Kevin Sherry loves squid. Not the kind you eat, or the kind you visit at the aquarium—the kind you draw, and then sell to a major book publisher.

At 24, Sherry is one of the youngest authors to be signed to a three-book deal with Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Books. His first title, I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, a whimsical tale of a young squid in the sea, is set to hit bookstores May 10.

The road to becoming a children's book author began at an early age for Sherry. Inspired by acclaimed writers/illustrators like Quentin Blake, Shel Silverstein, and Maurice Sendak, Sherry went on to earn his bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration from MICA in 2004 with the intent of designing for young readers. The artist often turned to his "visual vocabulary"—a massive collection consisting of the works of his favorite children's authors coupled with old issues of Zoobooks and Highlights—for inspiration. He began to create quirky animals and would later gain notoriety in Baltimore's DIY scene for his varied depictions of marine life—something that would give rise to the squid as a personal trademark of the young artist. This hearty obsession with ocean inhabitants evolved into a business, Squidfire, which he cofounded in the summer of 2004 with Jean-Baptiste Regnard. Sherry's quirky illustrations of animals began popping up all over Baltimore on T-shirts, shoes, tote bags, and onesies. Soon, the duo was loading up a van with products to promote their work at craft shows.

It was at the MoCCA Art Festival in New York City that Nancy Mercado saw Sherry's designs. A senior editor of Dial Books, Mercado asked for a business card. "I'm not sure if I was thinking ‘This guy could do a picture book' or ‘I want to order this guy's T-shirts for me and everyone I know,' but either way, I checked out his website when I got home," says Mercado. Shortly thereafter, she invited Sherry to her New York office to pitch a book.

"I gave them three pitches," Sherry recalls. I wanted to write the book I always wanted as a kid—a smart kid's book. So I came up with a story called Little Devils about a group of children that, when they act mischievous, they literally turn into little devils," he says. His ideas didn't resonate with the publishers and he heard the words made famous by Hollywood in such situations: We'll call you.

And when they didn't call? "I was crestfallen," he says. "I then came up with one big major scheme: I'm going to read every book written for children and see what books are popular and selling."

Sherry spent days sitting Indian-style in his low-slung Levis by the elaborate fishpond in the Enoch Pratt Central Library's children's section, immersing himself in every book the library had targeting the 3-to-5 age group. Whether it was the Peter Pan-Never Never Land demeanor of the twenty something or the large bat tattoo nestled right under the base of his neck that made him highly suspect in the eye of a librarian is uncertain. But something did.

"She wanted to know why I was there alone," says Sherry. His determination to become a scholar of children's books had been misconstrued for something far more sinister. "Apparently you need to have a ‘child guardian' to be in the children's section," he says.

In addition to countless hours in the children's section at Enoch Pratt, he put in time at bookstores and revisited his own personal collection. After months of writing, drawing, and reworking themes, Sherry finally made the successful pitch: The adventure of one squid in the sea, whose ego grows progressively as it compares its size to every sea creature it encounters. I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean explains what it means to have a "Napoleon complex" in a playful way to 3 year olds.

"It's a struggle. With very few words on a page you have to relay very big ideas," Sherry says.

Sherry pays meticulous attention to detail. In his Greektown warehouse, Sherry fastidiously examines each Squidfire piece for flaws, setting a high bar for quality. Using watercolor for his book's page background, he layered his images through an animation-cell-like process that involved sketching on Plexiglas with opaque ink.

Because of the painstaking care Sherry took to construct the book, he was surprised by what happened when the product left his hands. "See this?" He points to an old proof showing the rib cage of a whale. "It's upside down. [The publisher] missed that. Not a big detail, but some smart kid would figure it out and that would bother me."

Sherry insisted that the change be made. Creating a children's book was an intense collaboration between publishing house and artist—something that was realized squid pro quo.

Sherry's contract with Dial Books outlines two more books: one slated for 2008 and another for 2009. His publisher has been pushing for the return of the squid in the sequel; an idea that, he says, presents some problems. In the end the squid is swallowed. "That's kind of hard to write yourself out of," he says.

Mercado, however, has no doubt that the young artist will be able to pull it off. "The guy is brilliant, and fast. Our sales force has really gotten behind this book in such a major way. We are even doing a display for the book—something rare, since store space is at a premium these days."

Between Squidfire and his book, it would appear that Sherry is more than mildly fixated on marine life, with a particular penchant for cephalopods. "I guess squid are my spirit animal—they have eight arms and two tentacles," he says. "They're natural multitaskers. The anatomy of the squid is a great metaphor for doing a lot of stuff at once." This seems to be an apt metaphor, for in addition to his other activities, Sherry has also recently launched a new zine called Catatac—a free publication cropping up around town. The distribution plan is as erratic as the content, which includes everything from cartoons to recipes. It's something he launched with two friends, Mark Brown and Kate Levitt, to celebrate Baltimore's writers, artists, and comedians. Sherry and his "squidplosion" of ideas can't seem to be stopped.

Much like a squid, Sherry is frequently nocturnal. "People who own their own business, write books, and publish magazines can typically be found at midnight behind their desk listening to David Letterman on a broken TV, working and working," he says. Someday, he hopes it will all pay off, although fame isn't knocking on his door just yet. "Right now if you Google my name, the first thing that appears is Kevin F. Sherry, this guy who wears really horrible Cliff Huxtable sweaters," he says.

Maybe one day, this Kevin Sherry might be the biggest thing on the web.

—Please Click Here to see the tribute to Catrina.