Two Caldecott honorees–and real-life best friends– team up to illustrate a story of friendship from bestselling author Julie Fogliano. Like the two stars of this story, illustrators Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal know that differences only make a good friendship stronger. In this bouncy, rhyming story, two best friends think about all the little things that don’t matter- and the big things that really, really do. Mostly I care that you’re you and I’m me, and I care that we’re us, and I care that we’re we. With each artist designing and drawing one character, and collaborating on the scenery and details, Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal transformed this sweet story into a celebration of friendship- including their own- and a unique artistic vision. Working remotely, they swapped drawings across the country, using a limited palette of teal and yellow over graphite. As artwork passed back and forth between their mailboxes, childhood versions of each artist came to life and came together on the page into one unified creation. Award-winning author Julie Fogliano’s rhythmic rhymes bring it all together, expressing the unconditional love any best friend can relate to.
Julie Fogliano is the New York Times–bestselling author of And Then It’s Spring and If You Want to See a Whale, as well as the poetry collection, When Green Becomes Tomatoes. Recipient of the 2013 Ezra Jack Keats Award, her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and three children. When she is not folding laundry or wondering what to make for dinner, she is staring out the window waiting for a book idea to fly by.
Molly Idle graduated from Arizona State University with a BFA in drawing and began her career at DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios. She now lives in Arizona with her husband, two sons, and two snuggly cats. Tea Rex is her first book.
Juana Martinez-Neal is the daughter and granddaughter of painters. She started her story in Lima, Peru, and then moved to the United States. The winner of a 2018 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award for La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya, Juana Martinez-Neal is still writing the story of her life, with the help of her husband and three children, in Arizona.
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