City of Women Denizen: Anna Kang

Bona Fides: Writer and picture book author, Anna Kang, published her 2015 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winning, debut title You Are (Not) Small in 2014. A talented author of a collection of engaging stories for young readers.

City of Women Induction: Anna is a story teller. The theme that unifies her “(Not)" series is perspective; she places her young readers and their parents within stories that encourage them to explore a new view point. Her talent is to employ uncomplicated experiences, like the perception of size, and create a shift in expectations that rewards her readers with the thrill of encountering the unexpected.

RPO: You started out pursuing a career in film and have since transitioned to writing children's books. Please tell me more about your career path.

AK: My career path wasn’t a straight, steady line so much as a winding, zig-zag. I studied International Relations and Asian Studies in college, worked in a law firm, and then at the Council on Foreign Relations, a foreign policy think tank, intending to either pursue a graduate degree in Asian Studies or a career in law and diplomacy. But my heart was pulling me in the direction of storytelling and filmmaking. After taking a few classes at The New School in the evenings, I decided to follow my heart and enrolled full-time in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where I got an MFA in film production. My thesis film was a short documentary about the media stereotypes of Asian women. While working in the film industry, I was also writing children's book stories on the weekends, because it was an interest of mine.

After we moved back to the East Coast, I suggested to my illustrator-cartoonist husband, Chris, that we try to create a picture book together. Fortunately for me, Chris was a well-known cartoonist by then, and was able to get a meeting with a prominent literary agent who sold our first book, You Are (Not) Small. Ironically, all these ostensibly unconnected choices actually led me to what I'm doing today.

RPO: YOU ARE (NOT) SMALL was your first picture book. In a recent Facebook post, you said you wrote it to "encourage young readers to think about the subjective nature of "standards" and the definition of "normal." Do you believe bias and prejudice are learned behaviors?

AK: Yes, I do believe they are learned behaviors. Unfortunately, we live in a society structured by racism, with white people in positions of power across all industries: government, law, education, publishing, entertainment, advertising, banking, healthcare, etc. As a result, just by growing up and living here, we are all a part of a system that benefits whites over other races. And on an individual level, I don’t think most of us have authentic relationships with people not of their race, particularly with African Americans, in part because we are segregated from one another by neighborhood and school district. This lack of experience, combined with the dearth of positive role models and media images, creates bias, unconscious or otherwise, in all of us.

Interrupting and questioning the constant, persistent diet of misrepresentations and misconceptions requires work. I think it takes deliberate conversations from parents and educators, many of whom aren't equipped with the tools or the experience to have these discussions productively. Fortunately, I think we are finally taking the first steps now.

RPO: The stories we tell and share are so important, especially to a child's development. What kinds of stories are important for children to hear now?

AK: I think books written by people of color or featuring people of color should be in every child’s library, at home and at school. And not necessarily history or non-fiction, as kids tend to be turned off by books that overtly “teach” them something. A Snowy Day is one of my favorite picture books because of its simplicity and mood and joyfulness. The fact that the main character just happens to be an African American boy who is enjoying a snow day, something so ordinary and relatable, is what makes it extraordinary, especially for its time.

RPO: Muse of our City of Women - Christine de Pizan - published her writing as a means to support herself and empower women. How are these values reflected in your own experience as a published author?

AK: Empowering women and girls is always my goal, through the themes in my books, and just by the fact that I am woman of color. What ties together the "(Not)" series is the theme of perspective, because I want young readers to see that there is always another point of view from the "standard" or expected one. Going back to your question about bias and prejudice, I think it’s also very important for students to see and meet an author who is female and of color, so I try to visit or Skype with as many schools as I can throughout the year.

RPO: I realize an interesting coincidence between my favorite picture books from my childhood -- the Frances the Badger series -- and your books: both are created by spectacular wife/husband duos. What are the rewards and challenges of scribing and illustrating as a couple?

AK: The rewards are many! I have the opportunity to get Chris’ feedback on my story ideas and early drafts, and he gets my two cents on his illustrations and character design. The best part is when one of our books arrives and we can hold it in our hands for the first time. We are lucky to be co-parents to both human children and several "book children" and share this journey together. On the other hand, the main challenge is that we both work from home and we when we get on each other’s nerves, there is no escape!

RPO: Which are your all-time favorite children's books?

AK: Among my favorites are: A Snowy Day, Corduroy, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, the Ramona Quimby series, The Relatives Came, Frog and Toad, and Waiting for Mama.

RPO: Who would you suggest as an inductee into our City of Women?

AK: Supriya Kapur. She’s a friend and neighbor who started her own jewelry brand made for women. Her bio from her website, www.rockroadjewelry.com: “...[Supriya's] designs are beautiful, strong, and worthy of being named after the wonderful women in our lives. Supriya is a gemstone expert with a Graduate Gemologist (GG) degree and a Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP) degree from the Gemology Institute of America (GIA) in New York. Supriya spent the early part of her career as a professor of Gemology at GIA New York and comes from a long line of jewelry professionals in New Delhi, India. Rock Road Jewelry brings together the styles of New York with the craftsmanship of New Delhi.”