The big reveal of the cover

Here it is: the cover for Give Me Back My Dad!

The beginning of a book.

These are some of the first drawings by Michael Martchenko for Give Me Back My Dad!

Michael gets a copy of the story -- called a manuscript -- from the book’s editor. He, Robert Munsch, and the book’s art director and editor meet to talk about the manuscript and to look at photographs of the kid the story is about and where she lives. Sometimes Michael will do some quick sketches at the meeting.

Then he goes back to his studio and creates detailed pencil drawings to match the story. These are called linears. He shows them to the editor, the art director and Robert Munsch and they talk about the linears and whether they work for the story. They discuss whether the illustrations are accurate and whether they are funny, and they make changes. Once those changes are made, Michael makes a final copy of the drawings on art boards, and he is ready to paint!