Honoring Asia's Top Illustrators

As a film fan I must begin by commemorating Paul Newman, who’s work amazed and astounded, from Somebody Up There Likes Me to Cars (suitably, for us, he ended his career with a children’s film).

But to return my attention to Asian children's literature, tomorrow is the deadline for the sixteenth Noma Concours, a competition for illustrators from Africa, the Mideast, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia/the Pacific (excluding Japan). The competition is biennial and was first held in 1978, with one Grand Prize, two Second Prizes, ten Runner-up Prizes, and twenty Encouragement Prizes awarded. According to an article in the July/August SCBWI Bulletin by Holly Thompson, in 2006 a record 522 entries were received, with eighty percent from Asian countries. Although it is not an Asian award specifically it therefore serves well as one arbiter of the best rising talent in Asian picture books. In 2006, for instance, the Grand Prize went to Pradyumna Kumar of India for the book How the Firefly Got Its Light, and the two second prizes went to Narges Mohammadi of Iran for The Princess Couldn’t Laugh and Jainal Amambing of Malaysia for The Last Day I Lived in a Long House. In 2004 the Grand Prize went to Balormaa Baasansuren of Mongolia for My Home. More information on the award’s history and winners can be found on its website. I’d like to just pass along a some links and info on some Asian illustrators whose work was honored in the award’s fifteenth edition; the profiles that I’m including are from this page.

Pradyumna Kumar, India




“Born in 1969. Artist, sculptor, and instructor of Madhubani art. MA in Geography, Bihar University, India. Instructs traditional Indian art at school and in public-awareness programmes.”

Here’s an online gallery of fine art for sale. Here’s another similar page.


Jainal Amambing, Malaysia




“Born in 1968. Freelance artist. Winner of numerous prizes, including the Second Prize in the 12th Noma Concours, the Runner-up in the 13th and 14th Noma Concours, and the Encouragement Prize in the 11th Noma Concours.”

Here is a gallery and exhibition history. Here’s an article about various Malaysian illustrators.


Awang Fadilah Bin Ali Hussein, Malaysia




“Born in 1972. Illustrator. Studied fine art at Sabah Institute of Art, Malaysia. Winner of several prizes for illustrations in Malaysia.”

Here’s an online gallery.


Jose Miguel Tejido, Philippines




“Born in 1982. Freelance architect, illustrator, author, and painter. BS in Architecture, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. Cartoonist of “Mikrokosmos”, a daily comic strip in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Was host of children’s arts and crafts TV show “Art-is-Kool” (2004-06). Included in the 2004 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List for Illustrators. Winner of the 2006 Honourable Mention, Alcala Illustrator’s Prize of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY).”

He has two websites, here and here.


Oh Jung-Taek, South Korea




“Born in 1972. Freelance illustrator. BFA in Fiber Art, Hong-ik University, Republic of Korea.
Studied MFA in Fiber Art at Hong-ik University. Winner of the Encouragement Prize in the 14th Noma Concours. The prize-winning work, The Colour Wheel, was published in Korean by Kyowon, Republic of Korea, in 2004. The prize-winning work for the 15th Noma Concours, A Book That Nobody Has Opened, was published in Korean by Hansol Education, Republic of Korea, in 2004.”

Here’s his personal website.


Pallop Wangborn, Thailand




“Born in 1973. MFA in Visual Art, Srinakarinvirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. Works as an instructor of fine art at Rajamangala University of Technology, Thailand. Has participated in many national art exhibitions, including the art exhibition to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the throne, at the National Museum of Thailand in 2006.”

Here’s his MySpace page.


Yoo Jun-Jae, South Korea




“Born in 1976. Freelance illustrator. Studies MFA in Visual Communication, Hong-ik University, Republic of Korea. The prize-winning work was published by Hansol Education Co. Ltd. Republic of Korea, in 2005.The original story was written by George Orwell.”

Here’s his Korean-language website with plenty of art samples.

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I am considering Iran part of the Middle East for this entry, which I hope is not controversial, but it’s pretty amazing: out of thirty-three winners, seventeen were Iranian. Such an amazing showing warrants further investigation. I suspect that Iranian children’s lit might turn out to be a great deal like Iranian cinema, beautiful and awe-inspiring but largely unknown in the West.

I also only listed winners, even those from Asia, for whom I could find images or other web resources, and I only looked at the 2006 competition. Hopefully it’s enough to give a glimpse into some of the work going on in that continent in recent years.