Color, Cut, Create Play Sets: Horse Ranch

Growing up, Merrill Rainey spent most of his Saturday afternoons drawing, watching monster movies, and going on imaginary adventures. Today, he is a cowboy-boot-wearing, picture-book-creator and paper-toy-maker. Merrill’s work focuses on exploring creativity and imaginative play. He creates his work tra-digitally; sometimes with pencils, or paper, other times using traditional painting techniques digitally. Whether he is working with traditional or digital mediums, Merrill’s work is full of deep storytelling, rich textures, and a wonderful sense of color! His current titles include Giants Are Very Brave People (2023 Cybils Awards nominee) written by Florence Parry Heide, Roar! I’m a Dinosaur (winner of the Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Board Book of 2022), Oink! I’m a Pig, and the Color, Cut, Create series. His newest title My First Town; A Building Block Book is a modern take on the classic children's building block toys. My First Town empowers children to know that if they can fold a sheet of paper four times to create a block, and add a little bit of creativity and ingenuity, then they can build anything!

Odd Dot is a boutique imprint that publishes author-driven brands, select licensing partnerships, fiction, nonfiction, and innovative formats for ages 0-12. From toy-like board books and trend-setting sticker collections, to inspirational picture books and more, we are always steered by kids' interests and the transformative power of reading. Odd Dot's core mission is to craft books that inspire joy, foster connections, and ignite curiosity―all the while having a ton of fun together. Harnessing the magic of collaboration, Odd Dot specializes in delivering exceptional originality in whatever form our ideas and partnerships take.