dulemba: February 2019

Nina Mata's WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AMERICAN?

The publisher of my novel A BIRD ON WATER STREET, Rana DiOrio has a new book out, so of course, I want to send some love her way! And what a book it is! I had the chance to ask the illustrator, Nina Mata, about her process behind WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AMERICAN?

e: What was your creative process/medium for What Does It Mean To Be American, can you walk us through it?
Nina: This was a really fun and timely picture book to have been a part of. With the creative guidance of art director, Allison Sundstrom, envisioning each page and spread came easily. My main goal here was inclusion. I wanted everyone to be represented in the pictures of this book and to embody the beauty in our differences. There are also different shades and variations of red, white, and blue incorporated into most of the pages.

e: You’re a New York Times Best-selling illustrator. What book was that for and how did it affect your career?
Nina: Yes! It was for a book called She’s Got This written by Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast Laurie Hernandez. We debuted at #8 on the NYT Best Sellers list in 2018! It was at the least to say surreal. It honestly still is surreal and I’m not sure it will ever sink in.

As of right now, It really hasn’t affected my career much. I love creating art and although I really value the recognition, it doesn’t define my career or how much effort I will continue to making sure I create art that fulfils me.

e: Is there a unique or funny story behind the creation of this story?
Nina: I am so grateful to have been a part of the creation of this book in so many ways. Having hit a very dry spell in my career in 2017. I kept getting projects that just didn't excite or motivate me and it showed and I hit a wall when it came to making art that made me happy and proud. I wanted to create picture books but I knew the work I was currently doing just wasn't going to cut it so I took a step back and reset. I told myself that if by the end of 2017 I couldn't find the fun in illustration anymore then I would start looking into other career options. I wanted a picture book and I knew I had to find the "fun" again to get it. After fine tuning my style adding in attributes like raw textures that made my work feel more like play I found my self enjoying work again and it showed. Soon after that, this book fell into my lap and She’s Got This right after and a third book which I had to turn down because at that point it was too overwhelming. The opportunities just kept pouring! Everyone was reaching out to my agent referring to my current style, the style that let me have fun and feel free. It taught me a very valuable lesson: Don’t give up. Just reset.

e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
Nina: What is Heart Art? It’s the unique messages you have to share with this world. Most of the work I have ever done that has made the most impact are the ones that I’ve drawn from personal experience, whether it be something joyful or sad, those are the pieces that people gravitate towards. Those are also the hardest to share because…ugh…what if people want to talk about it afterwards?

e: How do you advertise yourself?
Nina: Some postcards once or twice a year, sometimes I do it myself but most of the time it's through my art rep, The Cat Agency. And of course social media.

e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Nina: My favorite part is that I get to set my own schedule for the most part and that I can stay at home and take care of my daughter. The most challenging is the late hours and trying to find that work-life balance.

e: Is there something in particular about this story you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
Nina: I hope our young readers and their families come away with this book feeling a sense of inclusion and an optimistic point of view of our nation. I feel like we all need to feel that right now. I want kids to know that there are grownups who feel like everything this book stands for is possible (waving my hand).

e: Finally, what does it mean to be American to you?
Nina: Everyone who came to this country came here to start a better life for themselves and their families. It means we sacrificed but we also discovered how brave we were in the process. It means building a community and rebuilding again and again. Learning from each other because we all have something to share. Sharing our ideas and appreciating a different point of view because that is how this country grew to become such a great nation in the first place.

e: Hear! Hear! Thanks, Nina!

Coloring Page Tuesday - Brainy Baby

Some geniuses are just born that way. CLICK HERE for more coloring pages.
If you use my coloring pages often, please...

Just love this one image? Consider a one-time donation...

CLICK HERE to sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week.

     I create my coloring pages to draw your attention to my books! For instance...
my latest picture book, Crow Not Crow - written by New York Times Best-selling author Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.
     Kirkus calls it "a solid choice for introducing the hobby [birdwatching] to younger readers."
      Also, A Bird on Water Street is now available in Chinese!

I create my coloring pages for teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents to enjoy for free with their children, but you can also purchase rights to an image for commercial use, please contact me. If you have questions about usage, please visit my Angel Policy page.

