Illustoria, Oakland, CA (2025)

08/12/2025

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the release party for Issue 27: BUGS at Mother Foucault’s Bookshop in Portland! 🐞

Visitors hunted for rubber bugs among the bookshelves, tried drawing Peacock Dancing Spiders at the art table, and many gummy worms were gobbled. 🐛

⁠We are so thrilled to have this stunning issue out in the world. Catch yours: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-27-bugs?taxon_id=1

08/07/2025

Calling all bookworms 🪱 beetle fans 🎶🪲 and love bugs 💕.... Illustoria's Issue 27: BUGS is HERE!

🐞 📣To celebrate this vibrant, breathtaking issue, we’re offering $7 off subscriptions until Sunday, August 10th 🐞📣

In this issue—featuring a tiny insect theater on the cover, by Jesús Cisneros—discover the wide-ranging spectrum of bugs, from hideous to glorious. 🦟

Learn how to draw a peacock jumping spider 🕷️, roam a caterpillar 🐛 maze, and check out bug-themed books 📚️🐝 selected and reviewed by elementary school students. Read an in-depth interview with our cover artist, Jesús. Laugh out loud to a bug fashion spread created by Lauren Tamaki. Plus, enjoy much more in the form of music and art supply recommendations, fiction by young writers, comics, DIYs, and beyond. 🦋

Grab your subscription or single issue: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/t/categories/illustoria

07/15/2025

Portlanders! You are cordially invited to our 🐞 Issue 27: BUGS release party 🐞.

When: Sunday, July 27, 2025; 4 - 6 pm
Where: Mother Foucault's Bookshop, 715 SE Grand Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97214
Tickets: FREE
For: All ages!

Find out what artists, writers, and poets have to say about these tiny, creepy-crawly, unsung heroes that make the world go round!

Draw a bug, Dress like a bug, Eat a Bug! Just kidding, though gummy worms will be served! 🪱 Join our 🐛 Bug Scavenger Hunt 🐛, grab your copy of the 72-page issue, subscribe, or both. Hope to see you there!

07/03/2025

We are SO EXCITED to be tabling at SF Art Book Fair (SFABF)! We look forward to this event the entire year and can't believe it's happening next week.

As one of the most anticipated, FREE, large-scale annual Bay Area arts events, SFABF celebrates art publishing and print culture, bringing together independent publishers, artists, designers, collectors, and enthusiasts from around the world.

Find us at the McSweeney's booth, A44
Location: 1275 Minnesota Street, SF, CA 94107

Join us:
Thursday, July 10: 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm (opening night preview)
Friday, July 11: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday, July 12: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday, July 13: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Find more details: sfartbookfair.com

06/24/2025

🦋Get ready to spread your wings and fly, burrow as deep as you can go, and march with your ten thousand closest friends, because our summer issue is coming next month: Illustoria #27: Bugs! 🐛🐞🦂

The latest issue of our beloved magazine for young readers features a stunning, sculptural cover by Jesús Cisneros .cisneros.ilustrador. Join us as we bring a magnifying lens 🔎 to this miniature universe and celebrate those tiniest of heroes that keep our planet humming. 🐝

✨️Subscribe before July 1st to receive a $5 discount and start off with this hive of creative ideas!✨️

Make delicious peanut butter snails 🐌 with our in-house DogChef, create bug face masks out of found 🪶objects, and learn how to draw a peacock jumping spider 🕷️. Check out drawings of bugs as superheroes 🦸🏿‍♀️ by youth artists from Montenegro and Hungary; discover insect factoids (curated by Lauren Tamaki ) guaranteed to keep your brain 🧠 buzzing; go on an 🐜 ant farm tour with comic artist ; plus bug-themed brain teasers; book, music, and art-supply recommendations; bug avatars; 🧩 puzzles; comics; and so much more as we explore those stinging, biting, web-spinning, and endlessly fascinating creatures that make up 80 percent of the world’s animal life!

Link in bio to shop!

06/24/2025

Get ready to spread your wings and fly, burrow as deep as you can go, and march with your ten thousand closest friends, because our summer issue is coming next month: Illustoria #27: Bugs! 🐛🐞🦂

Inside the latest issue of our beloved magazine for young readers featuring a stunning, sculptural cover by Jesús Cisneros. Join us as we bring a magnifying lens 🔎 to this miniature universe and celebrate those tiniest of heroes that keep our planet humming. 🐝

✨️Subscribe before July 1st to receive a $5 discount and start off with this hive of creative ideas!✨️

https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-subscription?taxon_id=1

Make delicious peanut butter snails 🐌 with our in-house DogChef, create bug face masks out of found 🪶objects, and learn how to draw a peacock jumping spider 🕷️. Check out drawings of bugs as superheroes 🦸🏿‍♀️ by youth artists from Montenegro and Hungary; discover insect factoids (curated by Lauren Tamaki ) guaranteed to keep your brain 🧠 buzzing; go on an 🐜 ant farm tour with comic artist ; plus bug-themed brain teasers; book, music, and art-supply recommendations; bug avatars; 🧩 puzzles; comics; and so much more as we explore those stinging, biting, web-spinning, and endlessly fascinating creatures that make up 80 percent of the world’s animal life!

