SATA

PERSONAL

Born in Mishwaka, IN; married; husband a psychologist; children: one son.

Degree (theology).

ADDRESS

• Home - Grand Rapids, MI.
• Agent - Ronnie Herman, Herman Agency, 350 Central Park W., New York, NY 10025.

CAREER

Author and illustrator. Worked variously as a horticultural therapist, a construction worker, WY, refugee support worker, Chicago, IL, and vegetable farmer, WI, IN, OH; volunteer service worker in Honduras and Uganda.

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Tomie de Paola Honor Award, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, 2009; New York Times Notable Children’s Books citation and Wall Street Journal Best Picture Books citation, both 2012, both for King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson; Chicago Public Library Best of the Best selection and International Literacy Association Children’s Choice, both for Green Pants.

WRITINGS

• SELF-ILLUSTRATED
• King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA), 2012
• The Song of Delphine, Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA), 2015
• Green Pants, Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA), 2017
• Wild Honey from the Moon, Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA), 2019
• ,
• ,

SIDELIGHTS

After working a variety of jobs in both the United States and abroad, including working in several states as a vegetable grower, self-taught artist Kenneth Kraegel decided to channel his creativity into creating books for children. Joining the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, he attended conferences, found an agent, and began developing an illustrator’s portfolio to showcase his art. “I had drawn and painted three pictures with the same character,” he told Chuck Sambuchino in Writer’s Digest. “By the time I finished the third painting, I had a general idea for a story. I spent a couple of months developing a storyboard and then made a book dummy, that I sent to my (now) agent.” The result was published in 2012 as King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson.

King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson opens on the sixth birthday of the seven-times-great-grandson of the legendary king. Young Henry wants to prove his worth by battling a series of monsters, but each creature would rather play than fight. “Despite the determined lack of conflict, Henry still manages to find a treasure he didn’t know he was seeking,” a Kirkus Reviews critic observed, calling Kraegel’s self-illustrated story “a good choice for reading aloud.” In Booklist, Ian Chipman praised the story’s art, noting that the illustrator “contrasts his simply drawn kid hero with a visual feast of wide, meticulously patterned landscapes.” School Library Journal contributor Kathleen Kelly MacMillan hailed the story’s text, writing that it “skips along like Henry’s donkey, bringing this irrepressible young boy to life.” With its “Monty Pythonesque” text, a Publishers Weekly writer remarked, King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson also demonstrates a “fine sense of the epically absurd” in its “rococo watercolor and ink renderings,” showing Kraegel to be “a talent to be reckoned with.”

Kraegel’s next picture book, The Song of Delphine, about an orphan girl working for Queen Theodora in her palace on the savannah. The arrival of the queen’s niece Beatrice raises Delphine’s hopes of having a playmate, but Beatrice proves to be haughty and cruel, using Delphine as a scapegoat for her own naughtiness. Singing a sad song one evening, Delphine attracts some far friendlier giraffes, who take her for a journey and then bring her back to the palace—where Delphine accidentally discovers the source of grief behind Beatrice’s nastiness. Soon the queen makes Delphine the royal songstress, with good times in store for the girls and giraffes, too.

Reviewing The Song of Delphine in School Library Journal, Marianne Saccardi affirmed that the watercolor and ink illustrations “combine wonderfully” with the text and concluded, “Don’t miss this story of the power of music to bring joy and comfort even in trying times.” A Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated the emphasis on “the transformative power of compassion” and affirmed that readers of Delphine and Beatrice’s story “will savor their new friendship.” In Booklist, Carolyn Phelan declared that Kraegel “creates a satisfying, original story and tells it with quiet grace” in this “magical picture book.”

Green Pants tells the story of a young boy who loves green pants so much that he refuses to wear any other color. When his cousin’s fiancée, Jo, whom he adores, asks Jameson to be in their wedding, he is most excited—until he learns he would have to wear black pants. With his mother leaving the decision to be part of the wedding party or the congregation up to him, Jameson finally conceives an ingenious compromise that lets him dress properly for the ceremony and then tear it up on the dance floor with flair all his own.

A Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated the “softly textured watercolor-and-pencil illustrations,” which show Jameson and his family, and declared, “This quirky kid and his loving family will instantly endear themselves to readers.” In Booklist, Anita Lock observed that the illustrations “make great work of Jameson’s poignant, meaningful facial expressions, which augment the joys and frustrations in the text.” In School Library Journal, Barbara Spin called Green Pants perfect “for all children who love to express themselves and for those who want to be who they are.”

In Wild Honey from the Moon, Mother Shrew is at wit’s end when her son Hugo contracts a mysterious fever, and she reads that the only remedy is a teaspoon of honey from the moon. Setting off on her journey, she gets a ride from a great horned owl, befriends some frightened “night mares” on the moon, and withstands a gauntlet of drones to reach the Queen Bee. A Kirkus Reviews writer hailed the “bright color palette” and “surreal landscapes” and asserted that Wild Honey from the Moon “will captivate contemplative and creative young readers.” A Publishers Weekly writer declared, “Reassuring and warmhearted, the story celebrates a brave and loving guardian who will do anything for her child.”

Kraegel’s goal in creating children’s books is to get readers to view the world with wonder. “It’s such a beautiful thing, as kids get older and as adults, we’re always encountering new things,” he told Karen Cernich in the Missourian. “We can encounter them with fear or with wonder. Fear can be appropriate sometimes, but wonder is best.” When he was a child, he continued, “picture books were windows into other worlds. I was experiencing wonder and possibility. I want to convey that sense of possibility and wonder so every kid who can’t read can still wander around in the illustrations and go places without needing to think about the story.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

• Booklist, August 1, 2012, Ian Chipman, review of King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, p. 84; April 1, 2015, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Song of Delphine, p. 84; February 15, 2017, Anita Lock, review of Green Pants, p. 83.

• Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, September, 2012, Jeannette Hulick, review of King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, p. 27.

• Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2012, review of King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson; February 1, 2015, review of The Song of Delphine; January 15, 2017, review of Green Pants; September 1, 2019, review of Wild Honey from the Moon.

• Publishers Weekly, May 21, 2012, review of King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, p. 56; August 12, 2019, review of Wild Honey from the Moon, p. 59.

• School Library Journal, July, 2012, Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, review of King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson, p. 59; January, 2015, Marianne Saccardi, review of The Song of Delphine, p. 79; February, 2017, Barbara Spin, review of Green Pants, p. 70.

ONLINE

• Directory of Illustration, https://www.directoryofillustration.com (November 16, 2019), author profile.

• Kenneth Kraegel website, http://kennethkraegel.com (November 16, 2019).

• Missourian, http://www.emissourian.com/ (February 22, 2013), Karen Cernich, “Come ‘Share a Dragon’s Tale.’”

• Writer’s Digest, http://www.writersdigest.com/ (May 15, 2013), Chuck Sambuchino, author interview.*