K.E. Lewis is the author of “Now You See Me,” Never Take Your Rhino on A Plane, Because of Dads, and co-author of Underwater: The Storied-Ballad of Drowned Towns.
Raised in Bishopville, SC, where the weather is hot and the accent thick, K.E. grew up in a haven rich in generosity and Blackness, much like the community you’ll find in his 2027 picture book, Devonte’s Shoes. Music and conversation floated across the yards equally in the Backstreet and Mohawk communities where K.E. grew up, and hands waved from passersby.
The language of his neighbors first sparked K.E.’s love for it. Then, on Sundays, when the church was rockin’, when the Spirit filled the place, when people splayed out like giant X’s and Y’s, K.E. paid attention. He noticed gripping metaphors during a preacher’s sermon and striking similes when the deacons prayed.
When in the house, though, K.E. would read informational texts, humorous books, and was introduced to some great writers way before his time. He’d also watch Nickelodeon, National Geographic, and Animal Planet for hours on end, afterward endlessly rattling off random facts, an annoying little something. Perhaps, this was the impetus to K.E. becoming a teacher.
Now K.E. juggles teaching, writing, and content development, having led socially impactful community projects and creating experiences in museums, blending both teaching and his love for words. K.E. seizes any moment to teach and delight. His joy is grabbing hold of an idea, seeing it to fruition, and getting others to love words just as much as he does.
Website: kelewis.world
IG/Tiktok: @kennethelewis
The Journey: My Path to Publishing
Though I fell in and out of love with reading and my relationship with writing can be as joyous as is frustrating, I knew I wanted to be a writer at age eight. But I didn’t have a real plan. And as my classmates walked around junior and senior years of high school, sharing their majors and what they wanted to be, I was undecided. Hearing people plan their journeys to become lawyers, doctors, and engineers, made a valedictorian embarrassed to share he’d major in English, which immediately wasn’t as technical (and, in my mind, admirable). Which made me believe that if my writing career didn’t pan out, my trajectory would be as high as the classroom ceilings I’d teach in. It was evident I had a knack for words, and fashioning sentences came naturally to me. Pair that with my belief in the Parable of the Talents and “that [my] gift would make room for me.” So, whether to major in English wasn’t a question. It was my delivery, telling my major in a way that sounded distinguished and could rank up there with my other high-ranking classmates.
Meaning, I went off to college to write for adults, become a novelist, and not to write for children. Not because I thought the genre less than but, at the time, I didn’t know of it as a viable career. Long story short, I spent three and a half years in undergrad, working on two novels, one I’d drafted completely, the other halfway through. And by some great misfortune of a crashed computer and a lost flash drive, all my work was gone in the same weekend. All those 4 a.m. wake-ups, drafts, outlines, think-sessions. Gone.
Fast forwarding to 2017 to the bright side of the three-year depression sparked by this loss, I had a conversation with my then supervisor, who reminded me of the call for diversity in picture books. Mind you, I’d attempted two god-awful picture books in undergrad and two in high school. But starting in short form and working my way back up to long form sounded like those books I’d read as a kid: easy, manageable (famous last words). Two days after that conversation, I went to Barnes & Nobles, sat in the café and read ten picture books. I liked them so much I went back the next day and read ten more. And then the next day, I returned to read ten more. Before I knew it, I was in over 400 books deep, had signed up for my first conference, and threw everything I had at honing my craft in writing for children.
I wrote down my vision and took a six-month sabbatical to focus solely on craft. I met several sets of strangers attending craft workshops at the Highlights Foundation; used some of my last to get to NYC to attend KWELI; attended virtual workshops during the pandemic; networked book in-person and via social media; found an industry mentor just by opening my mouth and asking; the whole kit and kaboodle. And what was supposed to be a six-month sabbatical turned into a year-and-a-half “apprenticeship” where I focused solely on my craft and building relationships. Then, three years after that, preparation met opportunity, and in 2020 I landed my first deal.
The Process: How I Work
As an English major, a great deal of my training was in nonfiction. So, though I write loads of fictional stories, the tales I pursue are inspired by lived experience, and I never miss the opportunity to code them, infuse them with heart, humor, and, most certainly, some truth.