06/23/2025

🐛🐞 Announcing our next issue theme.... BUGS! 🐛🐞
⁠
Our bugs issue is devoted to these tiniest of heroes that keep our planet humming. Join along as we take a curious gaze and a magnifying lens to examine this miniature universe!

This issue features a cover (and full-length interview) with Jesús Cisneros, a celebrated artist and illustrator from Spain.
⁠
💌 Sign up for our newsletter and be the FIRST to see Jesús' stunning cover art and learn about our month long sale: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/EoipcAc

05/30/2025

We LOVE seeing process photos from our artists! Take a look at how Jungmin Lee created her quietly comforting watercolor paintings for Issue 26: BLUE's Story Starter activity. Grab your copy:

05/29/2025

In every issue of Illustoria, we publish writing from young authors from around the world. 🌎️

In our current Issue 26: BLUE, we asked students from the International Alliance of Youth Writing to submit stories about why the sky became blue.

After reviewing a huge pile of fantastic writing, we selected this imaginative story by 8-year-old Asra from San Francisco's 826Valencia, their Tenderloin location! 📺️☁️

Their story "50,000 Years", gloriously illustrated by our long-time contributor Charlotte Ager.

Feeling inspired? Grab your copy: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-26-blue

05/20/2025

📢 CALL FOR KID ART 📢⁠ Deadline: Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
⁠
This is an opportunity for a talented young artist to have their work published in the next print issue of the magazine!
⁠
Submit a drawing of your IDEAL, FANTASY CAKE! 🍰💭🏰
⁠
Questions to ponder to assist your drawing: What flavors does your cake contain? Is it covered in dragonfruit, or perhaps in the shape of a guitar 🎸? Is it ten feet tall, or the size of a penny? The more original, the better!

Chosen artwork will be published in 🍪Illustoria 28: DESSERT🍪, which will come out in November 2025. Submit work to⁠
"[email protected]" with the subject line “FANTASY CAKE” for a chance to have it featured.

Deadline: May 27, 2025. ⁠✏️⁠
⁠
⚠️ IMPORTANT: Include the artist’s name, age, city, and state. If you can, please submit the image as an attached JPG. ⚠️⁠
⁠
This call is open to artists up to 14 years old anywhere in the world. ⁠⁠🌎️⁠
⁠
P.S. If you submitted artwork for our previous call for submissions, THANK YOU! We are a tiny team, and we are doing our best to write back to all of you incredible artists as fast as we can. Thank you so much for your continued patience and for submitting! 🙏🏼

05/13/2025

🏖️ FLASH SALE ALERT: 3 issues for $28! 24 hours only 🏖️

Summer is just around the corner, and that means visits to pools, rivers, oceans, lagoons, and all manner of watery spaces! 🌊

What better way to get into the summer mindset than with three issues of Illustoria for ✨️ just $28✨️? For the next 24 hours, subscribe and get THREE issues for this special price, starting with Issue 26: BLUE, a glorious exploration of the color, mood, and music genre.

Before summer vacation is through, receive 🐛 Issue 27: Bugs, a thrilling adventure of insect-themed facts, stories, and games. Just in time for the holidays, round out your subscription with 🍧 Issue 28: Dessert, an edition bursting with sweet recipes.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY via link in bio for a year of flourishing creativity, with a $12 savings ‼️ https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-subscription?taxon_id=1

Sale ends Wednesday, May 14, at 6:00 PM PST.

04/24/2025

Hear ye, hear ye! Don't miss a very special book signing & reading with the indelible LEMONY SNICKET & LISA BROWN at our very fabulous, brand new ✨️International Library of Youth Writing✨️ , a special zone for young writers to present their work in the Mission District.

WHERE: International Library of Youth Writing, 849 Valencia, SF, CA
WHEN: Sunday, April 27, 12 PM
TICKETS: FREE
WHO: Family-friendly & all-ages!
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-signing-and-reading-with-lemony-snicket-and-lisa-brown-tickets-1304447961969

This dynamic duo will be presenting 🐟️ GOLDFISH GHOST 🐟️, a comical exploration of what happens after your pet goldfish crosses over 🪦

Finally, be sure to give a follow to stay up-to-date with all of the rad writing events we have coming up: https://www.instagram.com/youthwritingalliance/

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