Thank You, Day!
Written by Charlie Hopper
Pictures by Penelope Dullaghan
Published by Cameron Kids/Abrams
A child is bursting with gratitude for all that the day has brought in this love letter to the natural world. Thank You, Day! is a perfect rhyming, read-aloud picture book by songwriter Charlie Hopper and award-winning illustrator Penelope Dullaghan.
Let’s hear it for the day, you all! With heartfelt feeling and joy, a kid gives kudos and kisses, hugs and high fives, shout-outs and simple thanks to everyday wonders in this sweet ode to slowing down, being present, and paying attention to the world around us.
Award winning illustration!
Book opening!
Video evidence of the excitement I experienced when I opened up the advance copy of 'Thank You Day'! Written by my friend Charlie Hopper and published by Cameron Kids - it's a brilliant book about a kid bursting with gratitude for bees, and grass, and blue sky... all the things! And it's SUPER fun to read out loud.
I hope you’ll be excited about it too!
Process
My process for this book was super different from other books I’ve illustrated. I was much more loose with the initial ideas. After reading the script out loud and then stewing on it for a good long while, I woke up one day and felt like just putting ideas down.
So I printed the script out, cut it up into the different pages and taped them to my studio wall. Then I grabbed a big ol’ brush and some blue paint and really loosely painted what each page could potentially look like. I went for composition - varying pages with smaller details and pages with full illustrations.
I also paid close attention the energy - trying to capture the spirit of the little girl in the book who is joyfully whooshing around expressing thanks to all the things. It was such a fun process!
The next step in the process was tightening things up so it all made sense to my editor and art director. I grabbed my ipad for that. I wanted a really limited color palette for this book, so I chose a handful of colors and limited myself to just those as I sketched each page. And I worked as quickly as I could to keep that same energy from the paintings. It was fun to see how I could push the color to make things pop. And I think the finished book maintains the same energy. You’ll have to read it and let me know what you think! :)
About the Author
Charlie Hopper is a songwriter who lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. Thank You, Day! is his first picture book.