MPR Radio Interview for Picture Book, THE HOUSE WE SHELTERED IN

Minnesota Public Radio’s host, Emily Bright, of the show Minnesota Now, interviewed our team about our dual-volume picture book about life during the pandemic. The House We Sheltered In / The Masks We Wore. Listen to the broadcast.

St. Paul, Author Freeman Ng, and fourteen international artists collaborated nationwide to create a picture book that helps kids process their experiences during this difficult period. This picture book celebrates the joys of homebound life and the collective heroism of our fight against COVID-19.

The House We Sheltered In / The Masks We Wore is a dual volume: two stories that start from each end of a flippable book.

Three Daughters Press, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-9906197-9-6

Written by poet and author Freeman Ng and illustrated by a team of 14 artists:

Alicia Schwab, Annie Kuhn, Brigitte West, Cheryl Ann Warren, Eshanthie Tyner, Gabriela Vega, Haley Grunloh, Jessica Chrysler, Juliana Castro, Rebecca Hoenig, Ruby Michelle, Sara Nintzel, Olivia Pinney, and Wendy Roble.

Buy this book!

#Cozytober 2021: Leaf Pile

From the picture book, THE MUKLUK BALL, written by Katharine Johnson and illustrated by me!. “All autumn Karhu swayed, glided and whirled with his new friends.” —Katharine Johnson, Minnesota Historical Society Press. #Cozytober #Drawlloween2021 #drawlloween #witch #ChildrensBooks #scbwiARTober #kidlitart #artistsoninstagram #amillustrating #portfolio #work #multimedia #artistontwitter #Cozytober is a month-long art prompt during October.

#Drawlloween 2021: Witch

October Art prompts. #Drawlloween2021 #drawlloween #witch #ChildrensBooks #scbwiARTober #kidlitart #artistsoninstagram #amillustrating #portfolio #work #multimedia #artistontwitter #Drawlloween is a month-long art prompt during October.

MN SCBWI Postcard Gallery →

For the past few years, I have been running a Postcard Gallery for the Minnesota SCBWI chapter that features some of the talented illustrators we have in our chapter. Check it out! https://scbwimnpostcardgallery.wordpress.com

The Loft: WORDPLAY Book Signing →

BOOK SALE AND SIGNING: Join Minnesota SCBWI as we support the LOFT in this first annual event. May 10—12, 2019, 10 am –5 pm. https://loft.org/wordplay/wordplay-schedule

Minnesota SCBWI Banner

Alicia Schwab created the 2019 image for all our Minnesota SCBWI social media sites (SCBWI, Facebook, Twitter and our Postcard blog). I hand-made the type as well. And I used my digital illustration skills to crop and resize the type in the design of each format. Every social media site has different image size requirements which makes it tricky to design and illustrate an image to be used across several sites. Enjoy!

Steger Mukluk Encore Book launch

 We are so pleased to be going back to Steger Mukluk store in Ely, MN February 9th, 2019 at 11 am! Author Katherine Johnson and I will whoop it up with our fans in Ely, MN this weekend. In the bold north, not only are we not afraid of winter we celebrate it. There will be lots of activities in the region celebrating the Winter Festival. On February 16th, there will be a Mukluk Ball at the Grand Ely Lodge. And on February 9th, there will be a Mukluk Ball at the Hygge Festival in Grand Marais, MN. Come read, dance and get a signed book at our book party, Steger Mukluks, 33 East Sheridan St., Ely, MN 55731

November Drury Lane Books Newsletter

From the newsletter, WINTER AT DRURY LANE BOOKS, Garnd Marais, MN
Vol 24, November 2018

"GRACE'S RECOMMENDATION
The Mukluk Ball — Katherine Johnson, illus. Alicia Schwab
3-year-old Grace loves dancing with her stuffed bear; he even has his own tutu. So this wintery Northwoods picture book of a Bear preparing for a Mukluk Ball was an instant hit. Bear learns to polka, tango, and chachacha...and then just has to figure out how to wake up from hibernation to attend the Ball!"

