salerno ILLUSTRATES

This month is the release of the wonderful new picture book, It Simply Can't Be Bedtime! -written by Pamela Paul (the first picture book by the popular New York Times Opinion columnist) & illustrated by Steven Salerno (that’s me!), my 38th illustrated picture book. It’s published by G.P. Putnam & Sons (an imprint of Random House).

It Simply Can't Be Bedtime! is a unique and entertaining story of a little girl, who becomes defiant when her charming and well meaning Dad suddenly announces it’s time for her to get ready for bedtime. She just does not want to stop with any of her engaging bedroom activities, so Dad cleverly gets his daughter’s favorite stuffed animal, the very British Lady Pigsworth, to help convince the girl to get ready for bed. (But in the end even Lady Pigsworth needs a tucking-in, too.)

Below are a handful of the illustrations I created for this wonderful picture book story… rendered mostly in tints and shades of blue, lavender, and yellow.

You can view other illustrations from all of my 38 picture books previously published by visiting my web site, stevensalerno.com

It Simply Can't Be Bedtime! is a unique and entertaining story of a little girl, who becomes defiant when her charming and well meaning Dad suddenly announces it’s time for her to get ready for bedtime. She just does not want to stop with any of her engaging bedroom activities, so Dad cleverly gets his daughter’s favorite stuffed animal, the very British Lady Pigsworth, to help convince the girl to get ready for bed. (But in the end even Lady Pigsworth needs a tucking-in, too.)

This new picture book is released in May 2025 by publisher G.P. Putman & Sons (and imprint of Random House) written by Pamela Paul & illustrated by Steven Salerno.

Back in 2020 I signed the contract with publisher Viking (Penguin Random House) to engage in a very interesting picture book project -to illustrate a series of 5 new mini picture books & board books featuring one of the most well known and beloved characters in all of picture book history, MADELINE. Yes that Madeline! The classic 1939 picture book (and still a best seller today) with the famous opening line: “In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.” (The brave, charming little girl in the yellow hat living in an old Paris boarding school along with eleven other girls, and always under the watchful eye of the towering Miss Clavel.

Read more detail about my involvement with this special MADELINE project.

For these new titles I created all the illustrations in the style of the famed originator of the Madeline character, author/artist Ludwig Bemelmans. All 5 of these new MADELINE titles are written by John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans.

The first four titles in this new MADELINE series have already been completed, published, and released… And the 5th and final title, MADELINE Says Be Kind, was delayed considerably due to the story manuscript not being finalized on schedule, and was not in my hands until Spring 2024. Update: I just recently completed all the final illustrations for this 5th book, and it’s being released by the publisher in Spring 2025.

FYI: For those who don’t know Ludwig Bemelmans (born 1898 - died 1962), he was a well established illustrator/travel writer who had already penned & illustrated a number of picture books for children when in 1939 his little gem of a picture book entitled, MADELINE was first released. It grew into a hit, striking a popular note with both children and adults and over the years became one of the most loved and memorable characters in children’s picture book history. The first Madeline picture book in 1939 was followed by four more Madeline titles before Bemelmans’ death in 1962, then with a sixth title released posthumously.

These MADELINE books were released in the following order:

(1) Love from Madeline -released April 2022

(2) Madeline’s ABCs -released June 2022

(3) Madeline’s 123s -released Nov 2022

(4) Madeline’s SEASONS -released Spring 2023

To date I’ve had 37 picture books published. And back in April 2024 I completed all the final illustrations for my 38th picture book, It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime, slated for release in Spring 2025 published by G.P Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House. A jaunty and charming story about a stubborn little girl who refuses to get ready for bedtime. So her wise Dad cleverly elicits the assistance of the girl’s very British stuffed animal, Lady Pigsworth, to help him prompt his daughter in getting ready for bed. It’s wonderfully written by the prominent NY Times editor & columnist, Pamela Paul, her first picture book story!

Back in April I delivered all my final illustrations (the interior spread illustrations, the Endpapers, Title Page, and Cover art) to the art director Lily Malcolm and senior designer designer Cindy De la Cruz. They finalized their design layout & production files -which were sent to the the printer to do test printings. And just this week I received the 1st run of color proofs from the printer for my review, in order to give my thoughts on the accuracy of the color reproduction. These color proofs are printed on the exact paper the final picture book will be printed on. So sometime soon the printer will get the official approval and the picture book will be scheduled for printing. I won’t see a hot-off-the-press copy of it probably until the beginning of the Spring in 2025.

Below are a few sneak peeks at finished illustrations (and a sketch) from It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime. I created all the illustrations nearly all digitally in Photoshop, though I also paint gouache textures -which are scanned into Photoshop and integrated into the many layers involved to created the final illustration.

