Ken W. Min ~ Illustrator

A Very Cool Week

this week i learned that the picture book i illustrated, "hot, hot roti for dada-ji" took home the honor title in the picture book category from the APALA (asian/pacific american librarians association) 

the 'honor' title is generally considered the runner up status or recognizing a work of merit. 

in fact, for the children's publishing industry, monday was their 'oscars' in that ALA (american librarians association) handed out a slew of awards to celebrate the works of many authors and illustrators in a number of categories.

so to be given this title is a very humbling and flattering thing.

but let's not think this award mine alone, it acknowledges both the literary as well as the artistic achievement. it very much is a team collaboration. and, of course, that starts with the lyrical words of author f. zia, who conceived this charming story to give to her grandchildren. my editor jennifer fox whose guiding hand brought this project together and a tip of the hat to art director scott myles. they were so terrific to work with and i especially enjoyed hanging out with scott talking about the book and going over the designs and layouts over lunch at bob's big boy restaurant here in LA. (get the chili spaghetti- thems good eatin')

also want to say thank you to lee & low books for taking a chance on a couple of newbies to the field. 

 i raise a glass and toast you all.

of book fairs and Q&As

over the weekend i went out to the LA times 'festival of books'. it's an annual book fair, which this year was held on the campus of USC. (go trojans! fight on!) it's a great show of author panels and tents full of book sellers. while wandering the many booths, i came across this little book in one of their bins.

yeah, baby! tuck in there next to madeline and some other books in japanese was hot, hot roti for dada-ji. dude, i was not expecting that. a nice surprise, indeed.

i also came across a booth selling t-shirts like this one.

if you know your classics, that shirt represents the great gatsby, my favorite book by my favorite author. the shirt is styled after a baseball jersey and when i saw it, i had to pick one up. 

the 'festival of books' is always a fun way to spend the afternoon- browsing through book stalls, meeting and listening to authors and this year, getting some free ben & jerry's ice cream.

perfect.

before i sign off, i thought i'd mention a couple of blog where i participated in some Q&A action. the first comes from the lee & low publisher site called 'book talk'. the author of hot, hot roti for dada-ji- f. zia and i- talk about our experiences working on the book and other interesting matters. read it here at this link.

i also did a little interview with my good friend, paula yoo (writer of good enough and shining star: the anna may wong story), who this week is putting on her annual NaPiBoWriWee (national picture book writing week) in conjunction with this event and our Q&A, we're also giving away a signed copy of hot, hot roti for dada-ji. so read our talk and leave a comment. you could win that book! :)

read it here.

 

Another Guest Post/Blog

yakkity-yak. i didn't realize this 'ken min' guy was so talkative. if you ask his friends, when in company, he's rather quiet and docile. now, here he is with another post/blog talking about that 1 book that inspired him to reach for a career in illustrating. 

if you want to know what that 1 book is, head on over to the site 'teach mama' via this link.

also, you can win a copy of my book, Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji signed by me and the author. (shoot, even i don't have a signed copy from the author. so you'll be one up on me!)

and thanks to amy, of the teach mama website for letting me ramble on about one of my favorite books. :)

Who is this Odd Person in Burbank, CA?

who is a bit of a hermit? who thinks 'salty snacks' is one of the major food groups? who can't seem to throw out his VCR? who thinks "calvin & hobbes" is the coolest thing since sliced cheese, and who has an inordinate number of books in his home library? (well, after lisa yee that is :)

recently i took part in an interview series/blog from jennifer bertman who likes to take a peek into the "creative spaces" of various authors and illustrators. i was flattered to be asked to participate cause i'm really kind of a boring guy...who works in a room...by himself...for hours on end. so an opportunity to open up and interact with someone (albeit across the interweb) was kind of a fun.

so if you want to take a look and see some of what makes me tick, read the post here.

i hope i didn't overshare or reveal too much of myself; like any sort of dark secrets. at least i didn't mention my penguin fetish...oops.

The Book is Out!

found out through friends and the publisher, lee & low, that the picture book i worked on is out there in the universe. the original release date was May 1, but i was told that it's release was bumped up and came out last week. (which was actually a nice bit of news to receive just before my b-day)

the book has already gotten some nice notices (see previous posts) and a starred review in kirkus review (a well regarded site reviewing new publications.) here's a link to that review.

so look for it in your local book store. if they don't have it on hand, ask for it. special order it. i went into my local barnes and nobles to see if they would carry it and another favorite local children's book store- Children's Book World- (the best here in LA) to carry it as well.

the book is also available from amazon.com at this link. 

if you feel so incline to order it, consider doing so with Children's Book World. it's good to support independent book sellers and i'd be willing to jog down there and sign the book (if you happen to want my messy scribblings in your fine book :) ask for my friend, Anthony- he'll know what to do.  

also, i make this offer, if you are on facebook, post a picture of yourself with the book on my wall or post it and tag me and i'll send you a pseudo book plate with a doodle on it. if we're not already FB friends, send me a friend request. the more the merrier. 

i hope you enjoy reading the book. i certainly had a kick out of doing it. and eating lots of roti. :)

Roti reviews are coming in...

the picture book i illustrated, "hot, hot roti for dada-ji" just received a starred review from kirkus book review, a well regarded publication in the book publishing industry. the actual review itself won't be out till march 15th, but i got the early word from my publisher lee & low books today.

we also received a very nice write up from elizabeth bird of the influential blog- fuse 8 earlier in february. here's a link to that review.

i can't describe how pleased we are here in the roti camp, especially the west coast contingent. everyone involved from the author, art director, editor and staff put in a lot of work into this project and it's nice to know people are responding to it.

