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Category Archives: PICTURE BOOKS +
this picture book life farewell + picture books on goodbyes and going places
Well, it’s been almost 10 years of This Picture Book Life. 10 years! (Last year’s anniversary post, number 9.) And I’ve decided to retire it in order to give more time to my writing projects. It’ll stay here as an archive and resource, and I may pop in once in a while too.
Thank YOU for reading all these years! This space has brought me so much joy in diving into my favorite form, what feels like my second language, my picture book passion. And it’s brought me so much joy showcasing and sharing beautiful, meaningful, outstanding picture books while making connections with authors, illustrators, publishers, and readers.
I hope you’ll visit and connect with me elsewhere, like these places I frequent:
My website and author newsletter. (Where you’ll also find my picture book, TO MAKE!)
This Writer’s Life on YouTube.
Instagram (lots of picture books and other books I love found there too!):
And now, for this farewell, I give you some wonderful picture books on goodbyes and going places to mark the occasion and to say, see you soon and please do keep in touch!
Room for Everyone by written by Naaz Khan, illustrations by Mercè López (2021).
I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun (translated by Deborah Smith) (2021).
Ride, Roll, Run: Time for Fun! written by Valerie Bolling, illustrated by Sabrena Khadija (2022).
Whatever Comes Tomorrow words by Rebecca Garden Levington, art by Mariona Cabassa (2023).
Show the World written by Angela Dalton, illustrated by Daria Peoples-Riley (2022).
Moth and Butterfly: Ta-da! written by Dev Petty, illustrated by Ana Aranda (2021).
Stroller Coaster by Matt Ringler, art by Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay (2021).
We Dream Medicine Dreams by Lisa Boivin (2021).
Good Night Little Bookstore by Amy Cherrix, illustrated by E.B. Goodale (2022).
On This Airplane by Lourdes Heuer and Sara Palacios (2022).
I’ll Go and Come Back by Rajani LaRocca, illustrated by Sara Palacios (2022).
Sal Boat: A Boat by Sal by Thyra Heder (2022).
The Red Tin Box by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Evan Turk (April 2023).
Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (2022).
The Longest Letsgoboy written by Derick Wilder, illustrated by Cátia Chien (2021).
Hot Dog by Doug Salati (2022).
One more thing: I’m giving away four of these picture books over on Instagram this week!
And all that’s left to say is goodbye. Wishing you all the best in the places you’re going too.
Thao Lam’s Picture Book Life + giveaway
Thao Lam is one of my favorite makers. Her picture books are inventive, original, resonant, and risk-taking in a way that pops in terms of both style and meaning.
A paper collage artist, the art Lam creates is textured, patterned, and fresh. For some books, it’s colorful and a bit wacky. For The Paper Boat, it’s muted, grounded, and striking, with familiar imagery on captivating backgrounds for dramatic compositions and combinations. Her stories are fresh and oftentimes deeply personal whether about a concept, creativity, or Thao herself in one of my all-time favorite picture books that was jaw-dropping when I first read it and remains a total inspiration for its content and for showing what this special form can become.
The latest: The Line in the Sand (2022)
“The most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life was creating all the little monsters…I intentionally made The Line In The Sand a wordless picture book because misunderstandings are often due to a lack of communication. By not including text, readers are now left to their own interpretation of the situation; will they be right or wrong? Or do they just have a different perspective?”
—Thao Lam from this interview on Owlkids.
The memoir: THAO (2021).
“This one I wrote for me so I could cleanse my head of all the issues with my name that I had dealt with. I’ve been lucky that every time I write a book, it’s also something that somebody else has dealt with or taken an interest in.”
—Thao Lam from this interview with the CBC.
Another true story inventively, movingly told: The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story (2020).
“I was two when my family fled Vietnam, so I have no recollection of our journey across the South China Sea. My mother often tells the story of her mom leaving a bowl of sugar water on the table to trap ants in the house. My mother, then a little girl, would sit there for hours and rescue them. On the night of our escape she got lost in the tall grass. Spotting a trail of ants in the moonlight, she followed them to the river where a boat awaited: the ants my mother rescued as a little girl saved her in return that night. These images of kindness and karma woven by my mother were the only facts I knew about the war and our escape. They helped shape me and guide me through life. This story with the ants and the sugar water became the cornerstone of The Paper Boat.”
—Thao Lam from this interview with Open Book.
The imaginative, magical companion for a new-to-towner: Wallpaper (2018).
“The inspirations for my stories come from taking a walk, on the subway, standing in line at the bank—anywhere where you’re forced to wait that’s when my imagination kind of runs wild. The way the story starts for me is that I get an image in my head and with that image I start asking questions. If I find myself asking a lot of questions about an image, I would start plotting it down. I call it a ‘brain dump.'”
—Thao Lam from this in-studio video with Owlkids.
The goofy one with a fresh perspective for us all: My Cat Looks Like My Dad (2019).
The first one: Skunk on a String (2016).
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In honor of this post and Thao Lam’s picture book life, Owlkids is giving away all five of her picture books to one lucky reader! Enter in the rafflecopter below!