Follow Me, Little Fox

I helped teach Dr Evelyn Arizpe's "Critical Enquiries" class in the Children's Literature program at the University of Glasgow on Saturday - I'm the Graduate Teaching Assistant. We love our students - they're all so bright and talented. For proof, Evelyn shared a new picture book by recent graduate Camila Correa. Camila's is a love story really. She came to study Children's Lit at the University, fell in love with a Glaswegian, they got married, and now she works at Little Tiger Press in London. The book is a love story too - for nature. She had me at '"What is nature?" asked Little Fox.'

It's a charming story and I hope to have Camila or her illustrator, Sean Julian, stop by my blog sometime soon. Meanwhile, Evelyn did a great job reading...

and we all enjoyed it immensely!

Going to color...

My sketches for On Eagle Cove, written by Jane Yolen for Cornell Lab Publishing Group, were approved! So, now I move on to my favorite part of creating a picture book - coloring the art.

It's funny how I work traditionally rather than digitally these days. Although, I still find myself using tricks I learned from my digital painting days. And I still don't stretch my watercolor paper. I just don't have the space to be storing all the boards! I just lay big, heavy books on the back of the art when I scan it. Seems to work well. I also work smaller than the final printed version of the art. Why? Because I like the wonkiness that is revealed when you zoom in on a pencil line or watercolor mark. By scanning at 1200ppi, I still get the resolution needed for the printed piece.
So far, I've done three versions of the cover, two color scripts (you can see one sitting next to my left hand), and three interior pieces. I'm rockin' along!

Stan got this shot of me in the zone, painting away, listening to audio books. I'm on a Tamora Pierce binge at the moment, listening to the Alanna series - which is relevant to my PhD research. Alanna is a warrior! So fun!

Friday Links List - 22 February 2019

From History Daily: Female Librarians on Horseback Delivering Books, ca. 1930s

From The Guardian: Is social media influencing book cover design?

From PW: Stepping Into Inspiration This is awesome!

From SLJ: Having Hard Conversations with Students, One Year After Parkland

From The Guardian: Carnegie medal longlist highlights trend for gritty children's books (including one by my friend Candy Gourlay!)

From PW: November Bookstore Sales See Big Gain

From Muddy Colors: Power to the Artist – Patreon and Gumroad

From The Picture Book Den: Illustrating Water in Children's Picture Books • Paeony Lewis

From The Mixed Up Files: Queen of Comedy: An Interview with Hillary Homzie

From Cynsations: Survivors: Kerry Madden-Lunsford on Thriving as a Long-Time Actively Publishing Author

From SLJ: The Jewish Experience in America | Great Books

From Brightly: Great Reads to Celebrate Black History Month with Kids and Teens

From The Good News Network: The Science of The Magic Hour: Why We Should Read to Each Other - Especially Our Kids

K-Fai Steele's NOODLEPHANT

I love the books coming out that subtly teach social fairness and equity, such as the new book written by Jacob Kramer and illustrated by K-Fai Steele, NOODLEPHANT. It's a very different sort of picture book as you'll see...

e: K-Fai, what was your creative process/medium for Noodlephant, can you walk us through it?
K-Fai: Noodlephant is my first formally published picture book and at 80 pages it is an ambitious project (though with Enchanted Lion daring is sort of the norm). I did a ton of learning along the way about my process. The part that’s the most challenging for me when I’m developing a picture book, I’ve learned, are the initial pencil drawings.

That’s where the generative labor is, and that’s where I learn about what the characters look like, their homes, environments, etc.

Re: process for Noodlephant I blew the pencils up to as large as I could print them, then I used a light table to watercolor and ink finals on hot press watercolor paper. Initially I was inking with a Winsor & Newton Series 7 sable brush #2 and Holbein acrylic ink; after awhile I realized that I could get the same effect (and more speed to my line) if I used a pentel brush pen with waterproof ink. I was treating the paper and the linework and the drawings in a quite precious way, and I realized that what I needed was speed and boldness. Noodlephant is incredibly plot-focused and so much happens that I wanted a line that matched the pacing.

e: What was your path to publication?
K-Fai: My path was probably pretty similar to other folks’ who are publishing now; primarily through opportunities I got through SCBWI, which seem increasingly the only way to get into the industry. I met my agent, Erica Rand Silverman who’s at Stimola Literary Studio at the LA conference. As I was signing with her I had been working with Jacob Kramer, the author of Noodlephant on some illustrated poems. Jacob’s path to working with Claudia on Noodlephant was a bit more like I imagine book deals were made in the 60s in New York; through a mix of authentic conversations, talent, and a good story. He showed Claudia our collaboration and she asked if I would be interested in making the drawings for Noodlephant. It was really special and happened exactly the way I was told (through SCBWI) it would never happen. Claudia is cool.

