Creator Corner: Author Deborah Kerbel and Illustrator Dawn Lo
Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent and upcoming books. For this post, we interviewed What About an Elephant?: A Fact-Filled Savanna Adventure author Deborah Kerbel and illustrator Dawn Lo, whose book published August 12, 2025!
Owlkids Books: Deborah, what inspired you to write this book?
Deborah Kerbel: While I was outlining a potential companion title to What About an Octopus? I was doing some deep-dive research into various fascinating animals that might be fun to write about. When I discovered how incredibly intelligent and interesting elephants are, I knew they’d be the perfect choice for the book.
Owlkids Books: Dawn, what was the inspiration for your illustrations in this book?
Dawn Lo: Researching and collecting lots of reference photographs of elephants. Also, the first thing I decided on was the main character’s outfit – to make sure she is protected from the sun, pops out against the setting and most importantly, dressed cute!
OKB: Deborah, what was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life? What was the most challenging part of the process?
DK: The most enjoyable part of the process was observing the illustrations develop and watching Dawn bring the story to life on the page. The most challenging part was deciding which elephant facts to match with which elements of the story. There are so many great elephant facts!
OKB: Dawn, what was the most enjoyable part of illustrating this book? What was the most challenging part?
DL: The most enjoyable part is definitely painting the elephants! I love creating the elephant’s skin texture with paint! The challenging part would probably be keeping the landscape and composition interesting in the vast land of savanna with scattered vegetation.
OKB: Deborah and Dawn, is there a fact in the book you found most interesting?
DK: Definitely the fact that elephants poop 12 to 15 times a day, for a total poopage amount of about 220 pounds (100 kilograms). Which is about as much as a fully-grown giant panda weighs.
DL: Using dirt as sunscreen – how fun it is to roll yourself into the mud in order to cool down and protect yourself from the sun! I also love how elephants can swim because I love swimming too.
OKB: Deborah and Dawn, what do you hope readers will take away from this book?
DK: I hope readers will come away with a deeper understanding of, not just elephants, but the wonders of the natural world itself. Reading and learning about other species, especially in a fun and interesting way, is a great way to encourage protection, compassion, and respect for the extraordinary animals with whom we share this planet.
DL: Elephants are magical creatures.
Thank you so much Deborah and Dawn for taking the time to do this interview and creating a wonderful book! We hope readers enjoy What About an Elephant?: A Fact-Filled Savanna Adventure as much as we did!
Grab your copy today!
