My new picture book, WHEN YOU MEET A DRAGON (Orca Books) comes out this month. So I thought I’d pop by the Picture Books Eh! site to talk about my favourite part of the project. Cover of When You Meet a Dragon, by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, illustrated by Udayana Lugo (Orca Books) WHEN YOU MEET A DRAGON is the story of a small child who encounters an overwhelming problem. A ferocious dragon threatens the town. But a child can’t fight a dragon alone! So neighbours are roused, friends recruited. Even a few animals join the fight. And then... some people have other ideas. Interior illustration by Udayana Lugo from When You Meet a Dragon. I have to admit, when I wrote a page of dragon deniers into the book, I assumed the editor (in this case, the wonderful Sarah Howden) would make me take them out. But Sarah has a twisty sense of humour, and the dragon deniers remained. I chuckled to myself, then I forgot all about this crowd for the rest of the story. They don’t appear in the text after page six. But illustrator Udayana Lugo DID think more deeply about the dragon deniers. She called them in. Here’s one of them on page seven, reconsidering his position. Over the next few pages, he abandons his protest sign and he battles the beast, fights fires, and helps clean up the town. Interior illustration by Udayana Lugo from When You Meet a Dragon. I often tell my writing students to ensure they're telling a picture book narrative through both the text and the illustrations. In this case, Udayana took my text, expanded the story, and vastly improved it.
It takes a whole team to fight a dragon. It also takes a great team to make a picture book. I’m so grateful to Sarah and Udayana for bringing this one to life. Find me at www.tanyalloydkyi.com or on Instagram at @tanyalloydkyi. Tanya Lloyd Kyi is the author of more than 30 fiction and non-fiction books for children and young adults. She’s curious about everything from penguins to popcorn and she has more questions about the world than any scientist could answer. Tanya lives in Vancouver, B.C., where she teaches for the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing. Comments are closed.
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