Kulka, Joe 1965(?)-

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Kulka, Joe 1965(?)-

Personal

Born c. 1965; married; children: three. Education: University of Arts, B.F.A. (illustration), 1987.

Addresses

Home and office—Quakertown, PA. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Author and illustrator. Formerly worked as a medical textbook illustrator.

Member

Graphic Artists Guild, Picture Book Artists Association.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Wolf's Coming!, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.

The Rope, Pelican Publishing (Gretna, LA), 2008.

ILLUSTRATOR

Jackie Glassman, Happy Birthday, Princess Lolly! ("My First Game Reader: Candyland" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Jackie Glassman, Have You Seen King Candy? ("My First Game Reader: Candyland" series), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Francine Hughs, Candyland: Sweets and Treats, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Andrea Jones, The Spitting Twins, Frog (Berkeley, CA), 2004.

Dotti Enderle, Granny Gert and the Bunion Brothers, Pelican Publishing (Gretna, LA), 2006.

Larry Dane Brimner, Monkey Math, Children's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Carol Murray, Storytime Stickers: Pirate Treasure Hunt, Sterling Publishing Company (New York, NY), 2007.

Marcy Brown and Dennis Haley, Just Five More Minutes, Treasure Bay (San Anselmo, CA), 2008.

Sidelights

Joe Kulka began his illustrating career as a medical textbook artist, spending much of his time drawing organs within the human body. It was not until Kulka viewed Charles Santore's illustrations in The Wizard of Oz and saw the many picture books presented on public television's Reading Rainbow series that he realized the other creative avenues open to him. Jackie Glassman's Happy Birthday, Princess Lolly!, an easy reader based on the popular Candyland board game, was the first published book to feature Kulka's artwork; since that work was published in 2000, the artist has added several more illustration credits and also expanded his role to that of author/illustrator.

Wolf's Coming!, Kulka's first self-illustrated children's book, came about after he joined a writing group. With the group's help, he was able to fine-tune his writing skills and produce his first picture-book text. Wolf 's Coming! was acknowledged by several reviewers for its ability to keep readers in suspense, and then surprise them at story's end. Hazel Rochman, reviewing the picture book for Booklist, noted of Wolf's Coming! that "kids will enjoy the mounting suspense, and feel smug about the happy ending." Featuring digital elements displaying feature vivid colors, Kulka's illustrations "grow progressively darker" as the pages turn, observed School Library Journal reviewer Debbie Lewis, and this technique "help[s] … to create and sustain the intended mood."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Wolf's Coming!, p. 48.

School Library Journal, January, 2007, Marge Lock-Wouters, review of Granny Gert and the Bunion Brothers, p. 92; January, 2007, Colleen D. Bocka, review of Monkey Math, p. 88; July, 2007, Debbie Lewis, review of Wolf's Coming!, p. 80.