Picture Books with Amazing Author’s Notes
There is nothing I love more in a picture book than a good author’s note. Often author’s (and illustrator’s) notes provide important context and fascinating insights into how a particular book came to be. Sometimes authors and illustrators share their personal connection to a story. My favorite kind of author’s notes are the ones that make books bigger. These stories are all amazing on their own, but the author’s notes turn them into something expansive, something that lives beyond the page.
When You Can Swim by Jack Wong
I teared up multiple times reading this beautiful ode to swimming, bodies of water, and the power of feeling welcomed. The story moves through various bodies of water, following characters of different races, ages, and genders as they swim. Every sentence starts with: “When you can swim…” and goes on to name some of the wonders of swimming—diving deep, floating quietly and looking at the sky, observing seaweed. In his author’s note, Wong shares his own fraught relationship with swimming as an immigrant kid in Canada, and how he came to fall in love with swimming as an adult. He writes about how he hopes the book will be part of building a welcoming world where swimming belongs to everyone. This is a poignant, beautifully illustrated story that a lot of kids (and adults) will find a home inside.
Let’s Go! by Julie Flett
When was the last time you read a picture book about skateboarding? Julie Flett’s books are always a treat, and this delightful celebration of skateboarding, community, and creativity is no exception. It’s a simple but moving story about a boy who loves skateboarding and the ways his friends and family help him explore that love. In her author’s note, Flett writes about how this book was inspired by her son’s love of skateboarding and the skate community they’re part of. She talks about flow state (and gives some words for flow state in Cree), and this book feels like a textual flow state—nothing much happens, it just rolls along, the whoosh and whir of a kid doing something they love, even when they’re not good at it, because it brings them joy.
Maples in the Mist by Minfong Ho, Jean Tseng, & Mou-Sien Tseng
I think about this book of children’s poetry at least once a week. The poems themselves, written by a dozen or so poets during the Tang Dynasty (618-807 CE), are short and beautiful. They are about nature—trees and mountains and birds—as well as journeys, the changing seasons, hardship, weather. In her in-depth author’s note, Minfong Ho explains why she decided to translate the poems in the first place—as a way to share something of her own childhood with her children. The personal and historical context she offers transforms an already wonderful book into something extraordinary.
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Something About the Sky by Rachel Carson & Nikki McClure
This picture book is such a cool collaboration! The text is from the transcript of a short feature Rachel Carson did about clouds in 1956. The text itself is simple and direct. Carson explains what clouds are, how the water cycle works, and what actually happens during a storm. Nikki McClure illustrates her words with gorgeous, wispy, wild illustrations of clouds, the sky, and the natural world. The illustrator’s note is so special, and highlights the unique and somewhat magical nature of artistic collaboration, even across decades. McClure describes how, alone in her house during the pandemic, as she was experimenting with different ways of bringing the sky to life, and making the washes for the illustrations, she felt like Carson was in the room with her.
Looking for more excellent picture books? Check out The 20 Most Influential Picture Books of All Time and these 2025 Picture Books to Have On Your Radar.
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