At Tundra Books, we want you to get to know and love our creators as much as you know and love their books. Our creator spotlight series will introduce you to the people behind some of your favorite titles . . . this week, say hello to K-Fai Steele!
About the Creator:
K-FAI STEELE is the author-illustrator of A Normal Pig and All Eyes on Ozzy! and has illustrated several other books. She has a forthcoming graphic novel with Kokila. She was a James Marshall Fellow at the University of Connecticut, a Brown Handler Writer in Residence at the San Francisco Public Library, and an Ezra Jack Keats/Kerlan Memorial Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Born in Charlton, Massachusetts, K-Fai now lives in Stockholm, Sweden.
Q&A with K-Fai Steele:
What was the best part about designing Lena’s look?
I love chickens and I’ve always loved drawing them. I’d been trying to manifest a chicken book to illustrate for a while, so when I got the chance to make Lena I was READY. She came running straight out of central casting.
Were there any challenges in balancing her chicken features with her dinosaur side?
Drawing her as an actual dinosaur was hard. It felt like I was reverse engineering evolution. I also don’t have a lot of practice drawing dinosaurs, I think I’d much rather draw chickens with dinosaur energy.
Do you have a favorite spread?
I loved drawing Lena terrorizing Madeline’s family and the aftermath of them complaining about her being so aggressive. There was nothing in the text that suggested her parents were tending their wounds, so I think that’s a good example of how a drawing can deepen a character or a narrative. I also drew Madeline unscathed because I don’t think Lena would ever hurt a kid like Madeline (who I see as a stand-in for the reader). These two drawings give you a sense of how tough but also considerate and sweet she is! Also I really love the detail of the bandaid on Madeline’s dad’s balding head; I feel like that hit a really good humor note.
Lena is such an expressive chicken, showing a whole range of emotions. How did you make such an egg-spressive chicken face?
I love drawing chickens so much that it’s gotten easy for me to use them as templates for emotions. I know exactly what their eyes, eyebrows and beaks are going to do when they’re happy, sad, anxious, etc. I think that’s what happens when you know how to draw something so well and why drawing is so powerful; once you figure something out you can do anything with it.
The book has a die-cut cover. If money were no object, what other special features would you have included in this book?
I originally wanted a lenticular cover so that it would flicker between a chicken and a dinosaur as you walked past it, but I think this idea of a die cut cover (art director Gigi Lau’s idea) works beautifully. Hmm but if money were no object, I’d have it so that every time you read this book you’d have Lena in your lap reading it with you, pointing out all the funny details.
Books by K-Fai Steele:
Lena the Chicken (But Really a Dinosaur!)
Written by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by K-Fai Steele
56 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880135 | Tundra Books
Lena lives in a chicken coop, and she looks a lot like a chicken. But deep down, she’s convinced that she’s a . . . DINOSAUR! She can feel it in her bones. Lena just doesn’t understand the scaredy chickens in her family, and they don’t understand her either, with her ferociousness and big ideas. The people on the farm are also baffled . . . except for little Madeline, who thinks Lena has PERSONALITY. And then, when a dastardly weasel turns up and threatens the coop, Lena’s fearful family chickens out AGAIN. It’s up to Lena to unleash her inner dinosaur like never before — to save the coop and show this silly bunch of chickens how to stand up for themselves. And when Madeline’s science fair project shows that chickens are the closest living relatives in the world to dinosaurs, Lena’s family finally starts to see that — holy hen house! — they are all dinosaurs too!
That Always Happens Sometimes
Written by Kiley Frank
Illustrated by K-Fai Steele
42 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781984852434 | Knopf BFYR
Do you have a list of things to do every morning before school, but you get . . . distracted? Or maybe you’re the only one with tennis balls on the feet of your chair and your teacher has to remind you to keep your sounds to yourself? Or maybe you like to listen to the way water sloshes in your stomach when you run down the hall, slo-mo, after the water fountain? That always happens sometimes to Max in this warm, hilarious picture book that humorously chronicles the pitfalls and celebrates the successes of a very familiar kid . . . one who may not be the most compliant or organized but who is full of energy, creativity, and kindness.
Lone Wolf Goes to School
Written by Kiah Thomas
Illustrated by K-Fai Steele
56 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780823457779 | Neal Porter Books
Wolf has just the right amount of friends: NONE. He loves to be alone. Unfortunately, everywhere he goes, other people are there too. At school, the teacher says if he can’t get along with the other students, he has to leave. So he goes to the movies. More people! He tries the beach. No peace there, either. He flees to the remote peak of a mountain, and even there, someone comes along to bother him. Finally, Wolf hatches a plan. All these people arrive for a party at Wolf’s house . . . while Wolf makes a quick exit.
Lone Wolf Goes to the Library
Written by Kiah Thomas
Illustrated by K-Fai Steele
48 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780823457809 | Neal Porter Books
Wolf’s library book is overdue, and the librarian says if it’s not returned today, he will never ever be able to check a book out again. Wolf loves books. He can’t let this happen. Even worse: the book is due by the end of story time. Story time means tons of children having noisy fun. Can Wolf get to the library in time while avoiding his nemeses —other people — and preserve both his books . . . and his sanity?
Lone Wolf Goes on Vacation
Written by Kiah Thomas
Illustrated by K-Fai Steele
48 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780823457793 | Neal Porter Books
Wolf is excited for a peaceful, refreshing vacation: There, there’ll be nobody he knows. Nobody he doesn’t know. Nobody to bother him at all. Total relaxation. But from a sing-along bus ride to a broken elevator to a hotel room snafu, Wolf can’t seem to catch a break. And worst of all, some familiar old characters have somehow chosen the same dream destination. Will Wolf ever find solitude? Maybe the best vacation is a trip to an all-too-familiar place . . .