Book excerpt: In The Little Book of Cartooning & Illustration, beginning cartoonists, animators, and illustrators will discover key concepts associated with learning the art of traditional cartooning and animation. With this guide, dozens of tips from the pros will help you find the materials and tools you need to develop your own unique style. A combination of creative step-by-step projects and open practice areas offer encouragement and invite participation for those artists who want to put their newfound skills to immediate use. You'll learn all the cartooning and animation tricks of the trade, including: The squash and stretch principle Exaggerating details Rendering faces and expressions Anthropomorphizing inanimate objects Creating original characters Mastering body shapes and movement Writing gags and jokes With so many tools at your disposal, why wait any longer to start animating? Get started, get drawing! The Little Book of ... series focuses on delivering fun, approachable, and interesting art instruction in a fresh, portable format. With its contemporary design, open practice pages, creative exercises, and prompts that encourage interactivity, beginning artists learn the fundamentals of their craft, often with immediate results.