Around the World with LR: Looong time, no see!

Hiya, Kiddos!

WOWIEEE!!! What a ride! I've been all over the place this summer and fall, and I've finally been able to catch up with Miss Melanie to share my photos and stories of everything that I've done. It's hard for such a small raindrop like me to update the blog by myself, so over the next few days Miss Melanie will be helping me post all my latest photos and adventures!

I did some pretty amazing things, like...

-visiting a sea turtle nesting site
-flying with a PILOT in a real airplane!
-trying to shoot myself out of a cannon
-meeting Mr. H's new 3rd Grade Class of 2013
-writing postcards to hurricane Sandy victims
-dressing up for a Halloween party
-hanging out with 6th and 7th graders
-going on a trip with my pal Abigail to the Baltimore Aquarium
-going on a trip to Texas with my pal Julia
...all while splashing through the water cycle like a good little raindrop should!

Phew! No wonder why I feel like just evaporating and taking a long nap! Hee hee!

It's definitely been a fun few months, and I have so many more adventures to look forward to. I can't WAIT to see where I'll be next! Can you? :D

Thanks for reading... See you around!
-LR

Summer 2012 Book Status!

Hello, Readers!


Well, it's been a busy summer for sure! But now that I've gone and had my fun on vacation, it's time to crack the whip and get this book really flying!


Many of you have been asking "When will the book be out?" In all honesty, it's really hard to tell! Both Richard and I only have our spare time to put this book together, as we both work other jobs. But we're aiming to have the book ready by the end of 2013. We're trying really hard to work quickly and efficiently, but Quality is our goal so we're not going to rush to the finish line.


For now, here is where we are at:
-the first two chapters of the book are in Dummy Book form
-the second two chapters have been written and revised
-I am working on the page layout of the second two chapters
-the last two chapters of the book are currently being revised


And in the meantime...
-our Marketing Plan is being plotted out
-our bookmarks are being handed out
-we are plotting and outlining the next two books
-we will be creating Little Raindrop's web site
-we are gathering names for the Pre-Order and Email list


And there is LOTS more that needs to be done! The story will need a fully professional edit so I can draw up the rest of the Dummy. Once the full Dummy is complete, it will need lots of feedback from other artists and writers, and perhaps more editing. After we make all the changes we need to make, I will be able to go back and re-draw and paint and digitalize the WHOLE story! And then I will clean up the layout and the text, and then look the whole thing over to check for mistakes once again. 


When (and ONLY when) all edits and critiques and inspections have deemed the story and art spotless, we shall move on to printing the books! How exciting!!!


We also have a lot more EXCITING things that will be happening from now until then, so stay posted! You never know when something new will pop up here on the blog...

...like this!

Little Raindrop and Friends
Characters, Art & Design © 2011-2012 Melanie Linden Chan
Story and Ideas © 2011-2012  Richard Halttunen

Off to draw I go!

~Melanie

Tales of a third Grade Classroom: Miss Melanie visits The Pro's!

Hey Kids!

Not sure if you've heard, but Miss Melanie went to visit Mr. H and The Pro's at school last week! They had a GREAT time and even got to eat cupcakes! Miss Melanie wrote all about it on her blog, and she put up real photos! She sent me one to share with you here:

Mr. H, Miss Melanie, and The Pro's!

I wish I had been there to see it, but I was busy flowing down the Delaware River! Better luck next time, I guess!

By the way, I found some interesting and icky things floating in the river beside me. I wish people would toss their garbage where it belongs- getting stuck in a smelly sock isn't very fun!

Be a Little Water Hero and recycle everything you can!
-LR

Sneak Peek: Cool Stuff!

Heya Kiddos!

Miss Melanie has been a busy bee and she has been making some neat things to help promote my book!

Firstly, she has come up with something called Little Water Heroes, a water fan club of sorts that encourages kids to make the right choices to help conserve water! It's still a new thing, and it is a bit of a surprise for the author, Mr H., who may or may not have caught on by now... hee hee! He'll be sure to find out soon enough, when she visits the class in June! (Or if he's reading about it now? SURPRISE!!!!)

Melanie has also designed bookmarks and neat buttons to promote Little Water Heroes and ME, Little Raindrop! It's a great idea to get kids excited about preserving, protecting, and promoting clean water!

She sent me a few snapshots of her projects, and she's been sharing them on Twitter, too!

bookmark design ©2012 Melanie Linden Chan

button design ©2012 Melanie Linden Chan

I wonder what else that clever artist has up her sleeve?! We'll just have to wait and see! Until then, take the Little Water Hero pledge, and become a Little Water Hero!

See ya 'round the water cycle!
-LR

Updated Cover Art!

Hullo! 

You've seen a sample of the cover art before, but here's what it looks like now!

Art © 2012 Melanie Linden Chan

You might have heard that our book dummy has grown to be a whole TWO chapters now! I am getting advice from friends and family, artists and writers, parents and teachers, and even kids on what they think of the book so far. 

Mr. H brought the book dummy to his classroom of third graders (we call them The Pro's) today, and he is videotaping their reactions to the book! He will be sending me the DVD by the end of the week, and I can't WAIT to hear what everyone has to say about Little Raindrop's story so far! I'm super excited!!!

I also have some GOOD NEWS to share with you, and a SURPRISE, too! But I'm not quite ready to tell you just yet... well, I am, but I'm not about to ruin the surprise!

I'll be back to let you know how The Pro's like the book!

Don't let the the sprinkler run for too long!

~Miss Melanie

Character Art: Little Raindrop's New Friends!

Hi There!


I've been working on new character designs this week! Little Raindrop will be meeting lots of new friends on his travels, and I've been sketching up all kinds of water drops to see what I come up with! Here is the whole gang, as I have been drawing them so far:

There will be more, and I'll keep you updated, as always! Until then, keep checking my sketchbook to see if anything new pops up!


Thanks for visiting!
~Miss Melanie

Mr. H's Class to the Rescue!

Hello, Readers!


A part of my job as illustrator is to not just draw the pictures, but to also draw them again and again! An illustrator does multiple sketches for each illustration to test out layouts and different ideas. Sometimes it is very hard to decide which idea to follow through with, and the artist will get feedback from friends, family, and other art professionals.


Lucky for me, I have Mr. H's class to help me when I need some feedback!


This happened recently, when I could not decide between three different layout designs. I sent my designs to Mr. H and he took a vote from the class:

    

The group decided which layout they liked best... and they even wrote to tell me why!

Thanks for all your help, kids!


To learn more about how a book is made, check out "How A Book is Made" by Aliki! It looks like this:

 Have a great week!
~Miss Melanie