Publish

A large box arrived on our doorstep this morning.

And inside? 24 copies of my book! Well… a book I illustrated at the end of last year for the wonderful Klutz company.

I still remember a scene from Romancing the Stone (or was it in Jewel of the Nile?) where Kathleen Turner receives a big box of her latest romance novel, opens it up and then kicks back to celebrate with a glass of wine (at least, this is how I remember it) and I always thought “how cool to open a box of your own book!” and it was as cool as all that. Imagine how much more exciting it would be to open a box of books that you had conceived, written and illustrated… one day…

Here’s the blurb from Klutz:

“Future party planners, pen pals and all purpose keep-in-touchers will love Little Letters, the most adorable kids’ stationary set ever. It’s everything kids need to make, write and deliver their very own cards, notes and invitations. The book itself is a charming introduction to letter writing, charmingly illustrated. But did we stop there? (Do we ever?) We also threw in two full pages of custom-designed stickers, an easy-to-make doorknob mailbox, a portfolio with bonus postcards, and a plastic template that lets kids transform a plain old piece of paper into a personalized envelope. Written by the Editors of Klutz. For ages 4 and up. “

I see you can get it from Amazon. Can you spot the differences between the cover on Amazon and the cover on the actual book (above)? They seem to have an early, rough version up on Amazon.

But even while this is very exciting, I think I am even more excited about Drawn & Quarterly’s release of the Moomin comic strip. I have pre-ordered it and check almost every day for the release… when, when, when?

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58 Responses

  1. oh wow!! wow!! ordering my copy now for the girls for christams-so very cool, clare!!

  2. Congrats! That is so awesome.

  3. Congratulations on your third ‘child’!

  4. Congratulations!
    (they didn’t REALLY spell stationary with an ‘a’ in the blurb, did they?)

  5. ~*~*~*CONGRATULATIONS*~*~*~
    You can tick that one off the *in my life to do* list.

  6. Congratulations, Claire! Wow, super cool, the book is beautiful! Oh and how I dream about a box like that…

  7. WOW! How exciting! Many congrats Claire.

  8. Oh it IS exciting isn’t it! I love new books, fresh and unsullied. Enjoy and congratulations.

  9. Congratulations – job well done! I will purchase a copy or two for the upcoming holidays!Brilliant.

  10. leetudesigns@optusnet.com.au says:

    That is REALLY REALLY REALLY awesome!!!!

  11. Congratulations what a great book.

  12. Wonderful! Now maybe if I got myself one of these books, I might be inspired to actually write some letters! The book looks like lots of fun.

  13. Wow!! What a great feeling that must be! You should be very proud; that’s an accomplishment many people will never know! Yay!

  14. Congrats on the book! I just added it to Logan’s (and mine, hee) wishlist for Christmas.

  15. congratulations, it looks super cute

  16. Congratulations! this looks like just the sort of thing I would have LOVED as a kid. And probably still would. Maybe there could be a grown up version?

  17. Oh my god! I love that movie AND that scene especially. And her voice…
    Congrats on the book. It looks marvelous.

  18. Wow, that is really great! Congratulations!

  19. Someone who lives at my house is SO getting that for Christmas, along with some other kiddos.
    Bravo, Claire!

  20. Very cool. Another one to add to your list of firsts. Congratulations

  21. I am a huge fan of Klutz books, and we will definitely be adding this to our collection. Two faves, Klutz and you, I don’t even *care* what the content is (though that sounds cool, too).

  22. veronicalovegrove@hotmail.com says:

    I just ordered one for my daughter. Thank you! I love everything you do….

  23. Oh, Claire… that is rockin’.
    Wow, wow, wow!

  24. We found this at the toystore 2 weeks ago, and I was amazed and delighted- and so surprised!I bought it for my daughter, but then stole a few stickers!

  25. Brilliant. Brilliant.

  26. that is so exciting! congratulations! I’m going to have to get a copy of my own since I very much love your illustrations!

  27. OMG — I knew that was you! My daughter is obsessed with Klutz books (she has like 12 of them already!) and I got an email with their new releases and I thought to myself — that *so* looks like Claire’s illustrations! But I couldn’t find any info on their site with the details. I was meaning to email you and ask. Congratulations! It is *so* adorable!

