Catch me if you can… Shadow Chasers!

Shadow Chasers  has just come out! It is my 2nd book with Running Press. Join these 3 children on a search for shadow animals as the evening light descends. Can you spot the rabbits? What else can you find? A book to celebrate shadows – a bedtime read or to share at Summer Solstice or Groundhog Day. Why not make some shadow puppets of your own? We had a local book launch on Saturday and the children made shadow animals of their own.   This is how. With pencil, draw your animal. Cut it out. Open a paper clip and take one side to your shadow puppet. On the other side of the paper clip, take a popsicle stick. For ones with movement, create two parts with two sticks (i.e. with a rabbit you could make the front and back of the body) and attach them with a brass fastener.   

I’ve been having fun with shadows for years. Here is one from a series of shadow play photos I did in 2010.

 

The kids have learned to make shadow animals with their hands too!

Some early REVIEWS:

Kirkus:  Intriguing illustrations draw readers into a meditation on shadows…. Playful and more than just a little mysterious—like a shadow-puppet play in full color. (Picture book. 3-6)
21st Century Media News Service (Bobbie’s books of the month): The magic of outdoor play on a summer’s evening is perfectly captured on each page. “Oh, the shadows, they move swiftly! /Ever changing just out of reach.” Three children follow shadows into the forest until nighttime falls and they return home. MacKay’s astonishing photographed lit paper scenes are the perfect medium for establishing both the mood and action of this gentle, dreamlike story. Buy the book at a bookstore near you – Indiebound! Or at Indigo or Amazon