Big thanks to Owlkids Books for images and books for our giveway winner! (North America only.)
You might want to check out my WALLPAPER + Paper Creature Craft post if you’re in the mood to make something fun!
our day of the dead celebration + calavera coloring page and poem
Our Day of the Dead Celebration by Ana Aranda (2022).
This picture book is a total celebration—of family, of memory, of tradition, and of joy itself.
Its cover embodies the way the book invites engagement with the dear departed in a bright and buoyant way. The characters may be looking back at the particulars of those they’ve lost, but they are fully in the present of the party too—mingling with them as represented by delightful, dancing (not-at-all scary) skeletons!
You can always spot a book illustrated by Ana Aranda because of her signature vibrance, whimsy, washes of color, shapes, nature elements, fun creatures, and inventive details. Her art is infused with exuberance! And this time it’s exceedingly special because it’s her author-illustrator debut!
Our Day of the Dead Celebration truly captures the happiness of the holiday for children. Kids will pick out elements of Día de los Muertos to enjoy like marigolds, calaveras/sugar skulls, Papel picador, and ofrendas/altars as well as other celebratory touches: music, tamales, and almond cookies too! And they will surely be inspired to investigate and memorialize their own family and friend ancestry after reading how Sisters Paz and Mar learn about their relatives through their parents’ stories and how they choose different ways to honor them: through food or poems (also called calaveras) or accordion music.
But there are some things only Abuelita will know, and they wait for her arrival while preparing for their visitors—”the living and the dead”! Because in my mind, the real star here is Abuelita herself, keeper of family stories, who arrives at the fiesta in a glorious parade of monarch butterflies.
This is a book that honors a holiday and also a way of being and seeing death. Something not to shy away from, celebrating the lives of those we love by remembering them in meaningful, connective ways.
A perfect story for looking back, which can be bittersweet, but here is extremely sweet as well as full of warmth and creativity. A medium for capturing the spirit of those we love and modeling how to relive the best bits of “all the relatives we miss.”
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And now, a very special treat: my dear friend Ana Aranda is here with an Our Day of the Dead Celebration craft to go with her book!
¡Hola! My name is Ana Aranda and I am an author, illustrator and creator or colorful art for kids of all ages from Mexico City!
My book Our Day of the Dead Celebration is inspired in the Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos which is one of my favorite times of year when we celebrate and honor our beloved loved ones. It is a day when we feel their spirits close and we share stories about them, we build altars with their favorite things and foods, and we create poems.
This book is very special to me because it is inspired by my family, friends and it contains a lot of hidden stories and memories, such as my grandfather’s accordion, my grandmother’s cookies, my grandfather’s travels, my grandmother’s favorite color, and more.
With this book I wanted to honor those that I miss and share a story where kids (especially Mexican kids) can see themselves in and see their culture celebrated.
What I’m most interested in the Day of the Dead is celebrating and remembering. Telling stories so that they are shared for generations and generations to come. I am interested in why it is important to remember and what can we do to do keep the memory of those dear to us very close.
This book was created with a lot of love, watercolor, ink, gouache and pink Himalayan salt on watercolor paper. The setting is based in the beautiful town of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán in Mexico where there is a lake, and in that lake lives the island of Janitzio. I took a research trip there and drew and took a bunch of pictures for the book. I also talked to many people who were preparing for the Day of the Dead.
Today I wanted to share with you all a craft where you can both write and color.
For this special day, we will color a skull, similar to the sugar skulls used to decorate altars.
In this skull’s skeleton you will have room to write down what is called a poem or calavera (which translates as skull). This calavera can be about a memory from a departed loved one, about a departed famous person, or someone still with us and their fictional and humorous encounter with death or “la Catrina.”
What you will need:
*Download this page and print.
*Colors, markers, or crayons to color.
*Your favorite pencil or pen to write the poem.
Step 1: color the skull with your favorite colors.
Coloring Page-Our Day of the Dead Celebration Ana Aranda
Step 2: In the skeleton’s body, write down the poem for someone.
It can be as long as you wish and can rhyme as well.
For example, here are two of the calaveras from the book:
Your favorite color was green
The best color ever seen.
You loved the spring
And birds that sing.
We miss you and your sneeze.
Did it really almost blow down some trees?
3: Enjoy and have fun!
Thank you so much, Ana, for sharing your story, photos, and this activity with us!! And big thanks to Penguin Young Readers for a review copy and images.
Ana Aranda is a children’s book creator, illustrator, and art instructor born in Mexico and living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been featured in galleries and museums in the United States, France, Mexico, Italy, Norway, and Japan. In San Francisco, she painted murals in the Mission District, for the Consulate General of Mexico, and for the prestigious de Young Museum.