For instance, the story “Now You See Me,” which I cut drastically and is featured in The Haunted States of America, was originally crafted in response to a call for middle-grade stories from the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in a national anthology. However, it was not lost on me that this was an opportunity to: (1) distill and capture the stories I heard about The Lizard Man, an urban legend whose stories were birthed in my own backyard, (2) shine light on the life and language of rural Black America, a population often discarded or unthought-about in contemporary Black literature, (3) spark conversation about the apathy people have in the cases of Black disappearances, and (4) drive the point of this apathy and disregard home with a title also appropriate for grappling with our protagonist’s disbelief.
Another example would be my debut picture book titled Never Take Your Rhino on A Plane, sold to Kait Feldmann at Clarion Books/Harper, a cautionary tale expressing why you should never ever take your pet rhinoceros on a plane that, though wildly humorous and rambunctious, sparks serious conversations about plane etiquette and having empathy for those in public spaces, particularly travelers. And where does this idea come from? A bad plane experience I had traveling from Myrtle Beach, SC to Long Beach, CA when I had the great misfortune of having the middle seat. It was a four-and-a-half-hour ride, and the person to my right (the wild, unruly passenger who inspired Rhino) had the seat next to mine, the window. And everything you’d think could happen, happened: couponing, singing aloud, dancing, snoring, smacking, you name it.
A third example would be my 2026 title, Because of Dads, which was a joyous and appreciative poem I’d written as a bereavement exercise on losing my dad to cancer. The poem was so universal when I wrote it that it became an ode to all fathers and father-felt relationships (biological or not), which landed me my third deal, a book I sold to Nicolás Ore-Giron and Connie Hsu at Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan.
The Inspiration: Who/What Inspired Me
Seriously, I had phenomenal teachers who poured into me every step of the way. I was raised in a small town in an all-Black community where most of my teachers not only looked like me but were natives who were skilled and good at what they did. They’d taught my cousins, sisters, friends. Some even taught my parents, aunts, and uncles.
The four teachers who stand out to me and were my MVPs are:
- Barbara Blackshear (6th grade/Math): The first teacher to ever point me in the direction of writing and who handed me a gold-plated pen and pencil as a farewell summer gift, a set I still have and keep on my desk some twenty-odd years later.
- Kevin Luckey (8th grade/English): The first Black male I saw entering a room while quoting Robert Frost and geeking out on literature, making it known that Black men know words and sparking my interest in studying English and teaching it.
- Karen Riddle (10th grade/English): Pulled out the best in me as we challenged each other in a master-student kind of duel, her teaching me how to shape sentences and use conventions in a way like no teacher before or after her
- Ruth McKinney (12th grade/Teacher Cadet): Reintroduced me to picture books through Peter Reynold’s The Dot, making the entire class create and design a picture book to spark conversation around a difficult topic. As an overachiever, I wrote and designed two.
THE BUZZ: Reviews and Media Links
THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA: KIRKUS REVIEW
“An entertaining, fright-filled geographical tour.”
Dive into The Haunted States of America and explore the chilling details of this legendary creature inspired by the true events of the summer of 1988 at Scape Ore Swamp. Experience the mysterious disappearances of four friends in a town called Bishopville, SC along with other frightful terrors included in this anthology.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/various/the-haunted-states-of-america/
Watch: THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA: A PANEL CONVERSATION
IT’S K.E.’S DEBUT YEAR, WITH HIS DEBUT PICTURE BOOK TITLED, NEVER TAKE YOUR RHINO ON A PLANE
You can take him on a ship,
hail a taxi for the trip,
waltz him gladly to the car or to the train—
but absolutely never
believe it safe or clever
to take your rhinoceros on a plane.
A cautionary tale about the daredevil stunts and embarrassing antics you will face when traveling with your pet rhinoceros. From the security line to the luggage carousel, there is no hope for a relaxing trip or in-flight movie in this hilarious picture book. Young readers will laugh at the silliness and fun illustrations, while their caregivers will recognize the humor and perhaps even relate to the wild ride that ensues.
With expressive, laugh-out-loud illustrations by Isabel Roxas and lyrical writing by K. E. Lewis that pays homage to nonsense poetry, Never Take Your Rhino on a Plane is a zany picture book packed with rhythm, rhyme, and rambunctiousness about the nonsense you might expect if you take your pet rhino on a plane. For fans of Mo Willems’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and Aaron Blabey’s Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas.
Seeking Craft and Industry Advice? Check out K.E.’S Videos on Instagram and Tiktok
Where do I begin on my craft journey?
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C__NNjrPKZi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Five Tips for Writers of Children’s Literature
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAjC828v7RH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Cutting your Adverbs: A Tutorial
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEz6b6jPrrM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==