Join us at Children's Fairyland: Turn the Page! Festival

April 25, 2017 by the ILLUSTORIA team

Come join us at our absolute fave storybook theme park for Children's Fairyland's Turn the Page! festival on Saturday, May 6th. Meet over 25 local authors and illustrators and come say hello to Illustoria's publisher Joanne Chan from 12:20–1:30 pm as she shares a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an arts & literary magazine for kids.

WHAT: Turn the Page! Children's Book Festival

WHEN: Saturday, May 6, 2017
10am–4pm / ILLUSTORIA meet-and-greet @ 12:20–1:30pm

WHERE: Children's Fairyland
699 Bellevue Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610

Here's the full list of Turn the Page! authors and artists:

Who doesn't love a trip down nostalgia lane with their kiddos? Magic Keys, Happy Dragon, Willie the Whale, Alice in Wonderland, The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, Anansi rides, puppet shows, plays, farm animals, and more...all in lovely downtown Oakland by the lake.

Photos: Fairyland & the Fairyland Archives

Children's Fairyland is among the top Oakland spots for families with kids--right alongside the Oakland Museum, the Oakland Public Library, the Oakland Zoo, and Lake Merritt. So come by with your creative kids and join us for a lovely Saturday on May 6th. Hope to see you and your family there!

Who We Are: Claire Astrow

September 15, 2016 by Claire Astrow

Name: Claire Astrow

Location: Oakland, CA

Profession: Publishing Assistant at Illustoria Magazine

Claire holding the first issue of Illustoria at Skylight Books in Los Angeles.

Favorite Artist/Illustrator: My favorite all time illustrators are Jillian Tamaki, Daniel Clowes, and Tove Jansson. Currently, I’m obsessed with Phoebe Wall and Joohee Yoon. In the more general ‘artist’ category the list is always growing and growing, but my true heroes are Chris Johanson, Philip Guston, and Hope Gangloff.

Best book you’ve read in the past year: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Kids book you could read every night: Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold was my absolute favorite when I was a kid. I would get lost in the imaginative collage illustrations and pretend that I had the same super powers as Cassie Lightfoot to fly around New York City and have fabulous roof top parties with my family.

Best memory of being a kid: My family used to have a weekend ritual of loading up our car with bags of bagels and heading out for a picnic at the Marina del Rey beach. The bagels would always get half covered in sand but we would eat them anyways. Afterwards my sister and I would put on gobs of protective gear and get rollerskating lessons my mom, who was a 90s rollerskating fanatic.

Favorite weekend activity: Going to concerts and shows in SF, going on hikes, eating delicious food out in the Mission or Oakland’s Chinatown.

Song Currently on repeat: Jennifer Lara-I am in Love (so groovy)

Favorite meal: Pad thai, green curry, and sticky mango rice please!!!

Last time you made something with your hands: An EP album cover I made for my friend’s band, Dream Boat.

Loose Tooth EP cover for Dream Boat, by Claire Astrow

Fun fact about you: If I was born a boy, I would have been named Honus (after Honus Wagner) and my twin sister Lilly would have been named Cleon (Cleon Jones). I often fantasize about what Honus Gozonsky's life would have been like. Would he be ultra cool? Would he cope with all the name bullying? Would we be friends? The world will never know...

Drawing I made for my dad in 2015, Honus Wagner on the  left and Cleon Jones on the right. — Drawing I made for my dad in 2015, Honus Wagner on the left and Cleon Jones on the right.

Creator Crush: Cece Bell!

July 08, 2016 by Joanne Chan

When the book EL DEAFO begins, Cece is 4. When it ends, she is about 10 or 11. Cece used these photos to help "age" the bunny version of herself as the book progresses. Photos and art

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… — When the book EL DEAFO begins, Cece is 4. When it ends, she is about 10 or 11. Cece used these photos to help "age" the bunny version of herself as the book progresses. Photos and art © Cece Bell.