Ana’s biggest inspirations are her childhood memories, the vibrant colors of Mexico, and music. Her work focuses on transforming the everyday into fantastical situations, and often include images from nature and whimsical creatures. She has illustrated picture books published in France, Italy and the US, including The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra, by Marc Tyler Nobleman (Nancy Paulsen Books), Our Celebración!, by Susan Middleton Elya (Lee & Low), Moth & Butterfly: Ta Da!, by Dev Petty (Nancy Paulsen Books), and Our Day of the Dead Celebration, her debut as author and illustrator, released by Nancy Paulsen Books. Forthcoming titles include How to Make a Memory, by Elaine Vickers (S&S/Paula Wiseman Books, 2023)
13 picture books with a sprinkle of magic
It’s a magical time of year, so here are 13 picture books that capture a variety of mysterious or marvelous stories, tricks, happenings, places, creatures—magic that only picture books can conjure.
Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land by Mirelle Ortega (2022).
This picture book is a beautiful account of a place and the people who live there, inspired by the author-illustrator’s home in Veracruz, Mexico. It infuses Mirelle Ortega’s heart and art and story with the magic that’s uniquely home.
“I learned that magic isn’t good or bad, it just is. Sometimes it gives. Sometimes it takes. Sometimes it blossoms. Sometimes it wilts.”
Chirri & Chirra In the Night by Kaya Doi (translated from the Japanese by David Boyd) (November 2022).
I confess I haven’t read this one yet (out next month!), but I adore the entire series. This duo always has magical nature-themed adventures on the their bikes, but this one seems fitting for our post as it’s set in the glow of the moon at night! Every title with these two stars is an absolute dream.
Hat Tricks by Satoshi Kitamura (2020).
A delight of a rabbit-and-a-hat picture book—with each magic word the main character says, what animal will emerge with Hattie’s magic? It’s your guess!
Looking for a Jumbie written by Tracey Baptiste, illustrated by Amber Ren (2021).
Naya’s nighttime adventure-quest is filled with a wonderful cast of Caribbean folklore characters our fearless main character meets along the way in this luminously illustrated picture book with a spirit of spookiness and story.
Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest by Phoebe Wahl (2021).
Four seasonal stories with a little witch plus imaginary creatures and community galore. It’ll make you want to take a walk in the woods and search for sprites—or curl up with some tea and berries for a magical daydream.
Strum & Drum: A Merry Little Quest by Jashar Awan (2022).
These two darling musicians embark on a clever escapade in this winter holiday picture book that has a wonderfully inventive ending that will make you want to read and strum and drum again and again.
Berry Magic written by Teri Sloat and Betty Huffmon, illustrated by Teri Sloat (2004).
Brought to picture book form from “a very short story told out loud to Yup’ik children,” Anana enlists magical help to create tasty berries for a fall festival’s treats.
Hocus Pocus Practice Focus: The Making of a Magician written by Amy Kimlat, illustrated by Srinidhi Srinivasan (October 2022).
A super sweet story about what it takes to learn to be a magician (or become a wizard-in-training at any craft) with help from a dual-role mentor the main character admires. Written by a former child magician and with a foreword by a famous one (David Copperfield!).
First Snow by Bomi Park (2016).
A gentle, captivating middle-of-the-night-quiet book about a kid who wakes up in wonder, follows snowfall, and finds absolute magic (giant snowballs, more children!) waiting in the woods.
This Magical Musical Night words by Rhonda Gowler Greene, pictures by James Rey Sanchez (2021).
An introduction to the instruments of an orchestra that sways and rhymes and dances in all kinds of starry, dazzling settings.
Number Circus by Květa Pacovská (2014).
This picture book is simply wow with bold, interactive art, numbers, colors, and pure magic.
The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by (2021).
An enchanting, tremendously inventively-told fairy tale with sibling love at its center.
The Lost Library by Jess McGeachin (2020).
A story-fond adventure with friendship, a librarian, and a book dragon—where books save the day of course.
back to school with to make!
It’s back to school, and this time around I’ve got a new book to share!
That’s where author visits come in! One of my favorite things is spending time with children while helping them tap into their unique voices and imaginations, inspiring them to read, write, create, and make! You’ll find all the info about my offerings in one place right here.
If you’re part of a school or library community, I hope you’ll get in touch if you’d like to arrange one!
And whether or not I visit your students, I have something special to share with you for the school year ahead!
(Photo by Jenna Rothberg.)
Jenna Rothberg, PhD (KidlitBrain) and JD Smithson, MLIS created “Everyone is a Maker”: A Classroom and Library Companion Guide for To Make! You can download it in either color or black and white for easy printing too!
This treasure of a curriculum guide is meant to support teachers, librarians, and caregivers as you support the makers in your classrooms, libraries, and homes too. A resource that’s a myriad of making and TO MAKE resources all in one place, like an online community booklist for us all to create together and so much else for children to make: conversation, games, a change with their community, a plant press, an invitation, and at its heart and throughout, a maker’s journal where every child can reflect on, record, and reinvigorate their identity and process as maker through each creative endeavor.
So much gratitude to the two makers who poured their hearts and talents into this to make a gift for educators to use and witness little makers grow and bloom. And it is certainly a gift for me as well.
Wishing every educator everything they need for the year ahead, with much appreciation for making a difference!
