iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Jime Wimmer @prettylines.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It’s official! Dorothy in Oz is now live on Kickstarter! Please have a full peek behind the creative curtain. I’d be so honored if you gave it a share! 💚🌈💚 Visit the link to learn more! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wimmerstudios/dorothy-in-oz #childrensbooks #scbwi #kidlit #kidlitart #oz #baum

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We just learned that my first picture book, Butterfly Sea, won a Reader's Favorite Illustration Award! We also won a Silver Medal in the Children: Coming of Age category! High fives to author @booksbycindy.bsky.social and to the @tielmourpress.bsky.social team! #kidlit #cankidlit #kidlitart

Cover of picture book Butterfly Sea sporting a gold Reader's Favorite Illustration Award seal. The cover, illustrated in digital watercolor, is of two sisters, the younger one in underwear and a blue blanket, rests her head on her older's sister's lap. The older sister wears a blue t-shirt, pink floral pants, and a brown photographer's vest. There is an old camera hanging from her neck. The kids are Mi'kmaq. They sit in grass and flowers with the sea in the background.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hey, it's #kidlitartpostcard day! This image is from my second picture book, coming out this month! Are you still reading? Are you an agent? Are you an art director? Let's see about working together! ml.couet@gmail.com #cankidlit #kidlit #kidlitart #illustration #illustrator #design #designer

A blond haired brother wearing an orange t-shirt and brown shorts holds hands with his blond sister, who is wearing a red dress and an orange sea anemone head band. They are both wearing green flippers, masks, and snorkel tube while floating in space above the Earth, which takes up most of the image. The moon is rising beyond the horizon of the Earth and stars are in the dark blue background. The work is painted in digital watercolor. Marie-Laure is written over a cloudy part of the earth in jumbled letters next to the text "Picture Book Illustrator, ml.couet@gmail.com, marielaurecouet.myportfolio.com."

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

You guyyys! I've been a published illustrator since 2003! That was also the year my art professor told me I should major in art but nooo. I had to choose a "serious" degree. In the end, my choices informed who I am now. I regret nothing! #illustration #illustrator #kidlit #kidlitart #botanical #ink

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Character design is also a struggle. But when you get an idea to make it more than the words on the page? Omg, so juicy. My author is asking for elves. Researched all kinds of fae to figure out what this particular elf would look like. They appear under a full moon and fly? Moth elf! #kidlitart

Sketch of a character design that looks like a cross between a moth and a child.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Oh, it's #kidlitartpostcard AGAIN? What--it happens like every month, or something? Well, here's me struggling through the first pass at a storyboard this morning. If that's boring, go here and see the new images I put up: marielaurecouet.myportfolio.com Xoxox #kidlit #kidlitart #cankidlit

A picture of illustrator Marie-Laure Couët, sitting at her desk, pencil in hand, looking down at her sketchbook, thinking deeply about the last few spreads of a new picture book she's storyboarding.

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Vicky Weber - Agent, Author, Educator 📚 @vickyweberbooks.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Nobody warns you that a creative career is 30% making things and 70% following up on emails about the things.

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Debbie Ridpath Ohi @debbieohi.com · 31/07/2026

In this thread, I'm going to highlight just a few of the many wonderful artists whose work I'm seeing in this year's SCBWI Summer Conference Portfolio Showcase at #scbwiSummer26. Note: I am not a judge this year; I can't link to indiv portfolios so am linking to artists instead. 🩷

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

It's #KidLitArtPostcard day so here's a delicious nugget for you to savour. I'm looking at you, art directors looking to publish your next, great nature-based picture book. Considering self-publishing? Join me on Reedsy : reedsy.com/marie-laure-... xo

Kid Lit Art Postcard themed postcard. Illustration is digital watercolor of bird's eye view closeup of flowers in shades of pink and red and purple. These are flowers that attract butterflies. In the top right corner you see the head of a brown haired, light brown skinned girl with her eyes closed, lying in the grass beside the flowers. She's wrapped in a blue blanket and there's a monarch butterfly resting on her forehead. At the bottom of the postcard written in dark blue against a light pink background is Marie-Laure in jumbled letters on the left and "Picture Book Illustrator, ml.couet@gmail.com, marielaurecouet.myportfolio.com."

