Hi friends!

I'm delighted to share Issue 2 of Of Pages & Picture Books, a free guide I've created to uplift the picture book community and spread the word about some of the spectacular stories awaiting little readers. Whether you're a parent, an educator, a librarian, or just someone who loves picture books, this guide is here for you to reference while reading with little ones. Below you'll find suggested themes to explore, activities, fun facts, inspiration, and more from seven amazing picture book authors to enhance the reading experience of their books.

Santiago's Dinosaurios and Lolo & Birdie: That's Mine! / ¡Es Mío! are excellent reads to celebrate Latine Heritage Month! 🥳

• Mr. Chow's Night Market written by Emily Sun Li; illustrated by Yu Ting Cheng

Q: What inspired your book?

A: I’m often creatively inspired by meaningful chapters of my life, and one of my very favorites was the two years I spent teaching English in Taiwan. As a night owl and an avid foodie, I especially fell in love with its night markets! It was my first time living somewhere that embraced staying up late, and it made me reflect on the invisible cultural forces that shape our routines, our habits, and our sense of what’s “normal.”
That curiosity sparked the question that eventually became this book: What if, instead of squeezing ourselves into expectations that don’t fit, we reshaped our world to better suit who we are and what we need? In Mr. Chow’s Night Market, a grumpy grandpa and his grocery store both struggle to wake up early enough to open on time—so they transform the store into a night market instead!

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: One of the book’s central themes is the courage to question expectations that don’t work for us. Mr. Chow doesn’t solve his problem by forcing himself to become someone he’s not. Instead, with the help of his grandchildren and community, he imagines a new path altogether. As they read, families and educators might ask: Have you ever felt like something that comes naturally to you is considered “wrong”? What could happen if we changed our surroundings instead of trying to change ourselves? And how can the people who love us support us and help us recognize our potential?

The book also invites readers into the sights, sounds, foods, and rhythms of Taiwan. For children unfamiliar with that cultural world, I hope the story allows them to experience it as a vivid, lived-in place. For those who recognize it, I hope they feel right at home! Readers might discuss what feels new, what feels familiar, and how stories can help us better understand lives different from our own.

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: One of my childhood favorites was Janell Cannon’s Verdi, about a young python who’s determined never to grow old and boring. I’m 30—it’s an existential time!—and I love returning to a childhood story that reminds us growing older doesn’t have to mean losing who we are.

A recent favorite is my friends Evgenia Mantikas and Elifgül Büyükoral’s Ege and Ávra, illustrated by Nazli Tarcan. It’s a gorgeous, lyrical, and deeply moving testament to the power of friendship between two Greek and Turkish girls, inspired by the coauthors’ own real-life friendship!

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: First and foremost: grab a Taiwanese snack to enjoy while reading! I’d recommend sipping on a boba. 😇 Afterward, you could look for a Taiwanese restaurant nearby and try something new!

Be sure to explore the back matter, where you can learn more about the history of Taiwanese night markets, discover some of my favorite night market snacks, and uncover how Mr. Chow and his neighbors got their names from Mandarin Chinese words.

Children can also design their own night market stall by drawing the stall, inventing a catchy name, and creating a menu or display of everything they’d sell. The sillier, the better!

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: My illustrator, Yu Ting Cheng, lives in Taiwan, and I loved learning how she researched the book. She often visited local night markets to sketch and gather inspiration, arriving early and staying late to watch the vendors set up and break down. Fun fact: a green stuffed dinosaur makes a cameo in many of the book’s spreads, inspired by a real stuffed dinosaur Yu Ting spotted at a night market in Taipei. See how many times you can find it!

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I was first drawn to picture books as a poet. Then I discovered that they also have such a satisfying, playful physicality: the wordless spreads, the tension across the gutter, the counterpoint between text and illustration, the suspense of a page turn—even the reveal of a different design beneath the book jacket. (Hint: Take a peek beneath the jacket of Mr. Chow’s Night Market!) The combination of poetry and visual art makes picture books an endlessly fascinating medium to play in. And, to be honest, they make my inner child so happy!

• Willow's Winter Walk by Stevie Lewis (out in November 2026)

Q: What inspired your book?

A: I was going through a stressful time in my life, and I wanted a reminder to slow down and take things one day at a time. It was our first winter in Montana, and it was incredibly cold and snowy. We were living in a house with terrible insulation and heat—there would be ice on the inside of our windows when we woke up in the mornings! I remember wearing so many layers of thick clothing just to work, and feeling completely unmotivated.

