Hello, I'm Bob. My job is to make fun stuff for kids. I start out with stories and they usually turn into books, sometimes toys, occasionally a TV show.  I grew up in a little town outside of Cleveland called Grafton, Ohio.  I studied at Columbus College of Art & Design and Syracuse University.  I came to Kansas City to work at Hallmark Cards.  I had a great time and a wonderful career at Hallmark, but the time came for me to have another adventure.  So, here I am.

I'm represented by the lovely folks at Studio Goodwin-Sturges.

Follow me on Instagram, (I'm not a great Facebook friend) or send me an email. bob@bobkolarbooks.com

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View fullsize Packaging on the Space dogs puzzle was fun. It was shaped like a rocket. There was also a little planet shaped attachment that was riveted on. When you moved it, the third astronaut was revealed. The difficult part of designing this was getting t
View fullsize Sample day. Space dogs, a new little puzzle I created for Djeco. I know it’s available in the EU right now.
View fullsize “Here We Go Digging Dinosaur Bones” takes place in the fossil rich Hell’s Creek area of Montana. While out in the field, our paleontologists encounter some of the local wildlife that isn’t extinct. The last image are some of
View fullsize If you were to ask me what is the best thing to draw. I think my answer would be the same now as it was when I was 5, 10, 25, or 50 years old. A T-Rex of course. This beast is from “Here We Go Digging Dinosaur Bones”. My amazing author
View fullsize Real paleontology isn’t exactly like Jurassic Park. “Here We Go Digging Dinosaur Bones” tries to show what actually happens. It’s not as action packed, but nobody gets eaten. #kidslit #kidslitart #picturebook #chldrensbooks #
View fullsize Getting ready for an adventure, from “Here We Go Digging Dinosaur Bones”. #kidslit #kidslitart #picturebook #chldrensbooks #vectorillustration #storybook #childrensbookillustration #childrensbookillustrator
View fullsize The end pages for “Here We Go Digging Dinosaur Bones”. I like it when the front and back are different and can help tell the story. #kidslit #kidslitart #picturebook #chldrensbooks #vectorillustration #storybook #childrensbookillustratio
View fullsize Always a good day when a box of new books arrives. This is my newest with author Susan Lendroth. It is similar to our Mars book. This one tackles paleontology. Out next week. #kidslit #kidslitart #picturebook #chldrensbooks #vectorillustration #sto
View fullsize The puffer fish from Give Me Back My Bones.
View fullsize I loved working in the longer horizontal format of Trucker & Train. It made sense for a train book. I tried to make it even wider, but non-standard size means non- standard costs....sigh.
View fullsize A scary moment when Trucker saves the day. This is a good example of what a challenge a picture book can be. In a few simple sentences a manuscript can set up a very complex scene. Visualizing it clearly so a young mind can understand the plot and
View fullsize Way to go Frank and Bean!
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