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

It’s incredible how the sky from yesterday’s walk matches the opening spreads of #ButterflySea. Art by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social matches the February mood. It’s a picture book about a young photographer searching for butterflies but it’s really about relationships, making memories, and hope.

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

April Berry | KidLit @aprilberrybooks.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

A new Picture Book Postcard just fluttered into my virtual mailbox! 🦋📬️✨ Such a lovely book! BUTTERFLY SEA Author: @booksbycindy.bsky.social Illustrator: @marielaurecouet.bsky.social Publisher: @tielmourpress.bsky.social Read the postcard here: aprilberrybooks.com/butterfly-se...

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

4 🇨🇦 books full of ❤️ Friendship, family, and ❤️ for 🍃 Play date Surprise by @karenautio.bsky.social and Laura Watson Kenzie’s Little Tree by @alisonmcgauley.bsky.social and Emilie Leduc Butterfly Sea by me and @marielaurecouet.bsky.social If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe by me and Vikki Zhang

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

If you're interested in the thoughts and planning behind our new picture book, please check out our interview with @marianarios.bsky.social <3

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Happy #kidlitartpostcard day! I'm please to be able to start sharing the spreads I created for my recent picture book, Butterfly Sea, published last month with @tielmourpress.bsky.social, written by @booksbycindy.bsky.social. I'm open to new projects and representation. reedsy.com/marie-laure-...

Double page spread illustration from picture book Butterfly Sea, pub. date Jan 30 2026 from Tielmour Press. Shows a bird's eye view of a gull flying over a house to the left by the sea. Two children are walking toward the water's edge. There are summer flowers blooming to the bottom and right. Across the bay we see a town by the water's edge. The sun is rising in an orange sky and there are dark clouds hanging.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Butterfly Sea keeps going up on the Amazon rankings! For Children's Bug and Spider book it went from #537 yesterday morning to #332 last night to #178 this morning. Thank you everyone!! #kidlit #kidlitart #cankidlit #kidlitmegafeed #illustration #illustrator #design #designer

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Stopped in at Indigo Kids Mayfair and found BUTTERFLY SEA (art by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social ) next to its companion, IF A BUMBLEBEE LANDS ON YOUR TOE ( Art by #VikkiZhang) 🦋 🐝 #yyj #books #bookbirthday #kidlit #CanKidLit

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Looking for my book on release day… #ButterflySea #kidlit #picturebook #pretendplay #siblings #nature #photography Illustrated by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social Published by @tielmourpress.bsky.social A portion of proceeds go to reforestation. 🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

BUTTERFLY SEA is going up in the rankings! This morning it was #537 and now it’s up to #332 in Children’s Bug and Spider Books! 📚 🐛 🦋 Climbing the ranks! Even with a small indie press! WOW! 🤩

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

It’s todaaaaayyyyyy! Happy Book Birthday to #ButterflySea! We are thrilled to see our gorgeous book fluttering out into the world today! Words by me Art by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social Published by @tielmourpress.bsky.social #Libsky #CanKidLit #Edusky #KidLitMegaFeed #kidlit #nature #picturebook

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to Butterfly Sea! Today's the day! Cindy Mackey, Tielmour Press, and I made a legitimately excellent book. Thank you to everyone who's pre-ordered. If you're interested in getting a first edition copy don't delay! #kidlit #kidlitart #cankidlit #illustration #illustrator #design

A laughing Marie-Laure Couët, illustrator of picture book Butterfly Sea, holding said book, sort of wrapped like a newborn baby.

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Debbie Ridpath Ohi @debbieohi.com · 29/01/2026

Winners of the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Awards share their reactions in @pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social: Renée Watson: Newbery 'Tears Of Joy' Cátia Chien: Caldecott 'Wait, Is This What I Think It Means?' Cynthia Leitich Smith @cynleitichsmith.bsky.social: Printz 'Genuinely Gobmacked' #KidLit

Three children’s book covers shown side by side. From left to right: All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson, featuring a girl looking to the side against a blue sky; Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Catia Chien, showing fireworks bursting over silhouetted figures; and Legendary Frybread Drive-In, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, depicting people gathered around a table with frybread in a colorful, illustrated scene.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

My Butterfly Sea copies just arrived!!@booksbycindy.bsky.social

A happy but under the weather Marie-Laure, illustrator of Butterfly Sea, the picture book she is holding toward the camera to show off. On the cover of the book you sea two siblings sitting in the grass with a few small butterflies and a bit of a breeze. The ocean is in the background.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

My mom shared Carrie's review with me a number of weeks ago and I was thrilled at how deeply she went. And how positive!

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Patricia Brown @patbrownbooks.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Yay! I received my postcard and bookmark for Butterfly Sea! This beautiful book reminds us to enjoy the quiet surprises that life has to offer us, and a portion of the sales supports reforestation. 🥰 🦋 🌳#ButterflySea @booksbycindy.bsky.social @marielaurecouet.bsky.social @tielmourpress.bsky.social

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Patricia Brown @patbrownbooks.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

..if instead, you meet a mermaid asking for ice cream, give her some.❤️ 🧜‍♀️ 🍦 I can't wait until this beautiful book is out in the world! #ButterflySea @booksbycindy.bsky.social @marielaurecouet.bsky.social @tielmourpress.bsky.social

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Jenny Mattern @jengelmattern.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

I'm a sucker for a broody seascape, so this 2-page spread in #ButterflySea made me swoon. Only 15 more days until this gorgeous picture book is available for purchase! @booksbycindy.bsky.social @tielmourpress.bsky.social @marielaurecouet.bsky.social

Illustration from the picture book, Butterfly Sea, shows a seaside scene in shades of greys and greens. Ominous clouds cover the sky. To the left of the picture, a two-story house perches on the grassy shoreline, the glow from its windows adding light to the scene.

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Day 2! Each day until release day I’m posting one of my butterfly images. 🦋 🌊 🧜‍♀️ Celebrating our new picture book, BUTTERFLY SEA, with illustrations by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social and published by @tielmourpress.bsky.social link in bio Available for pre-order from University of Toronto Press.

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

I will be reading this book… with gorgeous illustrations by @marielaurecouet.bsky.social

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

My son came home from daycare clucking like a chicken. Yes, baby boy. It would be an honor to make you a chicken.

Close-up photo of purple plasticene chicken held between fingers. The chicken was made quickly but with love. It's silly looking and rough.

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Reposted by Marie-Laure Couët

Troy Wilson @troystory.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Two great books that go great together. Both are beautiful, poetic, and instructive. Both explore big feelings about little creatures. Author @booksbycindy.bsky.social sees them as companion books and I totally agree.

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Cynthia Mackey, Butterfly Sea, out now! @booksbycindy.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Ohmygoodness, thank you @troystory.bsky.social and @jilanne.bsky.social I’m glad you appreciate IF A BUMBLEBEE LANDS ON YOUR TOE and BUTTERFLY SEA! We are so proud of our picture books! I’m grateful for the work of @marielaurecouet.bsky.social and #VikkiZhang and the opportunity to collaborate. 🐝 🦋

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Butterfly Sea earned Kirkus Review 'Get It' accolade! "Couët's watercolor-style illustrations drive the story, offering beautiful, sweeping landscapes of butterflies flying over a body of water and endearing close-ups of the children examining insects. A sweet tale of childhood with lovely images."

