This is a sweet story of a young raccoon who is afraid to go to school and be away from his mum for the first time. Her kiss in his palm comforts him so he has the courage to 'take a part of her' wherever he goes.

     I designed and illustrated this as a 26 page book, in collaboration with and per the author's request, and a few illustrations were added later by the author (I was not informed). Though I was promised royalties, I was written out of them later - unaware of my rights.

     The Kissing Hand is now in Spanish, in schools in Cuba, has reached 'classic' status, was #1 on the NY Times list for 17 weeks after '9-11', is a US Army 'Initiative' (where book kits, with cameras for kisses, were sent overseas to serving parents), has been given back to parents as children went off to college, now used by a 2nd generation, and has been the focus of early education classrooms across America every autumn for almost two decades.

     I am deeply honored and blessed for all of this!

Below is a sampling of images in the book - the last two are prints currently available.