KidLit Connection: Getting to Know Author-Illustrator, Angela Quezada Padron

A banner with white background featuring colorful illustrations of a girl with wings over the water, an older couple smiling, green hills, a blue house with fence, instruments, and palm trees. Text read: Angela Quezada Padron. Author/Illustrator. Children's Books. Fiction. Nonfiction. Educational.
A headshot of Angela Quezada Padron. She has long brown hair, brown eyes and is smiling while wearing a pink and purple floral blouse. There are palm trees and a city in the background.

Welcome to the latest KidLit Connection interview! I’m so pleased to introduce Angela Quezada Padron, an author and illustrator of children’s books, including picture books, board books, and novels. Her debut author-illustrated picture book, AS THE SEAS RISE: Nicole Hernández Hammer and the Fight for Climate Justice (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) just released this June! She’ll share more about this book in the interview.

Angela writes and illustrates both fiction and nonfiction stories. Her nonfiction work celebrates people in the Latino community who have made a difference in the world and within their community. Angela has worked as a freelance writer, illustrator, fine artist, and curriculum designer for educational publishers. She is a lover of nature, music, and sports. When she’s not writing, drawing, and painting, you can find Angela creating music, collecting seashells, and enjoying the natural world.

An Interview with Children’s Book Author and Illustrator, Angela Quezada Padron

First, we’d love to hear more about you as an illustrator and author. Can you tell us more about you and your work as a creator of books for kids?

Thank you so much for this opportunity to interview with you and share about myself. I write and illustrate fiction and nonfiction children’s books, mainly picture books but also board books and novels. In 2007, I started an illustration master’s program through the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and I graduated with my MFA in 2011. In 2012, I illustrated a few books for McGraw Hill, an educational publisher. Then in 2014 I was hired for two books—THE HERO IN YOU by Ellis Paul (Albert Whitman & Co.) and MY BODY BELONGS TO ME by Jill Starishevsky (Free Spirit Publishing). I was also a semi-finalist in the Tomie de Paola contest through SCBWI in 2014, and I was offered the chance to illustrate a story called FIREFIGHTER MOM in Cricket Magazine in 2016. I felt like I was on a roll! Then things died down and I didn’t have any luck until 2021 when Atheneum Books picked up my first author/illustrator book, AS THE SEAS RISE. Since then, I’ve had some other illustration projects with educational publishers, and sold three other books due out between 2025-2027.

An illustration of a kitchen scene. Two older women cook on a stove to the left. Two younger children cook at a countertop to the right. One of them looks concerned about what's inside the pot she's opening. Art by Angela Quezada Padron.

How did you start creating children’s books? Was there anything in particular that inspired you to pursue it?

A photo of Angela Quezada Padron as a little girl, smiling and holding up a picture she drew.

I’ve actually been creating books since I was little. My mom saved many of my “books” that I wrote and illustrated as early as four-years-old. Most of the books were about her when she was pregnant with my younger brother, me meeting Santa Claus, or Snoopy. I also saved my stories from my seventh-grade creative writing class. I didn’t realize, though, that this could be a legitimate path for me until I began teaching in my mid-20’s. Working in schools exposes you to more children’s books. As I read more books, I became more interested in studying about the authors and illustrators and how they got their books published. Some time in my early 30’s, I came up with a story idea but wasn’t sure how to format it or where to even get eyes on it to try and publish it. 

I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in 2004, and I’ve been on this path ever since. I joined a critique group, of which I am still a part of (shoutout to the Aventura Critique Group in Florida)! My writing friends and critique partners have helped me so much with telling me what works and what doesn’t in each of my stories. They’ve shown me how to strengthen my work and tighten my word choices. Without them, there is no doubt I would never have been published. 

A book cover for AS THE SEAS RISE: NICOLE HERNANDEZ HAMMER AND THE FIGHT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE by Angela Quezada Pdron. An illustration of a woman with long dark hair, wearing glasses and a white button-down shirt. She is surrounded by different children working together to build a diorama. Behind them is the ocean.

Your most recent book, AS THE SEAS RISE: NICOLE HERNÁNDEZ HAMMER AND THE FIGHT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) just came out in June—congrats! This is a powerful, lyrical biography about a Latina environmental scientist and climate activist who has worked for climate justice in vulnerable communities.  Can you tell us more about this story and what inspired you to write and illustrate it?

Thank you so much! It truly was an honor to create this book about Nicole. After attending a 2020 SCBWI online conference about nonfiction children’s books, I became interested in writing a children’s book biography about a Latina figure who was involved in science in some way. After doing some searching online, I came across an article about Nicole Hernández Hammer where it stated that she was invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to attend the State of the Union address in 2015. Nicole was recognized due to her work advocating for climate justice in communities of color and educating others about how climate change was affecting the health of people in Latino communities. That inspired me to learn even more about her, as well as about sea level rise and climate justice. I wouldn’t call myself an advocate for climate change or justice, however I am conscious about how I’m contributing to climate change and climate justice and always looking for ways to support, adjust my ways and beliefs if needed, and learning what actions I can take to make this world better. 

A spread from the book AS THE SEAS RISE by Angela Quezada Padron

When I was writing the book, I found her on LinkedIn and took a chance to message her and said: ‘Hi, I have this story. I would love to interview you.’ And she said, ‘Sure.’ So we set up a time on Zoom and we chatted. I wanted to verify things that I had read. She gave me other insight, too, that had not been in any articles. I told her I would share this story with her once I had finished writing it, which I did. Within two or three months I got an offer from Atheneum (Books for Young Readers). I kept Nicole in the loop the entire time. I paid her a consultation fee, to consult throughout the book. We stayed in contact throughout the entire creation of the book, which obviously lends more credibility to the book.

Angela painting for AS THE SEAS RISE

When working on AS THE SEAS RISE, what was one of your favorite parts of the project?

I really enjoyed my conversations with Nicole and learning about her life. Throughout the process, she sent me photos of her and her family to use as references for the illustrations. She also taught me a lot of the correct terminology to use when speaking about climate justice (for example, we shouldn’t say we want to “help” frontline communities but rather “partner with” frontline communities so they can get the services and support they need to stay resilient against climate change). 

What was one of your biggest challenges when working on AS THE SEAS RISE?

A nonfiction 48-page biography is probably one of the hardest books to make, especially as my author/illustrator debut. Most books are 32 pages, with fictional stories you can make up the characters and places, and you have more freedom to stylize the characters and backgrounds. With biographies, you have to be as accurate as possible with the facts and the depiction of the person. And, when the person is still alive and you’re communicating with them, you want to be EXTRA exact to do them proud. I had the pressure on myself to try to make it as perfect and accurate as possible.

In addition, my father was ailing and passed away in 2021, right in the middle of me working on the final text. Then I was dealing with some health issues in the spring of 2022 that affected me finishing the art. But I pushed through it and got it done!

From reference photo, to line drawing, to finished color page from the book AS THE SEAS RISE.

We’d love to hear more about how you work! What sort of process and tools do you use to create both your illustrations and writing?

In the past, including for AS THE SEAS RISE, I would do most of the illustrations by hand using pencil. First, I do a lot of research and find photos that will inspire some or all parts of a drawing. Sometimes it’s the right background or object I needed, and sometimes it’s just a pose I needed. I often look at videos and then take screenshots while videos are playing because that allows you to capture a person in action rather than a posed shot. For the cover of SEAS, I saw a Twitter post about kids making models of their communities protected for climate change. Nicole and I thought that would be a good theme for the cover, and the editor agreed!

A series of thumbnail sketch line drawings by Angela Quezada Padron.
Thumbnail sketches from AS THE SEAS RISE

After I had my ideas, I would draw thumbnail sketches to get a sense of layout and how to paginate the text. Then I did more refined thumbnails. Once I had the layouts decided, each part of an illustration was drawn by hand on vellum using Prismacolor Col-erase pencils. I find vellum to be a beautifully smooth surface that doesn’t smear, and the col-erase pencils have a nice texture as well as don’t smear like regular pencils. I would scan them into my computer, clean them up and adjust as needed. Once the editor saw the sketches and gave feedback, I made necessary adjustments and then drew the final outlines.

Then I would print all of the parts – people, objects, backgrounds – onto several pieces of BFK Rives paper which is mainly used for printmaking. It’s thick, doesn’t really warp and can hold a lot of layers of paint and coloring. Plus it has a nice texture to it. I would tape the paper down onto wooden boards and then color in the drawings with gouache, watercolor, pastel and/or colored pencil. After that, I would scan all the painted papers back into Photoshop, put each part on its own layer (meaning, the people and objects would be placed on individual layers in Photoshop) and then add in my original sketches as overlays to make sure the lines were clean. I would then finish in Photoshop to clean up, resize, and change color of any part if need be. 

From AS THE SEAS RISE:
A scanned in drawing, background painting, and painted figures before they are assembled together digitally.

However, after doing a 48-page picture book like SEAS in this style, I realized that I need to work digitally more to save time and to save my aging hands from tiring out! So, now I tend to draw parts by hand still on vellum, scan them in and then redraw over them in Photoshop or Procreate. I do a combination of coloring digitally and scanning in painting or textured paper to fill in the illustrations like digital collage. Some of my work on my website was created with digital collage in this manner, and some were done by drawing and coloring by hand, then scanning in and putting them together digitally.

A peek into Angela Quezada Padron’s creative workspaces

You have three other books you’re currently working on which will be out in the future. Can you tell us more about them?

I would love to! FROM THE FIELDS TO THE FIGHT: HOW JESSICA GOVEA THORBOURNE ORGANIZED FOR JUSTICE comes out with Atheneum Books in 2026. Jessica worked with Cesar Chavez during the grape boycott to fight for equal rights for farm workers and labor unions. That is being illustrated by the talented Sol Salinas. The next book, AN ISLAND CALLED HOME (Eerdman’s Books, 2026) is a fictional story about a girl who visits her father’s home country for the first time and learns about her extended family and her bilingual and bicultural heritage. It’s based on my life with my father who is from the Dominican Republic, and I will be illustrating that one. Lastly, LUCIA’S GOALS (Lee & Low), which is being illustrated by Christina Barragan-Forshay, is about a girl who wants to play soccer but battles through sexism, racism, and inequality to make her dream come true. The publication date is not finalized yet but should be out in the next couple of years. 

Some people might wonder why an illustrator wouldn’t illustrate all their books. The truth is my style doesn’t always fit with the stories I write, and I don’t want to be limited to only pursuing books that I could best illustrate. 

What is your greatest wish for your work as an illustrator and author?

What a great question. I focus on the stories that have an emotional tie-in that will allow readers to connect to the story in some way. I think about how a particular story will inspire and impact kids and encourage them to read more. For example, I hope books like SEAS and FIELDS inspire kids to take action against injustice, while LUCIA can show what perseverance is, and ISLAND can show readers another culture or family situation they may never have known about. Some of my other stories I hope to publish will just make kids laugh or entertain them and others may warm their hearts. In the end, I create the stories because I love to and want to share my ideas and creations with the world. But to me, it’s most important that the kids enjoy reading them and connect with the stories. Otherwise, there’s no point in doing them at all. 

Is there something you would like to tell aspiring children’s book illustrators and authors who hope to be published someday?

Definitely look into organizations like SCBWI to learn about the industry and connect with others. Do your research before submitting to agents and editors to make sure your style and goals match with theirs. Write and illustrate what you love, not what the trends say you should do. Illustrate in the style and medium YOU want to, not in the style others tell you you should. BUT, always be open to feedback and suggestions. Find other creators to connect with so you get that honest feedback and encouragement. Most importantly, never give up. It can take years to get your first book deal or project and when you do, all the hard work will have been worth it!

I also want to acknowledge Giuseppe Castellano from The Illustration Department. A few years ago, I was feeling like my work wasn’t good enough and doubting myself. I signed up for a portfolio review and mentorship with Giuseppe, whose advice and encouragement were essential to help me rebuild my portfolio and come up with ideas for the compositions for AS THE SEAS RISE. Publishing really is a collaborative effort!

Learn More About Angela Quezada Padron

To learn more about Angela Quezada Padron and to see more of her work, follow her on social media and visit these links:

Angela is represented by Sera Rivers at Speilburg Literary.

Are you a published or soon-to-be published illustrator or author/illustrator who loves creating books about nature, animals, the environment, social justice, or mindfulness? I’d love to chat with you for a KidLit Connection interview! Send me a message.

KidLit Connection: Getting to Emma Reynolds—Author, Illustrator, and Climate Activist

Author-illustrator, Emma Reynolds stands outside of the Wonderland Independent Children's Bookshop in Retford, UK. She is smiling and holding her two books, AMARA AND THE BATS, and DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD. The logo from DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD is in the window of the bookshop.
Emma Outside Wonderland Independent
Children’s Bookshop in Retford, UK.

It’s the end of 2023 and time for the final KidLit Connection interview of the year! I’m so thrilled to share this conversation with author and illustrator Emma Reynolds. Emma is a talented creator who advocates for environmental conservation through art and stories. Her debut author-illustrated picture book AMARA AND THE BATS (Atheneum) is an award-winning story that shows children how they can make a difference to creatures big and small through peaceful protest. And her latest book DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD (HarperAlley) is a collaboration with other artists who illustrate powerful stories of climate justice from around the world. Emma also founded #KidLit4Climate, bringing authors and illustrators from around the globe together in solidarity with youth climate strikes.

Outside of her work as an author and illustrator, Emma volunteers for her local bat conservation group and loves spending time outdoors. She lives and works in Manchester, UK. Emma can sometimes be seen running interactive workshops for kids and families, speaking at events, and sharing her work at conventions and conferences. In this interview, Emma shares more about her books, her process and inspiration, and what it takes to be a creator in the KidLit industry. I hope you enjoy hearing from Emma as much as I did!

An Interview with Children’s Book Creator, Emma Reynolds

First, we’d love to hear more about you as an illustrator and author. Can you tell us more about you and your work as a creator of books for kids?

Hello! I’m a children’s illustrator-author from Manchester, UK. I make books about nature, activism, and hope through action—showing readers the powerful tangible things we can all do to make a difference in our communities.

I love creating characters and imagining their worlds, how they think and feel, and showing empathy as they navigate the challenges and emotions they experience throughout their journeys. I’ve always loved books with pictures in them most, and after thinking ‘Oh no I should be reading long adult books but I don’t enjoy them’ in my teens and stopping reading for a little while, I discovered graphic novels in my school library and this re-invigorated my love of reading. Now I’m a huge advocate for visual literacy and that picture books and illustrated books are for all ages, not just for children. I even wrote my University dissertation on the power of visual literacy in increasing student’s confidence and abilities, and how this should be taught from primary age all the way to adulthood.

How did you get your start creating children’s books? Was there anything in particular that lead you to pursue it?

I’ve always loved drawing and making art my whole life—in school my favourite subjects I loved were English, Media Studies and Film Studies. I found art classes too prescriptive and uninspiring in secondary school but I still continued to draw in my free time, and I pursued Illustration with Animation at university—and while there I learnt about the picture book process, and this re-invigorated my childhood dream of being a picture book illustrator and author!

Your work is very focused on advocating for the Earth and shedding light on climate change through the eyes of children. I love this! Can you tell us more about what inspired you down this path?

Yes! This wasn’t an intentional path I set for myself but it has happened naturally relating to my interests and the stories that were inside me ready to be told. When I was in primary school I was really interested in science (but felt I wasn’t good enough at maths to pursue it, and the lessons in secondary school were so dry), and I love that I’ve managed to honour that interest in my dream job as an author-illustrator by making accessible science communication books.

I have other stories inside me waiting, and I’ll know when they’re ready to be told.

A full-page illustrated spread from AMARA AND THE BATS by Emma Reynolds. Different children and grown-ups together are planting trees and plants and setting up various things to help with bat habitat. There is text about how the people made the environment more bat-friendly.
Spread from ‘Amara and the Bats’ by Emma Reynolds, Published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster

Your most recent book, DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD, is an amazing collaborative project with other illustrators, bringing to light the stories of young climate activists from around the world. Can you tell us more about this really important book?

We worked on Drawn for three years, after I pitched it in 2020. Drawn to Change The World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists is a middle grade graphic novel with each activist biography illustrated by a different acclaimed artist from around the world. It has extensive backmatter including activist interviews on the power of community, and illustrations to explain the science. Drawn focuses on the need to centre Indigenous solutions and intersectional climate justice, and also speaks on how we need more artists to transform society and tell new stories about our future—allowing us to manifest them into reality. Drawn features Indigenous, Black, Latina, Asian, LGBTQ+, disabled and neurodivergent climate activists, illustrated by incredible artists from all over the world, it was such an honour to work with them.

‘Drawn to Change The World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists’ Published by HarperAlley.

Creating DRAWN TO CHANGE THE WORLD obviously involved working with lots of other people. Can you tell us more about that process and what it was like compared to other books you’ve done?

Yes so it was very different from how I would create a book normally, as I plan everything visually and work on the illustrations and text in tandem when I’m the author-illustrator. But as I was writing the script for other artists to illustrate, I had to prepare the script in advance. As each artist only had 4 pages (2 double page spreads) per activist, I actually thumbnailed them out to scale to check everything would physically fit, and then reverse engineered this into a script for the artists. I didn’t share my rough thumbnails with them though, as I wanted them to be able to freely express themselves in the panels and lay it out as they see fit.

The process as a whole involved a lot A LOT of admin and emails and back and forth haha. I absolutely could not have done it without my editor Megan Ilnitzki and publishing team taking on the lion’s share of that labour as my advance only goes so far, and I still spent an enormous amount of time checking everything and going through PDFs to check every line, speech bubble and word was right.

Photo of Emma Reynolds in 2021 working on thumbnails and research for ‘Drawn to Change The World’.
Melati and Isabel Wijsen comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Ann Maulina.
Ou Hóngyì comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Jade Zhang.
Dara McAnulty comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Victoria Maderna and Federico Piatti.
Dara McAnulty comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Victoria Maderna and Federico Piatti.
Greta Thunberg comic biography – Global Week for Future spread, written and illustrated by Emma Reynolds.
From left to right and top to bottom:
1. Photo of Emma Reynolds in 2021 working on thumbnails and research for ‘Drawn to Change The World’.
2. Melati and Isabel Wijsen comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Ann Maulina.
3. Ou Hóngyì comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Jade Zhang.
4. Dara McAnulty comic biography, written by Emma Reynolds and illustrated by Victoria Maderna and Federico Piatti.
5. Science front-matter from ‘Drawn to Change The World’.
6. Greta Thunberg comic biography – Global Week for Future spread, written and illustrated by Emma Reynolds.

Your debut author/illustrator picture book, AMARA AND THE BATS, which came out in 2021 is another great story about a child activist who speaks out for bats in her community. Can you tell us more about what inspired this story?

The book cover for AMARA AND THE BATS by Emma Reynolds. An illustration of three children in the evening next to trees holding up signs with images of bats and one that says "save the bats".
The book cover for ‘Amara and the Bats’
by Emma Reynolds

Yes! So I’ve always loved bats, and I drew this character Amara back in 2016, and I knew I wanted to tell her story! I thought she looked like she was looking up curiously at something, and I decided it would be a bat. And through researching more about bats throughout the book, I became even more fascinated with these amazing creatures. I joined my local bat group, and my bat group leader Steve Parker kindly fact checked my book for me, and I’ve been involved with the group and with Bat Conservation Trust and other bat charities and organisations around the world ever since. Amara and the Bats holds a special place in my heart, and I’m so, so happy I was able to make my dream come true and it wouldn’t have been possible without my agent Thao Le and my wonderful editor Julia McCarthy. Amara’s character is inspired by me and my best friend as kids, we were passionate about saving and advocating for overlooked and misunderstood animals.

Two pages of AMARA AND THE BATS by Emma Reynolds. On the left is an illustration of a little bat wrapped in a towel. On the right is Amara and her family waving to a man with a wildlife rescue truck.
Two pages from the interior of ‘Amara and the Bats’ by Emma Reynolds

On the shop-talk end of things, we’d love to hear more about your process when you create illustrations for your books. Can you tell us more about your tools and the steps you take to go from an idea to a finished book?

A pencil sketch of a child with long, dark hair, smiling, and standing with her hands behind her back. By Emma Reynolds.
A pencil sketch of Amara by Emma Reynolds

That’s a great question, I’d love to tell you more about it.

So I usually start by sketching, whether that be in an actual sketchbook (I go for non fancy covered ones as the pressure it too great! But the paper is good) or around my puzzle books while I’m relaxing and unwinding. I like sketching with polychromos colouring pencils in my sketchbook, and in my puzzle book it’s whatever I happen to be filling in the puzzle with – sometimes a ballpoint pen, sometimes a biro.

For final art, I do my outlines in Procreate on the iPad, using the 4B brush that comes with Procreate, and then I use Photoshop to colour my books as I need a large canvas and high layer count, plus muscle memory makes this a quicker process for me at this stage.

If there is one wish you could have for your work as a KidLit author/illustrator, what would it be?

Stable money (preferably universal basic income! *stares at governments who know it would cost them less than the benefits system in place now*), so I have more time to spend thinking, dreaming and creating books, rather than worrying about money all the time.

What is something you would like to share with aspiring illustrators and author/illustrators who have hopes to be published someday?

The biggest thing is not giving up, and I don’t say this lightly. Publishing is extreeeemley slow, because of the nature of the business. This was really odd to me at first as I came from a very fast-paced animation job, and this takes getting used to. And this advice of not giving up applies to all stages of the process—from submitting to agents, having your book out on sub when your agent is pitching, to waiting for feedback from your editor once you have a book deal. Patience is key—fill your time with either rest, re-filling your creative well, or cracking on with your next project. And of course, part-time work if you need to, as this industry is very hard to make a living—but it is possible. It just takes time and planting the seeds to build up. 

If you write and illustrate, I recommend getting a literary agent, rather than an illustration agent. Literary agents take around 15% instead of 30% like an illustration agent, and they are experts on the book industry and pitching your work to editors. They more than pay for their cut in their expertise, access, support and negotiation in getting you a good and fair book deal.

Most of all—create work that you enjoy! I am guilty of this sometimes, but sometimes I forget that art is supposed to be fun, and that we create our best work when we are enjoying it, and that always, always shines through to others. I wish you all the very best on your journey! It’s a marathon not a race.

Check Out All of Emma Reynolds’ Books

Emma has three published books that she’s illustrated, two of which she also wrote. Check them all out on her website and follow the links to purchase your own copies!

Book cover for 'Amara and the Bats' by Emma Reynolds. Click to view more.
Book cover for 'Drawn to Change the World" by Emma Reynolds and participating illustrators. Click to find out more.
'Rescuing Mrs. Birdley' book cover. Written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Emma Reynolds. Click to find out more.
From left to right: Amara and the Bats, Drawn to Change the World, Rescuing Mrs. Birdley

See More from Emma Reynolds:

Graphic Novel Artist Panel. Book process, inspiration, fav books, and advice. Hosted by Indie Bookshop. Second Star to the Right. Click to view the YouTube video of the artist panel.

To learn more about Emma Reynolds, her books, art, and latest projects, be sure to visit her website, social media pages, and join her newsletter. Plus, more fun information below:

Learn more about Drawn to Change the World:

Emma is represented by Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Are you a published or soon-to-be published illustrator or author/illustrator who loves creating books about nature, animals, the environment, or mindfulness? I’d love to chat with you for a KidLit Connection interview! Send me a message.

KidLit Connection: Getting to Know Author-Illustrator, Sarah LuAnn Perkins

A spread from the picture book, On a Rainy Day, by Sarah LuAnn Perkins
A black and white self-portrait linocut style illustration of artist, Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
A self-portrait by Sarah LuAnn Perkins

It’s time for another KidLit Connection interview, and I’m so happy to share this month’s author-illustrator. Sarah LuAnn Perkins is a traditional linocut and digital illustrator and author of children’s books. Her debut picture book, On a Rainy Day (published by Viking Children’s Books/Penguin Young Readers), which was inspired by the sounds of rain storms while caring for her own child, came out in March of 2022. Sarah LuAnn’s art style is unique for today’s picture books, but resembles that of classic printmakers through her use of linocut block printing and digital illustration that is inspired by it. 

In this interview, Sarah LuAnn discusses how she got started in illustration, what inspired her current style of art, and more about how her book was made. Plus, we’ll hear a little bit about a work-in-progress and some inspiration for pre-published and aspiring book creators. Thank you to Sarah LuAnn for joining us!

An interview with artist, illustrator, and author, Sarah LuAnn Perkins

"Tea Party", a color illustration of animals wearing clothes having tea together. Art by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.

We’d love to know more about you and your work as an illustrator and author. What brings you inspiration and what are some of the things you love most about making books for kids?

I’m inspired by all kinds of things! There is inspiration for stories all over the place, even just the sounds you hear on a rainy day. I love books and stories and think they’re a great way to learn and connect and explore ideas. 

I love making books for kids because it helps me to look at things more closely, or in different ways than I’m used to. I try to remember what it was like to learn or experience something for the first time and create from that space. 

How did you get your start creating children’s books? Was there anything in particular that lead you to pursue it?

Ever since I was little, I wanted to be an “artist” when I grew up, though my idea of what that would involve looked mostly like on painting canvases in a sunlit studio. I also always loved reading, and devoured novels in all my spare moments… and then of course I would make fanart based on them. Books and Art, Art and Books, those were always my two favorite things. However, it wasn’t until I was looking at college major options that I fully realized that Illustration was an option, and the perfect combination of those two interests. It seems obvious in retrospect, its funny it took me that long to get here! But ever since I did arrive at illustration, I haven’t looked back. 

Your debut picture book, ON A RAINY DAY (Viking Children’s Books, Penguin Young Readers), creates a fun look at the sounds and activities that can happen when the weather suddenly changes. Can you tell us more about this book and how it came to be?

The illustrated book cover for On a Rainy Day by Sarah LuAnn Perkins. A child and her father jump in puddles outside after a rainstorm.

ON A RAINY DAY took years to make–from January 2017 to publication in March 2022. There were lots of ups and downs along the way, but I’ll try to stick to the important/interesting bits:

I first got the idea for this book in January of 2017. I was participating in the Storystorm challenge, where participants come up with a picture book idea for every day of January. My baby was napping and I was appreciating the sounds I could hear through the window in my mostly-silent house and I thought, what if I could use sounds to tell a story? I had many other ideas already listed, but I was more excited by this one than any of the others. I was so excited about it that I wrote a rough draft that night. 

It went through many more drafts after that, of course, and I took many breaks–I had my first baby in 2016 and my second in 2018, so I was consumed in parenting for months at a time and then I would find some time to work and make some edits, only to set it aside for a few more months again. Having little kids made working harder in some ways, but was helpful in others–watching my husband playing with our daughter directly informed the father/daughter relationship I decided to center the story on. 

Finally, in early 2019 I felt like I had a dummy book polished enough to query agents. I signed with my agent, Adria Goetz, a few months later, and she had suggestions for even more edits which I got to work on. I took the partially edited dummy to the Rutgers One-on-One conference in NJ. There I met with an art director from Viking Books, Kate Renner, who loved the book and the edits I had started making to it, so once I had the edits finished Viking was on the top of our list of imprints to send it to. After a couple rounds of “revise and resubmit” (which also took months to complete… are you sensing a theme here?) Meriam Metoui from Viking made an offer for it–her first offer as an editor–in August 2020. 

And then of course there was more revision, finishing the art, editing the art, finishing touches such as hand drawn text and endpapers… until, finally it was a real printed book I could hold in my hands and share with book lovers, just over 5 years after I wrote the first draft. 

Thumbnail sketches for the picture book, On a Rainy Day, by Sarah LuAnn Perkins. Rectangles show small versions of the book layout to inform how the final book might look.
Sarah LuAnn’s thumbnail sketches for On a Rainy Day before final art and layout.

What was your favorite part about creating ON A RAINY DAY? And what was something you found particularly challenging while working on this project?

A final sketch for the cover of On a Rainy Day
before the color version was created.

Ooh, this is really hard to choose! I do have to say, it was very satisfying to be at the point where all of the major text/sketch edits were done, and I just got to dive into completing the art. All of the difficult decisions were made, so I got to lose myself in the part of the process I have the most experience and confidence in. The biggest challenge was sticking with my story long enough to get it to that point!

The style of your work is inspired a lot by linocut and woodcut printmaking. Can you share more about your art processes and how you work?

In college I experimented a lot with different styles of illustration, especially in my campus job illustrating online courses. For every course I was assigned to illustrate I would think of a different style to use, related to the course subject if possible. I was assigned to illustrate a history course and I thought that a linocut-inspired style (done digitally) would have a old-timey feel that would fit with the subject matter. I had a lot of fun illustrating that course, but moved on to different illustration styles for other projects afterward and didn’t think much about it. 

After graduation, I was working on putting together a portfolio that I could feel confident putting in front of art directors. I looked back over all the projects I had done while working on my illustration degree and remembered how much fun I had making linocut-inspired illustrations and decided to try that again for fun. I studied actual printmakers so I could get the look just right.

A black and white linocut print of Rapunzel dragging her hair in a wagon, shown with the inked linoleum cut, roller, and cutting tools. Art by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
The process of a linocut with Sarah LuAnn’s Rapunzel art.

A linocut is created by carving around a design on a linoleum block. The pieces of the design that will be printed are left while the places where you don’t want ink are carved away. Ink is then rolled over the top and paper pressed on top of it to make your print. It is similar to a stamp, but larger. The carving process results in a texture and line quality that is distinctive. 

I made a “digital linocut’ and loved it, so I tried it again. And again. And Again. I perfected my process to the point where I’ve had actual printmakers assume my digital work is an actual hand-carved print.  I found I really loved the subtractive process, the bold shapes, and the interesting textures that resulted, so what I originally assumed was just a fun style experiment quickly filled my entire portfolio because the process and resulting illustrations were so satisfying to me.

After filling my portfolio with digital imitation-linocuts, I was gifted a small printing press from a local artist and finally had the excuse I needed to carve prints for real! Now I jump between digital and traditional printmaking, but my style in both is basically the same. 

A black and white illustration of a bonsai tree with somebody reading a book while lying on a branch. Art by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
A drawn and partially cut linoleum block by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
A close-up of a cut linoleum block by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
A print of a bonsai tree with somebody reading a book while lying on a branch. The print is hung by clips on a line to dry after printing. Art by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.
Sarah LuAnn’s process for creating a linocut print. From the digital sketch, drawing on the block, to cutting, then inking and printing.

You also have a new graphic novel you’ve been working on. Can you tell us more about that project?

Its still in the early stages, but I’m really excited about this story! Its about a house-cleaning robot who is not too pleased when its family adopts a cat. It has definitely been a challenge to shift from thinking in picture book terms to graphic novel terms, since the scale of the story and the way it is told is partially the same but also different in significant ways. 

The Lonely Dragon. A page from a graphic-novel style spread created by Sarah LuAnn Perkins. A dragon laments that they are lonely, but can't stop being greedy.

What are some of the big differences you’ve found between working on a graphic novel versus working on a picture book?

With a picture book, I can hold the whole story in my head at once. Creating a written outline never seemed entirely necessary because the story was short enough that I could hold the outline in my head. 

With a graphic novel, I’m finding that if I just try writing without having a full idea of where the story is going I get completely stuck. I thought I didn’t need outlines, but it turns out I actually did have outlines for my picture book projects, I just didn’t write them down. Once I realized this and wrote out an outline for my story things started working. 

What other types of work have you done as an illustrator that relates to your work as a book creator?

My first job after college was working for Cricut making art for die-cutting machines. It taught me to keep my files organized and understandable for other people who might have to use them further along in the process. Working as a team and seeing myself as just one contributor to a project created by a group was a great skill to learn. Even though as an author-illustrator more of the process lands on me, keeping that mindset not only helps me work with my agent, editor, art director, etc, but it also helps me make things easier for myself down the line in the project. 

A linocut inspired image of a mermaid trapped inside a fish bowl vase, looking out into the world. Art by Sarah LuAnn Perkins.

What is your greatest wish for your work as a children’s book creator?

Grandiose as it sounds, I want to change people through my stories. It feels really bold to say that, but as someone for whom reading books lead to important and life-changing realizations, I think its entirely possible. Books were and still are instrumental in teaching me to think for myself, understand other diverse experiences, and feel validated in my own experiences. My dream is to make books and stories that can do that for other people.

What is something you’d like to tell aspiring picture book illustrators and author/illustrators?

Give yourself the time and space to experiment, to find the creative approach that gets you excited and feels like you. Figure out who you’re creating for and don’t worry about pleasing anyone else–no book is for “everybody”. Find people who will cheer for you and get what you’re trying to do, and who you can also cheer for. Breaks are not only ok, but necessary. 

Learn more about Sarah LuAnn and her work:

To learn more about Sarah LuAnn Perkins and follow her latest projects, connect with her online through her website and social media:

Sarah LuAnn is represented for children’s books by Adria Goetz at KT Literary.

Are you a published or soon-to-be published illustrator or author/illustrator who loves creating books about nature, animals, or the environment? I’d love to chat with you for a KidLit Connection interview! Send me a message.