Screenshot of Kirkus Review page for Butterfly Sea picture book by Cynthia Mackey and Marie-Laure Couët. Image includes a thumbnail of cover, featuring the two main characters resting in the grass on a windy day with butterflies and the sea in the background. Image is mostly text of the review:
BUTTERFLY SEA
BY CYNTHIA MACKEY
ILLUSTRATED BY MARIE-LAURE COUËT
RELEASE DATE: DEC. 15, 2025
A sweet tale of childhood with lovely images.
A pair of kids go on a hunt for butterflies in Mackey's picture book.
An unnamed protagonist dons a special khaki vest and borrows Grandma's camera before heading out of a house to look for butterflies. They're pursued by a much younger child, and the second-person narration recommends that "if trouble follows you, embrace it." (Both characters are portrayed with pale skin.) As the older child continues to look for butterflies, the toddler pretends to be a mermaid, a pirate, and a shark. Each time, the protagonist keeps the younger one entertained: offering the shark Goldfish crackers, for example, and telling the pirate where to find secret treasure. The pair hide out in lilac bushes but only find snails and caterpillars, until finally "one butterfly, two butterflies, more butterflies flutter up, up, up into the sea-blue sky" as they look on. Mackey's text is engaging yet sparse, offering tantalizingly few details about the kids, which effectively invites the reader to ask questions about their backstory: What are their names? Are they siblings?
Where are the grown-ups? Couët's watercolor-style illustrations drive the story, offering beautiful, sweeping landscapes of butterflies flying over a body of water and endearing close-ups of the children examining insects. A sweet tale of childhood with lovely images.
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Tielmour Press
Review posted online: Nov 4 2025
Kirkus Review Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Review Program: KIRKUS INDIE
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S HEALTH DAILY LIVING

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Thank you so much for your review, Patricia! 🥰

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Brian LaRossa @brianlarossa.com · 06/11/2025

Hey illustrators/agents! I’m a #kidlit art director starting work on a new picture book—we’re looking for: expressive, commercial, human characters; texture (printmakingish); AND BATS! Lively, active, swarming BATS! Please respond w/ samples + folio link. Please no emails/DMs. 💙❤️ #artcommissions

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Happy #kidlitartpostcard day! Before getting into illustration and design I was a cheesemaker. I never got tired of witnessing the magic of seeing liquid milk flocculate and coagulate into silk. While I miss having excellent cheese on hand, I'm so happy to have moved into visual art. #kidlit

#kidlitartpostcard illustration of Marie-Laure in a hairnet and apron, leaning over a vat of coagulated milk and holding a curd ladle. However, the illustration, made in digital watercolor and collage, uses a photograph of a bright blue, sunny sky with fluffy white clouds in place of a stainless steel cheese vat and cheese curds. Marie-Laure appears to be leaning into the sky. Her t-shirt was created using a photograph of an old map of Europe, illustrated in blues, greens, and yellows, with Latin names of locations. The background of the illustration has a very reduced opacity for a watermark effect and uses photographs of the front and back of a postcard from Corsica, as well as a closeup of the postcard's stamp. In the middleground in two blues that match the sky of the cheese vat, we find the stylized name of the illustrator: a jumble of letters forming "Marie-Laure" as well as "ml.couet@gmail.com" on the vertical and a stacked "Picture Book Illustrator" right below the name.

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Again, Cynthia is a promo beast! We made a real, live book! 💚

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

I am so grateful that Cynthia is so on top of promoting our picture book! 💚

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Marie-Laure Couët @marielaurecouet.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

My first book is coming out in December. Cover reveal coming soon!

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Brian LaRossa @brianlarossa.com · 19/09/2025

Hey #kidlit illustrators! We’re beginning to think through a mythology-themed beginning-reader series. I'm looking for someone w/ a commercial/punchy, character-forward style who can breath life into ancient lore. Please respond w/ samples + folio link. Please no emails/DMs. 💙❤️ #artcommissions

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Brian LaRossa @brianlarossa.com · 14/09/2025

Hey #kidlit illustrators, it has been a few months (a lot going on this year) but I’ll be posting an open call for samples tomorrow. Stay tuned! 💙❤️

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