Charles and Ray: Designers at Play coming May ’24
I am a spoiled children’s book author and illustrator. After the exciting reaction to A Boy Named Isamu, Viking asked if there was another Mid Century artist I wanted to make into a book. I asked, “Anyone?”. “Yes”, they said and I sheepishly asked if we could do a book about the heroes of Mid Century Design, Charles and Ray Eames. They said, “Of course you can!” and now Charles and Ray: Designers at Play will be available May ’24.
Much to our surprise, there are not many books about Charles and Ray Eames. This is a story about how they were a perfect team and if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Charles and Ray Eames are an exciting follow up to Isamu Noguchi because their fun and playful energy is a nice contrast to the quieter tone of A Boy Named Isamu.
In a pleasant surprise, the Junior Library Guild named Charles and Ray, Designers at Play a Gold Standard Selection which means it’s a book to look for this year!
It will be exciting to see it in the wild and I hope you will be excited too. To preorder please visit here.
A Boy Named Isamu is the 2022 Honor Medalist for Asian/Pacific American Literature
Great news from the Asian Pacific American Librarian Association. A Boy Named Isamu is the 2022 Honor Title for Asian/Pacific American Literature at the ALA Youth Media Awards. The Youth Media awards is the Academy Awards for children’s book so it’s exciting to be talked about let alone become a winner or honor medalist. This my second Youth Media Awards medal.
When Stop! Bot! won the 2020 Geisel Award, it came out of the blue. A Boy Named Isamu received more attention when released so it was a roller coaster experience keeping emotions in check. 5 reviewers gave it a starred review and the Noguchi Museum was an early supporter. It was a good day at the Yang household when hearing news from the Youth Media Awards.
I’m fortunate to work with Editor Tracy Gates and Art Director Jim Hoover at Viking for Children’s.. We’ve been together for my Viking books and have developed a rapport any author would love. Viking is the home for children’s classics like A Snowy Day so it’s been a dream come true.
I hope other authors and illustrators get to experience what I did with A Boy Named Isamu.
A Boy Named Isamu
A Boy Named Isamu is now available for purchase and this is a book that Viking and I have been excited about for years. It is a fictional boyhood story about a day in the life of the great Isamu Noguchi as he explores nature and starts viewing the world as an artist. It is also about becoming comfortable with yourself and solitude . The reception has been amazing with starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, ALA Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews with Kirkus calling A Boy Named Isamu ” A marvel of prose, illustration, and design that invites repeated meditation.” The Noguchi Museum contacted me shortly after publication, asked if they could see a copy then said they would love to carry A Boy Named Isamu in their shop and collaborate on projects. During panel talks and interviews for the book, I learned that not only did Asian Americans connect with the story but also bi-racial people, those with autism, and others who have always felt different. It has been a dream start to say the least.
You can buy A Boy Named Isamu at booksellers everywhere or visit Penguin or the Noguchi Shop.
3×3 Issue 23 feature
3×3 Magazine is back in print which is exciting news in the design and illustration world. Even more exciting, Publisher Charles Hively chose Melinda Beck, Daniel Bueno and myself as the featured artists for the first issue. The writer for my feature, Valeria Petrone, and I had a great time laughing and talking shop. Melinda did the cover, Daniel did the back page and I did the Op-Art about life in 2020. It’s always exciting to see your work in print and you can order the issue here. Welcome back 3×3 and looking forward to seeing more good days for an important magazine.
Stop! Bot! is the 2020 Theodor Seuss Geisel award winner
Incredible news came over the weekend when the Theodor Seuss Geisel committee called and said Stop! Bot! is the 2020 winner of the Geisel award. I was stunned because it is the dream in children’s book publishing to be recognized by the American Library Association who also award the Caldecott and Newbery Awards.
I like to think I take awards in stride but this was a bolt of lightning. According to the ALA, “The Geisel Award is given to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. Award winners are recognized for their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.” It’s hard to believe these words describe Stop! Bot!
As a child, I loved spending time at the elementary school library reading Caldecott and Newbury winners. One shelf was filled with Dr Seuss books. The other kids and I would sit on the floor in front of the shelf and read one Seuss book after another. Sometimes we traded books after finishing. Library hour always passed too quickly.
Stop! Bot! was meant to be fun and imaginative so winning an award named after Dr Seuss means the world. You wonder if your books make an impression and now I’m excited to create more stories. A new wacky story actually hit me while celebrating. Thanks again to the Geisel committee, Viking for Children’s and my dream team of editor Tracy Gates and art director Jim Hoover.
It is still a shock.
WSJ: Word on The Street Column
One of my favorite regular gigs is the Word on The Street column by Ben Zimmer for the Wall St Journal. Every week a word or phrase in the news is featured and Ben talks about the origins for the word. I’ve joked to him it’s basically Electric Company for adults. This column has also turned into a nice diary of current events for the year.
Wired
Wired has always been on my dream list of publications and it was a blast this summer when AD Elena Lacey called to work on the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing and a project about artificial intelligence. I’m a bit of a geek so it was fun diving into the assignments. Here’s a taste of the work I did for Wired:
