Episode #118: What is your favorite book that you’ve illustrated? with Dow Phumiruk
Welcome back to another great episode of Kids Ask Authors! Today we are joined by author and illustrator Dow Phumiruk to answer the kid question, “What is your favorite book that you’ve illustrated?” Wonderful question!
TRANSCRIPTS:
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 Moon Cake for Little Star. Today, I am here with Dow Phumiruk, the author and illustrator of the picture book, Hugsby, as well as the illustrator of the picture book biography, Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines, written by Jeanne Walker Harvey. The art from that book is also featured in the picture book exhibit Asians Every Day, which you can now see online. Hi Dow.
Dow Phumiruk: Hi Grace. So happy to be here.
Grace Lin: Yes, I'm so happy that you are here, too. Are you ready for today's kid question?
Dow Phumiruk: Okay.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's kid question is from a kid named Jose. And Jose asks.
Jose: What is your favorite book that you've illustrated?
Grace Lin: What is your favorite book that you've illustrated?
Dow Phumiruk: Hi, Jose. That's a tough one. It's kind of like trying to pick which is my favorite child. So I have to think on it, but I think I'm going to say Hugsby because I'm the author and illustrator of that book. So I could use my imagination and go in any direction I wanted. So Hugsby is the favorite book that I've illustrated.
Grace Lin: Aw, that's so nice. Did you find a big difference between writing and illustrating versus illustrating?
Dow Phumiruk: I feel like with illustrating for someone else who wrote the book, I really had to stop and think about where they wanted the direction of the book to be. And I try to almost read their minds a little bit. I'd have to meditate and read their manuscripts over and over, maybe while I was taking a bike ride or going for a walk, before I could really draft the illustrations. So there's a lot more thinking and planning involved, I think, when I'm illustrating for someone else.
Grace Lin: And so which one do you like better?
Dow Phumiruk: Oh, that's so hard. I think it's got to be a tie. And that's why I picked my own book for this question.
Grace Lin: This is such a funny question, because I get asked this question, too. But it's actually a very easy question for me to answer because I always have to say A Big Moon Cake for Little Star. Because Little Star is based on my own daughter. So like I used her as Little Star, I took photos. And so she very much identifies as Little Star. So if I ever say any other book is my favorite, she gets very, very upset with me. How could you say Little Stars is not your favorite, I'm Little Star. So that's why that's a fairly easy question for me.
Dow Phumiruk: Oh, good, good. And that makes sense. And that is a beautiful book, Grace.
Grace Lin: Oh, thank you. So are you planning to write and illustrate more books in the future, doing both?
Dow Phumiruk: Yes, I'd love to. I have one in mind for the Songkran, Thai New Year holiday. So I worked on that dummy and it's on submission right now. So hopefully you'll hear from me about another book that I've both written and illustrated.
Grace Lin: Yay. I can't wait. It's interesting because I asked you what you liked better. And I tend to not to illustrate other people's stories anymore. But I remember it early on in my career, I kind of felt like writing and illustrating your own book was kind of like to me putting on my, I guess, normal everyday clothes. Because like the clothes [inaudible 00:03:51] fit, the comfortable clothes, the clothes that you feel pretty confident in. Versus illustrating for somebody else, always felt like kind of like getting dressed up for an event. Like a little uncomfortable, but sometimes it's really, really good.
Dow Phumiruk: That makes sense. I feel like for my own illustrations, for my own manuscript, I feel like there's more pressure on me to look good, as you mentioned. And when I collaborate with another author, oftentimes that author is brilliant and they have so many great ... so much research and their stories are just beautiful. And so I feel honored to try to make my part of the deal good. So I like both, I don't think I can pick which one I like better.
Grace Lin: Yeah. It's hard. Yeah. I can see how it could be really, really hard. I think in the end for me, just for schedules, I ended up mainly doing writing and illustrating. But someday I hope I'll be able to fit somebody else's manuscript in someday.
Dow Phumiruk: I see, that does make sense if you do your own book, then there's less collaboration time involved. And you can just be talking to yourself in your head, it's easier.
Grace Lin: Well, and you're also more in control of your schedule, right?
Dow Phumiruk: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Grace Lin: So anyway, well thank you so much, Dow, for answering this question. And thank you, Jose, for sending it in.
Dow Phumiruk: Wonderful. Thanks, Jose.
Grace Lin: Bye.
Dow Phumiruk: Bye bye.
Today’s KID BOOk REVIEW is from Audrey! Audrey is reviewing, Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Dow Phumiruck.
The book I would like to talk about is Maya Lin: Artist-Architect Of Light And Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey and Dow Phumiruk. This book is about a girl named Maya Lin, who is very imaginative and bright. During her last year of college, Maya enters a contest to design a memorial to honor soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. I liked this book because Maya looks through her camera's eye at a field of grass and imagines a knife slicing the grass open. In her mind, Maya saw the cut in the earth healing over time to a polished edge covered from top to bottom with names. An edge that reflected the sky and grass and the people who visited the memorial. Maya molded a model with mashed potatoes, then sculpted one out of clay. She colored a space of greens and blues. She even wrote an essay to go with her model and sketches. Maya is a courageous girl of compassion and has a great imagination!
Thank you so much for the book review Audrey!
More about today’s authors:
Dow Phumiruk was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and came to live in the United States when she was about three years old. She loves children and sharing stories. Dow has been a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators since 2011. She’s the author of picture book Mela and the Elephant and the illustrator of Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13. She also illustrated Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines, which received starred reviews, was a Junior Library Guild Selection, and was featured on many best books of 2017 round-ups. Dow is a pediatrician who lives with her husband and children in Colorado. They own a dwarf rabbit, a bearded dragon, and a chubby hamster.
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.
Please visit the Asians, Everyday exhibit found online at the Carle Museum featuring Dow Phumiruk!
“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.”
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