Book me for a visit, in schools, bookshops and libraries.

Bug Belly published in Netherlands

Bug Belly aka Bollebuik, has reached Holland! Hurray! 

Published by School Support my hungry frog will now be introduced to loads more eager readers. Fantastic. Well done big green fella!

There has always been a keen following of this website in Holland, now I know why.

Bug Belly published in United States

Good news from over the big pond!
Bug Belly has been swimming valiantly and has crossed the Atlantic. Both books will be published in hardback by Flutterbee in 2026. This is the third foreign rights sale following Turkey and Holland. In this version ‘kit bag’ became rucsack, ‘taddie’ was lengthened to tadpole and ‘midges’ became mosquitoes. Bug Belly certainly looks happy about the deal.

I’d love to Zoom into some American school visits too, so teachers… please do get in touch!.

Take a look at some of Bug Belly's FREE froggy resources ...

Beispielkapitel von Bug Belly auf Deutsch

Bug Belly sample chapter in German 

HERE WE GO AGAIN

And so it begins, again. The frogs are making their way to my pond and gathering. The neighbours pond has dried out over winter and so I found these, and another pair, making their way round to ours. They were heading down the drive sporting this rather fetching remains of a hydrangea flower.

And then 10 days later, the first frogspawn arrived. Followed by a sharp frost overnight so I don't expect any more until the temperature picks up. 

Check out this video of frogspawn a few days later

At last - the froglets are on their way

October 2024

Much much later than expected the tiny froglets are gathering on the lawn and hopping their way over to their favourite spot - under the honeysuckle, against a wall with plenty of cover and most often wet.

I really didn't think they were going to leave the pond this year but lots of them decided 7 months was late enough. Still VERY tiny though, as you'll see if you click through to this short video.

! HAPPY WORLD FROG DAY !

! HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY !

Look out for the following offer at 

The Book Corner in Saltburn-by-the-sea

Book a FREE Zoom school visit with Paul

virtual authors.com

contact Paul - hot.frog@me.com

Or contact me direct for in-person readings and craft events. See my events page too. for the latest news on my recent visits.

This is where you'll find loads of fun, froggy crafts and exciting activities. 

Christmas promo 2023

This didn't cost as much as the popular Christmas videos on TV, but hope you like it just as much! 

Brand new video added

AMAZING FROG FACTS #1 CAMOUFLAGE

LOOKING at FROG STAGES DEVELOPMENT in my Garden Pond

Maybe you're looking for

  Resources for schools & home schooling  

or

  Videos of Paul reading the book  

Videos on How to Make & How to Draw

  Make and eat your own edible bugs (really!)  

  Or even edible frogspawn!  

  Video trailer for the book  

Read a sample chapter

  Make a forever-folding booklet  

Short video showcasing ALL the resources

Scroll down this page for lots more free stuff. Then when you've done exploring also check out the tab links at the top of this page too. Have fun!

  LATEST NEWS  

Froggy Rescue shortlisted for award

I am so very pleased and proud to share the news that Bug Belly Froggy Rescue has been shortlisted with 3 other amazing titles for this year's Lancashire School Library Service Brilliant Book Awards (BBA). What an honour! And and what excellent titles to be rubbing shoulders and book spines with. Look at these brilliant titles. Good luck everyone and fingers crossed for Bug Belly!

Grid sketching resources sheet added

Draw like a professional illustrator by copying what you see in the bottom picture into the grid squares above. It's a great method to practice drawing. You could even GO LARGE and make a giant copy of the exact same grid, and then make a giant copy of Bug Belly and pals on the lily leaf. 

Frogspawn sightings moving up the country.

MAKE SOME TREE FROGS - SAVE THE FROGS DAY

Let's celebrate our more than 8,400 frogs and toad species by learning about these colourful little tree frogs. I've created these fun FREE frog models for you to download, colour, cut out and assemble. Each frog comes with full instructions plus there's also a video available.

all the details here

•For World Book Day

Why not curl up with a copy of Babysitting Trouble and challenge yourself to Bug Belly i-Spy!? Can you find 30 images that are scattered throughout the book. Some are easy some are really tricky. How many can you find?

Two new free downloads now available.

Bug Belly i-Spy #1           Bug Belly i-Spy #2

•The BIG news is that the second book in the series will be published later this year. BUG BELLY FROGGY RESCUE has all your favourite characters, plus a few different baddies! It's an exciting and dangerous rescue mission. More details coming soon.

  TURKISH PUBLICATION  

Say Merhabe (hello in Turkish) to Koca Göbek. Bug Belly has been published in Turkey and it is quite appropriate. The original idea for Bug Belly came to me in a game I played with my nephew in Bodrum, Turkey. Here's the cover and an inside spread. Doesn't it look great in Turkish!?

All images strictly copyright © Paul Morton

THE MAKING OF A BUG BELLY ILLUSTRATION

For Babysitting Trouble I produced well over 1000 drawings. From the rough early thumbnail sketches, numerous progressive sketches to the final artwork (on each of the 96 pages). These following images show how a typical illustration was created, from sketchbook to final printed page.

Any story that I'm working on starts in my sketchbook, well actually, appears in my mind first of all, and then I put it down into my sketchbook. I see my sketchbook as my 'extra memory', like Dumbledore's pensive. Repositories for storing lots of extra ideas and images.

When the text is completed it's chopped into page spreads by my editor and book designer. They are looking for pace and page turning drama. I already know by now roughly what image I'm planning for each spread. So I can refine the sketch over and over until I feel I've captured the spirit of the story incident and the liveliness and accuracy of the characters. I'm not looking to mirror what is said in the text, but to add to and expand upon the words.

These sketches get pasted into a mocked up full 'finished' dummy book and are submitted to get approval from editorial and publisher.

 Then it's time to buckle down to the artwork. I love working in these rich black Polychromos pencils. The only downside is that if I make a mark I'm not happy with it can't easily be erased. So I redraw the scene over again. That, or digitally erase those bits after scanning the image into Photoshop.

 And it's in Photoshop, or ProCreate, that I digitally paint in the extra textures over my pencil work. I've created custom brushes that enhance the natural pencil marks. 

 These early reader books are printed in black with one extra colour. This is also added digitally and then pre-print separated before handing over to my book designer for getting print ready.

THE DUNG BEETLE is a fascinating bug.
Take time to go and research each of these fascinating bugs and you'll discover, for instance, that one Dung beetle can bury 250 times it's own weight in dung - IN ONE NIGHT!

BUG #5 THE DUNG BEETLE

PREVIOUSLY
BUG #1 TRILOBITE BEETLE

BUG #2 THE STICK INSECT

BUG #3 QUEEN TERMITE

BUG #4 THE MOLE CRICKET

BUG #4 THE MOLE CRICKET
This month I've had a special request from Eddie in Barnsley. He introduced me to the MOLE CRICKET. So please let me present to YOU to this impressive beast of a bug! Thanks Eddie.

BUG #4 THE MOLE CRICKET

PREVIOUSLY
BUG #1 TRILOBITE BEETLE

BUG #2 THE STICK INSECT

BUG #3 QUEEN TERMITE





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