Eventually, I decided to take a month off and simply enjoy what the season had to offer. We met wonderful friends who welcomed us into their homes and made us feel like part of the community. I took long, snowy walks with my dogs and started paying attention to all the little things happening around me. Those quiet walks and the feeling of slowing down became the inspiration for the book.

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read?

A: More than anything, I hope this book reminds readers to pause and take in what’s around them. We live in such a busy world, and there can be a lot of noise and chatter competing for our attention. I loved taking winter walks through my small town and discovering how much I noticed when I simply stopped and listened.

Even in the cold, there was always something happening—birds moving through the trees, geese and ducks, cows in the fields, and people bundled up walking their dogs. There was plenty to see, but it all felt peaceful and calm.

Children are naturally good at being present in this way, but I think the book can also be a gentle reminder for adults, especially parents, to slow down and notice the world alongside them. As you read, you might ask: What do you notice when you stop and listen? What small things might you miss when you're rushing?

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: My favorite childhood picture book was Miss Nelson Is Missing!. I loved how clever the story was, and the illustrations were always my favorite part.

A recent favorite is Boy Here, Boy There by Chuck Groenink. I absolutely adore this book and love everything about his beautiful, expressive drawings.

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: Go on a long walk with your family or friends, and practice pausing along the way. Notice what you can see and hear when you slow down. How does it make you feel? Do you feel more connected to the earth, the animals, or the people around you?

See if you can identify the different animals, trees, plants, and other wildlife you encounter. Look closely at the houses you pass. Is there one that stands out as especially beautiful, whimsical, or unusual? Maybe it has a colorful front door or an interesting garden.

And if you live in a city, look for the little details there, too. Can you spot someone wearing bright or funny clothes, or someone with a silly hat?

There is so much to notice when we take the time to look. I encourage readers to find whatever makes them smile—and write it down, or even better, draw it!

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: The book was inspired by my small town of Hamilton, Montana. The scenery, trees, houses, and snow were all drawn from early paintings I made during our first winter there.

My dogs even became part of the process. They would shiver while waiting for me to finish painting some of the snowy scenes, even though they were wearing their warm winter jackets!

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I fell into children's books somewhat accidentally. I had been working in animation, and after leaving my job at DreamWorks, I was approached to illustrate a few chapter books.

At the time, I was living on the road in my car, traveling around North America on a sabbatical and rock climbing in some beautiful, wild places. I realized that I really wanted to use my art to tell stories—and eventually, to tell my own stories through both art and words.

Adventure and the outdoors have always been a big part of my life, so I naturally gravitated toward stories about rock climbing, hiking, exploring, and connecting with nature. Those themes have continued to find their way into my work, and I’m excited to keep creating stories that encourage kids to explore the world around them and embrace their own adventurous spirits.

• Lolo & Birdie: That's Mine! / ¡Es Mío! by Angela Dominguez (out in November 2026)

Q: What inspired your book?

A: I’m very lucky that this is the fifth Lolo & Birdie book. By this point, I know the characters quite well. I would say my inspiration for the series, in general, is the sibling dynamic. Lolo is the toddler who is more impulsive and emotional, while Birdie is the patient and supportive older sibling. Each title in the series reflects something a young child might say like I’m Hungry, I’m Not Sleepy or in this case, That’s Mine.

But there is another big inspiration for the series, and it is to create fun accessible bilingual books. Growing up, I didn’t see any in my library. The books were either fully in Spanish or English, and the books in Spanish were too challenging for me. This is why as an adult I wanted to create books that made learning languages approachable. The reader can generally infer what the meaning is in either language. I think the more you make learning a language fun the more likely you’ll keep their interest.

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: With every Lolo & Birdie book there is a small lesson that Lolo sometimes learns. I never want the books to be didactic, and I like there to be an element of the unexpected. It makes the books more playful and humorous for kids. However, if Lolo doesn’t exactly learn a lesson in the book, I do think it is a great opportunity to have a conversation afterwards. With this book, That’s Mine, Lolo gently learns to share his big present and learns not to be too possessive.

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs was my all-time favorite picture book growing up. I loved the illustrations and especially loved reading it aloud. It’s even one of my favorites to mention during my author visits at school. A recent favorite is Hot Dog by Doug Salati. It’s gorgeous and so fun. Who doesn’t love a dog book too.

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: I would love for kids to draw and make their own stories. If they are clueless how to begin, have them start by drawing Lolo and Birdie. Then see what new characters and stories they can make up. Having hobbies is so important, especially analog ones that get them away from screens. I also think it's a great opportunity if they're inspired by the book, to level up their language skills. Find other books or media that support this.

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: Since the story relies heavily on pictures, I think my favorite fun facts came from researching piñatas, candy, and toy images.

