Introducing The American Book of Fables!

Confessions of an Artist's Wife Vol. 1
( aka: Notes from Deirdre )

What is The American Book of Fables? you ask. ​

The latest book from John and his friend and collaborator, author Matthew Mehan. It is for sure their magnum opus to date -- a much more ambitious and weighty (literally - it's 396 pages) book even than their previous two, Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals and The Handsome Little Cygnet. 


It's a compendium, a great collection, at once a sampler of traditional American wisdom and new American literature, and chock full of new American art (by John!). 
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  Initial sketch for the oil painting that turned out to be the cover! ​

Nursery rhymes - old and new - poems, tales - old and new... Matthew has adapted and retold many of Aesop's fables with American wildlife (here the fox and the hare give way to the buffalo and the map turtle) and written original fables for today's reader. There are also selections from original sources: founding Fathers, letters from Abigail Adams, stories gleaned from accounts of the old Wild West, and much more.


Fables is divided into sections, each one exploring a different geographic region of the United States and each one also representing the principles put forth in a different literary section of the Declaration of Independence. 


So you could say that it's a work, for the whole family to enjoy, highlighting the whole nation, as a grand celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. 

The book is available and set to launch officially on May 19th. Purchasing information is at the bottom of the page, but for now I just want to take you behind the scenes some more on the massive collection of artwork you will find in these pages! ​

Artists on Fire

One of the most amazing things about this book - to my mind - is how it was produced. Both author and illustrator are very busy guys, and they identified a window about 4-5 months long in which they could get this done. 
After a lot of preparation in the form of deep research on Matthew's part and cross-country travel (John was able to join Matthew on a tour of some of the great National Parks for inspiration), they cleared their calendars starting in November and dove in! 
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Never before had John illustrated a book while it was being written. While Matthew, in Northern VA, was churning out the written Fables, John, in MA, was painting in tandem. Sharing ideas back and forth, discussing stories and imagery, plotting and planning, they both kept long hours and rode the creative wave for weeks upon weeks.

"Perfect for reading aloud together, The American Book of Fables is a loving celebration of America’s landscape, heritage, and enduring ideals. Beautifully illustrated by John Folley, this patriotic treasury reminds us — and teaches the next generation — of the high principles, dangerous freedoms, and shared memories that make our country not just great, but good."
Justin Shubow
President of the National Civic Art Society

At the outset, John's assignment was to produce thirteen oil paintings - each 3'x5' - one for each section of the book; a few dozen small watercolor paintings; and an accompanying collection of small line drawings to sprinkle through the text. 
Matthew always has ambitious and complex visions for the illustrations for his books, every image loaded with symbolism and layers of references and action! Somehow John takes it all in and rises to the occasion time after time. 

By day, John would paint the large oil paintings like this one here.

By evening, he would come home for family dinner, help settle the little kids to bed, read aloud to the big kids, and then either head back to the studio for more oil painting or set up shop in the dining room to produce watercolors, three at a time. 


In between and while the watercolors dried, he had ink drawings to do. And there were always phonecalls to have with the author to go over the latest ideas! 

By the time that the book was complete and heading to the printer, John had literally lost count of how many little paintings and drawings he ended up completing to enhance the many pages of this book. ​

As we hit March of this year, the clock was ticking. The pressure was on, as the publisher wanted to make sure to have the book in hand well in advance of a July 4th release to celebration the nation's 250th! 
Believe me, this author-illustrator team worked until the eleventh hour, practically sending the final pages into the press while the first ones were already on their way out! 
It was an amazing creative process to witness. 

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A thread running through the book is the travels of the lovably clumsy character Hugh Manatee (say it out loud - get it?). John produced this little guy from clay in order to reshape and re-pose him for the various adventures to be depicted in the stories. Definitely his most unusual in-studio model to date!
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When the paintings were all done and dry, John brought them to his favorite art reproduction photographer at Image-Tec, where his buddy there worked the magic to render these works into digital form for the publisher. It's a masterful process and the rendering in the book is as close to life as you're gonna get with today's reprinting technology! 
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John has since handed the original paintings off to Matthew, who was visiting with us just a few weeks ago on the occasion of a book launch of sorts. They will continue to travel with him on his book tour and he has some exciting plans for where some of them may end up (if they're not purchased along the way!). ​

Why did they do it? 

At the end of the day, this huge creative push (the culmination of years of planning, pondering, research, and study) is the result of a pure artistic desire on the part of John and Matthew. 
They genuinely wanted to produce a book that would be edifying, would be awesome, would be a continuation of a great tradition and also truly new and original... something great for families to share because it's beautiful and deep and inspiring, and also because it's fun! 

We hope you will love it! 

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How to buy?? 

Enough of this behind-the-scenes chit-chat! You want to know how to get your hands on this book!!

1. Pre-order on Amazon! 
2. Then, ASAP, please write (if you deem it worthy — we hope!) a five star review on Amazon!
3. Share the Amazon link to your friends and family (or just forward this email).

Launch week is May 19-May 22 - your purchase in this window is very helpful to us!​

If you want to really support John's illustration work (and we have high hopes for the release of this book, which is why time is of the essence for orders), please also request the book at your local bookstore and local library! Every purchase, glowing review, and library request helps in the 'bestseller' tallies! 
Thank you!

Rooted in the beauty, drama, and grandeur of America itself, The American Book of Fables invites young readers into our shared inheritance of place, principle, and possibility. These are not empty tales, but living stories that echo with the rhythms of rivers, mountains, and the enduring ideals that have defined this nation at its best.
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This is the kind of book that belongs in every home. Read it aloud. Return to it often. Let it do its quiet, steady work."
                                                         —Jeremy Tate, founder of the Classical Learning Test