To date, I’ve had 37 picture books published -and in August I just signed the contract to illustrate my 38th picture book! It’s for a new fiction story being produced by Penguin-Random House. This is my 10th picture book for Penguin-Random House. I won’t divulge the title of this new picture book quite yet, nor the name of the writer. (It’s the first picture book written by a prominent national newspaper editor and columnist.)

Right now I’m in the laborious sketch/story board stage, as well as creating many character sketches working out the look of the main characters in the story… like the sketch I’ve posted here depicting one of the main characters, a very British pig.

This is a just a little sneak peek…. I probably won’t post more on this picture book project until after I have completed all the sketches and all the final illustrations, at which time I’ll submit a post showing all the details in the entire process creating the final illustrations for this picture book.

Here’s a link to view all the pictures I’ve had published to date.

Not every one of the 38 picture books I’ve illustrated to date have end papers art included… perhaps only about a third do. (usually it’s a publisher’s budgetary issue) But when the publisher does give the green light on a picture book project to include the end papers, I’m thrilled! It’s always fun and challenging to devise and create a thematic pattern reflecting the subject and feel of the story.

Posted here are some endpapers I’ve created over the years for various picture books:

^ above: endpapers from, Wild Child -written & illustrated by Steven Salerno -August 2015 Abrams Books for Young Readers. (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, Wild Horse Annie Friend of the Mustangs (nonfiction) written by Tracey Fern & illustrated by Steven Salerno - April 2019 by Farrar Straus Giroux. (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, The Secret Code Inside You -all about your DNA (nonfiction) written by Rajani LaRocca, MD & illustrated by Steven Salerno -Released in 2021 by Little Bee Books. (digital)

^ above: endpapers from, Pantaloon -written by Kathryn Jackson & illustrated by Steven Salerno -March 2010 Golden Books/Random House.  (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, Love from MADELINE -written by John Bemelmans Marciano & illustrated by Steven Salerno (in the style of the creator of MADELINE, Ludwig Bemelmans) Released in Jan 2022 by Viking Books for Young Readers (Penguin-Random House) (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, PRIDE The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag (nonfiction) written by Rob Sanders & illustrated by Steven Salerno -April 2018 by Random House.  (digital)

^ above: endpapers from, Harry Hungry! -written & illustrated by Steven Salerno -February 2009 Harcourt Children’s Books.  (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, BOOM! -written by Mary Lyn Ray & illustrated by Steven Salerno -June 2013 Hyperion Books/Disney. (gouache & digital)

^ above: endpapers from, PASS GO And Collect $200 The Real Story of How MONOPOLY Was Invented (nonfiction) written by Tanya Lee Stone & illustrated by Steven Salerno -July 2018 by Henry Holt & Co/Christy Ottaviano Books. (digital)

My latest illustrated picture book, ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE is available starting today from publisher Clarion Books/Harper Collins. It's the inspiring life story of Milton Hershey -the chocolate king who brought milk chocolate to America. Wonderfully written by Tziporah Cohen & illustrated by Steven Salerno.

And here is the direct link to the podcast, The Happy Writer... hosted by NY Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer. In this latest episode Marissa chats with Tziporah Cohen and Steven Salerno about their new picture book - ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE: HOW MILTON HERSHEY BROUGHT MILK CHOCOLATE TO AMERICA - as well as the process and timeline of a picture book, from manuscript and revisions to artist selection, preliminary sketches, and beyond; the vast amounts of research that go into the creation of a nonfiction picture book, for both the prose and the illustrations; why its important for writers to leave room for the illustrator to bring their own ideas and interpretations to the story; how so often rejection is a result of poor timing, not necessary the quality of the work; having the confidence to identify as a writer; and a few different inspiring stories of perseverance - from chocolate makers to writers!

http://www.marissameyer.com/podcast

And here is the link to my illustration web site where you can view some of the illustrations from ON THE CORNER OF CHOCOLATE AVENUE

STEVEN SALERNO has illustrated 37 picture books for major publishers -with 5 of these titles being both the author & illustrator: Little Tumbo (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books), Coco the Carrot (Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books), Harry Hungry (Harcourt Children’s Books), Wild Child (Abrams Books for Young Readers), and his most recent author/illustrator title is Tim’s Goodbye (Farrar Straus Giroux 2018).

Steven Salerno lives and works in Manhattan (NYC) and is a graduate of Parsons School of Design. (Note: while a student at Parsons his instructor for a year long picture book illustration course was the famed author/illustrator Maurice Sendak, creator of Where the Wild Things Are.) Over Steven’s long freelance illustration career, in addition to the 37 picture books he has illustrated thus far, he also creates illustrations for magazines, newspapers, print & web advertising, publishing, packaging, and retail graphics.

visit stevensalerno.com to view many samples of his editorial and advertising illustrations -and click here to see a list of all his picture books published through 2022.

