Interviews with Elly Berke and Luciana Navarro Powell, the gifted picture book author and illustrator duo of LISTEN, WONDER, ASK … and a giveaway, too!!

It’s my great honor to introduce Listen, Wonder, Ask (Tilbury House Publishers, September 17, 2024) and the gifted author/illustrator team of Elly Berke and Luciana Navarro Powell to our Writers’ Rumpus audience in my first post of 2026. My son and I had the pleasure of meeting author Elly in person, and she is every bit as delightful, warm, and welcoming as her debut picture book. Though I wasn’t able to meet Luciana in person, I’m grateful she agreed to answer my questions about her illustrations that bring Elly’s lyrical story to vivid life. I’m so taken with this book and its heartwarming, inclusive message, I’ve revisited it again and again and gained a deeper appreciation with each reading.

Don’t just take my word for it! Below are well earned accolades this amazing book has garnered, along with a summary:

–2025 Kansas National Education Association Reading Circle Recommended Title
–2025 International Latino Book Awards, Best Use of Photos or Illustrations Inside a Book — Bronze Medal
Kirkus Reviews: An affirming narrative centering identity, belonging, and community. Click here for the complete review!

Summary:
When Nadine asks a new friend if she has a coming-here story too, she topples the first domino in a community-wide chain of neighbors and new friends listening to those around them, wondering about their perspectives, and finally asking thoughtful, curious questions. This lyrical, pay-it-forward story encourages readers to engage with those around them, seeing each similarity and difference as part of the colorful landscape of community. 

Let the interviews commence!

Laura: Elly, congratulations on your debut picture book! In your words, can you tell readers what Listen, Wonder, Ask is about? I especially loved how characters are drawn to the rich, new culture of other characters, and rather than asking, “Where are you from?” ask variations of “What is your coming here story?”

Elly: Listen, Wonder, Ask is about how the curiosity of a child can have a ripple effect throughout a community. It is about the power of one, but also about the power of community. It is an American tale that takes place in a fictional, mid-sized city where immigrants of various linguistic backgrounds connect over similarities and differences–large and small–and share stories along the way.

Laura: Your background is most impressive! Not only do you have an EdM from Harvard, but you’re also a 2025-2026 Fulbright Teacher Exchange Participant. I’m incredibly interested (as I suspect many readers will be) in learning what that entails.

Elly: The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program has been the best professional development I’ve ever experienced! I’m learning about Global Competencies and how to cultivate them in my students. Global Competence “…refers to the skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to thrive in an ever-changing and complex world” (Worldsavvy.org). In the Spring, I’ll be assigned to work in a school in another country–possibly India –for 2-3 weeks– and will produce a toolkit of teaching strategies and ideas to share with my home district.

Laura: What lucky students! I was drawn to your title, but when I read Listen, Wonder, Ask, it honestly blew me away. Can you share your inspiration for this heartwarming, inclusive story?

Elly: My inspiration came from my work at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York. As museum educators, we told the stories of immigrants past and present. We sometimes shared a video in which people recalled their “Welcoming Stories” (First Person American). These stories stuck with me as I began to teach ESL in Boston and look for books that gave my students windows and mirrors. I drew on specific memories to write Listen, Wonder, Ask: Russian immigrants moving to my street in Acton, MA in the 1990’s, a Somali student teaching me about sambusas, Haitian teachers making their own books in Creole, my Latino middle school students making fun of Chinese, an Iraqi war refugee driving my nephew’s school bus in Portland, Maine, and many more such experiences with immigrants striving to make a home in the USA. Books were a constant in my childhood, and a highlight was meeting Barbara Cooney with my mother in 1992! I was also inspired by my dad sitting on the edge of my bed and reading me the Hobbit, pausing to explain when I didn’t understand words.

(Here is a picture of me as Victoria Confino at the Tenement Museum — photo credit: Buck Ennis, Crain’s New York Business.) 

Laura: What a great photo! Did this book come to you in fully formed lyrical language or through multiple revisions? What was your path to publication?

Elly: I first wrote this story as a poem with rhyming verses. Next, I worked with writing coaches at Grub Street (in Boston) to get some feedback and teach me more about the business of writing. I joined Publisher’s Marketplace and began sending my manuscript out with a query letter. Another writer I met recommended that I reach out to an independent publisher of multicultural children’s books, Jonathan Eaton of Tilbury House, and mention that I knew him. Jonathan Eaton gave me a little feedback but was not interested in publishing it. I took his feedback back to Grub Street and they helped me transform the story. Four or five times, Jon Eaton gave me more notes, and I kept taking his feedback and sending him a new draft, being careful not to let the ball (connection) drop! After about 15 months of correspondence– and my persistence, emailing a check-in every 3-5 weeks–Jon told me that their board agreed to publish the book! That was the spring of 2022. More edits were made, illustrations created and revised, which brings me to September 2024 when a box of books arrived on my doorstep! What a happy day. I am so grateful that I got to make this book.

