Just posted! A special edition BiblioFiles with guest host Betsy Bird. She interviewed the creative team for Tolo, an original chose your path virtual adventure released by the Cotsen Children’s Library.
You are Tolo, a mouse and apothecary’s apprentice. When sickness strikes the distant village of Mossden, you must make a treacherous mountain crossing with the cure. From ice chutes to surprise attacks, the decisions are yours as you navigate the dangers and obstacles in your path.
Tolo is illustrated by David Deen, who grew up sketching the monsters and beasts in his brother’s Dungeons & Dragons manuals and reading fantasy books. After earning a BA in Art from the University of North Texas, David worked as a computer game artist before embarking on his freelance illustration career.
Tolo is written by Cotsen’s own Dana Sheridan! And since Dr. Dana can’t interview herself, we’re delighted to further introduce our guest host, Betsy Bird.
In addition to being a super librarian, Betsy Bird hosts two podcasts, has a popular blog called A Fuse #8 Production for School Library Journal, and reviews for Kirkus and the New York Times. Betsy is also the author of two picture books, co-author of Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature, and editor of the middle grade anthology Funny Girl. Her most recent release is Long Road to the Circus, a children’s novel illustrated by Caldecott Award winning artist David Small.
Follow this link to the BiblioFiles interview
Photos courtesy of Betsy Bird, David Deen, and Dana Sheridan
Today we’re featuring 
While I’m working on the illustrations, I use the computer to find reference photos and look up information I might need… and to entertain my ears with music. Once the final images are created, I send them straight to the computer through Dropbox. Then I can finalize the files, send them to the client, and do all of the other business involved in illustration.
The studio for creating traditional artwork is currently being used as a guest bedroom; the drafting table is folded down and the supplies are all put away. I hope to get back in there in the new year and make some paintings again, but in the meantime, my little digital corner of the basement is enough to keep me making all the artwork I need.
It’s a merry chase! Use your motor skills to navigate a yellow pom-pom hen around the barnyard. But beware the red pom-pom fox, who’s also on a roll!
As you can see in the above photo, we used a copy paper box lid as the base of our barnyard. Then we glued a number of elements in place. The bee hive was a paper cup with an arched door. The haystack was a construction paper tunnel. The ramp was a paper towel tube, cut in half length-wise and elevated with a snippet of the remaining tube. The hen house was a small box with the lid positioned as a ramp, also elevated with a snippet of paper towel tube. We added a pond, fabric flowers, and tissue paper shrubs as well.