Children’s book illustrator and artist, Ted Rand, will be honored on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. at the Mercer Island Library when a framed watercolor for the book “Salt Hands” is unveiled by the Friends of the Mercer Island library.

“The Friends have been looking for a way to acknowledge Ted’s contributions to his craft and his community,” said Suzanne Sanderson, the Friends member who was responsible for finding the painting. And it was a bit of a search.

“We had been told that there was no original artwork available, but were fortunate to discover this one when it came on the market.”

A professional graphic designer, Rand had 80 books to his credit before he died in 2005 at age 89, several of which were done in partnership with his wife, Gloria, herself an accomplished author of at least 15 children’s books, all of them full of Rand’s watercolors.