The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/Julie Leung, Angie Kang, and Review of Navigating Night

Julie Leung is an award-winning author of numerous children’s books. She was raised in the sleepy suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, though it may be more accurate to say she grew up in Oz and came of age in Middle-earth.

By day, she works at Random House, specializing in sci-fi and fantasy books. You can catch her at pop culture conventions on behalf of Del Rey Books. Her picture book The Truth About Dragons, illustrated by Hanna Cha, was a 2024 Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

Julie’s also the author of A Banquet for Cecilia: How Cecilia Chiang Revolutionized Chinese Food in America, illustrated by Melissa Iwai (2025); Mr. Pei’s Perfect Shapes: The Story of Architect I. M. Pei, illustrated by Yifan Wu (2024); The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee, illustrated by Julie Kwon (2021); Paper Son: The Story of Tyrus Wong, illustrated by Chris Sasaki (2019); Who Did It First? 50 Scientists, Artists, and Mathematicians Who Revolutionized the World, illustrated by Caitlin Kuhwald (2019); and the middle grade novel series Mice of the Round Table, illustrated by Lindsey Carr.

Angie Kang is a Caldecott Honor–winning author and illustrator who makes art in LA.

The recipient of fellowships and support from MacDowell, Tin House, VONA/Voices, the Sundress Academy of Arts, and other organizations, she was shortlisted for the Cartoonist Studio Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Narrative, The Believer, The Rumpus, Ecotone, and elsewhere. She is the art director of Vestal Review.

Angie’s debut as author-illustrator, Our Lake (2025), received a Caldecott Honor, the Charlotte Zolotow Award, and the Dilys Evans Founder’s Award.

Their newest picture book, Navigating Night, releases on March 10th.

Welcome, Julie and Angie!

Tell us a little about yourselves. (Where and when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing or illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to write or illustrate? )

JULIE: Years ago, when I didn’t have kids yet, I would enjoy long interrupted writing and research sessions at local coffee shops on weekends. These days, no such luck! I have all my writing on Google Docs so that I can squeeze in moments of creativity wherever, whenever I can find—on my train commute to my day job, on the couch when I’m nap-trapped by a toddler, or waiting for kung fu practice to finish up for my six-year-old. I love writing picture books, particularly biographies about fellow Chinese Americans. There’s something so purposeful about taking on the breadth of someone’s life and distilling it into a compelling story for kids.

ANGIE: I’ve always loved writing and drawing separately, but it wasn’t until my later years of university when I fully embraced doing them together. I’ll write anytime—I prefer typing things out in my notes app as I find it to be a low-pressure space to create (in fact, that’s where the first few drafts of Our Lake lived)! And while this is more rare, sometimes I’ll draw in my notes app, too. When I’m in public without my sketchbook and notice something I want to capture, I’ll take out my phone and sketch with my finger. It might be clumsy, but I get self-conscious sketching others in public and being on your phone is a great way to draw without being conspicuous. Generally, I still prefer to make art in my studio. I work with a lot of different media, and I like it scattered all around me, which means I need a space where I can be messy. I’m happy to illustrate anything, but when I’m painting for myself, I typically gravitate to the natural world and organic forms.

 It is so great to "meet" you both. What is one of the most fun or unusual places you’ve written a manuscript or created an illustration?

JULIE: Since I do a lot of historical research for my books, I love to visit the places I write about. For one of my upcoming picture books, When the Water Held Wings, about San Diego’s Chinatown, I wanted to end on a scene where a young boy looks over the bay from Balboa Park. Well, I had to make sure you could see the water from somewhere in the park! So, on a work trip to San Diego last year, I booked a private tour of a tower at Balboa Park so I could confirm that yes, you indeed could see water, and I took a few moments to jot down some lines.

ANGIE: I love writing or drawing on airplanes, and I’ve started many projects in the sky. I find the drone of the engine and the lack of Wi-Fi to be amazing for productivity. It’s like a residency where my head is literally in the clouds!

What a great research trip. Angie, I love the idea of a writing residency in the clouds. Which has been your most interesting picture book to write or illustrate? Why?

JULIE: This is a super hard question to answer since every picture book has been interesting in different ways. And the origin stories for many of them are unique. I can say that Navigating Night is my most vulnerable since it’s about bittersweet memories drawn from my own childhood. And The Truth About Dragons is my most hopeful since it was inspired by my own kids growing up in dual cultural identities.