  28. What a thrilling moment to open up a box like this… congratulations!
    I added it to my amazon shopping list… for a future gift for my neice, it’s perfect! 🙂

  29. Big fat congratulations to you Claire, that is awesome! And I love the idea of getting a card with so much fun “extras”! Way to go girl!

  30. Congratulations! I’ve worked as a journalist for many years, so the excitement of seeing my stuff in print has worn off. But I am excited for YOU!

  31. kez@larble.com says:

    Congratulations claire. this might be a silly question but it’s saturday morning so I know you will forgive me…Will these be available for sale in Australia? My daughter loves her Loobylu Pear we bought a litttle while back, ( it has even been to school for show and tell) and I would love to add this to her christmas stocking.Would love it if you let me know.
    Thanks
    Kerri

  32. mjkwon@gmail.com says:

    aw that’s so cool. i love klutz books. one taught me how to juggle. and another came with an awesome enormous bubble wand.

  33. Claire, very exciting. We will definitely be getting this, we can’t get enough Loobylu around here. Hope you are well.

  34. Claire,
    You are truly an inspiration. That stationery set looks like it was a wonderful project to be involved in.

    I look forward to seeing what you’ll do next.

  35. Oooh, congratulations!! That’s awesome!

  36. Congratulations Claire. How exciting!
    Hope you are feeling better now.

  37. oooh, how exciting. That would be like a dream come true for me. Hope the new family of 4 is all doing well. x

  38. info@jamilawhite.com says:

    CONGRATS! It’s so funny – I’m on Klutz’s mailing list and I just got the announcment about their new books this morning. I took one look at Little Letters and thought “this looks like Claire’s work!”, but I couldn’t find anything on the Klutz web site or Amazon.com that said who the illustrator was. So I came to LoobyLu, and here it is indeed you! Can’t wait to go look at the book in person.
    Jamila

  39. A hearty Congratulations! That is SO exciting! I’ve no doubt you’ll reach your goal of one day publishing a book which is dreamed-up entirely by you! Having this one under your belt is a great step towards that, and in itself, is just wonderful!

  40. patache@comcast.net says:

    Congratulations, Claire! That is so wonderful. I will be ordering one for my daughter.Lori

  41. hesw2001@yahoo.com says:

    What an accomplishment! I’m so happy for you –

  42. That is great. You must be very proud. Are they selling them thorugh Amazon only? Any bookstores in Australia?

  43. That’s wonderful! Congratulations to you!!

  44. this is so fantastic! Congratulations! It’s sure to be a bestseller!

  45. That’s wonderful! I know a few kindergarteners who may like that kind of gift. It looks lovely; congratulations!

  46. melissa.christerson@bgky.org says:

    Congratulations on the book as a child I wanted to be an illustrator of kids books. I like both of the front covers the one with the little boy and the one with the cat. Will we be able to buy both types or are the ones you were sent rare finds:) Thanks Melissa

  47. karenthelwell@hotmail.com says:

    wow – well done to you!!! I will be ordering some too -your illustrations are just lovely.

  48. How awesomely cool! Congratulations!

  49. congratulations!!! thats amazing, i can just think of that bubbling inside as you opened the box!! wow wow wow. 🙂

  50. i_annett@yahoo.com.au says:

    Fabulous! That is entirely what my 4yo daughter would love for Christmas! I made up a post office box (with stationery) for her birthday and this would be a wonderful top up. Congratulations on the book, can’t wait to see it.

  51. Yes, I remember that scene from Romancing the Stone very well. How exciting for you to be able to have your very own re-enactment! Congrats! And to boot, this looks like a book that a little 5yr old friend of mine would love to have.

  52. Hey! Congrats. How exciting! Looks great.

  53. oh…that’s so nice Claire, congrats for this and your new beautiful girl! (i’m sorry, i’m belated)But yes…I can imagine and could relate to that feeling…someday.
    xox
    -Marjorie

  54. Congratulations on getting your feet wet; I hope many more opportunities come your way!I’ll be looking for this one!
    😉

  55. Oooh, congratulations Claire! That absolutely deserves a glass of wine! 😀

  56. lori.tan@gmail.com says:

    wow that is so cool, i buy all the klutz books, can’t wait to get this one

  57. so fabulous! we buy klutz books about once a month – we all just love them. congratulations!