LATEST PICTURE BOOK NEWS

In December 2022 Steven’s most recent illustrated picture book will be released, On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue -How Milton Hershey Brought Milk Chocolate to America (nonfiction) written by Tziporah Cohen and illustrated by Steven Salerno, published by Clarion Books/Harper Collins. The true story of the poor kid from Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey, who first introduced his innovative HERSHEY’S milk chocolate candy bar back in 1905 -and went on to create his massive chocolate empire, becoming one of the largest chocolate candy producers in the world.

During the past couple years Steven Salerno has been busy working on a very special picture book project for VIKING -an imprint of Penguin Random House. In 2019 the publisher had asked Steven if he would illustrate 5 new MADELINE picture books that are being written by John Marciano Bemelmans, the grandson of famed Ludwig Bemelmans (b.1896 - d.1962) who was the author/illustrator creator of the five original classic MADELINE picture books which were released from 1939 through 1961. Yes, THAT Madeline! The brave little girl in the yellow hat living in a Paris boarding school along with eleven other young girls, all under the watchful gaze of the towering Miss Clavel. This special project request meant that Steven would be required to create the illustrations for these 5 new MADELINE picture books in the recognizable drawing stye of Ludwig Bemelmans! Thus far Steven has competed the final illustrations for the first 4 titles in this 5 book series:

1) Love from Madeline (this book was released in January 2022)

2) Madeline’s ABCs (this book was released in June 2022)

3) Madeline’s 123s (this book will be released in November 2022)

4) Madeline’s SEASONS (this book will be released in Spring 2023)

5) the 5th picture book in the series is still in development.

AWARD NEWS

This is one of my recent drawings (digital) -created in response to news of ever increasing temperatures being recorded around the globe, due to climate change- represented by the earth as a scoop of ice cream atop a cone, and rapidly melting under the hot sun.

Many years ago some of my drawings appeared on the inside pages of a few The New Yorker magazine issues… but never on the cover. When I created this drawing of the melting “earth” ice cream I had the thought that it would make for a provocative New Yorker magazine cover, so just for the fun of it placed within

One of my recent picture book illustration projects I’ve been working on over the past couple years is the MADELINE series of 5 new picture books published by VIKING (an imprint of Penguin Random House) -featuring one of the most beloved and recognized characters in picture book history, Madeline, created by Ludwig Bemelmans (b.1898 - d.1962) the author and illustrator of the original 5 classic Madeline picture books published from 1939 through 1961. Yes, THAT Madeline! The brave little girl in the yellow hat living in a Paris boarding school along with eleven other young girls, all under the watchful gaze of the towering Miss Clavel. (See my previous post about this MADELINE project in my spotlight feature section.)

Thus far I have competed the final illustrations for the first 4 titles:

Love from Madeline (this book was released in January 2022 and is available now)

Madeline’s ABCs (this book will be released in June 2022)

Madeline’s 123s

Madeline’s SEASONS

NOTE-the 5th title in the series has been delayed, as I have yet to receive the final text manuscript. The author of all these new mini-hardcover MADELINE picture books is John Marciano Bemelmans, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans.

And just yesterday I finally received delivery of my copies of LOVE from Madeline -which is the first book produced in the 5 book series, and was released back in January 2022. Apparently because of national supply chain issues it took six months for me to receive the copies!

My picture book projects have longer term deadlines, generally about 2-3 months to fully complete necessary research & sketches then about 3-4 months to fully complete all the final illustrations… And these longer term deadlines for picture book projects gives me slim openings to also take on some other quick illustration assignments for newspapers and magazines… such as these two newspaper assignments I’ve posted here.

At the top is the illustration I created for the Real Estate section of The New York Times appearing in the Sunday Times 9/19/21. This was assigned to me by the Art Director for the Real Estate section, Ken McFarlin. As per usual with daily newspaper assignment deadlines I usually have one day to submit sketches of several different concept ideas. Then once one of these sketches is decided upon by the Art Director and the Editor I have one day to create the final illustration. This illustration of the man examining the historical records inside a file cabinet drawer sliding out from home was created all digitally…well, nearly all digitally. The texture you can see in the grass and the trees is a painted gouache texture that I created then scanned into Photoshop then added into the digital illustration.