ANGIE: I only have two books out as of now, so I’ll talk about them both! Our Lake had an unconventional genesis, beginning as a poem I wrote that was inspired by Milton Avery’s painting “Quarry Bathers.” As far as illustration goes, I love painting nature, so I had great fun dreaming up a world for these brothers.

Navigating Night is the first book I’ve illustrated for another author—and how lucky I am that it was Julie! I’ve found the constraints of someone else’s story allow me to stretch myself artistically (I’m not naturally inclined to illustrate cars, but the whole book takes place in or around one!) and find unusual creative solutions. For instance, I wanted the night to be stormy because rain could narratively externalize the internal feelings of the characters and also help me reconceptualize roads and vehicles as landscapes through the organic element and impressionistic “filter” of water.

Thank you for sharing a bit of all of these fun books! Julie, what was your inspiration or spark of curiosity for Navigating Night?

JULIE: This book owes a great debt to Watercress by Andrea Wang. Until I had read that beautiful picture book, I had no idea you could even write about your own memories like that. I was immediately reminded of my own childhood of growing up feeling different and “not normal”: particularly of school nights spent driving around with my dad making Chinese food deliveries. I thought about how as I got older and learned more about my parents’ experiences, what felt like merely a burden at the time was also an important bond.

I'm so glad you were inspired to capture these memories and feelings and share them with us. Angie, what about the Navigating Night manuscript appealed to you as an illustrator?

ANGIE: First off, I was profoundly moved by the father-daughter dynamic. I’m very close to my father, and I actually attribute that to the fact that he drove me around everywhere as a child. We’ve spent so many hours together, and some of our most dear conversations have been in a moving car. I think I was reminded of my father when reading this text—he is also wonderful at telling stories and has spoken extensively about his childhood. It’s the most obvious connection, but I felt immediate kinship to Julie’s story.

I was also intrigued by the moment in the story where Baba tells the main character about “a different kind of night from long ago, when he was a little boy.” My parents had grown up during the Cultural Revolution, and in the last few years, I’ve been uncovering more about that history. Back in university, I even made a comic about my mother’s experience and how it’s shaped her (and subsequently my) relationship to the idea of home. Later, I asked for clarification on this section—I feared I was overly projecting my own associations onto the text—but Julie confirmed that she was indeed referencing this dark time in Chinese history. She even mentioned that she had read my comic, and that had been part of the reason why I was tapped for this project!

Your illustrations are so stunning and the connection just permeates through them. How many revisions did Navigating Night take for the text or illustrations from your first draft to publication?

JULIE: I lost count to be honest. The manuscript was once sprawling: trying to encapsulate both my father and my grandfather’s experiences. My genius agent, Wendi Gu of HG Literary, was the one who advised me to streamline back down to the story’s heart. This was about me. This was about me as a kid, grappling with a responsibility that so many immigrant kids face to this day: of needing to be their parents’ guides and advocates in a new country. After that epiphany of an edit, everything else fell into place quickly. I went a few rounds with Anne Schwartz, most brilliant of editors, who puts every one of my sentences through the forge to make sure they are as strong as they can be.

ANGIE: SO many revisions—and I’m grateful for all of them! I did about four rounds of sketches to start, and then when I moved to finals, I threw out so many paintings before I made a single one that I liked. I tried a mix of different media and methods to get the effects I was looking for, but it wasn’t until I was messing around with table salt that I found a way to get the textures I sought. I ended up redoing nearly each spread over at least twice—I must have repainted the cover five times! And even after I scanned the paintings, I wasn’t done yet. Between each round of proofs, there were a lot of digital touchups. I’m so grateful for the keen eye of our editor Anne Schwartz and art director Sarah Hokanson. They were patient, encouraging, and communicative about what would make for the best book.

Thank you both for sharing the book's behind the scenes journey with us. Julie, what was the toughest part of writing Navigating Night? What was the most fun?

JULIE: Practically speaking, the written Chinese. I never learned to read and write the characters, so I had to rely on my parents in a fun reversal of Navigating Night’s themes. Translation was further complicated because I wanted to represent Cantonese speech specifically, which can differ from the more standardized Mandarin. The most fun was watching Angie’s art come in. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but she innately understood what I was hoping to achieve with the book. And to see the sketches for the first time, I was blown away.

Interesting that the tables ended up turned in your creation of the book! Angie, what was the toughest part of illustrating Navigating Night specifically? What was the most fun?

