About the Artist

My name is…

Nahid Kazemi

I live in…

Montreal

Some of my favourite things to read as a kid were…

TheAdventures of Tintin series, the Charles Dickens Children’s Collection, Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak, The Little Black Fish by Samad Behrangi, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

If I could live one day as a children’s book character, I would choose to live as…

Pippi in Pippi Longstocking, written by Astrid Lindgren. I love Pippi’s independence.

My favourite thing about libraries is…

The youth and novel sections

The happiest moment in my career as a book creator was when…

I won the Governor General’s Award for illustrating The Sour Cherry Tree, written by Naseem Hrab.

Some great Canadian authors or illustrators of kids’ books you should definitely check out are…

Joanne Schwartz, Manon Gauthier, JonArno Lawson

My favourite thing about summer is…

Picking strawberries

If I could travel back in time or into the future for one day, I’d set the time machine to the Year…

1950! I love the clothing style in this era.

My advice for kids who are interested in becoming an author or illustrator would be…

Read and draw whatever you enjoy as much as you can. The more, the merrier.

Nahid Kazemi’s books
Meet the Web Comic Author

My name is…

Cyndi Marko, and it’s not very interesting. I’m the youngest kid in my family and I think my parents just gave up on thinking of cool names by then. But even though both my names sound simple, almost everyone still spells them wrong! ;)

I live in…

a house run by cats. There are two of them and they are pretty sure the food dish is empty, even though I just filled it. They will MEOW to make sure. The house is in Spruce Grove, Alberta.

Some of my favourite things to read as a kid were…

shampoo bottles and cereal boxes. Really, I would read anything anywhere if it had words printed on it. Some of my favourite books growing up were the Asterix comics, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Great Brain books, anything by Gordon Korman but especially the Bruno and Boots books, and Calvin and Hobbes.

If I could live one day as a children’s book character, I would choose to live as…

Pippi Longstocking because she’s super strong, has an awesome name (her parents were much more creative than mine), and lives all by herself in a cool old house with a horse and a monkey.

My favourite thing about libraries is…

that they have something for everyone! And librarians don’t judge when you check out thirty different books on hyenas, stinky cheeses, and secret societies. (For researching that book you’re writing about a secret society of evil cheese-eating hyenas.)

The happiest moment in my career as a book creator was when…

I found out Scholastic was going to publish my first book series, Kung Pow Chicken, and then every moment since. It’s the best job in the world! I get to stay home with my cats and draw comics in my pajamas!

You would never catch me…

eating lobster. Those are just giant sea bugs.

A great Canadian author or illustrator of kids’ books you should definitely check out is…

Kelly Collier. A Horse Named Steve is one of the funniest picture books I’ve ever read!

My favourite thing about summer is…

air conditioning. It’s way too hot in the summer where I live! Oh, and Tiger ice cream! Orange and black licorice are two of my favourite flavours!

If I could travel back in time or into the future for one day, I’d set the time machine to the year…

1977 so I could see the original Star Wars movie in the theatre! cue Cantina band

My advice for kids who are interested in becoming an author or illustrator would be…

to read as many books as possible! Draw as often as you can! And always be on the lookout for story ideas. These can be funny things your pets do, funny or strange sounding words and phrases, or even things you hear on the news or see in the neighbourhood. I write down all the ideas I get, even if it’s just one word! The idea for my book This Little Piggy: An Owner’s Manual came from the word “hogwash.” It means “nonsense,” but I thought it would be a funny book title for a story that shows what happens if a couple of kids try to give a muddy pig a bath. The title eventually changed, and more happens than just a pig getting a bath, but it was that one word that started the story. Asking “what if?” is a great way to develop an idea and see where it goes!

Cyndi Marko's Books