Liz Zunon, Frank Morrison, and Il Sung Na Included on CCBC Choices 2017 List
March 28, 2017
The CCBC Choices list is an annual selection compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center on the best children’s books of the year. This year, three of Painted Words authors illustrators have been included on the list under various categories!
Picture Books for School Age Children:
- The Quickest Kid in Clarksville, written by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by Frank Morrison
- Don’t Call Me Grandma, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Liz Zunon
Concept Books:
The full list of selected books is available here.
Echo Echo and The Opposite Zoo Receive Honorable Mentions on Huffington Post’s Best Picture Books of 2016
December 15, 2016
As 2016 comes to a close, it’s time for Best Books of the Year lists! Huffington Post recently published their list of the Best Picture Books of 2016, including two of our author/illustrators as honorable mentions. In the Best Concept Book Category, Il Sung Na‘s The Opposite Zoo, which illustrated the concept of opposites through the medium of a zoo at night, was included as an honorable mention. In the Best Poetry category was Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths, written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Josée Masse, which retold Greek myths through a unique poetic form. Congratulations, Il Sung and Josée!
The Huffington Post’s full article can be read here. The Opposite Zoo can be purchased online here and Echo Echo can be purchased here.
NPR’s Best Books of 2016 Includes Il Sung Na’s The Opposite Zoo and Don’t Call Me Grandma, Illus. by Liz Zunon
December 7, 2016
The National Public Radio (NPR) put out a list of books chosen by their staff as being the best of 2016. Included in the children’s section is Don’t Call Me Grandma, written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Liz Zunon, and The Opposite Zoo by Il Sung Na.
Don’t Call Me Grandma is the story of a young girl’s relationship with her prickly but fascinating grandma. NPR praised the fact that this story presents an unconventional and more fully realized version of a grandmother than most childrens’ literature. They describe Liz’s illustrations as “genius.”
The Opposite Zoo teaches children about opposites through the medium of a whimsical, brightly colored zoo after it closes for the night. They describe the picture book as “spacious” and inviting.
Congratulations, Il Sung and Liz! The full list of recommended books can be found on NPR’s site here.
Il Sung Na Awarded Honorable Mention in 3×3 Illustration Competition
June 15, 2016
Il Sung Na was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Picture Book category in the 3×3 International Illustration Annual Competition. His award came for his picture book, The Opposite Zoo, which teaches children about the concept of illustrations through illustrations of a zoo at night. Congratulations, Il Sung!
You can see the full list of winners here.
The New York Times Reviews Il Sung Na’s The Opposite Zoo
May 5, 2016
In an article about children’s picture books that explore new words for children, the New York Times gave high praise to Il Sung Na‘s new picture book, The Opposite Zoo, which explores the concept of opposites at a zoo closed for the night. The New York Times praised Il Sung for “bring[ing] fresh energy” to the familiar idea of opposites. They appreciate his humor and clever touches, and especially complimented his art, writing that he has “a coloring style that feels as if someone took a firecracker to a box of crayons.”
You can read the full review of The Opposite Zoo on the New York Times site here.
.Il Sung Na Interviewed by Mashable about The Opposite Zoo
March 3, 2016
Il Sung Na was interviewed by Mashable, a media/entertainment site, about The Opposite Zoo, his newest picture book, about a zoo filled with opposing creatures. Il Sung told Mashable that a book of opposites had been on his list of books he wanted to write about for a long time. Mashable praised The Opposite Zoo as, “A beautiful lesson in contrast and contradictions,” and shared some of Il Sung’s lovely illustrations. To read the whole article, check out this link.
Kirkus Reviews Praises Il Sung Na’s Opposite Zoo
February 2, 2016
Il Sung Na’s Opposite Zoo, coming out March 8th, has received advanced praise from Kirkus. Opposite Zoo uses the setting of a zoo at night to help explain the concept of opposites to young readers. Kirkus praises his humor and writes that, “Readers…will be struck by the simplified, free style he adopts in this book for young learners.” They call Opposite Zoo, “A beautiful treatment of a familiar subject that repays close looking again and again.”