Laura: WOW!! Your persistence is a model for us all! Jonathon Eaton obviously saw the merit of your story to keep the connection flowing, and I speak for readers everywhere when I say, “Yay!” What do you hope readers will gain from Listen, Wonder, Ask?

Elly: As a teacher, I am always searching for books with colorful but accessible language to address complex and culturally relevant topics. I hope to inspire children in grades K-5 to share their own stories and connect with others across cultures. I hope to help people be kinder to one another, to be better at asking questions, to be open to surprise, and to look up from their phones more often. I would be touched if my book inspired someone else to become a writer!

Laura: As a debut author yourself, what advice do have for pre-published authors?

Elly: Love your idea. Write about things you know or really want to know about. Be persistent! Have other things that nourish and sustain you. Ask questions of mentors and be humble. Look at other books and find the ones you like. Tell yourself, “I could be the one!” Get comfortable with rejection. The last tip came to me through many years as a professional actor!

Laura: What’s next for you? How can readers connect with you?

Laura: Thank you, Elly, and best wishes with all your endeavors! Now I have a few questions for Luciana!

Listen, Wonder, Ask is a true marriage between story and illustrations. Luciana, how did you get involved with this project, and what was your illustration process?

Luciana: Thank you for your questions, Laura. It’s a joy to talk about the process of making this book. I had worked with Jonathan Eaton the year before, as he picked me to illustrate Light Speaks by Christine Layton. When introduced to Listen, Wonder, Ask, I was immediately attracted to the themes of the book- community, multiculturalism, immigration, languages – I have a soft spot for all of them, naturally. The start of the process for each book I illustrate is very similar – always pencil on paper. Since there are a relatively large number of characters in this book, and they are very specific, I did detailed character studies for each one. Research is always a part of the process I enjoy a lot, and this book required a lot of it – I wanted to do right by all the places and cultures portrayed in the story.

My research included talking to people from some of the cultures and asking for very specific references. For the Russian character, Symona, for example, I talked to a young lady that lives in my town. She emigrated to the US from the Soviet Union as a child and provided me with wonderful photos of her family that I used as inspiration for Symona’s memory ribbon – including the train station from her hometown, the patterns of fabric, the Russian song about Spring that Symona sings while gardening. Pencils are where all the real thinking about the story happens, and we had a few rounds of approvals until the whole team was on board. Final art stage goes very smoothly after that, and I had a lot of fun playing with different elements to build the memory ribbons and the language, trying to make them as evocative as Elly’s poetic text. At the deli, for example, when Symona steps in to get coffee and hears “words like jewels that bounced and danced through the isles” – I used actual costume jewels mixed with sparkly silver resin, then scanned it and incorporated in the illustration. I rendered all the languages using volume and real objects – actual glass shards, paper quilling, cut paper – to try to portray language as living entities.

Laura: I especially loved the swirl of experiences (memory ribbons), which bring each character’s memories to life in such a lovely, engaging way. How did you come up with that idea? 

Luciana: I’m so happy you noticed because I spent a lot of time on them! These “memory ribbons” are in a different physical plain than the rest of the “current moment” illustrations –  in the past, being recalled. The memory ribbons were illustrated using swirls of paper cut ribbons that I scanned to get the tri-dimensional effect. I illustrated them using a variety of elements to represent each place – the bus driver Muhsin remembers teaching in Iraq, so part of his memories are the gorgeous intricate hexagonal patterns that you see in Islamic art, for example. For Nadine’s Creole language and memory ribbons, I found a magnolia flower specific to Haiti – I used paper quilling to create shapes of flowers, and I used it to give dimension to her memories as well. And the ribbons all have a main color scheme evocative of each place. It was one of my most challenging books to illustrate, but I hope the readers get immersed in it like you did – that is always my intent with every title. I am attaching some images that show the process in this email.

Laura: I’m in awe of your process! What’s next for you? How can fans reach you?

Luciana: I have illustrated two upcoming books since Listen, Wonder, Ask. One is called A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth (launch March 2026, Amicus Ink) by Tory Christie; the other is Squirrel Draws Big Feelings by Erin Dealey (April 2026, Beaming Books). They both have very interesting behind the scenes stories and illustration processes, of course! Readers are welcome to learn more about me and my art on my website, https://www.lucianaillustration.com/

Laura: Elly and Luciana, thank you both for your thoughtful answers to my questions. I wish you both continued success!!

Tilbury House is generously offering a giveaway of Listen, Wonder, Ask to a lucky reader. To enter the raffle, leave a comment below. If you repost this interview, mention it in your comment to receive a second entry. The winner (U.S. addresses only) will be revealed in this post on January 26th, so check back on that date to see if you won. Good luck!