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I studied illustration at art college, and when I discovered children’s book illustration, it felt like the perfect career for me. When I began writing, my passion in this field really took off.

• Ege and Ávra written by Evgenia Mantikas and Elifgül Büyükoral; illustrated by Nazli Tarcan

Q: What inspired your book?

A: Ege and Ávra was inspired by my friendship with my coauthor, Elif! Our countries share a long, complicated history, and despite that past, we became friends. When we decided to team up and write a story together, it made sense that we would write about a Greek girl and a Turkish girl who discover they are more alike than they are different. So really, we wrote our story!

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: Ege and Ávra explores friendship, intergenerational ties, and cultural division and connection. Readers can discuss how these themes shape the characters’ relationships and experiences, and reflect on how friendship, family, and cultural understanding can help bring people together despite their differences!

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: A childhood favorite is Kevin Henkes’ Chrysanthemum. It made me proud of my long Greek name! Oh no, there are too many recent favorites to pick just one. I’m going to cheat and give you three: Drawn Onward by Daniel Nayeri and Matt Rockefeller, Broken by X. Fang, and In the World of Whales by Michelle Cusolito and Jessica Lanan.

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: Here are some activities readers can do after finishing Ege and Ávra:
- Share a Meal with Your Loved Ones! Food is an important part of Ege and Ávra, especially when shared with people we love. Cook a meal with family or friends, gather around the table, and enjoy each other’s company!
- Create a Sea of Hope! Create a mural filled with colorful fish. On each fish, write a wish or dream for the future. Together, create a sea of hope inspired by the book’s message of hope and peace.
- Reflect on Your Community! Think about your village, neighborhood, or community. What makes it special? Write about the people, places, and traditions that make you feel at home.

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: I love creating character playlists! It’s so much fun and helps me get into the right headspace when writing my characters and their stories.

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I just fell in love with it. I love how the whole story needs to fit into 550 words. Every word, sentence, and comma counts! Even though the text is so short, the depth and magnitude of the story is endless. Just take a look at Watercress or A Different Pond. I mean, come on! How can you not fall in love with picture books?

• Santiago's Dinosaurios written by Mariana Ríos Ramírez; illustrated by Udayana Lugo

Q: What inspired your book?

A: My family moved from Mexico to USA in 2016 due to my husband’s job. At the time my daughter was 2 years old and my son was 5. He had to start kindergarten in a school in which he couldn’t understand or speak English, and his journey was not easy. Thankfully, he had kind classmates, patient classroom teachers, and a wonderful ESOL teacher who supported him until he was able to communicate successfully. Eventually my son became bilingual, he made friends, and thrived in his new school.

However, my son’s experience made me realize that many families around the world go through the same challenges we faced when they leave their home countries and start new lives elsewhere. I wanted to write this story for all those children, who like my son, find themselves struggling with a language barrier; to show them that with hard work, patience, and time they’ll eventually be able to communicate with their classmates and teachers and that bilingualism is a strength that will be very valuable through their lives.

Q: What themes do you explore in your book and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: Santiago’s Dinosaurios is a book which highlights the challenges immigrant children experience when they find themselves in environments with a different culture, customs, and language than they’re used to in their home countries. It touches how isolating, frightening, and lonely it can be when there’s no connection with others due to the language barriers in place. However, it’s also a story about friendship, inclusion and discovering that common interests (like dinosaurs) can be bridges which can help us connect with others when words can’t.

My hope is that children reading this story identify two main takeaways. The first one is if they’re kids who can see themselves in Santiago because they’re experiencing a similar situation. For them, I hope they’ll realize that although they’ll need to work hard on learning a new language, they’ll eventually achieve it and they won’t be alone during that process. Also, that there are many ways to make friends that don’t require words, like in this case, Santiago found a way to connect with other children through his love for dinosaurs.

Finally, for children who have classmates or friends like Santiago, I hope they’ll realize how important it is to be kind to those who are the “new kids” and who are struggling to adapt and connect, and what a positive impact they can have in their lives by being inclusive and embracing those who might seem different.

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’a recent favorite?

A: Growing up in Mexico, I remember I used to like reading picture books from a series called Serendipity. They were written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robin James. The books were short stories with a moral perspective which highlighted different animals. Besides those, I used to love reading fairy tales too.

A recent favorite for me it’s the Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers, I love the illustrations and how funny and sweet it is.

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing or reading your book?

A: Besides sharing/discussing the above takeaways with the kids after reading the book, on my website there is a free downloadable teaching guide for different grade levels, as well as other activities and crafts such as word search, dino masks, fossil craft and coloring pages.

