The girls and I have just returned from Costa Rica. We stayed at the Lapa Rios eco lodge on the Osa Peninsula. I must say, it was fabulous. The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Cana Blanca Wildlife Sanctuary where we met Sweetie, a juvenile spider monkey. I got some ideas for Wow! Ocean! - we need a Wow! Tidepools! spread- and it also got me thinking about a rain forest book down the road. We shot over 800 pictures (don't you love digital?) and here are just the first few that I got downloaded, resized, and etc... My wife, Dr. Ruth, always travels with a full medical kit, sutures, local anesthetic, every pill imaginable- and she treated three patients while in the jungle. A little boy who got rolled over rocks by surf (no stitches, just derma bond), a man with a high fever, and a girl with an infection... she entertained the idea of just moving there, being the village doctor, working for free, or being paid with a few eggs or a chicken...
I'm working away on sketches for "Too Many Monsters - a Halloween Counting Book", a new board book for Little Simon and winding up the sketches for "Ocean". In the meantime, "The Great Dog Wash " should be released any minute now! (Simon & Shuster) Nothing new to post on the books now, so I'll make d0 with some recent images from Slate.com.
