Guest Post by Illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell
When I was around 11, I became fascinated by the French braids that some of my friends would wear to school. I remember trying with two threads of hair, but it wouldn’t quite hold. The revelation that you needed at least three threads to make a braid was one of the highlights of my 5th grade year!
Aaaah, the 80s…
I believe a successful picture book is like a perfect “French braid” with three threads intertwined: text, illustration, and the world created by the previous two. I’m going to illustrate (ha!) how this analogy helped me create the third thread with my art work. The following examples are from five of the picture books I have illustrated. The first three are all close to ten years in print!
WHOSE HANDS ARE THESE?
Written by Miranda Paul, Lerner/Millbrook Press (2016)
This book was picked to be in the new Obama Library in Chicago! It’s about community workers and describes what the hands do for each job in a unique page-turning guessing game. It’s non-fiction, but I wove a thread of story – each spread shows at least one character or object that will appear in the following spread. I also added an additional layer – a parachute that jumps from a plane that can be spotted in almost every single spread, even becoming part of the action for the “news reporters!” page. It’s like the “Where’s Waldo?” of the book: it’s there for kids to discover on their own, and of course, they do. Carol Hinz, who edited it, messaged me a few months after publication, delighted that one of her kids had spotted the “secret” parachuter – who is also the male teacher at the end – thread!
BABIES COME FROM AIRPORTS
Written by Erin Dealey, Kane Miller (2017)
It talks about a different angle in the adoption genre: the “Gotcha Day”, when parents finally “get” their babies, often times at airports, after a lengthy process. It’s told from the POV of adoptions from China, specifically, inspired by a friend of the writers. This book is an example of using the endpapers of the PB format to expand the story. I love starting to tell the story even before the title page. In the opening endpapers, I show a push pin board in the brothers’ room with hints: the mom is away in China picking up baby Grace. The title page shows mom boarding the plane from Beijing heading back to the US. By the time first page starts telling the story with copy, we already have an idea about what is happening. Here is another layer created by my art, and nothing in the manuscript suggested this: I gave the older Brother a camera, and he takes photos during the day. On the closing end pages, I continue to tell the story via his photos! We see the characters taking another photo with “Security” and “Airport lady,” both moved and teary, and we see them putting Grace in the car seat, getting home, her new bedroom, all after the last word of text.
GRANDMA’S FAVORITE
Written by Erin Dealey, Kane Miller (2018)
This book is on CBC’s latest 2026 Fall list for “The Wisdom of Elders”. When it came out, there were not that many titles showing active Grandparents. Erin wrote a broad range of activities that we don’t usually think of grandparents doing — including changing a flat tire! As I sketched, I thought about my own kids and their long distance relationships with my parents in Brazil (and in-laws in Florida), and I turned every stanza into a different child-grandma duo from different countries. Nothing in the manuscript suggested that, but Erin and editor Kira loved it. It made the third thread in the braid: a multicultural and long distance take on grandparenting. At the endpapers – three years before the pandemic zoom-era – I showed grandkids staying in touch with their grandmas in different parts of the world via technology.
The BIG BLUE EARTH Series
Written by Tory Christie, Amicus Ink (2019-2026)
Here is another great library fun-fact: two of the four titles in this series got Danish editions and can be found at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. The latest title “A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth” came out this Spring. This non-fiction series features books with sparse copy but a lot to chew on. We start with a close-up of the protagonist animal and zoom out all the way to a view of the planet floating in space. The illustrations do a lot of heavy lifting, showing the details of fauna, flora and human communities in each continent featured. The third thread: lyrical non-fiction book with lots of STEM content provided by the art.
SQUIRREL DRAWS BIG FEELINGS
Written by Erin Dealey, Beaming Books (2026)
Yes, this is another collaboration with master of rhyme Erin! This title makes a full circle: she was inspired by chalk art I did in my neighborhood during the pandemic, then created a story that expanded on that, and it got back to me as copy to be illustrated. The art here adds fun details to be found and imagery that supports and expands elements in the text. A recurring element in the story is the dragon that main character Squirrel draws. Erin wrote in the Dragon as a symbol of something powerful that can also be vulnerable. I expanded on that by adding dragon-shaped clouds in the sky, which also turn moody, mirroring the theme of the book. Squirrel’s chalk drawings reflect his surroundings: bugs, butterflies, birds. The observant reader will have fun following the bugs that follow the characters around! The snail is still … crossing … the sidewalk … on the closing endpapers (used to their full extent, of course!) that show all the beautiful chalk art created by everyone!
Thanks for having me on your blog, Laura! Writers, rest assured that a good illustrator will expand your manuscript, and together you will create the magical third thread of the braid!
I would love to give away TWO of these titles: Squirrel Draws Big Feelings and A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth.
Laura: Thank you, Luciana, for sharing your wisdom, experience, and talent! Your illustrations are absolutely brilliant, and any writer (me included) would be lucky to have you illustrate their work! Before I share the giveaway instructions, I want to mention my first post of 2026, an interview with you and author Elly Berke about your exceptional picture book, Listen, Wonder, Ask. Click here to be whisked to that post!
P.S. Book lovers, if you have the opportunity to attend NTCE this year, held November 19-21 at the Pennsylvania Conference Center in Philadelphia, please look for Elly! She will be signing books from 4-5pm on Friday, November 20. If you’d like to contact her, Elly‘s email is esberke@gmail.com.
Now for Luciana’s GIVEAWAY!! To be entered. just leave a comment on this post. If you share this post through social media, let us know, and you’ll earn another chance to win one of these adorable books. (US addresses only). Randomly selected winners will be notified right here on October 14th, so check back then to see if you won! Good luck!!
