I Paint My World

Esther Novak is a copywriter, freelance writer, and mom to four amazing boys. She earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Management and Finance at Brooklyn College. This is her first book. She lives in Woodmere, New York.Susan Gal began her illustration career as a poster and calendar artist in Los Angeles. Her love of drawing energetic and lively characters earned her an internship with Walt Disney Feature Animation and she became a member of the original animation team at the Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Although she loved the Disney years in Florida, Susan returned to her native California to follow her true passion of writing and illustrating children’s picture books.In recent years Susan’s work has been recognized with a Sydney Taylor Award, a National Jewish Book Award, the Russell Freedman Non-Fiction Award for a Better World, and several publishing, library, and editors’ choice lists. Some of her titles include The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs, New Shoes for Leo, Joyful Song: A Naming Story, and Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tale. Susan’s work has also been celebrated in the New York Times, American Illustration, Creative Quarterly, 3×3, and the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show.Susan lives in Berkeley, California.

"This debut picture book offers a seasonal exploration of how perspective shapes emotional experience. Beginning in spring, a young red-haired boy with light skin and freckles moves through the ups and downs of a year. Rhyming poetic text features evocative language to capture the sounds and feelings of each scene. 'Spray, drench, squishy, gray,' accompanies an image of the soggy boy sad over a canceled soccer game. But here, all seasons have two sides: the next spread celebrates the rain with a 'Stomp, stomp, splash and splatter.' Vibrant illustrations bring this concept vividly to life. The art, rendered in acrylic, watercolor, pencil, and ink, is bold with expressive brushstrokes; full of motion and expression, each scene reflects the tone of the season and mirrors the child’s changing perceptions. Winter finally arrives, bringing both disgusting slushy sleet and amazing sledding, and afterward comes a conclusion: 'Seasons come, seasons go. Rain, sun, wind, snow. Every day and every hour, how I feel—that’s inner power.' An author’s note elucidates the book’s central message: life brings a variety of seasons and challenges but choosing how to view those challenges can be empowering. VERDICT This gentle, visually engaging title will resonate when supporting discussions about feelings, resilience, and mindset."—School Library Journal"With this bright picture book that earns its optimistic viewpoint, debut author Novak and Gal (Awe!) earnestly remind young readers that they get some say in how they meet—or 'paint'—the world. Building on a tidy three-beat structure—the letdown, the reframe, the release—the creators use a redheaded child's reactions to various kinds of weather as their model. When a downpour ('SPRAY,/DRENCH,/squishy, gray') means 'Canceled game,/BORING day,' the child slumps at the window, clearly feeling as gray as the sky. But a page-turn later, the palette floods with hot pink and lime, showing that rain also means puddles to stomp in and new buds, and the child flings both arms open—joined by a blissed-out dog and delighted birds—and merges into the scene. ('I paint the world by how I see,' reads each section's closing refrain.) Different kinds of seasonal and emotional weather follow, as exuberant, thick brushstrokes of color literalize the title's promise and envelop the reader in the dawning of agency and responsive joy. It's an unabashedly uplifting message—a flexible attitude makes its own weather—delivered with frown-fixing verve. Includes an author's note. Ages 4-6."—Publisher's Weekly STARRED REVIEW