e: Noodlephant seems especially relevant to our current political environment. Is there a unique or interesting story behind the creation of Noodlephant?
K-Fai: Absolutely. We just got off a three-week US west coast book tour, and often we were asked this question. Some readers are surprised to know that this book was started in the spring of 2016 in a pre-Trump presidency world (if you can remember such a time). At our book’s heart are questions we I have around justice and power; who has it and who doesn’t, and the implications of that imbalance. It’s unfortunate that the book seems to only have become increasingly resonant and relevant. The coolest thing from book tour was engaging 1st and 2nd graders on conversations around who laws are for, who they serve, and what true justice looks like to them.

e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?
K-Fai: “Heart Art” always is changing for me (as it should be for people who change and grow); recently it’s been about details, activity, and characters on a page. I like pages where you can pour over details and as a reader insert yourself into a scene and really live it through different characters’ eyes.

e: How do you advertise yourself?
K-Fai: I mostly use Instagram @areyouokfai, and I use it a lot. It’s been fun to use the stories feature as a way to document what I’m observing and a bit about my creative process. Otherwise I think my agent Erica Rand Silverman does most of the heavy lifting in terms of getting my work in front of editors and art directors.

e: What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
K-Fai: I love the heady rush of making sketches after reading a manuscript for the first time; sometimes I get so excited because I know I’ve already nailed a character or an interaction that I feel manic. I dislike the slow crucifixion of edits.

e: Is there something in particular about Noodlephant you hope readers will take away with them, perhaps something that isn’t immediately obvious?
K-Fai: I hope that Noodlephant raises more questions than it gives answers. We’ve been asking students upon meeting them: is it ever ok to break a law?

e: I bet that made for some interesting discussions! What are you working on next or what would be your dream project?
K-Fai: We’re developing a Noodlephant sequel (it’s about capitalism). And I have a bunch of other books coming out (my own author/illustrator debut with Balzer + Bray comes out in June).

e: I can't wait to see it! Thanks for stopping by!

K-Fai bio:
K-Fai Steele is an author-illustrator who grew up in a house built in the 1700s with a printing press her father bought from a magician. She is the illustrator for Noodlephant by Jacob Kramer (Enchanted Lion Books, February 2019). She is currently a Brown Handler Writer in Residence at the San Francisco Public Library and was the 2018 Ezra Jack Keats/Kerlan Memorial Fellow. Other forthcoming titles include A Normal Pig, her author-illustrator debut with Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins Childrens (June 4, 2019) and Old MacDonald Had A Baby by Emily Snape with Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan (November 2019).

Come study Picture Books in the Appalachian Mountains!

This summer I'll be leading a curated picture book reading workshop (teachers may be able to get credit!) at the gorgeous Hollins University. We have hundreds of picture books to enjoy, including the submissions for the annual Margaret Wise Brown Prize. These are the most recent picture books sent in by publishers each year, so, teachers, you can stay up-to-date on the latest hits! Come immerse yourself in your reading passions, but also enjoy strolls around campus, petting horsey noses, the charming farmers market in downtown Roanoke, and the camaraderie in this bubble of joy we call our home each summer. You'll want to come every year!

Teachers, Librarians, Parents, or Picture Book Passionista, this workshop is for YOU! Here are the details, also available at the HOLLINS WEBSITE:

Picture Book Trends: A Curated Reading Workshop
Instructor: Elizabeth Dulemba
Wednesday, June 12 – Sunday, June 16, 2019

Are you a teacher or librarian overwhelmed by the prospect of picking out the best new picture books for your young readers? Are you a creator who needs to stay on top of today’s picture book marketplace? If so, let this expert guide you on a curated reading journey. Over the course of five days, award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba will work you through the picture book submissions for the annual Margaret Wise Brown Prize and other best-sellers, covering current themes and trends, and pointing out the written and visual tricks that make them popular, successful, and beloved. By the end of the week, you will have a solid grasp of the current picture book landscape to better prepare you to recommend books to others or create them yourself. Workshop limited to 12 participants.