ANGIE: In general, I struggled with making sure that the values weren’t too dark in a book that takes place at night. A lot of the decisions (Baba’s yellow jacket, the white van) were based on what would work best for tonal range. But the trickiest scene had to be the flashback featuring the Red Guards—I was so worried about getting something historically inaccurate that I spent more time reference hunting for this one spread than I did for the rest of the book!

The most fun to illustrate was the spread when Baba and the main character are lost. I knew that Julie grew up in Georgia, so I went to Google Maps and “walked” down random neighborhoods. I had dozens of distorted screenshots of houses that I referenced for those panels. I also loved painting any scene that had a lot of water droplets so I could go wild with salt (like on the case)!

Such a great reminder that the illustrator often does research as well! Julie, did anything surprise or delight you when you saw Angie’s illustrations for the first time? Which is your favorite spread?

Text © Julie Leung, 2026. Image © Angie Fang, 2026.

JULIE: My favorite spread is the wordless scenes that immediately follow the lines: “Before I had you, I would get so lost.” Angie immediately understood the weight of those words and gave space on the page for the reader and the characters to process. There is no easy resolution, only a place for the father and daughter to come to an understanding.  

It is subtle, wordless, and oh so powerful. You both did an amazing job with this spread, and the whole book. Angie, is there a spread that you were especially excited about or proud of? Which is your favorite spread?

Text © Julie Leung, 2026. Image © Angie Fang, 2026.

ANGIE: My favorite spread is the one where she says “But I don’t want to be a good kid. I want to be a normal kid.” It’s a pivotal moment in the story where the main character admits how she’s feeling but only to herself. Throughout the book, I wanted the rain to act as a narrative device to illuminate what the characters are feeling internally. On this spread, though she’s not crying, the rain on the glass goes over her eye as if she is. She’s frustrated, and the world is reflecting that for her! This was also the spread that cracked open the process of illustration for me, so I’m especially grateful for it.

It is absolutely beautiful and so poignant and powerful. Is there something you want your readers to know about Navigating Night?

JULIE: I hope this book illuminates a lot of things for readers: the invisible burden that many second-generation kids bear, the ingenuity and adaptability of immigrants, and the unseen labor that underpins the food service industry. It is worth understanding and appreciating the people who are prepping, cooking, and delivering your food: making our everyday lives more convenient.

ANGIE: If anyone is curious about the Chinese characters in the flashback to the Red Guards that Baba’s head is partially covering, they are: 打倒一切牛鬼蛇神. It loosely translates to Sweep Away All Cow Demons and Snake Spirits (referring to all the people who had been condemned or against the Cultural Revolution). I reached out to my parents for advice on what might make sense to add on these banners, and they suggested this slogan that they remembered from their childhoods.

You have both created such a wonderful book that invites discussions and thought about our community and Chinese history. Angie, many illustrators leave treasures or weave their own story (or elements) throughout the illustrations. Did you do this in Navigating Night? If so, could you share one or more with us?

ANGIE: There’s a red Chinese knot tassel hanging from the rearview mirror—this was something that we had in our family car growing up. Sometimes when I was bored in the backseat, my mom would pass me the tassel to play with. I passed many car rides making up stories by personifying my knot tassel, so I feel a deep tenderness whenever I see another car with one.

Thank you for sharing this. Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share with us?

JULIE: I have two more projects slated to coming out! Seen, a picture book biography about the photojournalist Corky Lee will come out April 2027. This one is illustrated by Julia Kuo. And then I’m teaming up with Hanna Cha again (who illustrated The Truth About Dragons) to do When the Water Held Wings, out in 2028.

ANGIE: I just turned in the final art for my next author-illustrated book, My Grandma the Stranger, set to come out with Kokila in 2027! I can’t wait to share more soon.

They all sound intriguing. Good luck with these books. Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?

JULIE: As a Chinese American history buff, I would love to visit the Golden Spike National Historical Park in Utah and the Chinese Arch there.

ANGIE: There’s a special place in my heart for the Sitka National Historic Park on traditional Tlingit land. I spent hours wandering those trails and soaking in that gorgeous landscape when I taught at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp years ago, and I miss it.

Thank you, Julie and Angie for stopping by and sharing with us. It was a pleasure chatting with you both.

To find out more about Julie Leung, or contact her:

Website: jleungbooks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jleungbooks

X(Twitter): https://x.com/jleungbooks

To find out more about Angie Kang, or contact her:

Website: https://www.angiekang.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anqiekanq

Review of Navigating Night

While there are a number of picture books about immigration and the child's experiences with the process, the uncertainty, etc. I am unaware of any that take the reader through the second generation's experience of being the translator, assistant, and guide for their parents. This book is stunningly illustrated and very poignant in its honesty of such a child's experience.

