20 Comments
May 8Liked by Taylor Sterling

Verrry choice picks 🤌 Love having an inspo shelf immediately in front of you while working, like a living moodboard.

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Right, those are some of my favorites! And a 'living moodboard' is a good name for it.

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May 8Liked by Taylor Sterling

What a brilliant post! I often read about authors not reading while writing for fear that other people's work will bleed into their own, but Illustrators seem to have the almost opposite approach, which is fascinating!

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Thanks!

Right? I love that they were like guide posts for him.

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Loved this! I often find that pulling a few of my fave pic books off a shelf give me a boost if I’ve lost momentum or am stuck, but I love the idea of a special shelf of inspiration! Especially for the flavour of the writing, which I find the hardest part!

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Thanks, Ella! Yes, I love the idea of setting the books in front of you during a project so they can speak to your book throughout the process of making it.

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Yes! Me too! I’m going to try it for the next one!

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Same!

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Looking forward to part two!

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May 8·edited May 8Liked by Taylor Sterling

I love everything about this -- so cool to see how thoughtful every ounce of Shawn's style for the book is. I love how he embraces a new feel for every story he tells. Also I LOVED the intro.

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It's prob my fav thing about Shawn's books—that ability to transform his style and still make it sing! He's such a talent! (And thanks!)

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May 8Liked by Taylor Sterling

This was GREAT, thank you! My students loved The Teeny Weeny Unicorn when I read it to them, and they adore First Cat. Now I’m looking into all these inspirational books from the interview. I can’t wait till tomorrow!

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Isn't it SO fun?! My kids love it, too. Have you read them The Wolf, the Duck, & the Mouse before? If not, they will LOVE it!

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Yes, I love that one!

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May 7Liked by Taylor Sterling

On well this is such a delight, brilliant intro, fab 5 picks from Shawn. I have so many questions and just want to bath in all this amazingness being put forward. What a smorgasbord. Thankyou for this!

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Thanks, Helen! Wait till tomorrow!

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May 7Liked by Taylor Sterling

Love Shawn's work! Great piece!

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He's the best! And thanks, Grant!

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May 7·edited May 7Liked by Taylor Sterling

SO GOOD. I just love this. When I saw that shelf shot, my immediate thought was, "You and Shawn have the same taste." That is a very Taylor Sterling assortment of titles 😊

(And, weirdly timely: two days ago I was anxiously scouring for books about being/feeling small -- we're going through stature-related stuff right now -- and it's such a weird category, there's not a lot of options, so thank you for The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn, which was not on my radar.)

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Ha! I thought the same thing when I saw that picture on Shawn's IG, and I was like, I NEED to know more about this. And enjoy The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn—it's SO great!

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