Rebecca Huang

Originally from Taiwan and currently living in the San Francisco Bay area of California, Rebecca’s contribution to the arts community began with doodling as a child and has evolved into her serving as the program coordinator for the Community School of Music and Arts. In both her first illustrated picturebook, Bobo and the New Baby (2018), and in Queen of Physics (2019), Rebecca primarily uses printmaking techniques and color pencil. Visit her website to learn more about her and view some of her work. 

Queen of Physics has received numerous awards and honors in 2020 including the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association’s youth literature award, the ILA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Award Nonfiction Honor, ALA’s Notable Children’s Book, and a NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book.

Rebecca's Process & Artifacts

Listen to Rebecca explain how she researched and illustrated Queen of Physics. In particular she addresses:

• How she got started as an artist [0:00]
• Research for illustrating - Wu Chien Shiung Education Foundation [1:25]
• Hidden “eggs” in the illustrations: Wu Chien Shiung’s siblings’ names  [4:06]
• Working with limited information [5:30]
• Determining accuracy of source information and images [6:50]
• Transportation accuracy [7:55]
• Capturing family relationships [11:15]
• Using shapes to represent feelings or emotions [13:40]
• The medium of printmaking [15:25]
• Creating texture and color to represent the setting [19:19]
• The artistic composing process for Rebecca [20:28]
• Identifying big moments for full/double-page spreads [20:48]
• Small moments for half/single-page spread
• Character design [22:10]
• Problem solving and revising in artistic composing [25:40]
• Historical accuracy of clothing [29:05]
• Work schedule for long term projects [32:45]
• Feedback from critical friends [34:00]