Nancy Cote Author/Illustrator of Children's Books

New Painting

2011-11-04T06:53:00.001-07:00

This is a little painting that I did yesterday as I was trying to loosen up and start developing ideas and characters for new stories. Tomorrow I'll be leaving for Virginia Beach for a book signing. I'm looking forward to going as I've never been to Virginia and it sounds like it's going to be an awesome event. The book that will be featured is A Horse for Hanukkah. I'll also take the opportunity to show the kids who attend, how to draw and paint animals.

Ariella Books

2011-07-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Ariella Books is Germany's first Jewish children's book publishing company, founded in May, 2010, by Myriam Halberstam.
There is a great need for Jewish children's books in Germany, since the Jewish communities here have seen an unprecedented explosion in membership numbers due to the influx of former Sowjet Jews after 1989.
Ariella Books was founded to meet this need. Also for Gentile readers, A Horse for hanukkah is a humorous excursion into Jewish culture, informing the reader in a playful and endearing way about Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.
A Horse for Hanukkah, ISBN:978-3-9813825-1-8; hardcover illustrated book, 32 pages, ages 4-8;

"Especially in German society with its growing cultural and religious diversity it is indispenable for the children of the majority to learn about the holidays of the minorities. Myriam Halberstam's new book, A Horse for Hanukkah, addresses this need in an exceptional way - suitable for children, amusing and readily understandable, even while describing a world that most readers in Germany are not familiar with. This beautiful picture book celebrates Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights and shows how harmonious diversity can be." Micha Brumlik, Professor of childhood education, Germany.

" A horse who speaks Hebrew! This story of Hannah and her clever but willful horse, Golda, will delight both children and parents. The charming illustrations capture the magic of Hanukkah, while the lively tale speaks to any child who has yearned for a pet. A funny, warm celebration of family life."
Kate E. Brown, Dept. of English, State University of New York at Buffalo.

email: nancycote@comcast.net
http://picture-book.com/users/nancycote
http://nancycote.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancycote.com/
http://www.jacketflap.com/nancycote

A Horse for Hanukkah

2011-07-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hannah desperately wants a horse of her own.

Miraculously her wish comes true for Hanukkah, but Hannah

cannot rejoice for very long as Golda, the horse, wreaks

havoc in a hilarious unfolding of the Rosenbaum Family's

Hanukkah celebration.

Written by Myriam Halberstam

Illustrated by Nancy Cote

BEA

2011-06-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the Book Expo in NYC where my book A Horse for Hanukkah was exhibited in the German Book Booth. It was my first time going to the Book Expo and I thought it was fantastic. I saw some friends from the Highlights/ Boyds Mills Press Booth and took some great photos but unfortunately I lost my camera on the way home. It was my brand new camera and I had some great pictures that I wanted to post about the Book Expo.
I'll be there next year again at the German Booth since I will have a brand new book called Apartment for Rent (www.ariellabooks.com) of Berlin that will be featured.

Runner Up of SCBWI 2011 Magazine Merit Competition

2011-06-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

My entry in the 2011 SCBWI Magazine Merit Competition, "Rain" which appeared in Highlights High Five Magazine was the recipient of a Letter of Merit as a runner up in this year's contest.
Out of over 100 entries in four categories there were eight awards and eight Letters of Merit.

11"X14' Mural for the Boston Children's Hospital

2011-06-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

More close up photos of the mural to come.

Nancy Cote Author/Illustrator of Children's Books: ipad painting

2011-05-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

Nancy Cote Author/Illustrator of Children's Books: ipad painting

ipad painting

2011-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

L.A. Times Book Fair May 30-April1 2011

2011-05-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

ipad illustration

2011-04-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

I hadn't done any painting on my ipad in a while so this is a brand new illustration that I did last night. After I finished it on my ipad, I tweaked it in PS.

Promotional Piece for my newest book

2011-04-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

This is the newest book that I am working on called Apartment for Rent, by Leah Goldberg.
It is a new updated version of a well loved book by many children in Europe.
It is my second book with Ariella Books of Berlin Germany.

Houston Children's International Festival

2011-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Houston Children's International Festival
On the weekend of April 11, I was in Texas for this event. With the Author of the books, I signed thousands of copies of Mr. Pip and the Only Tree and Nico and His Frog.

2011-02-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

This is an 18 x24" acrylic painting that I scanned in six pieces and merged in photoshop.

Animals Stacked

2011-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is an acrylic painting that is painted on an 18 x24" canvas. It was a commission by L'Attitude Gallery on Newberry St., Boston, MA to be displayed at a children's hospital/clinic on the South Shore.

George 2

2011-02-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

This painting is the second painting that involves George the Goose. Once the animals get into the house, the fun begins. I am using acrylics on these pieces. Watch for more as this story evolves!

Wait Your turn George!

2011-01-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

This is a new illustration that I did yesterday. I knew an old woman who owned a goose named George. I did several sketches of them a while back but finally moved forward with painting an illustration of them. This was done in acrylics.

Winter Skate

2010-12-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

My poem/illustration, "Winter Skate" that was featured in the December 2010 issue of High Five Magazine was selected as the Highlights Christmas card this year.

Take a Letter

2010-12-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

This piece was done for our Facebook friend Linda who has just become a grandmother. A group of artists who are friends through Highlights for Kids, have joined together to create a special collection of black line illustrations which will become a coloring book for the baby some day. We all did a black line and color version.

I did mine digitally. I began it on my ipad and finished it on my Wacom Intuos 4 Tablet. This was basically my first all digital piece.

