Charlene Chua gets illustrative with ‘Once Upon A Tail’

Welcome to the True North Country Comics Podcast — dedicated to celebrate Canadian comic book and graphic novel creators and supporters.

On this episode, I chat with Charlene Chua about illustrating Once Upon A Tail published by Harry N. Abrams.

Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Charlene Chua has illustrated many things over the years for kids of all ages.When she is not making art, she enjoys cooking, reading, and playing with her cats. Her work has won several illustration awards, while books she has illustrated have been nominated for OLA Blue Spruce & Silver Birch, Lambda Literary Awards, USBBY Outstanding International Books, and others. They are the illustrator of the 2023 Stonewall Book Award Children’s & Young Adult winner, Love, Violet. Charlene’s author/illustrator debut, Hug? was published by Kids Can Press in 2020. Her second author/illustrator book, The Pink Pajamas, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Her most recent work is illustrating Once Upon A Tail, written by Audrey Perrott, and published by Harry N. Abrams

Once Upon A Tail is the story of “Wallace — a knightly horse who loves rules — and Poppy — a free-spirit dragon who loves adventure. These two unlikely pals disagree on most everything—but still manage to have a lot of fun-filled shenanigans together in the Land of La-Dee-Dah. Told in three short and silly stories with subtle social-emotional themes, this young graphic novel follows the everyday adventures of two best buds as they step out of their comfort zones, discover hidden powers, and eat a LOT of banana pudding. With a high-interest fantasy setting, accessible reading level, and kid-perfect humour, this series is designed for emerging and reluctant readers alike.”

You can discover more about Charlene Chua online at CharleneChua.com and on Instagram at @charlenedraws

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