SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.pandagun.com/
CITY: San Francisco
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Baltimore, MD; married J.C. Hsyu (an author).
EDUCATION:Attended Syracuse University and California Institute of the Arts.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Artist, illustrator, and writer. Animation layout artist for films by Dreamworks, Walt Disney Company, PDI, Laika, Blue Sky, Tonko House, and Warner Brothers; freelance illustrator for publishing houses; art director for Trolls Band Together, 2023. Exhibitions: solo show at Nucleus gallery, Alhambra, CA, February 2020.
AVOCATIONS:Music making.
MEMBER:Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Society of Illustrators.
AWARDS:Golden Kite Award for Illustration, SCBWI, 2018, for Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
[open new]Illustrator and author Kenard Pak began his career as an animation layout artist and eventually shifted focus to producing artwork for children’s books. His self-illustrated seasonal series is a four-part celebration of the natural world’s annual evolution. Pak hails from Baltimore, Maryland, where he was brought up alongside a brother by Korean immigrant parents who ran urban grocery and food businesses. About his youthful artistic aspirations, Pak told Art of the Picture Book: “I always knew that I wanted to do something creative, whether it was drawing cars, fashion, or comics.” He got his start copying drawings of cartoons and anime robots and also painting. He would fondly remember first-grade teacher Mrs. Bjorndoll sitting with him and drawing trees and presidents. While Pak’s parents continued with their downtown food business, the family fulfilled a dream in moving to suburban, farm-dotted Howard County. Pak found their new environs idyllic. On meandering weekend walks the family enjoyed the hills, forests, meadows, lakes, and streams, and his mother’s love for the seasons would be the inspiration for his first efforts as an author.
By high school Pak had imagined becoming an architect but had also grown more interested in animated films, especially Disney movies. An art teacher, Mrs. Gaither, lent him encouragement to experiment, including with abstract techniques. Enrolling at Syracuse University, in upstate New York, he further developed appreciation for gallery artists like Laura Owens, and a career in animation and illustration became a goal. A move to the West Coast and coursework at the California Institute of the Arts led directly into positions in the animation industry, as a layout artist for the likes of Walt Disney Features and Dreamworks. Films he has worked on include Peabody and Sherman and Madgascar 3. After a number of years, Pak started taking on picture-book illustration projects, attracting his first commission, from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, with the blog he launched to share his bird doodles. His favorite artistic influences include American illustrator Richard Scarry and Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda.
About the major pivot in his career, Pak told Art of the Picture Book: “When I used to work for the big animation companies, I got pretty good at drawing and painting what was needed for a feature length animated movie. … It was a lot of hard work. At some point I started to draw and paint for myself. I found my love for soft atmosphere, physical material like paint and paper, implied light, subtle texture—all things that I was not seeing at the time in feature animation.” Pak continued: “From them on I had two lives. One for the companies where I was making these immaculate, carefully designed paintings and another for myself where I painted these fuzzy, flat, washy images. I’m very lucky to have these two different paths, but … I think I was always better at the washy paintings.”
Capturing the transition from green-hued summer to brisk, varicolored fall with digitally enhanced watercolors is Pak’s self-illustrated debut, Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn. A girl in jean jacket, canvas sneakers, and scarf steps out of her house for a walk through nature and into town, greeting everything from trees and flowers to foxes and blue jays to thunder and wind. They respond by sharing what they are doing as the world grows chillier. Collecting a colorful bouquet, the girl distributes the flowers to delighted townsfolk. Horn Book reviewer Jennifer M. Brabander enjoyed the “friendly conversation” and “folkloric flair” of the girl’s animal companions and observed that Pak’s “angular people and objects are especially striking against the round shapes and soft, translucent colors of his background hills and trees.” Admiring the “layers of textures” and “bold colors,” a Kirkus Reviews writer praised Pak’s first self-illustrated title as a “visual success conjuring up the best about the seasons’ changes.”
A brother and sister go for a walk in Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, which includes nods to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. A Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that the illustrations are “as quiet and graceful as the slow passage of the seasons,” befitting the story’s “serene and accepting” cadence. Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring finds a different child touring a snowy countryside and frozen pond with a dog, again greeting the various aspects of nature as melting gets underway. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that the “contrasting color palettes and geometric shapes … effectively evoke the stark darkness of winter and the bright warmth of spring.” About Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer, a Kirkus Reviews writer declared that Pak’s “luminous illustrations” contribute to a “delicately wrought, immersive experience” and make for “a lovely ‘goodbye’ to this excellent concept series.”
Pak has also written a pair of self-illustrated board books introducing children to global languages alongside English. In How to Count 1 to 5 in Five Languages, Santiago counts oranges in Spanish, Feng counts bicycles in Mandarin, Kirsty counts children in English, Thomas counts giraffes in French, and Taro counts in Japanese with numerical characters on a chalkboard. Embedded recordings let children hear the languages spoken aloud. Hailing the recordings as the “piece de resistance,” a Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that this title, along with How to Say I Love You in Five Languages, “gives little readers a head start on global citizenship.”
Pak has provided artwork for over a dozen picture books written by other authors. Among his earliest efforts were a succession of books by Rita Gray, starting with his very first title, Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? Gray’s rhyming lines gives inventive voice to the calls of many a bird and also explain why the nesting female robin stays quiet. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that the text is “attractively complemented by Pak’s textured watercolor” artwork, in which “each bird is humorously but accurately depicted.” Gray’s Flowers Are Calling prompted a Kirkus Reviews writer to admire how Pak’s “pretty, digitally worked watercolors achieve equilibrium between stylized reduction and naturalistic verisimilitude.”
Especially close to Pak’s heart is The Dinner That Cooked Itself, a retelling of a Chinese folktale written by his wife, J.C. Hsyu. Young orphan Tuan has no luck when his neighbors hire a matchmaker, but caring for a snail leads to the appearance of a beautiful guardian angel and an endless supply of rice. A Kirkus Reviews writer observed that Pak’s mixed-media illustrations “evoke a misty, long-ago agrarian China, his expressive, angular faces contrasting pleasingly with fluid, lovingly created backdrops.”
Kyo Maclear wrote The Fog, a symbolic tale in which a menacing fog takes over an icy island, with a yellow warbler and a red-hooded girl determining to resist the threat it represents. In Resource Links, Ana Malespin remarked that “Pak’s ethereal illustrations bring the dangers of passivity to life in this beautiful warning allegory.” Tilting into fairy-tale territory is Calista Brill’s Cat Wishes, in which a snake grants a skeptical cat three essential wishes. In BookPage Deborah Hopkinson proclaimed that Pak’s “gentle pastel illustrations” help make for a “lovely bedtime story.”
A Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated the emotional resonance of Pak’s “atmospheric” illustrations for Patricia MacLachlan’s The Hundred-Year Barn, a nostalgic generational tale. “Burnt sienna is the predominant color,” the reviewer observed; “it surrounds the minimalist figures like a textured veil, emphasizing their ties to the Earth.” Whimsical philosophical questions fill I Wonder, by K.A. Holt, with a Kirkus Reviews writer noting that Pak’s artwork is “delicate and serious, echoing shapes and colors across a spread to forge connections.” Ilima Loomis celebrates Native Hawaiian culture and especially the importance of the kalo, or taro, plant in ‘Ohana Means Family. A Kirkus Reviews writer found the illustrations “breathtaking”: “With his layered, textured paintings, Pak creates both beautiful pictures of the kalo and stunning panoramas of the community.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2020, Karen Cruze, review of On the Horizon, p. 35; August 1, 2020, Carolyn Phelan, review of Maud and Grand-Maud, p. 62.
BookPage, August, 2018, Deborah Hopkinson, review of Cat Wishes, p. 30.
Horn Book, July-August, 2016, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, p. 123.
Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2014, review of Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?; October 15, 2014, review of The Dinner That Cooked Itself; January 15, 2015, review of Flowers Are Calling; June 15, 2016, review of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn; October 1, 2016, review of The Hello Atlas; June 15, 2017, review of Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter; July 1, 2018, review of How to Count 1 to 5 in Five Languages; June 15, 2019, review of The Hundred-Year Barn; August 1, 2019, review of I Wonder; December 1, 2019, review of Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring; January 1, 2020, review of ‘Ohana Means Family; March 1, 2024, review of On a Summer Night; March 1, 2025, review of Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer; May 15, 2025, review of Forts.
Publishers Weekly, June 20, 2016, review of When the World Is Dreaming, p. 156.
Resource Links, June, 2017, Ana Malespin, review of The Fog, p. 5.
School Librarian, spring, 2018, Clare Morpurgo, review of The Poet’s Dog, p. 41.
ONLINE
Art of the Picture Book, https://www.artofthepicturebook.com/ (October 3, 2018), “An Interview with Kenard Pak.”
Fishink, https://fishinkblog.com/ (March 24, 2014), “Kenard Pak Illustrations for Disney, Dreamworks and Books.”
Kenard Pak website, https://www.pandagun.com (November 2, 2025).
KidLit 411, https://www.kidlit411.com/ (November 15, 2019), “Illustrator Spotlight: Kenard Pak.”
Let’s Talk Picture Books, https://www.letstalkpicturebooks.com/ (May 16, 2017), “Let’s Talk Illustrators #25: Kenard Pak.”
Skwigly, https://www.skwigly.co.uk/ (February 10, 2015), Laura-Beth Cowley, “Interview with Artist Kenard Pak.”
Kenard Pak is an author and illustrator originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Much of his work is about memory, nature, and solitude. Kenard has worked as an artist on many animated films with Dreamworks, Walt Disney Feature, PDI, and Laika. He has authored and illustrated the seasonal "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn" series, and illustrated other authors' books including "Have You Heard The Nesting Bird?", "The Dinner That Cooked Itself", " The Fog", and "The Hundred-Year Barn". Kenard Pak lives in San Francisco. Visit his website at pandagun.com and follow him at instagram.com/kenardpak
Art director, illustrator, and author. I work in animation, children's book publishing, and illustration. Sometimes I make music. San Francisco and Los Angeles.
I'm represented by Kirsten Hall at Catbird Agency.
Animation Aardman, Dreamworks Feature, Walt Disney Feature, Disney Television, PDI Dreamworks, Laika, Blue Sky, Tonko House, Warner Brothers
Art Direction Trolls Band Together
Publishing Chronicle, Clarion, Enchanted Lion, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Feiwel & Friends, Flying Eye Books, Godwin, HarperCollins, Henry Holt, Holiday House, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Kids Can Press, Knopf, Kokila, Macmillan, Mariner Books, Penguin Random House, Quarto, Scholastic, Schwartz & Wade, Simon & Schuster, Tundra Books, Wide Eyed Books, Viking
Tech Oculus Story Studio, Baobab, Tangible Play
Gallery Gallery Nucleus Solo Exhibition February 2020
Awards 2018 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustration
Featured by 3x3, American Illustration, Nobrow, and The Society of Illustrators
Showcases 2013 3x3 Annual #10, 2014 American Illustration #33, 2015 Society of Illustrators #57, 2016 SOI #59, 2017-2025 SOI Original Art Show
Local 2025 SFPL Summer Stride Artist
Labels
Illustrator Spotlight
Kenard Park
Illustrator Spotlight: Kenard Pak
© Kenard Pak
Nov. 15, 2019
Today we're excited to feature illustrator Kenard Pak and his two new books, THE 100 YEAR BARN, by Patricia MacLahan (Katherine Tegan Books, Sept. 2019) and I WONDER, by Kari Anne Holt (Random House Books for Young Readers, Oct. 2019). Enter to win a copy of both!
Tell us about yourself and how you came to illustrate for children.
I’m originally from Baltimore, Maryland. My parents were Korean immigrants who ran different food businesses downtown. My urban upbringing is a contrast to the later pastoral, suburban years in Howard County. There I found the hills and forests that I think about to this day. I always drew and painted, but I discovered film. I fell in love with animation and moved to California where I was fortunate enough to work in the animation industry after college. Later, I took a break from film and started illustrating picture books.
© Kenard Pak
Congratulations on your two recent books, THE 100 YEAR BARN and I WONDER. Tell us about them. Did you approach the illustrations in these differently? What kind of research do you do for your illustrations?
Thank you! These two books are cousins, maybe more different than similar. At the time, I had returned to my pencil drawing skills from my days as an animation layout artist, and I wanted to see how I could make the pencil art as different as possible from my film work. I’d say THE 100 YEAR BARN is more like framed art, and I WONDER is more like a traditional children’s book.
From THE 100 YEAR BARN © Kenard Park
In the former I abandoned direct lighting as much as possible, and for the latter I made use of empty space. My research with BARN was a combination of details from the author’s life and old farm photographs from the 20’s and 30’s. As for WONDER, I made things up as I worked
From I WONDER © Kenard Park
What projects are you working on now? You wear a lot of hats: artist, illustrator, animator. Do you find that these different artistic avenues influence each other? How do they influence your work as a children's illustrator?
I’m currently working on a lovely winter picture book about a Lebanese girl visiting her grandmother. I’m also art directing a new film production, and I have a gallery show later in the year. I keep the artwork different between illustration, gallery work, and film.
© Kenard Pak
I get bored very easily, and I like to work on varying ideas and methods (i.e. I’ve since abandoned pencil work). It’s strange though. With the new film production, I’m revisiting my picture book art from 5 years ago. I try to avoid any kind of film grammar in my picture book work. This said, I love filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-Eda and Yasuhiro Ozu, so you can maybe see the influence there. As for my personal art, I experiment as much as possible.
© Kenard Pak
What projects are you working on now?
In addition to the winter book, I’m also working on a book about an autistic boy. Also in the works is the last of my seasonal series --- it has more architecture in it. I also have several secret manuscripts of my own that will someday, hopefully, see the light of day. My wife and I also have a project that we’ve been working on for years, a kind of follow-up to THE DINNER THAT COOKED ITSELF.
© Kenard Pak
What were the one or two best things you did to advance your career? Is this the same advice you'd give to aspiring illustrators?
The first rule I learned is to stay polite and regularly communicate with directors, production designers, art directors, editors, etc. Just being civil and listening does wonders. The second rule I learned is to find confidence, somehow, in what you do. Getting good at something has a lot to do with unfettered, consistent repetition. Find a niche you like and keep at it. I rarely give advice because I figure everyone is different? Maybe find a place or group of people that inspires you.
© Kenard Pak
What is one thing most people don't know about you?
I’m an avid fixie rider.
© Kenard Pak
Where can people find you online?
I frequent Twitter @kenardpak and Instagram @kenardpak My website is pandagun.com
© Kenard Pak
Kenard Pak is an illustrator, art director, and painter. Kenard has worked at animation companies including Dreamworks, Disney Feature, PDI, and Laika. He’s the author/illustrator of the seasonal GOODBYE SUMMER, HELLO AUTUMN series and has also illustrated other author’s books including HAVE YOU HEARD THE NESTING BIRD?, THE FOG, and CAT WISHES. Kenard lives in San Francisco with his lovely wife and a very nice, old cat.
Oct
3
An Interview with Kenard Pak
Kenard Pak
Kenard Pak
We interviewed Kenard Pak, award-winning children’s picture book illustrator and author. Pak is known for the expressive and dreamlike quality of his watercolors that often feature the wonders of the natural world. His most recent picture book is Cat Wishes by Calista Brill. The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, was listed among Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of 2017. He is also working, as both author and illustrator, on the third in a series of books about the seasons: the first two are Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, which won the 2018 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustration. Pak lives and works in San Francisco.
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A Selection of Work
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CatWishes cover small.jpg
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Cover of Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Cover of Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
In Cat Wishes the illustrations of Cat are so expressive. Were your cats cooperative models for your illustrations?
The cat’s expressions in Cat Wishes are based on my cat Charlie Parker! She had a sly, calm, cautious attitude, and, like all cats, she loved to curl up and sleep in a tight bun. I’m not sure if she was that cooperative because she was asleep most of the time (and you left her alone or else).
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Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Do you approach illustrating your own manuscripts any differently than when you’re illustrating another author’s text?
The difference is in whether things happen at the same time or not. When I write, the images emerge along with the text. When I get another author’s text, there’s a kind of puzzle making. I first try different styles, colors, and themes. At some point the art settles and begins to grow, and I then go with it.
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Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
How do you work out the rhythm of your illustrations in a book? In storyboard form first or sequential thumbnails or something else?
Every book is different. I’ve learned that my work process sways to what is happening in my life at the time. In general, I have little control over how a book pans out. My schedule can determine the process, and I always joke that I never really finish as much as I simply stop working. I have started with storyboards, and other times I dove right into final art. If time permits, there is a lot of wandering and nonsequential rearranging. What happens at the beginning has very little to do with what I get at the end.
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Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Cat Wishes, by Calista Brill, illustration by Kenard Pak
Nature plays a center stage position in much of your work. Where does that emphasis come from?
My relationship with nature is nostalgic. I treasure my memories of growing up in the hilly forest suburbs of Howard County, Maryland. When my family finally managed to move out of Baltimore, the suburbs were such a dream come true. My parents still had to work at their shop downtown, but on the weekends we’d all go for nice walks around the meadows, lakes, and streams found in Howard County. My mother especially loved her long walks through the forests and hills. The seasonal series, like what you see in Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn is very much an homage to my mother’s love for the seasons. Otherwise, these days I’m quite urban.
Cover of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
Cover of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, Kenard Pak
Do you keep an on-going sketchbook for ideas?
Yes. When I’m not too busy, I try and draw in them as much as possible. I experiment and just have fun. These days I’m trying to paint and draw more from real life.
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Sketches from Pak’s unpublished work
Sketches from Pak’s unpublished work
Your comment about your workspace that you shared on Twitter was intriguing: “There’s also weariness and a quiet faith that things will get done.” We would love to hear more about your feelings about your space and the work you create there.
My workspace is very modest. It’s a back corner next to a window. Here I work long hours, morning to night, with the many random thoughts and anxieties that goes through any artist’s mind. What I have learned is that whatever situation I’m in, I have this physical remainder, my workspace and all the stuff in it, to remind me of the nice things I may have done. There are old brushes and pencil nubs, bits of paper and dried paint, the worn corners of my drawing desk, and the scratches on a monitor. They are all there to tell me that I’m doing alright.
Cover of The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
Cover of The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from The Fog, by Kyo Maclear, illustration by Kenard Pak
We maintain that picture books can speak to audiences of potentially any age. Your thoughts on that?
Most of us remember reading picture books as children. We carry these memories with us throughout our lives. I’m not sure why. Maybe this early exposure to words and pictures is like a permanent mental imprint. It’s very common for people at every adult age to remember that one book or picture. It’s always there for them, tucked away. I think it’s because of this kind of relay with the past that picture books can speak to anyone at any age. I mean, we read and even forget good literary books all the time, but we remember Go, Dog. Go! or Harold and the Purple Crayon.
You’ve mentioned that Richard Scarry is a favorite illustrator. Is there one illustration you can point to that you particularly love?
There are so many! One that comes to mind is the cat walking with a fishing rod. There’s a seagull flying next to him. The cat is wearing a yellow hat and a red shirt, and he’s like, “I’m gonna go fish now!”. I really like this one.
Cover of Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
Cover of Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter, Kenard Pak
What’s your best piece of advice for an aspiring illustrator?
Somehow find confidence in what you do. Maybe it’s a matter of committing to that one thing that comes naturally to you, or maybe it’s a matter of just letting everything go and doing whatever you aim for. The best artists I know are those who genuinely know what they like (whether they’re conscious of it or not).
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Covers of How to Say . . . I Love You in Five Languages and How to Count . . . 1 to 5 in Five Languages, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from How to Count . . . 1 to 5 in Five Languages, Kenard Pak
Interior spread from How to Count . . . 1 to 5 in Five Languages, Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from How to Say . . . I Love You in Five Languages
Interior spread from How to Say . . . I Love You in Five Languages
As a child, did you want to be an artist? Did you grow up seeing that as a possible career?
As a kid I wanted to be an architect. I always knew that I wanted to do something creative, whether it was drawing cars, fashion, or comics. In high school I loved Disney movies, and in college I was fascinated by contemporary gallery artists like Laura Owens. Working in animation and illustration was a goal, but to have a decent career…! I’m not sure if I thought that this was possible, but it’s certainly something I’m very grateful for now.
Cover of Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Cover of Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Did you have a teacher(s) from elementary, middle or high school who encouraged you?
I think of two teachers. My first grade teacher Mrs. Bjorndoll used to sit with me and draw trees and presidents. My high school teacher Mrs. Gaither was wonderful. She encouraged me to experiment. I remember being arrogant enough to dare abstract painting, and Mrs. Gaither was all for it.
Cover of Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Cover of Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from Have You Heard the Nesting Bird?, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
You started out in animation. Do you approach illustration for print media and picture books differently?
When I used to work for the big animation companies, I got pretty good at drawing and painting what was needed for a feature length animated movie. We all were pretty good, and it was a lot of hard work. At some point I started to draw and paint for myself. I found my love for soft atmosphere, physical material like paint and paper, implied light, subtle texture --- all things that I was not seeing at the time in feature animation. From them on I had two lives. One for the companies where I was making these immaculate, carefully designed paintings and another for myself where I painted these fuzzy, flat, washy images. I’m very lucky to have these two different paths, but, to be honest, I think I was always better at the washy paintings.
Cover of When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Cover of When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
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Interior spread from When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Interior spread from When the World Is Dreaming, by Rita Gray, illustration by Kenard Pak
Are there any upcoming projects you can share?
I’m finishing art for two really nice books! One is called I Wonder. It’s a really fun take on questions children ask about everyday things. Does the sun go up like a kite? What if the ocean was in a bottle? The other book is a story about an old barn and the many people who helped build it. There’s a lot of pastoral imagery, so I referenced lots of magic hour photos. There’s also the next book in my seasonal series, Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. Compared to the first two, the third one has a darker tone. My wife and I are also working on a new book! Like our first book together, The Dinner That Cooked Itself, it’s about food, only this time it’s about markets in Taipei. I’m very thoughtful of Asian American culture these days, and I’m very much looking forward to working on this one.
We look forward to seeing your latest work. Thank you for sharing your art and your thoughts.
May 16, 2017
Let's Talk Illustrators #25: Kenard Pak
Kenard Pak is a man of many talents. He has worked as a Visual Development Artist for Dreamworks Animation and Walt Disney Animation, and he has made the successful transition into illustrating (and writing!) children's picture books. His newest picture book The Fog, written by Kyo Maclear, is special though, serving as a visual ode to Ken's personal inspirations: nature, time and memory. I'm so excited to take you inside this beautiful book!
About the book:
Warble is a small yellow warbler who lives on the beautiful island of Icyland, where he pursues his hobby of human watching. But on a warm day, a deep fog rolls in and obscures his view. The rest of the birds don't seem to notice the fog or the other changes Warble observes on the island. The more the fog is ignored, the more it spreads. When a Red-hooded Spectacled Female (Juvenile) appears, Warble discovers that he's not the only one who notices the fog. Will they be able to find others who can see it too? And is the fog here to stay?
Peek underneath the dust jacket here.
Let's talk Kenard Pak!
LTPB: There’s a pretty consistent focus on nature throughout your body of work, but there's an even heavier concentration on landscapes and the outdoors in your newest book The Fog. What kind of visual research did you do specifically for this book? What were you drawn to in Kyo Maclear's text?
KP: I’m naturally inclined to draw and think landscapes. My default mental image is some kind of vast distance, and whether intentional or not, I’ll make art out of these imaginary vistas. When I first read Kyo’s manuscript, I immediately thought of floating glaciers.
I then put trees and bushes on these icy islands, and what you see are the results of my experiments!
LTPB: What media did you use to create your illustrations? How did you make the fog feel distinct and present in each spread, almost like its own character?
KP: I drew in graphite and painted in watercolors. Everything was then scanned and/or collaged together on the computer. As for the fog, I think I must’ve painted 2 dozen big spreads of different fog shapes and textures. I found really nice, soft, gritty textures from layering these fields in Photoshop. I love unexpected surprises.
Original cover sketch
LTPB: Your 2016 book Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn was your author debut -- what made you decide it was time to take a stab at writing picture books? What did you learn from the authors you worked with on your other books? Will you be authoring another book soon?
KP: Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn is the first in a four part series. It’s follow up, Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter comes out later this year. I’m not sure if I write per se, but I do like how words look with each other and on top of images. My writing goal with the seasonal books is a call and response play, not only between reader and nature, but also word and picture.
I’m also working on actual stories, but this is a whole other thing! I’m learning from authors, like Kyo Maclear and Sara O’Leary, about the craft of telling an unpredictable, funny story. From the wonderful Rita Gray, I’ve learned a lot about poetry (although I’m terrified of rhyme), and I’ve learned from my wife, J.C. Hsyu, the charm of simple and direct phrasing.
LTPB: You used to work in animation, so how did you transition into children’s book illustration?
KP: My transition from animation to publishing was a fortuitous one. I used to keep a blog for my bird doodles. Kate O’Sullivan from HMH contacted me out of the blue, and the rest is history! In that year I illustrated my first picture book, Have You Heard The Nesting Bird?
I still have one foot in animation and do work for friends and colleagues. I will always like this medium: moving cartoons.
I make an effort to separate my work between animation and picture books. The irony is that often, especially in the market, one will work with the other. My animation work is a very particular skill set involving a tradition used since Walt Disney’s days. The work I do with children’s books is much more personal, playful, and experimental. Can the two mix together? Sure! I even suspect that they’re feeding off each other, and I’m just not noticing it.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
KP: I just finished my follow up to Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and soon I will start the third one in the series. Also in the works is a story about a lonely cat and another one about a little girl and her grandmother. Can’t show anything yet!
LTPB: The last question I’m asking all illustrators who participate in the series is, if you could have one illustrator (other than yourself!) illustrate your picture book biography, who would it be and why?
KP: Definitely Richard Scarry. If there’s anything that describes me most, it’s work, and there’s no other illustrator that can convey work in action like Richard Scarry.
A million thanks to Ken for taking time to answers some questions! The Fog publishes TODAY from Tundra Books!
Interview with Artist Kenard Pak
10 February 2015 // Interviews
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Laura-Beth Cowley
Features Writer
Back in December we posted a review of The Dinner That Cooked Itself from Flying Eye Books, an enchanting Asian-influenced tale of hard work, loneliness and patience. The tale was woven by the great mind of J. C. Hsyu and illustrated by the brilliant Kenard Pak. Kenard’s simple illustrations rely heavily on bold shapes and layers of texture to create a wonderful children’s book that all the family can enjoy. Kenard is no stranger to both the illustration and animation world; As well as his triumphs as a children book illustrator he has also created highly graphic and emotive work for films such as Peabody and Sherman and Madgascar 3. We took the opportunity to ask Kenard a few questions about his work and how he has seen it develop of the years.
How did you develop your highly textured and unique style of work?
I’ve always worked with simple, graphic shapes but, seeking something new, I set out to experiment with designs that would either offset or complement hard edges. I can’t remember when I started using textures, because at one point I preferred the opposite. I know resistance to my history in animation is a factor. A sudden interest in artists I used to dislike have a lot to do with it. Also, my memories are a big part of what I do: they are very hazy and grainy. What you see now is a progression, so who knows what it will look like later?
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Where do you seek inspiration from for your work?
I really like Ben Shahn, Andrew Wyeth, Charley Harper, but I adore the storytelling and elegant shape language of Adrienne Adams’s work. Richard Scarry! There’s a select handful of contemporary artists that I actively admire and avoid who are significant influences on what I do. My memories of growing up in Maryland are an important part of my artwork.
How does working on a series of illustrations for a book differ from your work in creating concepts for animation?
With a picture book, I let my creative process unfold into its most extreme, natural state. It’s chaotic and fuzzy with very few parameters. Eventually limits reveal themselves and artwork emerges that I have to stop working on, otherwise I’d go on forever! The beginning, middle and end all have nothing to do with each other. On an animation production, I structure myself based on the needs of the production designer. I have a list of rules and directions, and my colleagues and I know exactly what to expect. If we had to sum it up, it’s really about measurement of time, efficiency and linear functions.
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Which children’s books did you find most compelling when you were a child yourself, and has this informed your current work?
To this day I have a Richard Scarry book next to my bed, just like when I was a kid. My favourite books as a kid were the ones that were educational or had cool illustrations on making something, like a wooden toy or origami. All those nameless, wonderful books at the local library about bugs and leaves, I wonder what happened to them? They had these amazing covers, drawings and paintings…
How were you approached to illustrate this story?
I had done an illustration for Nobrow 9 and Alex Spiro contacted me asking for a manuscript. At the time I didn’t have anything, so Alex proposed The Dinner That Cooked Itself. My wife J. C. Hsyu came on board as author and what you see is all our hard work compressed into one picture book. Hope you like it!
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This is your second children’s picture book, are there plans for a third?
Flowers Are Calling is a sequel in spirit to my first book Have You Heard The Nesting Bird?. It’s pretty cool! The book has many different flowers and all the various pollinators that live with them, all illustrated to Rita Gray’s lovely, quiet writing. It comes out March 2015 through HMH.
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What else are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on a picture book series about the four seasons that I’m writing myself. Henry Holt is kind enough to have me work with them. I’m particularly excited about these books because I’m integrating full size traditional watercolor paintings. Expect the first picture book somewhere later in 2015! I’m also really excited about a book with Tundra Books – it’s about a very clever Warbler.
You can see more of Kenard’s work on his website here. You can also buy The Dinner That Cooked Itself over on Flying Eye Books site.
Kenard Pak Illustrations for Disney, Dreamworks and Books
March 24, 2014
tags: Animation, Ape On The Moon, birds, character illustration, countryside, digital illustration, disney, Dreamworks, fishink, illustration, Illustration Mondo, illustrator, In Prnt, Kenard Pak, Madagascar 3, natural settings, nature
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Growing up in Baltimore and Howard County, Maryland, after studying at Syracuse University and California Institute of the Arts, Kenard Pak now calls San Franciso ‘home’. He is a very talented illustrator, who has worked not only for Disney but also for Dreamworks and somehow finds time to illustrate children’s books too ! He likes to work with themes of memory, nostalgia, loss, nature, and the general mystery of our every day lives.
I love his calm, restful style of illustration and managed to track the busy man down and he graciously agreed to answer a few questions exclusively for Fishink Blog.
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You mentioned in another Q&A session that you had quite strict parents and chose to do art almost as an ‘act of rebellion’. I wondered if some of the lonely, quiet, figures in your empty roaming landscapes are based on any childhood memories, or are perhaps a visual escape for you, taking yourself off to ‘pastures new’ ?
These landscapes are revisits to my family’s pastoral life in Howard County, Maryland. My parents had different food businesses in the heart of Baltimore, and the farm suburbia of our neighborhood was a relief to downtown’s hardships. Those lonely figures are memories of my mother/father/brother going for long walks in the meadows and parks you find around Howard County. These images are visual strolls into memory, but they also function as reminders of where I am right now and what I need to do. As for my youthful rebellious artwork: most of it was copying cartoon and anime robot drawings.
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When creating your personal work, where does your starting point begin ? Photographs, visualisations from the landscape, sketchbook drawings. Do you work from real environments at all ?
My personal work always starts with memory, some moment floating around in my mind. Sometimes, a photograph or a painting will inspire a memory. My sketchbook is more like a list of thoughts and groceries, and some chicken scratch that eventually becomes artwork. I think artists, conscious or not, are always inspired by their physical environments.
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I love the use of textures and layering in your work, are these hand-drawn or created in photoshop with brushes and effects? (perhaps a mixture of both). How would you start putting textures and shapes together for a new piece. How much is the landscape developed in your mind prior to you beginning a new illustration and how much does it evolve within photoshop, during the images creation ?
My textures are mostly scanned rough watercolor paper with wet and dry paint washes. I also have a good collection of personally built PS brushes that I’ve been tweaking through the years. I first start with basic shapes, use adjustment layers with my scanned textures, and finesse or paint over with my brushes. Lately, I’ve been integrating more and more traditional drawing and painting. The landscape, or whatever subject, does start in my mind, but I don’t necessarily understand it or know how to relay it. There’s a lot of coaxing, which may explain my meandering process. Everything I do is ultimately unplanned (no matter how hard I try). What I start with often has very little nothing to do with where I stop, but a general story or theme does carry through.
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Who would you say, are the people from the past and present, who’s work continues to inspire and amaze you ? Would you say that you have equal admiration for someone who can use painted media as you would for an artist working digitally ?
I used to be more impressed by how final artwork looks (and you can’t deny good art its credit), but these days artwork that communicates something personal, how quaint or severe, gets my attention much much more. Funny part is sometimes the artwork I’m talking about isn’t always what most people typically deem as noteworthy. To this day I love Andrew Wyeth, M. Sasek, Richard Scarry, Adrienne Adams, The Provensons, Richard Bunkall, etc. As for contemporaries, I really like Ed Panar’s photographs. I like to read WG Sebald. I’m still impressed by that game Limbo. Most I know work with both traditional and digital, but we all seem to yearn for pencil, paint, ink, and paper. I wonder if that’s because we give some sort of assumed gravitas towards the traditional arts?
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Would you confess to being a bit of a twitcher ? or are the bird illustrations more early research for your latest book ?
I’m far from twitcher, more like local bird watcher. My cousins in Vancouver are good bird watchers, and I learned from them that you don’t have to go to special places to admire feathers. I just know the birds that I see on my street, where I often drive to, the pool I swim at, or what I remember from Maryland. Have You Heard The Nesting Bird? is wonderful, fortunate circumstance: an editor had noticed my blog bird illustrations! These birds have nothing to with picture books. They were just fun to study and draw.
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When you’re working for Clients, pretty famous ones at that, how much free reign are you granted when creating new illustrations. What I mean is, is the brief you are given quite specific i.e. ‘We want a mountain with a sunset and a view looking from above’ etc or do you work from sketches and discuss how the image will form from those ?
So far I’ve been very, very fortunate with my editors and art directors. Other than basic, simple notes I’ve been encouraged to explore and work with my themes. That said, we always work from sketches, and I’m always open to good suggestions. My organic process may also provide my clients space to explore as well. I hope this is the case because I do believe in group, communal efforts.
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The animation artwork I’ve seen on your website has stronger colours and more dynamic angles etc than you’re personal work. Do you make a conscious effort to work differently in these two areas, or does it naturally work out that way. One then becomes a pleasant change from the other in this way.
Yes, I make a very strong, conscious effort to differentiate between the two. My layout background in Hollywood animation favours classic cinema grammar, deliberate lighting, and a broad colour palette. Especially with 3D animation, the demand for realistic, cinematic detail is necessary. In visual development, you’re paid to work as a versatile jack of all trades. What I love about picture books is I can get much more specific and personal look with my artwork. I can work with colours, themes, and spreads that closely remind me of things that I treasure. I also love the book format because the reader has the time to explore a picture, versus cinema where the viewer more or less passively stares at a glowing box for a restricted period.
Kenard did some amazing illustrations here on ‘Madagascar 3’ to name but one film he’s worked on.
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Where do you see your work going in the future ? Any areas (like children’s books) that you would like to explore further or break into ?
I’m working on new picture books right now, but I’d like to write and illustrate one! I really like the idea of children and adults slowing down and learning something from a picture book. I’m exploring this.
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Finally, what was your finest hour, favourite piece of work, or happiest memory connected to your illustrative life to date ?
Working on my Sore Churchyard series was a great experience. These paintings are based on very strange, childhood memories, and at the time I had a lot of time, quiet, and space to explore them.
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You can discover a little more about Kenard here at Illustration Mondo…
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and also over at the wonderful Ape On The Moon blog with Alex and Philip.
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Thanks again to Kenard for taking the time out to answer these questions so concisely. I know you’re a busy guy, much appreciated and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about the man behind the work. You can purchase some of Kenard’s prints here on the In Prnt site.
Gray, Rita HAVE YOU HEARD THE NESTING BIRD? HMH Books (Children's Picture Books) $16.99 3, 18 ISBN: 978-0-544-10580-5
Two children wander through the countryside listening to calls of common birds and wonder why the nesting robin alone does not make a sound. The calls of common birds-mourning dove, woodpecker, starling, sparrow, swallow, crow, cardinal, chickadee, catbird, blue jay, the onomatopoeic whippoorwill and wood thrush-are notated with pleasing accuracy, well enough to allow a child to identify them in nature, even as the children in the book encounter them. Finally, sounds of tapping, cracking and breaking shells emanate from the robin's nest. Cheeping and peeping are heard, and the long silence is broken by the newborn baby robins. The male robin's song is sweetly transcribed as "Cheerily, cheer up! My tree makes syrup! Syrup so sweet!" This charming and unusual nature story contributes something new to the overstuffed field of bird-related picture books. Gray's simple rhymes and accurate bird calls are attractively complemented by Pak's textured watercolor-resist illustrations in soft greens, browns and grays. Each bird is humorously but accurately depicted. A final "Word with the Bird" in Q-and-A format explains in detail why the robin is silent while hatching her eggs and answers many other useful questions, including the role of the father bird and what happens to the babies after they leave the nest. As welcome as the robin in springtime. (Informational picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Gray, Rita: HAVE YOU HEARD THE NESTING BIRD?" Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A357032872/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=aae9e340. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Hsyu, J.C. THE DINNER THAT COOKED ITSELF Flying Eye Books (Children's Picture Books) $17.95 11, 11 ISBN: 978-1-909263-41-3
A retelling of an old Chinese folk tale emphasizes the goodness of its protagonist.Young Tuan was orphaned as a little boy and raised by kindly neighbors who, when he is old enough, hire a matchmaker for him. The first match is no good, as their zodiacal symbols clash; the second founders on symbolic disagreement between their name characters. The third looks promising symbolically, but Tuan is just "too poor for her parents to approve." Gathering cabbages by moonlight, Tuan spots a large snail and brings it home, keeping it in a jar and feeding it cabbage leaves. Over each of the next several days, Tuan arrives home to find his table set with a delicious dinner on it. Curious, he comes home early the next evening to discover a beautiful woman emerging from the snail's jar; sent by the Lord of Heaven to look after him until he marries, she must now leave as she may not be gazed upon by mortals--but she leaves her shell behind, and it never runs out of rice. Hsyu's retelling has a folkloric simplicity, planting just enough details to ground readers in the traditional tale. Pak's mixed-media illustrations evoke a misty, long-ago agrarian China, his expressive, angular faces contrasting pleasingly with fluid, lovingly created backdrops. Although there is a concluding note on Chinese calligraphy, there is nothing to source the story itself. A breath of fresh air in its beauty and simplicity. (Picture book/folk tale. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Hsyu, J.C.: THE DINNER THAT COOKED ITSELF." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A385540373/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3b6b4351. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Gray, Rita FLOWERS ARE CALLING HMH Books (Children's Picture Books) $16.99 3, 3 ISBN: 978-0-544-34012-1
Verse alternates with facts about pollinators, depicted with their preferred flowering plants.Gray establishes a playful pattern: In each of three successive double-page spreads, she pairs a nonpollinating animal and a pollinator. "Flowers are calling a little black bear. / No, not a bear! He doesn't care. // They're calling a butterfly / to dip from the air." Next, an anchoring spread gathers and names the three preceding plants, providing prose nuggets about their pollinators' preferences. Regarding the trumpet honeysuckle, "Hummingbirds use their long tongues to reach the nectar hidden in deep tubular flowers, and hover as they drink." The magnolia garners this revelation: "Beetles have been visiting flowers for more than 100 million years." Verse sections can be uneven. Often lovely couplets--rhyming or near-rhyming--bump up against lines that don't scan well; in one case, the rhyme pairs a plural subject with a singular object: "Flowers are calling a rabbit to stop. / No, not a rabbit! It's not their habit to call a rabbit. / He might grab it! // They're calling a bee fly to visit their spot." Pak's pretty, digitally worked watercolors achieve equilibrium between stylized reduction and naturalistic verisimilitude. Two spreads visit flowers with nighttime pollinators--a nice touch. Concluding prose invites children to examine flowers for elements like pattern, shape and smell, explaining how pollinators utilize these attributes. Although it has some textual flaws, this quiet, introspective work beckons readers to keenly observe. (fact page, website) (Informational picture book. 4-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Gray, Rita: FLOWERS ARE CALLING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A397059362/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e6bb7bb5. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
When the World Is Dreaming
Rita Gray, illus. by Kenard Pak. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-544-58262-0
In a series of poems and airy illustrations, Gray and Pak (who most recently collaborated on F lowers Are Calling) consider the dreams of woodland creatures, observed in their habitats by a straight-haired, dark-skinned girl. With the reassuring repetition of nursery rhymes, each poem takes the same form. The first two stanzas frame the question ("What does Little Snake dream at the end of the day?/ After the wriggling, the sunning, the play," begins one); the third presents the creature's reply ("Catching the wind, the kite sets sail,/ and trailing behind, I am the tail!"); and the fourth bids it goodnight. Other animals' dreams are just as fanciful: two deer take shelter from the rain under a giant mushroom cap, a rabbit flies with a pair of cabbage-leaf wings. Pak's gauzy spreads combine misty greens, pale grays, and tints that fade to white to suggest the first whispers of spring. In the end, the girl dreams a magical dream of her own. It's one more way that animals resemble humans, Gray suggests, and that humans reveal their animal natures. Ages 4-7. Author's agent: Fiona Kens hole, Transatlantic Literary. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency. (Sept.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"When the World Is Dreaming." Publishers Weekly, vol. 263, no. 25, 20 June 2016, p. 156. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A456344809/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=85f22d11. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Pak, Kenard GOODBYE SUMMER, HELLO AUTUMN Henry Holt (Children's Picture Books) $17.99 8, 16 ISBN: 978-1-62779-415-2
As a child walks through woods and town, summer turns to fall, and the natural world is met with a friendly hello. A slim, brown child with a black-haired bob and hipster clothes stands on a stoop, ready to greet the late summer morning. On this picturesque journey through the seasons, the protagonist's cordial salutation--whether made to blue jays and beavers or to the thunder and wind--is always the same: "Hello, [object]." And all amiably respond, providing tidbits of information about themselves. Unfortunately, their chatty replies miss the rhythm and easy conversational style that would make this shine as a read-aloud. It's a shame, since the artist's lush, evocative digital illustrations so perfectly capture the changing seasons in both the countryside and the town's streets. To further accentuate the subject matter, Pak makes every spread a panorama, allowing readers to see and feel the various environments and habitats. Working in the tradition of such artists as Richard Scarry and Mary Blair, he takes a graphic approach, illustrating a world with simplified characters and shapes, layers of textures, and bold colors. Repeat visits will reveal new stories, such as the child's collection and distribution of a carefully crafted bouquet to other people, whose diversity refreshingly reflects a range of skin tones, hairstyles, body types, and interests. A visual success conjuring up the best about the seasons' changes. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pak, Kenard: GOODBYE SUMMER, HELLO AUTUMN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A455212460/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8b13670d. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn
by Kenard Pak; illus. by the author
Preschool Holt 32 pp. 8/16 978-1-62779-415-2 $17.99 g
"Hello, late summer morning," says a young girl in a red scarf as she leaves her house on a double-page spread suffused in soft greens. She greets the trees, a variety of animals, flowers, thunder, and leaves and each answers her ("Hello! Now that the cool winds have come, we love how our branches sway in the sun"). The friendly conversation is illustrated with digitally enhanced watercolor and pencil art that captures the changing season as the girl walks through woods and into town. Foxes, chipmunks, and other creatures prepare for the coming chill; townsfolk don sweaters. Pak's angular people and objects are especially striking against the round shapes and soft, translucent colors of his background hills and trees. The pictures reveal inviting details not mentioned in the text: our young protagonist has brown skin and dark hair, while the townspeople themselves are a nicely diverse group; three creatures--a large spotted dog, a blue jay, and a butterfly--jauntily accompany the girl on her journey, adding a little folkloric flair; and the colorful bouquet of late-blooming asters and phlox the girl acquires in the woods dwindles as she walks through town, while, in her wake, people look pleasantly surprised to find flowers in their hands (or, at the cafe, in their coffee cups). The story comes fullcircle in a final spread of the girl outside her house, now surrounded by trees in reds and oranges, once again greeting the day: "Hello, autumn!" Pak's well-executed first appearance as both author and illustrator offers a warm welcome to fall.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Brabander, Jennifer M. "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 92, no. 4, July-Aug. 2016, p. 123. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A457975617/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=33887f32. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Ben Handicott, Kenard Pak THE HELLO ATLAS Wide Eyed Editions (Adult Picture Books) 27.99 ISBN: 978-1-84780-863-9
Children around the world offer greetings and conversational overtures in over 125 languages.Elaborating on the idea behind Manya Stojics Hello World (2002) and similar polyglot consciousness-raisers, Handicott places dozens of small figures on blank maps of each continent (even Antarctica), then introduces each speaker in a separate panel offering a friendly greeting or question. Along with sampling widely spoken languages, readers can try their tongues on Kiaora (Maori Hello), Ti mx? (Whats your name? in Mixe), or somewhat-longer expressions such as Najotjo ri nzengwats (Pleased to meet you in Mazahua). Lists at the end offer further short phrases for each entry, and an associated app (not available for review) supplies audio versions for help with pronunciation. This will be a necessity for just about everybody, as there are no phonetic spellings. The introductory notes about each languages speakers and linguistic family aren't as detailed as those in Jonathan Littons Hello World, illustrated by L'Atelier Cartographik (2016), but there is more vocabulary, along with many more indigenous entries. Pak promotes an expansive view too, with figures that are not only not always dressed in stereotypical national costume, but even in places like Finland and Ireland are nearly all variously dark-skinned. Indeed, the legacy of colonialism seems almost entirely suppressed; a French-Canadian child and an Afrikaans-speaking child are the only obviously white figures in North America and Africa, respectively.
So many different ways to say hello or to wish someone a good day, a fine meal, or a happy birthday! (Informational picture book. 7-11)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Ben Handicott, Kenard Pak: THE HELLO ATLAS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2016. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A465182008/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=94444a61. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
MACLEAR, Kyo
The Fog
Illustrated by Kenard Pak. Tundra
Books, 2017. Unp. Illus. Gr. 1-3. 978-177049-492-3.
Hdbk. $21.99
A thick fog covers the island of Icy Land turning it into Fog Land. Some inhabitants of the island barely acknowledge the fog; most embrace it as the new norm--all but one yellow warbler. The warbler tries desperately to rid his island of the fog. Just as he too is about to accept the fog's permanence warbler spots a red-hooded girl who also sees the fog and refuses to accept it. Together they reach out beyond the island in hopes of finding others who not only see the fog, but are also willing to fix it.
Pak's ethereal illustrations bring the dangers of passivity to life in this beautiful warning allegory by Maclear. The glimpses of warbler's friends and vegetation amidst the fog heighten the reader's awareness that the fog is everywhere and should not be ignored. The clever, proactive warbler and red-hooded girl change the world by not giving in, reassuring readers that there is hope but that change requires action not complacency.
While this book has a serious message, it delivers it with humour and simplicity. The concept of a human-watching bird will delight readers as they see warbler document human specimens such as #672 Bald-headed glitzy male. Maclear uses this mechanism of recording specimens as a means to include challenging vocabulary, such as "bibliophilic" and "audiophlic", a detail that parents and educators will appreciate.
Thematic Links: Climate Change; Global Awareness; Social Activism
[E] Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
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Malespin, Ana. "Maclear, Kyo: The Fog." Resource Links, vol. 22, no. 5, June 2017, p. 5. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A500500874/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e81a6d78. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Pak, Kenard GOODBYE AUTUMN, HELLO WINTER Godwin Books/Henry Holt (Children's Fiction) $17.99 9, 19 ISBN: 978-1-62779-416-9
A brother and sister walk through woods and town, acknowledging autumn and welcoming winter in this picture book. Expanding on Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn (2016), author/illustrator Pak continues the theme, this time with a black-haired, brown-skinned boy and girl who ramble through woods, town, and countryside as they converse with the trees, birds, horses, sheep, deer, snow, and wind, saying goodbye to fall and hello to winter. The digitally enhanced watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are as quiet and graceful as the slow passage of the seasons. Diversity, both ethnically and culturally (a Kwanzaa kinara, a Jewish menorah, and a star-topped Christmas tree are all included in the illustrative details, as are various colors of people), is well-represented. But many of the nature facts in the text are inaccurate. Cardinals don't "fly far, far south," daisies of the type illustrated do not bloom in the late autumn, and autumn evenings (as opposed to nights) are shorter, not longer. Such lapses make the whole story suffer. Factual errors aside, the story flows well--its cadence is serene and accepting, with a pleasant, otherworldly quality that is reinforced by the soft double-spread illustrations. Lovely to look at; frustratingly inaccurate. (Picture book. 3-6)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Pak, Kenard: GOODBYE AUTUMN, HELLO WINTER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495427633/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1c787d52. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Pak, Kenard HOW TO COUNT 1 TO 5 IN FIVE LANGUAGES Wide Eyed Editions (Children's Informational) $12.99 3, 1 ISBN: 978-1-78603-080-1
Beginning language lessons for little ones.
Each spread in this board book introduces a different child on the verso and the language they speak. First is Santiago, a boy with brown skin and short, dark hair who speaks Spanish. His Spanish dialogue counting five oranges is highlighted in white under his portrait, with each line given its English translation below it. On the facing page there's a picture of an orange tree labeled with the numerals 1 through 5 pointing to each orange and the words written in Spanish for these numbers. Subsequent spreads show Feng, a Chinese girl who counts bicycles in Mandarin; a white girl named Kirsty counting other children in English; Thomas, a black boy, counting giraffes in French; and Taro, who simply counts up to five in Japanese, with written characters for the numbers on a chalkboard (and five cats in the illustration though they aren't named in the text). The piece de resistance in the book's design is a vertical strip of buttons to the side of the recto, labeled with each child's face and the language they speak. Press the button and a recording of a child counting from one to five in the respective languages plays, offering readers the chance to learn by hearing. The companion book, How to Say I Love You, follows a similar pattern, highlighting the same languages but depicting different children as their speakers.
Gives little readers a head start on global citizenship. (Board book. 2-5)
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"Pak, Kenard: HOW TO COUNT 1 TO 5 IN FIVE LANGUAGES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 July 2018. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A544637812/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a4f4ed65. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
We all need a little make-believe sometimes, and in Cat Wishes, author Calista Brill teams up with artist Kenard Park to create a fairy tale fit for feline lovers everywhere.
The story begins with a hungry cat who wishes for something to eat. The cat soon finds a tasty-looking snake who offers the cat three wishes in exchange for sparing his life. "No such thing as a wish," declares the cat. "Sure of that, are you?" asks the snake. And so the skeptical cat finds himself making wishes anyway. He would certainly love a fish. And then, when it begins to rain, a house with "a roasty, toasty fireplace" would be very nice. And most of all, in the lonely, shadowy night, a friend would certainly come in handy. All of these wishes are fulfilled.
There's a sweet twist to Brill's tale. The cat discovers he's not the only creature who has benefited from the snake's three wishes. Just as the cat wishes for a friend, a girl appears, claiming that she made a wish for a friend, too.
Cat is an endearing hero whose adventures are never too scary for young readers. With Pak's gentle pastel illustrations and Brill's simple message, Cat Wishes is a lovely bedtime story that will also delight toddlers exploring the magic of friendship.
CAT WISHES By Calista Brill Illustrated by Kenard Pak HMH $17.99, 40 pages ISBN 9780544610552 eBook available Ages 4 to 7 PICTURE BOOK
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 BookPage
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Hopkinson, Deborah. "CAT WISHES." BookPage, Aug. 2018, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A547988088/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c5659c1f. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
MacLachlan, Patricia
The Poet's Dog
Illustrated by Kenard Pak
Pushkin Press, 2017, pp96, 9.99 [pounds sterling]
978 1 78269 168 6
Set in a snow covered landscape in North America, New England perhaps or maybe Vermont, written in the first person by an Irish Wolfhound called Teddy, this is first and foremost a story about love, the love between an animal and its human companions.
Teddy is an amazing talking dog but only poets and children can understand him. Luckily for Teddy he lives with Sylvan, an old poet. When Sylvan dies Teddy lives alone in a cabin in the forest, sleeping in the woodshed at night, visited occasionally by Sylvan's best friend, Ellie, who has promised to look after the dog and find him new companions to live with.
During a blizzard Teddy finds two children, Nickel and Flora, stranded in a car and he takes them home to the cabin in the forest. The storm means that the children will have to stay until the wind abates. There is no electricity and Teddy shows Nickel the wood shed so they can keep themselves warm and the dog and the children sleep together on a rug in front of the fire. There is food and little Flora concocts curious meals for the three of them. When the storm subsides Ellie arrives on skis and helps to reunite the children with their parents. And the ending is all the reader will be hoping for! This is a really beautiful story, sparingly written with gentle, affectionate humour. Although it is the perfect stocking filler, this is a book for all seasons.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The School Library Association
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Morpurgo, Clare. "MacLachlan, Patricia: The Poet's Dog." School Librarian, vol. 66, no. 1, spring 2018, p. 41. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A532654296/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=50a1ac87. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
MacLachlan, Patricia THE HUNDRED-YEAR BARN Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (Children's Fiction) $17.99 9, 10 ISBN: 978-0-06-268773-9
Known for animating America's past for young readers, MacLachlan here imagines a community barn-raising from a century ago.
The setting is simply "a meadow," leaving room for Pak's atmospheric mixed-media and digital compositions to fill in physical and emotional elements. Burnt sienna is the predominant color of the landscape; it surrounds the minimalist figures like a textured veil, emphasizing their ties to the Earth. The narrator, 5 years old at the start, is identified by a red cap and dark hair. He holds the ladder while wooden frames are bolted to beams, plays with neighbors in the stream, and enjoys the celebratory picnic and the photograph that records the gathering. Characters have various skin tones--whether from ethnicity or sun, it is hard to say--but the protagonist and his family present white. This quiet tale captures the rhythm of rural life throughout seasons--and then over generations--with the solid structure at the center of daily chores, fond interactions with animals, sleepovers with cousins, and weddings. The moments of highest drama involve a wedding ring lost by the protagonist's father during construction and recovered in a barn owl's nest when the son has become the farmer. MacLachlan weaves in an abundance of details that will appeal to children with no firsthand experience with farming: "Once, a lamb named Baby pushed me over and licked my face with his little tongue."
A cozy filter through which to imagine growing up. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"MacLachlan, Patricia: THE HUNDRED-YEAR BARN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588726847/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a673e1af. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Holt, K.A. I WONDER Random House (Children's Fiction) $17.99 10, 1 ISBN: 978-1-5247-1422-2
Kids ponder philosophy and nature.
Lying in an attic bed in the opening spread's bottom left corner, a child wonders, "What if the sun is really a kite?" Outside the house, kites zoom up, while far across the pinkish-gray sky, an understated sun glows--with a kite string hanging from it. A multiracial cast of children, one using a wheelchair, pose questions that are their own point--no answers required. Some address nature, like dragonflies or grasshoppers. Some are playful: "Could there be a galaxy in my belly button?" asks a child who observes tiny planets and stars orbiting at waist level. Sadness is here too: "Why don't shadows smile when you smile?" The child wondering that question is smiling, but the picture is so dark, it's hard to discern. One tender theme involves concern for inanimate items, such as whether cereal fears spoons, whether toys mind being alone or shoes are sad to be outgrown, and whether teddy bears cry. (This teddy does shed a tear.) One spread asks, "Do windmills ever get tired?" and then "Where are all the unicorns hiding?" In the illustration, a muddy, melancholy green dominates the turbine-covered rolling hills and a minuscule pink unicorn subtly emerges. Pak's artwork is delicate and serious, echoing shapes and colors across a spread to forge connections.
Pensive and muted: the quiet side of wondering. (Picture book. 4-8)
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"Holt, K.A.: I WONDER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A594857373/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c7302f2c. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Pak, Kenard GOODBYE WINTER, HELLO SPRING Henry Holt (Children's Fiction) $17.99 2, 18 ISBN: 978-1-250-15172-8
A dialogic approach to the turn of the seasons.
A young child, with beige skin and dark hair, and a white dog walk through the darkened, snowy countryside. They greet the snow and the winter night; a frozen pond and an empty nest; and even a glass house. Each in turn answers back, offering insight into their experience of the chilly atmosphere. Following a wordless spread that serves as a pictorial climax, the season shifts toward spring, with increased sunlight, warmth, melting snow, and the renewed presence of songbirds and flowers. The world has come to life again, and the child and dog run through green fields sparsely patched with retreating snow. The contrasting color palettes and geometric shapes in the accumulating spreads effectively evoke the stark darkness of winter and the bright warmth of spring. Ground-level and bird's-eye perspectives of the rural setting and tiny details reward eagle-eyed readers. The rapid change from nocturnal winter storm to bright, green spring day seems a bit contrived, underscoring the book's premise of transition and metamorphosis. Moreover, the child's conversation with the natural world at times leaves readers unclear of who is speaking, which may cause confusion during a read-aloud. This is the third book in Pak's seasonal cycle.
A slight addition to a seasonal collection redeemed by its striking illustrations. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"Pak, Kenard: GOODBYE WINTER, HELLO SPRING." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A606964450/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e3e8fb29. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Loomis, Ilima 'OHANA MEANS FAMILY Neal Porter/Holiday House (Children's Fiction) $18.99 2, 4 ISBN: 978-0-8234-4326-0
Discover the importance of kalo in Hawaiian culture.
Opening below a single bowl of purple poi, the text begins, "This is the poi for our ‘ohana's lū‘au." Using a cumulative pattern, it expands on where poi comes from to create a broader picture of the Hawaii countryside with a pair of presumably Native Hawaiian children as focal characters. They watch as the kalo, or taro, is pounded into poi, then, as the cumulative rhyme moves backward, they help in the taro patches of mud and clear water where the plants grow. A close-up of the taro patch zooms out to reveal more people working in many patches and the river that feeds the land that has been passed down from generation to generation. Each new addition to the cumulative text highlights an essential element of Hawaiian values, such as the land, elders, family, and food. In this read-aloud, Loomis writes a beautiful homage to kalo, a cornerstone of the culture and livelihood of the Hawaiian people. The poetic text combines with Pak's breathtaking illustrations to depict kalo's embodiment of the strong connection between land, water, air, sun, and the people. With his layered, textured paintings, Pak creates both beautiful pictures of the kalo and stunning panoramas of the community. A note on kalo and poi, an author's note, and a glossary are provided to explain the importance of the elements of this story.
An incredible book to share with every member of your ‘ohana. (Picture book. 4-8)
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"Loomis, Ilima: 'OHANA MEANS FAMILY." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A609999096/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2b9b6efd. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
On the Horizon. By Lois Lowry. Illus. by Kenard Pak. Apr. 2020. 80p. HMH, $16.99 (9780358129400). Gr. 5-8.940.54.
Two events in WWII's Pacific theater lead to congruence and awareness in poems composed by Newbery Medal--winning Lowry, which explore Pearl Harbor--specifically the sinking of the batdeship Arizona--and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. What makes the poems special and so relatable for young audiences is how they overlap with Lowry's childhood experiences. As a toddler on Oahu, Hawaii, she played in the sand as the Arizona floated in the background. As a girl living in postwar Japan, she crossed paths with a boy who had witnessed the strike on Hiroshima. These moments, specific to Lowry and the boy--who became children's author Allen Say--bookend other vivid moments defining the lives of those involved in either tragedy. The story of Captain Kidd and other sailors aboard the battleship is the focus of the first series of poems, mirroring the second section, which covers a Japanese boy and his bicycle, as well as Sadako and her origami cranes. Part three brings Lowry to postwar moments and to the present, when she visits memorials for the Arizona and Hiroshima. Pak's illustrations likewise focus on simple moments, items, and portraits. The effect is deeply felt and emotive, not about sides but about people, and it's sure to lead readers to think deeply on these dual tragedies of war. A must for all collections. --Karen Cruze
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Any new project from two-time Newbery Medal-winner Lowry is big news, and this turn to poetry-supported by an author tour-is sure to intrigue.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Cruze, Karen. "On the Horizon." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 11, 1 Feb. 2020, p. 35. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A614529466/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=460f5d93. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Maud and Grand-Maud. By Sara O'Leary. Illus. by Kenard Pak. Aug. 2020. 40p. Random, $17.99 (9780399554582). PreS-Gr. 2.
On special Saturdays, Maud goes to stay with Grand-Maud, her grandmother. She looks forward to their sleepover routine. Wearing floor-length flannel nightgowns made by Grand-Maud, they sit side by side in the living room, eating breakfast foods for supper while watching a black-and-white movie on TV. Each time she visits, Maud looks into the wooden chest beneath her bed and finds a small treasure just for her--a watercolor paint set, a heart-shaped stone, or an old photo of Grand-Maud riding an elephant. On this visit, before falling asleep, Maud imagines that one day she will have seven children. In her dream, her granddaughter joins her for sleepovers on special Saturdays. A Canadian writer, O'Leary creates the characters' personalities and expresses their mutual affection through well-chosen words, details, and conversations such as, "'You never told me you rode on a real elephant,' said Maud. 'You never asked,' said Grand-Maud." Apart from the occasional surprise, there's a reassuring sense of order in the child's visits to Grand-Maud's home and in the well-composed illustrations of the place itself. Featuring a dusky palette with warm undertones, Pak's artwork uses color sparingly and effectively. While neither character is effusive, their warm relationship is clear. A quiet, understated gem among intergenerational picture books. --Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Maud and Grand-Maud." Booklist, vol. 116, no. 22, 1 Aug. 2020, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A633841994/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c4028e88. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Ten Ways to Hear Snow
Cathy Camper, author
Kenard Pak, illustrator
Kokila
c/o Penguin Young Readers Group
https://www.penguin.com
9780399186332, $17.99, HC, 32pp
https://www.amazon.com/Ways-Hear-Snow-Cathy-Camper/dp/0399186336
Synopsis: One winter morning, Lina wakes up to silence. It's the sound of snow--the kind that looks soft and glows bright in the winter sun. But as she walks to her grandmother's house to help make the family recipe for warak enab, she continues to listen.
As Lina walks past snowmen and across icy sidewalks, she discovers ten ways to pay attention to what might have otherwise gone unnoticed. With stunning illustrations by Kenard Pak and thoughtful representation of a modern Arab American family from Cathy Camper, "Ten Ways to Hear Snow" by Cathy Camper is a layered exploration of mindfulness, empathy, and what we realize when the world gets quiet.
Critique: Fun, original, and memorable, "Ten Ways to Hear Snow" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 4-8.
Editorial Note #1: Cathy Camper (cathycamper.com) is the author of the Lowriders in Space graphic novel series. She is a founding member of the Portland Women of Color Zine Collective and works as an outreach librarian, serving schools and kids grades K--12. She can be followed on Twitter @cfastwolf
Editorial Note #2: Kenard Pak (www.pandagun.com) is an accomplished picture book and book cover illustrator. He's illustrated children's books such as Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray and The Dinner That Cooked Itself by J. C. Hsyu. He is also the author/illustrator of Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter. He can be followed on Twitter @kenardpak
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Midwest Book Review
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"Ten Ways to Hear Snow." Children's Bookwatch, Nov. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A734610473/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d2944810. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Hopkinson, Deborah ON A SUMMER NIGHT Chronicle Books (Children's None) $18.99 5, 14 ISBN: 9781797200132
What is it that wakes up a child, a house cat, and other sleepers on a hot summer night?
There's a subtle clue to the cause in Pak's dim, serene scenes as a brown-skinned child, limned in the thinnest hint of golden light, rises from bed and heads to the backyard to walk in dew-flecked grass, to feel the warm dirt against bare feet, and to gaze up at the night sky. Meanwhile a cat follows along, a small dog barks across the way, a rabbit peeks out from behind a bush--and opposite each scene, we see a page filled with a dark grayish-brown block of color that retreats as a pale wedge of color slowly expands. At last the sleepers all go back to their beds, a cloud passes in the sky, and the conundrum's answer washes in: "Bright, bright! / The light crosses the table, / climbs the stairs, / smooths the sheets / on your bed. / Mysterious, golden, / and round." The short, deliberate phrases of Hopkinson's verse and the simple illustrations with their subdued overall lighting combine to slow the nocturnal episode down to a properly and irresistibly snoozy pace.
Spare, rhythmic, luminous nighty night. (Picture book. 3-6)
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"Hopkinson, Deborah: ON A SUMMER NIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A784238294/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8c3e1db0. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Pak, Kenard GOODBYE SPRING, HELLO SUMMER Godwin Books (Children's None) $18.99 5, 6 ISBN: 9781250151735
Pak comes full circle, completing the series of books that began with 2016'sGoodbye Summer, Hello Autumn.
The author/illustrator's nuanced introductions to seasonal transitions have been as reliable and relatable as the seasons themselves. Even the colors of the letters on the title page are apt, with cool greens and blues giving way to hot orange. A tan-skinned child with long dark hair tied back with a red bow walks outside ("Hello, spring afternoon"). Raindrops trace diagonals across the blue sky, past white clapboard houses with sloping roofs, mullioned windows, and dark shutters. As the rain stops, the landscape changes to "rolling hills" and, in the distance, a long white building. It's a school, near a church and playground, but the narrator doesn't pause; after all, as a sign indicates, "School's out." The text is a brief dialogue, apparently between the child ("Hello, fluttering butterflies") and the natural surroundings ("Hello! We're flying in and out of the sunrays"). Seasonal flowers introduce themselves, as do a forest's trees and chickadees. The protagonist approaches a group of smaller, diverse children; a tan-skinned one (perhaps a sibling) runs over. It's time to say hello to the "big setting sun" as they retrace the afternoon's path, depicted via a bird's-eye view, until the sunrise heralds a summer morning. Luminous illustrations deploy simplified but specific forms with well-chosen detail accompanying minimal, repetitive words, resulting in a delicately wrought, immersive experience.
A lovely "goodbye" to this excellent concept series.(Picture book. 3-7)
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"Pak, Kenard: GOODBYE SPRING, HELLO SUMMER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828785329/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=08ce1fe3. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
Venit, Katie FORTS Viking (Children's None) $18.99 7, 29 ISBN: 9780593466155
An ode to forts of all kinds, from those found in nature to those we make ourselves.
A sweeping fall landscape greets readers who open this book. "The world is full of forts," Venit declares, inviting youngsters to follow along as a brown-skinned child explores the outdoors. The hollowed-out root tangle of a fallen tree and the cave behind a waterfall both make welcome hideouts. Closer to home, a backyard treehouse and a tent are inviting getaways. And as the protagonist moves indoors, Venit introduces us to less obvious forts: the peaceful space behind the curtains, "the kingdom under the kitchen table," a pile of boxes, and stacks of cushions. For all the shelter they provide, forts are also much-needed sources of solitude, respites from a loud, people-filled world. Venit's lyrical text reads aloud well and includes beautiful turns of phrase and rich vocabulary that conjure up feelings of tranquility, while Pak's delicately luminous illustrations convey a powerful sense of place, using light and shadow to carve out cozy spots both indoors and out. One especially stunning image shows the child in a tent made of a thin blanket decorated with hanging origami cranes; the silhouette of an adult on the other side casts a pale shadow against the sheet. The young protagonist looks entirely at home, tucked up snug in the various forts; readers will readily relate.
A childhood essential transformed into poetic beauty.(Picture book. 4-6)
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"Venit, Katie: FORTS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A839213115/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=efb68fae. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.