Kids Comics Pitchfest 2023 Showcase

Robot & Dinosaur

When a robot from the future meets a dinosaur from the past…what could possibly go wrong? After time-traveling through space, Robot crash lands on prehistoric Earth – with more than a few circuits crossed – and just narrowly missing Dinosaur. Unsure what to make of each other at first, the less-than-dynamic duo finds themselves teaming up in a series of short stories to take on unexpected adventures. Trapped in caves, scaling mountains, falling into volcanoes and diving deep into the ocean, they discover an unlikely friendship while figuring out how to coexist – or at least how to fix a spaceship – before they both become extinct!

My Why:

Growing up, my best friend came from what might as well have been another planet. A shy and quiet kid, I was obsessed with Saturday morning cartoons. He was uber-popular and played sports – my worst nightmare. Yet somehow, we not only had a lot in common but also had a lot of our own unlikely adventures as well.

Today, as a father who is still obsessed with Saturday morning cartoons, this book was inspired by characters I created during the 2019 Inktober challenge. My hope is that it celebrates and teaches my daughter and other young readers that friendships can come from the most unlikely situations and that no matter how unique we all are, we all have something valuable to share.

Ollie & Mollie Use Their Noodles

Martians Ollie and Mollie are bored. They decide that a trip to Earth would be, well, out of this world. But after a lot of miles – and even more mac & cheese – the two soon discover that there are some things about the planet that they just don’t understand.

But they’re determined to find out. So on the advice of Earthlings, Ollie and Mollie try to act like the locals and “use their noodles”. That is, until they figure out that even the longest strand of spaghetti isn’t exactly going to help them blend in.

Ollie & Mollie Use Their Noodles is a rhyming picture book for new and pre-readers. It is a currently a stand-alone book, but will soon become part of a series of Ollie & Mollie adventures.

My Why:

When my kids were little, rhyming books were their favorite. Or maybe they were my favorite to read to them. Either way, one of the best rhyming books they had was given to us by my now creative partner, Matt, and his wife. Now parents themselves, I had the pleasure of gifting that same book back to them for their little one. Because that’s what children’s books do – they become irreplaceable memories of time snuggling our kids, sharing imagination and hoping the story never ends.

We hope that our children’s book creates those same memories, with a few giggles sprinkled in and a whole lot of snuggling time.