straight to my soul. I couldn’t stop thinking about how fun it would be to draw. I loved all the cheeky back-and-forth banter between Snappsy and the Narrator.  I immediately felt like Julie Falatko was a kindred spirit and that I had been handed a gift.

I created the illustrations by first making a lot of drawings with brush and ink of the different parts of each composition. Next I added watercolor to these. Then, I scanned them into the computer and pieced everything together. Finally, I tweaked it digitally, punching up the colors and making all the necessary touch-ups.

Make sure you take off Snappsy the Alligator's dust jacket...What? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about the top-secret case cover, although I imagine if there was 
one it would be cool.  

If you visited my studio it would look much cleaner than it does now because I would want to make a good impression on you. I work in the basement of my apartment, which feels nice and open because it gets good light and the walls and ceiling and floor are all white. For the most part it’s clean except when I’m in the thick of things. I have a drawing table as well as a table for computer stuff. I also have a couple sets of flat files where I keep my work that’s near and dear to me. Then there are shelves with my stash of art supplies and other mementos and artifacts that have special significance. It’s very much my private spiritual refuge. A place where I can surround myself with things I love and go into my own world.

Picture books are a marriage of words and pictures that offer a window of exploration and self-discovery. The words and pictures work independently, but also build upon one another to carry the reader into the realm of imagination, replete with possibility. Not a bad place to visit if you ask me.

Reading is what you do when you look at a picture. Reading is what you do when you walk down the street and encounter the world around you through your senses. Reading a book is like stepping into a picture and rolling it around in your mind. 

Mr. Schu, you should have asked me...,”So Tim, what's next for you after Snappsy?”  To which I would have answered, “My debut picture book as an author and illustrator called Moo Moo in a Tutu comes out in early 2017 from Balzer + Bray. It’s a hilarious (if I do say so myself), one-of-a-kind friendship story between an adventurous cow and very loyal duck. I also illustrated a middle-grade series written by Tom O’Donnell called Hamstersaurus Rex about a quirky class pet that undergoes a transformation and helps defend a loyal sixth-grader from a werewolf-obsessed bully. That comes out in fall 2016 from HarperCollins. Finally, I’m working on a picture book written by Mark Riddle called Margarash, which is about an unusual friendship and the different parts of ourselves that make us who we are.  Publication is scheduled for fall 2016 by Enchanted Lion.”

"Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book!) is about an alligator who is having an ordinary day until the narrator of the book starts making up lies. Is Snappsy really going to eat fuzzy bunnies and innocent chickadees? Nope. But the narrator decides a menacing main character would make the book more exciting." -Julie Falatko | Click here to read the full interview. 

"Is all reading important? You bet. Because you never know which words will steer your life in a new direction." -Julie Falatko | Click here to read more. 

Borrow Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) from your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.