January 2001 Hedge a Gram

Happy New Year!

Every month I write a hedge a gram to tell interested children what's going on in my life as an illustrator.

I'm writing from a cabin in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts where we had a white Christmas, and a big snowstorm to welcome year one of the 2000's.

When I was young and wanted to become an illustrator, I could not get enough information about what is now my profession. My hope is that if you are a boy or a girl that likes to draw and tell stories I can give you some insight about creating books.

During December, I was finishing Daisy Comes Home. The finished paintings took longer that I thought, and I had to rework the jacket art. I'm very happy with the revised jacket even though some of the improvements weren't my idea. I always say, "There is no arguing with a good idea."

I'm going to take a trip above the Arctic Circle in a few weeks. At this time of year, it's dark there all day long because the earth tilts it's North Pole away from the sun. The story that I'm illustrating for my book for the year 2002 takes place at Christmas above the Arctic Circle, so I want to see what it's like. I haven't written the story yet so I'm a little worried that it will be a good one. I'm hoping that I'll see the northern lights and I'm looking forward to doing some trolls sketches.

It always seems like a page is turning in my life when I'm finishing one book and beginning another. Happy New Year to you, and good luck on all of your projects.

Bye for now,

Your friend,

Jan Brett