Vroman’s Live, the virtual event series where Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena features authors and their latest books, will feature children’s book illustrator and author LeUyen Pham and her book “Outside, Inside” on Saturday, January 9, 11 a.m., in a Special Storytime on the bookstore’s Crowdcast channel.
“Outside, Inside” is a moving picture book celebrating essential workers and the community coming together to face the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Something strange happened on an unremarkable day just before the season changed,” a description for the book reads. “Everybody who was outside… went inside. Outside, it was quieter, wilder, and different. Inside, we laughed, we cried, and we grew. We remembered to protect the ones we love and love the ones who protect us. While the world changed outside, we became stronger on the inside and believed that someday soon spring would come again.”
Pham has illustrated and written more than 80 books. Born in Saigon in 1973, she attended UCLA from 1991 to 1993, and graduated with a BA in 1996 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. After college, she worked as a layout artist from 1996 to 1999 at Dreamworks Animation.
Her first illustrated book was “Sugarcane House, and Other Stories about Mr. Fat,” written by Adrienne Moore Bond and published in 1997. In 2000, the book “Can You Do This, Old Badger?” was illustrated by Pham and written by Eve Bunting. The book won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award. In 2004, the book “Twenty-One Elephants,” illustrated by Pham and written by Phil Bildner, also won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award.
Pham’s writing debut was in 2005 with her children’s book “Big Sister, Little Sister.” It contains ink brush illustrations and additions of digitally-produced color and received positive reviews, with Linda Ludke in the School Library Journal commenting that “with warmth and good humor, the ups and downs of sisterly love are perfectly conveyed.”
Pham is the illustrator of the Princess in Black children’s book series. The series is written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, with the first book published in 2014. In their Princess in Black book review, Publishers Weekly said Pham “offers little jolts of energy and wit on every page, with full-page and spot illustrations that have the vivaciousness and irreverence of contemporary animation.”
In 2020, Pham won a Caldecott Honor for her illustrations in the book “Bear Came Along.”
Pham co-created the graphic novels “Real Friends” and “Best Friends” with author Shannon Hale.
In April 2020, Pham, Shannon Hale and Dean Hale released a short, free ebook called “The Princess in Black and the Case of the Coronavirus” to share tips on fighting COVID-19 for children. Pham is currently working on an upcoming book with Shannon Hale called “Itty Bitty Kittycorn,” scheduled to be published in March.
Pham lives in Los Angeles with her husband, artist Alexandre Puvilland, and their two sons, Adrien and Leo.
To register for the free event on Saturday, visit www.vromansbookstore.com/event/leuyen-pham or save your spot through www.crowdcast.io/e/outside-inside/register.
