To our blog about children’s book art, painting and books for young people!
Mark Mitchell’s Spur Award-winning book for upper elementary-age kids, Raising La Belle tells about the 1995 discovery of the 1682 ‘La Salle shipwreck’ off the Texas coast and the French settlers the ship carried.
Mark has created illustrations for books and children’s magazines, including Cobblestone and AppleSeeds.
For many years he was a contributing editor of American Artist Watercolor magazine. He teaches classes in watercolor painting and children’s book illustration at The Contemporary Austin Art School and in online courses.
Julie Lake is the author of Galveston’s Summer of the Storm, a young adult novel about an Austin teen caught up in the devastating 1900 Texas hurricane (TCU Press). Her other publishing credits include writing and editing for business organizations, publications, and freelance clients. She’s the editor for the This Way That Way Drawing blog.
She has served as regional advisor for the Austin (Central Texas) chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and has been a featured author-speaker and panel moderator at the Texas Book Festival.
In recent years, Julie has helped teens and younger students find books they love in her jobs with school libraries and elementary classroom teaching.
Mark and Julie, who are married to each other say, “Thank you for stopping by! We hope you enjoy our blog and our paths cross again soon.”