# One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary - Hardcover

by **Carson Ellis** (Illustrator), **Carson Ellis** (Author)

**"Feels like reading a love story that doesn't quite know it's a love story yet, and a success story that doesn't know it's made it****."**  
\--**Emma Straub, _New York Times_\-bestselling author of _This Time Tomorrow_**

**Award-winning, beloved children's book author and illustrator Carson Ellis makes a stunning adult debut with an illustrated memoir that evocatively captures a specific cultural moment of the early 2000s and in her journey as an artist.**

In January 2001, the young artist Carson Ellis moved into a warehouse in Portland, Oregon, with a group of fellow artists. For the first week she lived there, she kept a detailed diary full of dry observations, mordant wit, hijinks with friends (including her future husband, Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy), and turn-of-the-millennium cultural touchstones. Now, Ellis has richly illustrated this two-decade-old journal with extraordinary new paintings in the signature style that has made her an award-winning picture book author today.

This beautiful volume offers a snapshot of a bygone era, a meticulous re-creation of quotidian frustrations and small, meaningful moments, and a meditation on what it means both to start your journey as an artist and to look back at that beginning many years later.

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Carson Ellis is a Caldecott award-winning author and artist known for her work in the _Wildwood Chronicles_, _The Mysterious Benedict Society__,_ and beyond and the longtime illustrator-in-residence for the band The Decemberists. People who love her children's books will be thrilled to discover this new book--especially parents who are nostalgic for the days of the early 2000s.

A NOSTALGIC GIFT: _One Week in January_ is the perfect nostalgic gift for anyone who came of age in the heyday of indie rock, offering a glimpse into the lives of a particular Portland art scene.

BEAUTIFUL, ECCENTRIC, AND CHARMING: Dry, specific, mundane, and somehow completely magical--this book is a true revelation. With gorgeous one-of-a-kind paintings by the one-and-only Carson Ellis, it's transporting and relatable, an unglamorous homage to youthful misadventure, fun, sadness, and all the intense feelings of early adulthood.

Perfect for:

-   Fans of Carson Ellis's picture books and illustration
-   People who grew up listening to The Decemberists and other bands from the 90s Portland music scene
-   Millennials and Gen Xers
-   Readers of diaries and memoir
-   Art book collectors

### Author Biography

Carson Ellis is the author and illustrator of bestselling picture books _Home_ and _Du Iz Tak?_ (a Caldecott Honor book) and the illustrator of a number of books for children, including _The Mysterious Benedict Society_ series by Trenton Lee Stewart, _The Composer Is Dead_ by Lemony Snicket, and _the_ _Wildwood Chronicles_ by her husband, Colin Meloy. She has won awards for illustration and is the illustrator-in-residence for Colin's band, The Decemberists, for which she has received Grammy nominations for album art design. She does work for _The New Yorker_, the _New York Times__,_ and other publications. Ellis lives on a farm in Oregon.

**Number of Pages:** 80

**Dimensions:** 0.5 x 9.1 x 7.6 IN

**Publication Date:** September 10, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 22.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 22.95 USD | In stock |

## Images

- One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-21