The Stories We Tell

5 things from the studio this week

May 29, 2026

Hey friends! It’s been a really nice recovery week. The finals for Just Jelly (HarperCollins) were handed in for review and I moved onto cover sketches and little changes to The Girl with Big, Big Worries (Beaming Books). I even found some time to work up some new art for this week’s deep dive and today’s free newsletter (below).

And the sun is shining! And my son plays in the State Cup soccer finals!

Here’s five more things from the week that was:

1. SOME ART MAKING

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The raw info to work as a creative person is all over the place. Some of it is offered as a sure thing from an expert! This is not that newsletter. I share what I’m thinking about as I try to get better at art work that matters (mostly in the form of picture books!) I really enjoy sharing and I hope that it comes through and is inspiring in its own way. I’m rooting you on.

2. WORK WISDOM

When you bring to mind it’s all invented, you remember that it’s all a story you tell —not just some of it, but all of it. And remember, too, that every story you tell is founded on a network of hidden assumptions.
— From The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

When I look at the thing that held me back from really building the career I wanted, I’m pointing at the stories I told myself. “You’re not disciplined enough.” “You always quit when you get bad news so don’t try.” Even writing that brings it all back. Maybe you tell yourself something similar?

For me, it was slowing down long enough and replacing that story with a better one, day after day. My hidden assumptions were dragged out into the open. One day I realized I’d changed completely. The story is now “Just get better” and “As you do these things, the work you want to make will happen.”

3. THING I LOVED

4. A BOOK TO READ

Julie Benbassat’s use of tone, color and line are at the very tippy top of the kidlit illustration pyramid.1 I briefly shared the studio with Julie at Milkwood last September and often drifted over to her table to drool over the finals she was hustling to complete. That was not Mungo on His Own (written by Matthew Burgess - yes, that Matthew Burgess and published by HarperCollins) but a forthcoming book about woman’s suffrage. You can see it on the wall here (not the not-creepy at all puppets, but on the white divider wall):

Anyways, Mungo. I sometimes fall so far into “the illustrations” that I miss the work the author is doing (Julie’s work does that!) Matthew’s prose more than holds up its end of the bargain. Kirkus said this:

Burgess’ soft text poetically reflects Mungo’s ups and downs, potentially sparking conversations about his emotions—or how a child might feel in Mungo’s paws. Benbassat’s illustrations adeptly convey big feelings like fear.

Youngsters will fall for this cute little fox on his exciting journey of courage and growth.

Indeed.

5. EPHEMERA, ETC.

This week’s deep dive for paid subscribers was all about having a plan when the work slows and you’re not sure what to do next. I’m ~~annoyingly~~ relentlessly optimistic about everything but can be too focused on the stuff I’m naturally good at (illustration) so a more holistic plan was super helpful to go deep on. Let me know what you think: