Episode #99: Who inspired you to be an illustrator? with Melissa Iwai
Welcome to our 99th episode! We are lucky to have Melissa Iwai join us while she and Grace Lin answer this great kid question: “Who inspired you to be an illustrator?”
TRANSCRIPT:
Grace Lin: Hello. I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle-grade novel, When the Sea Turned to Silver and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Melissa Iwai, the illustrator of many picture books, as well as the author-illustrator of books, such as Soup Day and Dumplings for Lily. The art from Dumplings for Lilly is also featured in the picture book, exhibit Asians, Everyday, which you can now see online. Hi, Melissa.
Melissa Iwai: Hi, Grace. Thanks for having me.
Grace Lin: I'm so glad you're here today. Are you ready for today's kid question?
Melissa Iwai: I am.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's kid question is from a person named, Tilda. And Tilda asks, "Who inspired you to be an illustrator?"
Melissa Iwai: Wow, that's a great question, Tilda. Thank you. And I love your name. I have been inspired by all the many children's books that I was introduced to as a really, really young child. My mother, she put a huge importance on reading and books, and she used to read to me every single night. And my earliest memories are of hearing these stories from all these picture books that I had. And I loved, loved the illustrations-
Grace Lin: Can you remember-
Melissa Iwai: ... and looking at all the artworks? Sorry, what did you say?
Grace Lin: Can you remember any of the titles of those books that your mom would share with you?
Melissa Iwai: Yes. One of my earliest memories of a book that I love, and I love it to this day, is Richard Scarry's, Best Word Book Ever, because I remember I would just pour over the illustrations and I wanted to live in that world. And she says that I learned how to read from that book because everything, every object is labeled and I just loved that they were all animals.
Grace Lin: I love that book too.
Melissa Iwai: Yeah.
Grace Lin: I loved how-
Melissa Iwai: It's one of my favorite-
Grace Lin: ... yeah, and how all the words would be a spoon, and you'd see a picture of a spoon.
Melissa Iwai: ... yeah.
Grace Lin: So I don't know, it was so magical to see everything labeled to me.
Melissa Iwai: I know. Yeah, she said, that's how I learned to read and she hated reading this book after a while because it's over and over, for so long and listing the words. But yeah, I was an early reader and I think it was because of that book. And I started, when I was very young, I would draw pictures and make up my own stories and I would love to label things like in that book.
Grace Lin: Yeah. The way you talk about it, it makes me realize Richard Scarry was actually a big inspiration for me. The idea he would draw the picture and the word next to it, like I said, spoon or a table. And I think what is so magical about that is, "Oh." That all of a sudden, you saw the correlation between the written word and the picture and that's what the illustration is. Right?
Melissa Iwai: Yeah.
Grace Lin: It's illustrating the written word and that is really what maybe inspired both of us to become illustrators.
Melissa Iwai: Yeah. I love the worlds that he created, the environments, he'd have the airport or the grocery store, the picnic table and I just loved-
Grace Lin: And I always felt cozy-
Melissa Iwai: ... yes.
Grace Lin: .. because terrible things would happen, yet you knew nothing bad was really going to happen. I remember in the back of one book, there's this plane that flew into a barn or something like that and I was like, "Oh." but at the same time, you knew it was just funny, not tragic.
Melissa Iwai: Yes. And also when I was growing up there weren't very many picture books at the time, that had kids that looked like me. And I think another reason that I also love Garth Williams, the illustrator, he drew a lot of animals as well. And I think I loved the animal books because I could relate to them so closely, I think.
Grace Lin: Yeah. So interesting, isn't it? That was very similar for me too. It was, we turned to the animals because at least they became more of a mirror than people when I was a child.
Melissa Iwai: Yes.
Grace Lin: Well, hopefully now, the kids these days have windows and mirrors in all of the books.
Melissa Iwai: Yeah. Yeah, it's so great now. And that's actually one of the things I'm always thinking about as an illustrator, is trying to depict kids who usually aren't seen or to also show kids that I would have wanted to see when I was a kid.
Grace Lin: Yeah, I'm similar. I mean, I think that's why most of my books feature Asians or Asian-Americans because that's what I really wanted to see when I was young.
Melissa Iwai: Yeah, same here. Yeah.
Grace Lin: So we're kind of illustrating the books we wished we had seen.
Melissa Iwai: Yes, exactly.
Grace Lin: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for answering Tilda's question, and thank you Tilda for asking it.
Melissa Iwai: Thank you, Tilda.
Grace Lin: Bye.
Melissa Iwai: Bye.
Today’s kid BOOK REVIEW comes from Clara! She is reviewing “Dumplings for Lili” written and illustrated by Melissa Iwai.
Hello, my name is Clara and the book I would like to review today is Dumplings for Lili, by Melissa Iwai. This book shows a girl named Lili helping her Nai-Nai make bao. But they’ve run out of cabbage to lay the bao on when they steam them. So Lili has to go to a neighbor’s apartment to get it. She ends up running up and down the stairs of her apartment building to help all the grandmas there get the ingredients they need for the dumplings that they are making for their dumpling party. I like this book because the pictures are very cute and you learn the different types of dumplings from around the world like Ravioli, Pierogi, Fatatyer, Jamaican Beef Patty, Tamale, and, of course, Bao. There is even a special surprise dumpling at the end! I loved this picture book and I hope you like it too.
Thank you so much Clara! To join the Kid Reviewer Club, click here!
More about Today’s authors:
Melissa Iwai was born and raised in a small town on the central coast of California called Lompoc (pronounced “Lompoke”). She always knew she wanted to write and illustrate children’s books from the time she was a young child, because her favorite past time was either reading or drawing. She still has a copy of the first book she wrote and illustrated called, The Dog Around the Corner, and is ever grateful to her 5th grade teacher, Ms. H, for making it a “real” book by laminating the pages and binding it. Melissa lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Denis Markell, and their son, Jamie. She has illustrated numerous award winning books for children, including Good Night Engines, Snuggle Mountain and Toolbox Twins. Soup Day is the first book that she both wrote and illustrated. The story was inspired by her love of cooking for her family and the joy of creating new dishes together with her son, including (but not limited to!) Chocolate Honey Peanut Butter Yogurt, Cheddar Cheese and Jelly Bites, and Veggie Chips (Sauteed Broccoli Stems). Recipes available on request!
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Thank you so much for tuning into to Kids Ask Authors!
Please visit the Asians, Everyday exhibit found online at the Carle Museum featuring Melissa Iwai!
“Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Grace Lin curated this online exhibition, launched May 2021 in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Asians, Everyday showcases positive Asian American representation. The selected artworks and books, featuring contemporary characters and stories, celebrate our common humanity by depicting Asian Americans living their everyday lives.”