Publishing folks are kind.

To your face.

Mar 24, 2025

The greatest reward of being a beloved children’s author are the many friends I’ve made along the way. Kind, creative people, who meet you with humility and open hearts. A truly generous community that celebrate your successes and cheer you on as you navigate the uncertainty associated with any creative endeavor.

I just wish they would stop ripping me off.

Here are some of my favorite creators, whose only flaw is a lack of subtlety.

Charles Santoso

Hmmm… this fur looks mighty familiar.

Hey, I get it. In high school I copied the covers of my favorite prog rock albums. It’s a valid way to study the techniques of artists you admire and get a crash course in composition and color theory.

Let’s compare. Here’s how Charles draws fur:

Now me:

Don’t pound on your laptop, it’s not the same image twice.

Look, fur is notoriously difficult to render, but every artist needs to find their own voice when expressing it. Charles is a really nice person, and if pressed he’d hide behind the thin veil of “homage”. I’m not trying to embarrass anyone, but yeah, he should be embarrassed.

Lane Smith

This one is particularly poignant because besides being a close friend, Lane is a long-time hero, and honestly one of the kindest people I know. When I saw his book Stickler Loves the World, of course I was disappointed, but I was gracious since I’m such a wonderful person.

Here’s Stickler. Oh, I’m sorry, where does it take place? THE WOODS, you say? Funny, that’s where my book Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend takes place. Oh and when we get together, where do Lane and I hike? In the WOODS? Oh, and whose idea was that? PROBABLY MINE, for the sake of this argument.

Sandra Boynton

Oh, how the mighty have stolen.

Chickens? Sandra knows that’s my favorite kind of sandwich. I’ve never mentioned it, or eaten one in front of her, and by looking at me you’d guess my favorite sandwich is two Philly cheesesteaks, but you’re wrong. It’s chicken.

Exhibit A.

Yum.

And get a load of this:

EVERYONE KNOWS MY NAME IS BOB!

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. I sure have.

Sergio Ruzzier

Okay. At least Sergio has the decency to change up his sensibility, technique, palette and overall quality. Here’s the thing, Sergio is Italian. Like, from Italy. Which is funny because his books are in English. WHICH IS THE SAME LANGUAGE I SPEAK!

Where’d he come up with that? Sergio is fluent in four languages; Italian, English, French and whatever they speak in Canada. Yet he choose English for his books? The ONLY ONE I sort of know?

Look at that. Aside from his name, there’s a bunch of English words on the cover.

Americans are known for being smart, so it’s only a matter of time before the book-buying public makes the connection.

Kelly DiPucchio

This one stings. Kelly is a both a good friend and a talented, well-respected author. My heart sunk when I saw her book Mouse and Giraffe. Kelly uses some of the exact same words I use in my books, which is bad, but it gets so much worse. Look at the cover, then look at a photo I took of my son in front of some giraffes. Had Kelly seen this photo? No. Did I tell her that my son promised to take me to the zoo? YES.

Now look at this. Look familiar?

And, yeah, Kelly has been using some of the same words as me.

Smoking gun:

Looking at the evidence, it’s not hard to understand why all these otherwise talented creators chose the path of outright theft. Why reinvent the wheel when there’s a smart, round thing rolling around right in front of you?