I love Indie's and this recommendation made my day! Grace is a girl after my own heart. I began dancing in the living room around 3-years-old. My parents bought a cassette tape of the Chieftains (Irish folk music) and when I heard that I couldn't stop myself. I had to cut a rug. Mind you, our living room was wall-to-wall shag carpeting. And if I shuffled my feet fast enough and touched the lamp...ZAP!–I could do static electricity experiments, as well! Keep on dancing, Grace!

Writing and Illustrating Books on Craft

Over the years, after going to countless SCBWI Children's Books Writing and Illustrating Conferences and Workshops, I have assembled this large list of books on craft. Please share with me your favorite books on craft in the comments. Check out my blog post: Paths to Publication on the different ways to get your book produced for readers.

Writing Craft

A Kick in the Head, by Paul B. Janeczko

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott

Characters and Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card

Crafting Stories for Children, Nancy Lamb

Picture Writing, Anatasia Suen

What’s Your Story: A Young Person’s Guide to Writing Fiction, Marion Dane Bauer

Writing it Right, by Sandy Asher

Writing Picture Books, by Ann Whitford Paul

Illustration Craft

Cartoon Animation, by Preston Blair

Children’s Picturebooks–The Art of Visual Storytelling, by M. Salisbury and M. Styles

Comic and Sequential Art, by Will Eisner

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards

Drawn to Life, by Walt Stanchfield

Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative, by Will Eisner

Film Directing—Shot by Shot, by Stephen D. Katz

Illustrating Children’s Books, by Martin Salisbury

Picture Book Primer, by Denise I. Matulka

Picture This! by Molly Bang

Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Feature Shorts, by Nancy Beiman

The Art of Animal Character Design, by David Colman

Writing with Pictures, by Uri Shulewitz

Author and Illustrator Platform and Social Media

Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market

Create Your Writer Platform, by Chuck Sambuchino

Get Known Before the Book Deal, by Christina Katz
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Sketch

Here's a WIP of a little girl. #amillustrating

#mailersandcoffee

Do you see my postcard, just right of the lower coffee cup? I'm thrilled to have another postcard featured in #mailersandcoffee (a weekly twitter post by Giuseppe Castellano @pinocastellano and his design assistant Olivia Kane @oliviakane27).

Sub It Club

The Postcard Post features Alicia Schwab this month. Illustrator self-promotion tips galore. Come see!

http://bit.ly/2xw0BRT

Hold the cabbage!

Here's a sneak peak at part of a spread based on the fairy tale Dwarf Nose, by Wilhelm Hauff.

Shoutout onTwitter #mailersandcoffee

Each week Giuseppe Castellano @pinocastellano shares on Twitter #mailersandcoffee — a weekly illustration mailer review with his design assistant @jayrosenfeld. This week he featured my illustration!  Here's a link to Giuseppe Castellano's tweet.  My postcard is also featured over at SCBWI-Minnesota Postcard Gallery page. You can find me on twitter @aschwabart.

2017 MN SCBWI Banner Contest

I am the Illustrator Coord. for SCBWI Minnesota. In 2015, I began hosting an annual Banner Contest for MN SCBWI members to participate in.

We have had great participation in years past when the contest was displayed at the MN SCBWI Fall Conference, but this year we moved the event online so that everyone can view the art at anytime.

The winning entry will be displayed in the regional SCBWI Minnesota website and the new! SCBWI Minnesota Postcard Gallery for one year. All MN SCBWI members are eligible to vote on the entries through a survey sent to their inbox.

Postcard Gallery

As the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Minnesota, I created a Postcard Gallery for the SCBWI Minnesota illustrator members to showcase their postcards 4x/year!

This website gives participants the initiative to work on their marketing skills by submitting their postcards to the gallery up to four times a year.

The participants can increase traffic to their portfolio website by creating buzz on social media.

26/31: box

Par Avion!

22/31: little

21/31: big #inktober

16/31: wet #inktober