To find those resources please visit: https://marianariosramirez.com/resources/

Q: What is your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: A fun fact about writing this book is that researching which dinosaurs to use in the story for the “dinosaur size problems” and the endpapers wasn’t as easy as I initially thought it would be. Dinosaurs in the story represent Santiago’s anxiety due to not speaking or understanding English. As his day progresses, his problem seems less big and scary, so the dinosaurs change from big species to small ones which seem less intimidating to him.

For this, I wanted to use dinosaurs that kids would recognize and love, while I also needed to make sure that the sizes of my selection were quite different for the “shrinking” problem issue. Turns out that the famous Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus have the same size, so I could only use one of them for my purposes. Besides this, I also needed all the dinosaurs to be herbivores. Adding famous carnivores to the mix would have helped with making the problem seem smaller, but carnivores are way scarier, so that didn’t work for us.

For these reasons, finding the right combination of dinos to use in the story was a bit tricky, but I had a lot of fun with my research, and I even used some books from my son’s collection since for quite some years he was a dino-fan just like Santiago.

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I fell in love with picture books while reading them to my children when they were little. After moving to the USA, picture books were a valuable tool for me to help them learn English at home, while they were also an excellent way to connect and have a special time together.

• Debug This Book written by Omar Abed; illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch

Q: What inspired your book?

A: when trying to come up with a concept for a new picture book, I kept hearing the advice: "Write what you know." when I thought about what I know, I thought about being an engineer, but not a great one. I thought, "I know just enough to break things." That's when I came up with the concept of a virus "breaking" a book.

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: This book tackles critical thinking in a humorous way. I hope this book encourages readers to think outside the box and to draw on their own personal experiences in new and creative ways.

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: My favorite picture books as a kid were from Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. Now, as an adult, my favorite picture book is The Giving Tree.

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: I'd love for readers to combine their interests across different mediums after reading this book to see what might come out of it.

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: Honestly, I didn't do much research for this book, but I had fun working with the publishing team and trying to explain some of the concepts of programming and debugging in the world of software to a team that has no exposure to that domain.

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I came to picture books through poetry and music. I'm not a musician, but I love the alliteration and rhythm of poetry, and picture books are an extension of that.

• Big Rig Pig and Cupig written by Claire Tattersfield; illustarated by Rob Sayegh Jr.

Q: What inspired your book?

A: My amazing illustrator Rob! We had just hit the bestseller list with our first book together, Cupig, and we were at a celebratory lunch with our publishing team. I was talking about how I would love to write a things-that-go book, and Rob mentioned that he'd tried to get an early readers' graphic novel sold years ago, titled BIG RIG PIG, to no avail. Our editor said it sounded like an amazing picture book idea. Rob looked at me and said "I'm in if you are." The rest, as they say, is history!

Q: What themes do you explore in your book, and what do you recommend readers discuss as they read those themes?

A: I have always been a bit of a lone wolf, even when I was child! I really liked teaching myself how to do things, and independence was something I prized even as a wee one. But that meant that I became very bad at asking for help, which is something that a lot of kids and adults alike struggle with! I hope that readers see that not only is it good to ask for help sometimes, but that's actually exactly what your loved ones are there for.

Q: What was your childhood favorite picture book, and what’s a recent favorite?

A: My favorite as a child (and perhaps still my enduring favorite) was The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. There is literally no other book in the world like it. Recently I have read and loved That You Are Here is No Small Thing by Traci Todd and Vashti Harrison. It's so beautiful and lightly educational, perfect for home libraries or the classroom!

Q: What activities do you recommend readers do after finishing (or while reading) your book?

A: Playing outside in the mud with construction toys!

Q: What’s your favorite fun fact from your writing or researching process?

A: That my illustrator's Dad is a trucker by trade! Rob's Dad is retired now, but was the best trucker in New York, from what I can tell.

Q: What drew you to the picture book space?

A: I felt that picture books had grown really didactic, which took a lot of the fun away from picture books! It's easy to make a book fun and entertaining and still have a lesson, which is what I try to do with my books. There's a lesson wrapped in layers of rhyme and silliness like a delicious picture book burrito.

Thank you so much to these amazing authors for joining me and to the agents, publicists, and friends who've supported this project! Stay tuned for Issue 3! 🫶

Had an awesome time among all of the Indie Pubs and sellers in Chicago at The Printer's Row Lit Fest this past weekend. Thanks for everyone who came and cleaned out our copies of my medical memoir, American Triage! Put the appropriate fear into med students and had the support of dozens of healthcare pros. Finished with a great reading at Pilsen Community Books!

Brooklyn Book Festival next on 9/27. Hope to see you there!