Dear Kidsbook Friends Family,

Many of you have been with me since my first days of blogging, so you know that publishing my first book, Isaac’s Ice Cream Tree, is a dream come true. Today, I’m sitting here with my binders of materials for blog ideas, author connections, writing conferences, manuscript scribbles and more from over the past five years. Now, I’m thrilled to embark on a journey with WhiteFire Press to publish my manuscript.

The first step after signing the contract was to select an artist from their illustrators. Although Christian, six at the time of the photo, will always be my first and beloved illustrator, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Rachel Koppendrayer. An artist, among many other talents, Rachel lives in Minnesota and actively displays and sells her art in and around her community. You will enjoy her website: koppencolorpencils.blogspot.com

I’m looking forward to having her as guest blogger in the weeks ahead! She’s already been a delight to work with and see her depiction of what Isaac will look like in our book. She represents a young boy with freckles across his nose wearing a winter coat and old fashion cotton hat looking up at the magical tree covered in snow . . . and balls of ice cream. Can’t wait to see the entire story unfold through her artwork. Our publisher hopes to have the book available for purchase in a year (which is tremendous as normally it takes 18 months – 2 years from contract to publication)!

Thank you for joining us on this journey!

Warm Regards,

Angela Henderson