Tugeau 2 recently welcomed two new artists to the Team – Kathy Weller and Ethan Long.

One look at their portfolios and you’ll feel the attraction. Both artists bring entertaining, lively, fresh, and exciting, well-designed art to the page.

Kathy Weller (http://www.tugeau2.com/kwelmain.html) is whimsical, contemporary, and playful. Her world is charming and beautiful. Kathy’s most recent picture book, published by Lobster Press is entitled, “The Months: Fun with Friends All Year ‘Round.” The School Library Journal review that follows is indicative of its illustrative success:

Lobster Press Reviews – SLJ November, 2007

COLERIDGE, Sara. The Months: Fun with Friends All Year ’Round! illus. by Kathy Weller. unpaged. CIP. Lobster, dist. by Univ. of Toronto. 2007. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-1-897073-67-4. LC C2007-901572-7.

K-Gr 2 – A colorful rendition of Coleridge’s 1834 poem. It begins, “January brings/the snow,/Makes our feet/and fingers glow.” Each month appears on a spread depicting modern children participating in seasonal activities. Rhyming couplets are written in large, clear text in a color column on one side of one page. Bright watercolor illustrations cover the remainder of the spread with a portion of each scene exuberantly overlapping into the text column. Weller’s contemporary style aptly captures active youngsters at play. Her whimsical illustrations provide lightness and humor that simultaneously contrast and highlight the Victorian text. A few of the verses may need to be explained to today’s children. For example, “May brings/flocks of pretty lambs,/Skipping by their/fleecy dams.” In addition, some illustrations present a more contemporary interpretation of the text. In “Warm/September brings/the fruit,/Sportsmen then/begin to shoot,” the traditional apple trees laden with ripe fruit are shown, but the sportsmen are children shooting goals in a field hockey game. Picture books describing the months of the year are always popular, especially with teachers. However, libraries that already own Nancy Raines Day’s A Kitten’s Year (HarperCollins, 2000), Crescent Dragonwagon’s Alligators and Others All Year Long (S & S, 1993), Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice (HarperCollins, 1962), and Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen’s The Year at Maple Hill Farm (S & S, 2001) may consider The Months an additional purchase.

– Carole Phillips, Greenacres Elementary School, Scarsdale, NY

Ethan Long (http://www.tugeau2.com/elonmain.html) combines playful wit and subversive humor with an artistic grace and fluidity. The result is full of smiles… and an exceptional illustration style. With over 15 illustrated books to his credit, Ethan continues to thrive off the lively and exciting world of children’s book and educational publishing – and he’s only just begun! Keep a sharp eye out for Ethan’s continued success in this industry.

We’re absolutely thrilled to represent both of these fine illustrators – Kathy Weller and Ethan Long. Please spend some time with their portfolios and thank you for keeping them in mind for your upcoming projects.