Above is an illustration I created The Wall Street Journal appearing in the Exchange section ”Remote Pay” -about the dilemma some people face when a new job offer involves relocating to another city with a lower cost of living than their current home location, so this the job is offering a lower salary. This was initially assigned by the WSJ Personal Journal Art Director, Lisa Dilillo, who I created the sketches for, but the article was suddenly moved to another section of the newspaper so I ended up actually creating the final illustration for the Art Director Siung Tijia of the Exchange section appearing 9/12/19. As with the NY Times illustration seen at the top. this illustration of the woman in the sailboat was all created digitally.

Most everyone around the world knows of MADELINE, one of the most beloved characters in children’s picture book literature. The brave and charming little girl living in a Paris boarding school, along with eleven other girls, always under the watchful eye of Miss Clavel.

However fewer people may know that Madeline was created by the uber talented writer and artist Ludwig Bemelmans (born 1898 - died 1962) whose whimsical, impressionistic drawing style brought the Madeline character to life. From 1939 through 1957 five wonderful Madeline picture books were released written & illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, with a sixth and final picture book title released posthumously in 1985.

Madeline 1939

Madeline’s Rescue 1953

Madeline and the Bad Hat 1956

Madeline and the Gypsies 1959

Madeline in London 1961

Madeline’s Christmas 1985

So where exactly do I come in? In a nutshell, the publisher Viking Press (Penguin/Random House) has been planning a series of 6 new Madeline mini hard cover picture books and board books with the first title scheduled for release in 2022. But they needed an illustrator capable of taking on this delicate task of creating the illustrations by purposely mimicking the distinctive drawing style of Ludwig Bemelmans.

In the fall of 2019 this project was tentatively offered to me…

Initially this project offer posed a dilemma for me because as an illustrator my career never has had anything to do with actually mimicking another artist’s style. But in this unique instance I really mulled it over, knowing that I had the inherent skills to successfully emulate the Bemelmans unique style, perhaps even better than anyone else, so I felt a kind of obligation to take on the project as the proper guardian of the Madeline style ensuring that these new pictures books will indeed look and feel (as closely as possible) as if they were created by the hand of the originator, Ludwig Bemelmans. So I said yes to the project!

Posted here are just a couple of the preliminary test sample illustrations I initially created purposely in the manner of the Bemelmans’ Madeline style, assuring Viking Press I could actually handle such a project, as well as to also gain approval from the Bemelmans estate.

Click on the link below to also get a sneak peek at a few of the preliminary rough sketches I’ve been working on for the first picture book in the new series.

Look for the new Madeline picture books beginning in spring 2022!

I’m busy all year working on illustrations for new picture book projects, along with some other side illustration projects throughout the year for magazines and newspapers… with one of my clients being INXart.com an editorial art service providing political opinion drawings to newspapers and magazines.

My illustration posted here is one I created back at the end of December 2020 for INXart.com. Drawn digitally, this illustration depicts the American flag with a swollen blackened eye, bandages, and limping forward on crutches barely leaving the challenging 2020 year behind with dire hopes of a much better New Year -only to be further insulted by the insurrection events at the Capitol Building in Washington DC the first week of January 2021…

WINNER OF THE 2020 IRMA BLACK AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

The Crayon Man -The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons (nonfiction) written by Natascha Biebow & illustrated by Steven Salerno -published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019.

The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (Irma Black Award) goes to an outstanding book for young children—a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole. The Irma Black Award is unusual in that children are the final judges of the winning book. Thousands of children in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the United Arab Emirates participated in the voting process. Sadly, this year, the award ceremony scheduled for Thursday, May 14th 2020 was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

See the illustrations from The Crayon Man, illustrated by Steven Salerno

Appearing in the print newspaper edition and the online version of The Wall Street Journal (June 1st - 2nd, 2020) is my recent illustration created for the Life & Arts section (Your Heath -How Sleep Has Changed in the Pandemic: Insomnia, Late Bedtimes, Weird Dreams written by Sumathi Reddy. It was assigned to me by the Life & Arts art director, Lisa DiLillo. And as usual with fast paced daily newspaper deadlines, the article is being written at the same time I’m working on the illustration, so I only have a one sentence synopsis of what the article’s content will hit on.

And in the case of this particular illustration assignment the editors had already pre-established that for the illustration they simply wanted to see two people depicted, with one sleeping soundly and the other person wide awake with insomnia… So during the sketch stage I did not have to devise a clever concept, just merely illustrate the scene so to speak. The newspaper uses the illustration not just in the large format for their printed edition of the newspaper, but the illustration image is also used in various quite tiny online format versions, too… so when creating the illustration it is necessary to create simple elements within it that are uncomplicated and clear so they read clearly when viewed in the small online formats.

In the illustration the woman is sleeping peacefully in a calm blue color but the man is riddled with anxiety in a wide-awake yellow color, with coronavirus cells orbiting all around him, the largest one morphing into a 3am clock face… This illustration was created all digitally in Photoshop.