"hot, hot roti for dada-ji" will debut in May.

The Postman always rings...

went to the mail box today, minding my own business and i see there is key in the box. what this means is that there is a package in a separate utility box for oversized parcels. i had no idea what it could be because i wasn't expecting anything in the mail. well this is what i found inside.

an early, advance copy of the picture book i worked on last year. all bound with a shiny cover to boot. if i wasn't so stoic, i would say there was maybe a tear of joy in my eye or perhaps a smirk of happiness and contentment, but i'm pretty stoic so you'll just have to read between the lines. :)

it's certainly a handsome book to look at and made me quite proud to have this as my first, official picture book.

i hope you will look for it come May 2011.

My picture book is listed on amazon

was monkeying around over the weekend and thought i'd type the name of the PB i worked on into amazon.com and low and behold, it was listed. granted, without a cover image (which i've provided here without text. :) apparently the book retails for $17.95 and you can pre-order it. and i have an ISBN number. that makes it official. cool!

i found it amusing to click on my name under the heading which takes you to a list of other titles by "ken min". the first title that came up for me was "empowering asian mindsets through coaching", then my title and third was "the national collegiate judo handbook". i find that third one funny because i know, by 'googling' my name, that there is a tae kwon do master who teaches at berekley by the name of 'ken min'. yes, i'm not the first 'ken min' (shock and surprise!) and if you type in kenmin.com, it takes you to a chinese restaurant in japan. (btw- no, i'm not heir to the food dynasty and no, i can't get you a free meal, so don't ask)

speaking of the berkeley 'ken min', i've always wanted to meet him and i probably missed my opportunity because i had numerous friends who went to cal back in the 90's. i guess i snoozed and losed, uh, lost.

he's also the reason i use my middle initial 'W', to differentiate us and so no one comes up to me and asked me to "bust a move" karate-wise.

see the amazon listing here: Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-Ji

look for it may 2011.

The Day is Done (UPDATED)

yesterday illustrator's day (see previous post), an event i helped coordinate, came...and went.

it turned out to be a lot of fun and i was really happy with how everything played out. and if you know me, i'm my own harshest critic, so there's always something to bug me, even if it's some small detail that no one else would really pick up, but i can't say there was anything glaring yesterday...well, o.k. i wince every time i think about how i too quickly turned off the lights in the auditorium on brian floca's slide presentation. should have done it one light switch at a time, drop the lights gradually. sorry brian.

so i hope that everyone who attended came away with some good info, a touch of inspiration and a smile.

i also want to thank my tag team partner, milla, for co-conceiving the day with me and to my "volunteer army" for all their best efforts behind the scenes.

tho, i think the best part for me was getting to meet and know such bright, creative folks in the children's publishing world. my hat's off to brian floca, jen rofé, rich deas, abigail samoun and the irascible dan santat.

maybe we can all do it again sometime.

 

(* UPDATE- we've got pictures! if you would like to see some of the pictures from the day, you can visit the flickr site of friend rita who shot the pictures at this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhcrayon/sets/72157625453108190/

 

 

SCBWI-LA Illustrator's Day 2010

i suppose i could have written about this sooner, considering it takes place this saturday, but well, ha ha.

illustrator's day is coming. this is an event that i co-organized and i think we have a pretty spiffy line-up. we have author/illustrator/ dan santat, tricycle press editor abigail samoun, sr. creative director at macmillan rich deas, author/illustrator brian floca and literary agent jennifer rofé (accent on the 'e')

my partner and i have been plotting, planning, moving huge boulders and making back room deals to get this event put together and, frankly, i can't wait to see it unfold. i think we've got a little something for everyone. interested in how a picture book is conceived? you'll find out here from brian floca. want a mix of craft and industry talk plus what an editor thinks when acquiring a book? abigail samoun will tell all. what goes into cover designing? listen to rich deas. you've got a book to promote? jennifer rofé will tell you how (and she'll clean your fridge. what do i mean by that? come to illustrator's day and i'll tell you. :)

i don't know what dan santat is planning. he keeps saying he'll get around to preparing his talk. one of these days. that's why i've developed an ulcer and a nervous tick.

i think the curiousity of what dan is presenting- that alone is worth the price of admission. 

plus we'll have raffle give-aways, books for sale, contest prizes, and a secret something that we won't spoil here.

find all the details below:

http://www.scbwisocal.org/events/la_illustrators_day.html

 

so come on out and see what all is going on. it will be a blast!