I first heard the adorable name "Cece Bell" spoken of while working as an editor at Lucasfilm. At the time, I was co-editing Tom Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series. I’ll never forget Tom visiting our offices and gifting me an origami R2-D2 that he folded himself. There were many perks of working at Lucasfilm, and receiving an origami Star Wars character by Tom in all his stookiness was most definitely, geekishly one of them. But I had no idea that I would soon meet Tom’s wife, Cece Bell, and be blown away by her own amazing work as a children’s book author and illustrator. I met Cece only briefly at a BEA in New York a couple years ago, where she was signing galleys of her book El Deafo. The booth was crowded with Cece fans and the galleys were quickly disappearing, but I was fortunate to snatch one up.

Illustration © 2014 by Cece Bell; Design by Caitlin Keegan and Chad W. Beckerman. Published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams. — Illustration © 2014 by Cece Bell; Design by Caitlin Keegan and Chad W. Beckerman. Published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams.

When I returned home to California, I couldn't wait to get El Deafo into the hands of my eight-year-old daughter. As I predicted, she gulped down the book in one sitting—meaning she did come up for air several times to point out some particularly hilarious excerpt from the book. (“Mom—look down your shirt and spell ‘attic’!”) The rest of the time she stayed quietly and contemplatively behind closed doors, unwilling to pull her eyes from the page—just as her mom did (sometimes teary-eyed with sadness sometimes teary-eyed with laughter) on that plane ride back to Oakland. When months later she and I discovered El Deafo in all its full-color, award-winning glory at the bookstore, we were overjoyed by its brilliance. It didn't occur to us that we had been missing anything at all in the uncolored proof.

When Cece's character can't hear anything, the speech balloons are empty. Art © Cece Bell. — When Cece's character can't hear anything, the speech balloons are empty. Art © Cece Bell.

El Deafo is a phenomenal graphic novel memoir based on Cece’s childhood experiences with hearing loss and hearing aids. It also chronicles her quest to find true friendship. The graphic novel format is a perfect medium for Cece's story, where pictures and words (in some cases, the lack of words) powerfully demonstrate what her character is experiencing.

The elaborate Phonic Ear hearing aid and microphone set-up had Cece feeling like a superhero with superpowers! But most of the time she just felt like a confused kid. Was she deaf? And what did that mean? Art © Cece Bell. — The elaborate Phonic Ear hearing aid and microphone set-up had Cece feeling like a superhero with superpowers! But most of the time she just felt like a confused kid. Was she deaf? And what did that mean? Art © Cece Bell.

Read Cece’s firsthand account on the making of El Deafo in our premiere issue and learn about her creative process as an artist and writer. In the meantime, here's an extended version of our Q&A with Cece.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

I grew up in a little city called Salem, in the southwestern part of Virginia. Now I live in an old church just a half-an-hour away, but more in the mountains (and therefore, in the boonies!).

What were you like as a kid?

I was driven to do well and pushed myself hard. I wanted people to think of me as “that smart girl in our class” instead of as “that deaf girl in our class.” I loved making people laugh, especially my older siblings. My sense of humor veered toward the absurdist...and the naughty!

What were some of your favorite childhood books?

Our Animal Friends of Maple Hill Farm by the Provensens

The Meanest Squirrel I Ever Met by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Ed Emberley’s drawing books

Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad series

Judy Blume's books

Beverly Cleary's books

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

When did you know you wanted to be an artist and writer?

I started to figure the art stuff out in college. I had always loved drawing, but never really saw a career in it until I saw other kids making a go of it. As to the writing, no one would hire me to illustrate their children’s books, so I realized I had to write my own books and make my own path.

Who or what inspires you?

My husband, author/illustrator Tom Angleberger, is a huge source of inspiration. He's so encouraging...and he's so good, which triggers my competitive reflexes to be better and to make more stuff.

When do you feel your most creative?

In the morning, when the house is quiet and nothing has happened yet.

Do you have a favorite type of pen, or brush, or paper for drawing with?

I like lots of media and have to admit that I love drawing on my Wacom Cintiq. I love to draw LINES so simple pen-and-ink is a favorite. Gouache! Watercolors! But no oil paints, ick. If I could make a book with illustrations made of felt and colored thread, I'd do it. Love that stuff.