Annie is a funny colored hamster who wants to mine for gold during the American Gold Rush in California. So she leaves from her home in Spain to go to California on the back of a swimming horse. She’s attacked by flying pigs before being rescued.

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This is the latest book I illustrated at the 826 Valencia writing center for their book making field trips. The kids write the story and Illustrate it in real time. It’s a blast. It challenges you to create faster and more creatively.

From the website:

This is our most popular field trip. Students are charged with the task of writing, as a group, a story, with the help of 826 volunteers. While the students decide on character and plot points, an 826 volunteer is typing the story into a computer, which is projected onto the wall. The students can track the story’s progress, and make corrections as needed. Meanwhile, the story is being illustrated by a professional artist. As the pages are finished, they’re being copied — one set for each student — and collated in our back production room. Thus, as soon as the class finishes creating the story, we’re ready to bind the books with our in-house tape bindery. The students illustrate their covers, add their photo to the back (for an About the Author page), and go home with personalized books created as a class. This field trip teaches students about collaboration, self-editing, the bookmaking process, and elements of successful storytelling. And it’s really a good time for all. Recommended for students 7–11 years old.