My newest book

2010-12-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Working on this book was an amazing experience. I was initially contacted by this brand new up and coming German Publisher, Myriam Halberstam at Ariella Velag in Berlin. She had seen two other Hanukkah books that I had illustrated for Albert Whitman & Co. and really liked my style. We discussed the possibility of me illustrating the very first book for this brand new Publishing company and I became very interested after reading the story. I loved the whole theme, especially using the horse as a main character in the whimsical, dreamlike setting.
I had visited Germany two years in a row only two years ago and the memory of the setting, the people, and the general feeling of the winter holidays allowed my imagination to embrace the story visually.
The whole experience has been interesting and unexpected from beginning to end and it has been a journey that will be most memorable for me.
I hope to work with this company again and we have already discussed the possibility of a new story.
I am ever so grateful to work as a children's book illustrator and this year I have found more than ever that my love for children's illustration has brought me in many unexpected directions.

A Horse for Hanukkah (New book in English and in German!)

2010-12-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

The following are links to the promotion of this new book:

http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Hanukkah-Myriam-Halberstam/dp/398138251X

http://www.ariella-books.com/

http://www.storytime-books.com/myriam-halberstam-reads-horse-hanukkah

http://www.greatbooksforhorselovers.com/

Click for Reuters review: www.finanznachrichten.de

The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes

2010-12-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes written by Linda Glaser and Illustrated by Nancy Cote is listed on Elizabeth Kennedy's About.com Top Ten Best Hanukkah Books.
http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/holidays/tp/hanukkah.htm

Every Silly Pickle Needs to Dream....

2010-10-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

The Sleepover

2010-10-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is a new collage that I did. I love the fact that the little girl's friends are so diverse. Reminds me of when I was little and would spend a night away from home. More than once, I needed to get walked home when the lights went out and I could hear the clock ticking. It made me so homesick.

Walk with Grandpa

2010-10-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is a new painting that I just finished. It's about a little girl who is helping her Grandpa learn to walk again after an illness. While they go on their slow walks, they both experience the magic all around of things seen at a slow pace.

Animal Poems

2010-06-12T06:14:00.001-07:00

Check out my new animal poems in the black and white section of this blog.

New Banner

2010-05-28T15:30:00.001-07:00

Last night I worked on this banner header. I was inspired by the baby birds that have hatched in a tree in my yard and I've been watching them grow just a little more and more each day. Whenever I wash my hair, I always comb it outside and throw any hair that comes off in the comb into the yard. I imagine birds building nests with nice soft clean hair and that's where this idea came from.

New Painting

2010-05-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

2010-05-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

I did this illustration with my ipad last night while I was in bed just before going to sleep. The day before, I did a painting using the Brushes App but ended up losing it by touching something that I haven't figured out yet. That really hurt since I had worked on it for at least eight hours. It was beautiful.
This painting was done in Sketchbook Pro. I don't like the eraser in this program. It hardly works at all, but in general, I like the way this program handles and I think that I can create some interesting work with it.

iPad Workshop at the Apple Store

2010-05-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, so yesterday, I had scheduled a workshop session at the Apple store in the Providence Place Mall. I ended up having a one on one with a genius named Ian. It was an hour session and he took me through everything. Because he was a photographer, he could relate to the things that would interest me personally and professionally in using my ipad. He gave me the names of the apps that he thought I'd really like and I do. I was blown away by all of the possibilities. I was feeling a little guilty having spent so much money on this little tiny piece of heavenly technology, but after playing around with it for just a little while last night, I'm hooked and believe that it will help me in so many ways with my work.

I created this funny little character in paintbook that was simple to manipulate.

The only thing that I don't like is how the screen gets so fingerprinty, but I can live with that.

More to come.

IPad

2010-05-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

I just purchased an IPad and found out that I needed to upgrade my system to the Snow Leopard in order to use it. Bummer, but I'm really excited about seeing how I might use it to sketch and paint with. I will post blogs as to how it is helpful or not.

School Visit to Thatcher School in Attleboro, MA on 4/30/10

2010-04-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

New Book Released in May!

2010-04-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

http://amzn.com/0399250131

April 15, 2010 School Visit to The Oak St. Elementary School in Franklin, MA

2010-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will be doing a school visit in Franklin, MA. I'll be posting photos after my visit.

The Making of the Painting Christmas Market in Germany

2010-04-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

2010-04-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

Jackson's Blanket being read at a Chinese School

2010-04-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

No,No. Miguet 1

2010-03-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

No, No, Miguet 2

2010-03-09T04:40:00.001-08:00

2009-11-30T10:27:00.000-08:00

My talk was primarily focused on my newest book JACKSON'S BLANKET, but I did an overview of how a book is made and than published. I've also included two short DVD's. The first one is a two minute flick that shows the process of me working on one of my finished Christmas paintings. The other is a four minute journey through a representation of my illustrations. I also do a drawing demonstration and take lots of questions.

School Visit to Friends Academy in Dartmouth MA

2009-11-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful school visit recently at Friends Academy in Dartmouth, MA.
I was the featured Author/Illustrator for grades Pre School through 2nd grade at their AuthorFest on Nov.19, 2009.

BOOK SIGNING at Barnes & Noble, Dartmouth, MA

2009-02-09T05:01:00.000-08:00

I will be having a book signing at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Dartmouth, MA on President's Day, Feb. 16, 2009 at 11:00 A.M.
I will be reading JACKSON'S BLANKET and will also be doing a drawing demonstration. I wrote and illustrated this book for pre school age children.

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