Navigating Night

Author: Julie Leung

Illustrator: Angie Kang

Publisher: Anne Schwartz Books/Penguin Random House (March 10, 2026)

Ages: 4 - 8

Fiction

Themes:

Second generation immigrants, family, immigration, Asian American, and SEL.

Synopsis:

A girl guides her dad on his route delivering Chinese take-out food in this touching picture book -- written by an APALA award winner and illustrated by a Caldecott Honor winner -- that celebrates the unique bond between immigrant parents and their children.

Every night, a girl must help her dad, whose English is not as good as hers, make deliveries for their small family restaurant. Sitting next to him in the car, she studies a map and gives him directions in Cantonese. She helps him get to the places he needs to go.

She hates doing this, though. Hates carrying grease-stained boxes of Mongolian beef and moo goo gai pan to customers' doors. Hates being different from the kids behind these doors. Why can't her family be normal like everyone else’s?

But when her dad tells her about how he immigrated, all alone as a teenager, to the United States, she comes to better understand him, and appreciate how he has made her American life possible.

Opening Lines:

The night places a cool hand on my shoulder

as Baba and I shuttle cardboard trays full of takeout containers

from our restaurant to the minivan.

Darkness shadows our path.

Baba and I—we navigate it together.

What I LOVED about this book:

Everything! Oh, what a night to be making take-out food deliveries. Angie Fang's use of streetlights, restaurant windows, and the van's interior light create a wonderful interplay with dark sogginess of the pavement and the pouring rain. I love the gorgeous lyricism of "night places a cool hand on my shoulder . . . Darkness shadows our path."

Text © Julie Leung, 2026. Image © Angie Fang, 2026.

The steam fogs the windows and the smell of spices triggers the girl's hunger, but she has a job to do. I adore that she has a notebook with addresses and a MAP! Yep - not a navigation app, but a real, honest foldable map, with roads sprawling "like a spiderweb." What a great way to introduce this quickly fading skill to kids.

With a wonderful, organic interspersing of Cantonese and English, "係 Peachtree Street 轉左," the second generation young girl directs her father through the city as they deliver the take-out orders from their family restaurant, as rain splashes off the van and windshield. As they pass homes, glimpses of kids doing homework or eating with their families make the girl wish for a normal life, like other kids.

Text © Julie Leung, 2026. Image © Angie Fang, 2026.

But I don’t want to be a good kid.

I want to be a normal kid.

This is such a touching and poignant image. It's tough to be navigator, translator, and assistant, all she wants is to be like other kids. Angie Kang's gouache, crayon, colored pencil, and pastel illustrations do such a great job of reflecting the girl's mood through the miserable weather. The splashes of light - in the dad's coat, the house light in the side mirror, and the speckling of the rain streaking across the window - help keep it from being too dark.

In response to her complaint, her father shares his memories of the Chinese cultural revolution, his family sending him to live with an uncle in America, and trying to find his way in New York, when he was unable to speak English. As they continue their deliveries, and the girl begins to empathize with her father, the rain slows and stops. Finally, her father simply states, "“Before I had you, I would get so lost.” Angie Fang lets the reader sit in this moment between the girl and her father as they both contemplate what the other has shared, in her stunning wordless spread. Giving us a super special moment, with the skies parting and a sliver of the moon shining through the clouds.

Text © Julie Leung, 2026. Image © Angie Fang, 2026.

The gorgeous, heartfelt ending is touching and a very special reference back to an earlier image and moment. In the author's note, Julie Leung shares the that the book is based on her childhood memories and experiences and is written to highlight and honor the children of immigrants and the experiences. Angie Fang's illustrator note shares her own family connection with the story and a bit of her process for creating the illustrations. This is such a powerful picture book about loving bonds and understanding in families and the resilience and sacrifices made across generations of immigrant families.

Resources:

• find (or print) a paper map of your city. Can you find your house? Your school? Your favorite restaurant, park, shopping area, grocery store, etc.? Highlight the route your parents take to get to each location. Is it different if you walk or drive?

• talk with your parents, grandparents, or other relatives and write a short story about one of their memories or draw/create a picture of their memory.

• pair this with Watercress by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin, A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui, and A Star Shines Through Anna Desnitskaya.