THE MIRACLE launching August 18

Hello friends, I hope this update finds you well and that you are enjoying the Dog Days of Summer. I know I am.

This is a brief note to let you know that in less than two weeks I will be launching the crowdfunding campaign to publish a collection of five of my best autobiographical cartoon essays into one deluxe hardcover book entitled, The Miracle.

Please visit the link to the pre-launch page and sign up to receive an email notification once this project goes live and gain access to discounted Early Bird reward tiers.

From the campaign page: From Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist, Mike Dawson, comes an all-new graphic novel collecting five of his most thoughtful and acclaimed long-form cartoon essays. With signature humor and emotional honesty, these thematically intertwined stories explore the ways we construct our self-identities through memory, history, music, and art. Whether reflecting on taking his son to see Back to the Future on the big screen, or wrestling with Scottish identity, or revisiting a much-maligned Queen album that became unexpectedly meaningful, Dawson takes the small and familiar moments in life, and transforms them into meditations on modern living, nostalgia, beauty, regret, and belonging.

Booking Cartooning Lessons for the 2026-2027 Academic Year

Around this time of year is when I try to spend a little part of each of my days sending out inquiries and queries to School Librarians and PTA Chairs to spread the word about my Cartooning Lessons assemblies and workshop programs. I believe this will be my fourth year actively traveling to schools and speaking to young audiences, and I am pleased to already have a number of wonderful visits lined up and in the works. I usually do pretty well as the school calendar progresses, but this is the most I’ve had already scheduled by this point in the year. It portends well!

If you are a school librarian, educator, or PTA Chair (or know any of these people), please reach out, I’d love to start a conversation about setting something up.

Speaking of comics and educators, I’ll have more on this in the coming months, but a small but exciting bit of news is that I should be attending the NCTE Conference in Philadelphia this coming November, where I’ll be engaging with English teachers about my new middle-grade graphic novel, The Hidden Dominion of Geordie James. We are in the process of developing teacher resources and lesson plans. More information on this to come!

Thanks for reading along,

Mike