Sometimes beautiful things can sprout from the most unlikely circumstances.
Piotr Parda is a human who does human things. He eats, sleeps, and makes things. Blah, blah, blah...
He is also the illustrator of The Gentleman Bat, written by Abraham Schroeder. Visit his website www.piotrparda.com
Interior artwork from Graduation Day
Reviews
"The author/illustrator's solo debut, Graduation Day clearly demonstrates Parda's genuine flair for visual storytelling, making Graduation Day highly recommended for family, elementary school and community library picture book collections." -Midwest Book Review
"A subtle reminder that education is a gift no amount of bullying can spoil." -Kirkus Reviews
"Though this is a tale about bullying, Parda (The Gentleman Bat) resists the urge to moralize. Instead, he creates a character who responds to aggression with quiet resourcefulness, and without involving grownups or attempting vengeance. His watercolor and monoprint spreads recall Satoshi Kitamura; they’re built on warm, expressive black lines, making even the girl’s dreary school, with its cracked tiles and metal doors, worth a closer look." -Publishers Weekly
Mentions
Read about Graduation Day, and depictions of children living in poverty, in Jules Danielson's More Than One Kind of Mirror on Kirkus Reviews blog.
Read an interview with Piotr and Lauri Fortino on Frog on a (B)log.