Susie's News: MINE!
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My First Picture Book MINE!

I'm excited to share about my first picture book MINE! with Simon & Schuster (January 5, 2016).

As with many picture books, this was many years in the making from sketch dummy to final production. The very first sketch dummy was created several years ago, revised a dozen times and then tucked away in a drawer! In late 2013, I dusted it off for a portfolio review event. There I met cool art director Lucy Ruth Cummins who chuckled while reviewing my draft of MINE! That made me smile, and the ball started rolling from there! By June 2014, revisions were looking good, and I completed the interior book art over that summer. Cover art was finished at the beginning of 2015, and the last set of proofs arrived in July 2015... And now it is a REAL BOOK– YAY!!

I am so thankful to the amazing Simon & Schuster team, especially my awesome editor Justin Chanda and amazing art director Lucy Ruth Cummins. They truly took my original sketch dummy to its fullest potential. Also a big thanks to editorial assistant Alexa Pastor for all her help during production and marketing.

 

CLICK HERE to read more about the making of MINE! in my interview with amazing children's author/illustrator and my wonderful teacher Monica Wellington.

mine!

Book Reviews

"A minimalistic, humorous tale about competitive bunnies, a carrot, and the notion of sharing. During a nice morning in wintertime, two bunnies riding on a red sleigh encounter a black top hat with a carrot inside. Through a series of illustrations, they are shown shouting "Mine! Mine!" to each other while fighting over the carrot. After a vigorous action sequence in which each fights for the carrot, they lose it, and a big bunny and five little bunnies appear to add competition over the much-desired carrot. It is when a morose, noseless snowman enters this scene of covetous chaos that bunnies and young readers are challenged with the concepts of possession, sharing, and ownership. In this debut picture book, Jin tells the story with only three words: the possessive pronouns "mine," ours," and "yours." The textual simplicity results in a story that is heavily reliant on the pastel-hued acrylic illustrations, the emotions conveyed with crystalline clarity through facial expressions, page composition, and pacing. This nondidactic story is a natural for collections about sharing, effectively softening the natural tendency toward possessiveness of most living things through its sweet illustrations." – Kirkus

"This comic but meaningful story about selfishness and generosity contains only three words: mine, ours, and yours. Center stage in a wintry forest is one very big carrot. Two bunnies sled down a hill and spot this carrot, just visible within a stray top hat. Together, they tug it out of the hat, but once the carrot is out, a double-page spread does a close-up of the bunnies at either end of the prize, both saying, “Mine.” Chase scenes and tugs-of-war ensue, with the grab fest expanding to the two bunnies pitted against a very large rabbit, each laying claim to the carrot. Then a group of tiny bunnies intercepts the vegetable, shouting, “Ours!” The epic fight ends beneath the shadow of a sad snowman, who has lost his carrot nose. The resolution, in which the bunnies give the snowman back his nose—“Yours!”—hits a joyous note. The illustrations feature bright acrylics and emphatic typefaces for the three words. Jin’s debut is a ridiculous romp and a positive lesson in sharing." – Booklist

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