Making HOT DOG: Artist, Editor, and Art Director

Join us as author-illustrator, Doug Salati, talks with his editor, Rotem Moscovich, and art director, Rachael Cole, about the making of his 2022 picture book, HOT DOG. They’ll discuss the development of the book through its various phases and the core concepts that steered their collaboration.

Doug Salati is the author and illustrator of the 2022 picture book Hot Dog. His first book was In a Small Kingdom by the late Tomie dePaola, and his second, Lawrence in the Fall by his partner, Matthew Farina, was a 2020 Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award Honoree, a Society of Illustrators Original Art Show selection and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. He was a 2015 Sendak Fellow. He lives and works in New York City.

Rachael Cole is the art director for Random House Studio. In her almost 18 years with Random House Children’s Books, she has worked with illustrators such as Guojing, Carson Ellis, Sophie Blackall, Leo Espinosa, Andrea Pippins, Oge Mora, Barry Blitt, and Gracey Zhang, among many others. Her approach is collaborative, empathetic, and focused on making sure that the process of bookmaking feels as fun as possible for everyone involved.

Rachael earned her MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay at the School of Visual Arts. She is the author of City Moon, illustrated by Blanca Gomez, which won an Ezra Jack Keats honor award for writing. She lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, with her husband and son. She draws with her left hand and uses scissors with my right. Learn more at rachaelcole.net.

Rotem Moscovich is the Editorial Director of Picturebooks at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers. She feels lucky to have worked with so many talented creators, including Greg Pizzoli, Marcy Campbell, Minh Lê, Dan Santat, Ryan T. Higgins, Ann M. Martin & Laura Godwin, Chris Raschka, Doug Salati, Christopher Myers, Doreen Rappaport, Adam Rex, and LeUyen Pham. Rotem love picturebooks with clever characters and inspired/ing art, and connects with graphic novels with characters that have inherent motivation and earned agency. She’s an immigrant, a crafter, fascinated with biology, and excited to bring a wide range of voices to readers everywhere. Rotem cares about every facet of bookmaking: from type to case cover art, and everything in between. She had the pleasure to earn a master’s degree from the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College, and now lives in NYC. Check out her books at rotem.nyc (though the mobile version is terrible—sorry!).