Dec 07, 2022
Heather Harris, assistant professor and director of the online master’s program in communication in St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication,
has been selected by the toy company PlayMonster to illustrate a series of six children’s books launching this Christmas.
Harris, the author and illustrator of five children’s picture books, was invited to participate in a national jury process from a pool of children's illustrators and was selected to create the illustrations for a series of six books that translate
the characters and world of PlayMonster’s newest toy line into picture books that focus on developmental learning.
"I am honored PlayMonster felt I was the best fit for bringing their wonderful toys to life in the illustrated book format,” Harris said.
The new books, for children ages 1-5, are combined with a toy — a glow-in-the-dark bug — that focuses on teaching social and emotional learning lessons. The toys and their stories illuminate a child's world with adventures of wonder
designed to teach children how to handle their emotions and social learning situations, Harris said.
PHOTO: The first three books in the new PlayMonster series illustrated by Heather Harris.
Social emotional learning lessons are key milestones in the development of the preschool child and these books provide the shoulder-to-shoulder time with caregivers that is instrumental to this learning.
Each book contains a character story with a specific social emotional learning lesson and additional caregiver-child interaction prompts.
Working with the PlayMonster book team and editors, Harris created storyboards, line art, and fully finished illustrations for all six books, one book for each bug character. The total project took more than 650 hours and resulted in 76 finished illustrations
including the cover art for the books. The first three books launched Nov. 1 and are available for Christmas. They are sold online at Amazon.
The remaining three books will launch spring 2023.
Harris has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Syracuse University, an MBA from the University of Rochester, and a Master of Fine Art, Illustration, from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. She formerly worked as a senior
marketing manager at toymaker Fisher-Price in East Aurora.
She is the recipient of a number of awards and honors including a 2020 Purple Dragonfly Book Award honorable mention for Children’s Picture Book, a 2019 Big Book Award for Children’s Picture Book – Inspirational, a 2018 Moonbeam
Award for Excellence in Children’s Picture Books, a Fisher Price Excellence in Marketing Award, and a Susan B. Anthony Promise Award for excellence from the University of Rochester.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service
and citizenship. St. Bonaventure was named the #5 regional university value in the North in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 college rankings edition.