Ken W. Min ~ Illustrator

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.

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 8, Post 1

oooo- got some good picture book ideas flowing today. yes, sir. i think i gots me 3 caldecott worthy tales to tell. how about...

huh? whazzat?

(psst. psst. pst)

it's over?!?!? what do you mean it's ov--

did i win??

(psst. psst. pst.)

not a competition?? why did i waste, er, 'spend' so much of my time working on these if--
i demand a recount. who do i speak to about this travesty of-- i'm calling my congressman.

(shakes fist in air) paula- where are you?

for a recap of "napibowriwee" go to http://paulayoo.com/

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 7, Post 1

i tripped at the finish line.

got bogged down with work today. plus the whole l.a. dodgers/manny ramirez/banned substance debacle weighed heavily on my mind. yes, it's only baseball, but it took me off guard. couldn't really focus on other fun stuff. it's no excuse really. but i had a hard time coming up with another viable idea tonight anyways.

alas, i'm a loser.

i feel like charlie brown.

but i did string together 6 stories during this week long marathon. that's something.

so i'm kind of a little bit of a loser. maybe about 14%.

but it was fun.

for more info on "napibowriwee" go to http://paulayoo.com/

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 6, Post 1

squeezing water from a stone.
making diamonds from coal.

this is what it feels like in my brain as i get down towards the end of napibowriwee.

one more day after today.
the finish line is in sight.
but i feel like i'm beginning to lose the wheels off the ol' jalopy. :)

i was lucky in that before this all started, i had book ideas scribbled on pieces of paper that i filed away so i had some things to work off of and develop. but as i sit here with one more day to go, i've tapped my reserves. gonna have to dig deep for one more idea.

20 bucks for a good idea. anyone?

for more info on "napibowriwee" go to http://paulayoo.com/

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 5, Post 1

had to actually do a bit of 'real' work today on another assignment so could not think PBs till now.

also losing a bit of steam as well. a couple ideas i was toying with just don't seem to work as PBs-- more like a comic book/GN or heck, maybe an animated short. so must abandon them...for now.

but i went ahead and worked up my 'wordless' PB.

because it is without words, i scribbled them out in thumbnail form. actually, what passes for my 'chicken scratchings'. my thumbnails will generally look a little cleaner than these, but because i wanted to get everything out of my head without losing the thread of the idea, i just dash them out very messily. usually what i do from here is to redraw them again as thumbnails but with some added value like some specific details or elements i want to highlight or push. but i'll leave that for another time. this will be my 'cheat' day. (get by with as little as necessary :)

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 4, Post 2

i've been brainstorming all day today. let me toss a few ideas 'atcha. o.k. see, there's this caterpillar. and he's actually eating his way through the book. it'll be all colorful and bright and at the end, he changes into a butterfly.

uhm, you do realize it's been done?

really, by whom?

eric carle.

carle?

yes, it's called "the very hungry caterpillar".

you don't say...well, how about that...what about this one. there's this boy and he's all rowdy. he has a tiff with his mom who then sends him to his room, see, and the kid sails away to this island where he becomes king of these creatures and he--

sendak.

what?

maurice sendak. he wrote "where the wild things are"

"where the wild things are"...hmm, nice title.  i was going to call mine, "where the wild cats are at"

uh, not as catchy.

sez you!
speaking of cats i was also mulling over a story about this lanky feline who wears this really tall hat. it's all stripey and cool looking and--

"the cat in the hat"

i like that title. thanks.

no, it's been done. by dr. seuss.

come on, dude. give me a break.

sorry.

pigeon driving a bus.

mo willems.

but this time he actually gets to drive the bus.

try again.

pigs on lily pads flying around a small town.

weisner. "tuesday"

jumpin' jehosaphat! are there any cool, original ideas left in the world???

you're just gonna have to work a little harder.

(grumble, grumble, grumble.)

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 4, Post 1

it's funny where ideas for picture books come from. one could sit down and say, "i want to do a tale with a jack rabbit" and then sit there for the longest time trying to find an angle, a slant or just something humorous to grab onto and turn into a story.

or one can just drive around town and a spark will light up.

like yesterday for instance.

i was driving along when i spotted this young boy standing near a street corner near a lamp post. as i drove by, i thought i saw him look down and reach over for a yellow ball that seemed to roll right up to his feet.

this got me thinking of a story with a progressive nature. like 'the old woman who swallowed a fly'. something where one action begets another, larger action and so on. i started rolling with this idea as i continued on with my drive.

dr. seuss' 'to think i saw it on mulberry street' came to mind as well. i haven't read it since i was little, but i do feel there is some shared qualities ther, but i hope to add my own personal 'tweaks' and sensibilities here. just to see what comes to mind.

all in all, for napibowriwee, i'll play with this idea.

so, yes, those magical 'ideas'- you never know where they'll come from or when they'll hit you. you just have to be open to the possibilities and play with it.

for more info on "napibowriwee" go to http://paulayoo.com/

NaPiBoWriWee-Day 3, Post 4

3 1/2 stories now!

getting ahead of the curve.

:)

for more info on "napibowriwee" go to http://paulayoo.com/