Illustrator Spotlight: Berrie Torgan-Randall

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

July 1, 2025

We are pleased to feature author and illustrator Berrie Torgan-Randall and her website banner design for Kidlit411 and her book, Just Ducky: A Friendship Takes Flight (Cardinal Rule Press), out Oct. 1, 2025. Enter to win a copy via the Rafflecopter below.

Tell us about yourself and how you came  to write and illustrate for children.

My name is Berrie Torgan-Randall, and I am an author and an illustrator. I live in Eastern PA where we say “wooder” (water) and root for The Iggles (The Eagles football team). I was raised primarily in Riverton, NJ which is a small Victorian town across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

At Riverton Elementary School, I loved everything about art class – the burlap and glue collages, the linoleum prints, and the smell of the Tempera paint. In pursuit of this passion, I went to art school where I took multiple and varied fine arts classes. I loved being in the art room, and there was one other special place where I loved to be—the school library. After graduating from art school and working various jobs that weren't very gratifying, I reconsidered my career options and remembered the joy of my time spent in the school library. I went to grad school to become an elementary school librarian. 

Being a librarian is my bread and butter, a profession that I love. However, my true passion is illustrating and writing children’s books. As I grew more confident with sharing my portfolio, I also worked on my writing skills. 

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

I spent years writing query letters and sending my portfolio to professionals that I met at the many conferences I attended. I garnered a lot of rejections until one day I got an email that said, “Let’s talk.

Congrats on your website banner design! Tell us how you approached this project.

For the Kidlit 411 banner, I channeled my inner 8-year-old (this happens often when I create). I thought about my favorite genre–science fiction–and wondered how a child who lives on a space station would find some peace and quiet to read a book. I imagined that she would dress up in her spacesuit, carry a backpack full of books, and read in the stillness of outer space.

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

Congrats on your debut picture book Just Ducky: A Friendship Takes Flight! Tell us about the book.  

Margaret aka Ducky loves ducks and wants everyone at day camp to love them too. Fellow camper Marvin is especially bothered by her oversharing and informs her that she is not a duck–she is Margaret. Ducky knows she is not a duck, but she can swim like a duck and knows a lot of facts about ducks. During a day trip to the lake, Ducky jumps in with enthusiasm while Marvin nervously sits on the dock. Ducky takes Marvin under her wing. She helps him feel more comfortable about swimming by offering Marvin her duck swim floaty named Bill and demonstrating how ducks swim. Then when she takes the time to listen to Marvin, she learns that he loves rocks and his friends call him Rocky. Ducky asks, “Do you want to be my friend Rocky?” and Marvin replies, “Quack! That means I sure do.” 

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

If anyone is interested in being part of my launch team for Just Ducky: A Friendship Takes Flight (Cardinal Rule Press), please send me your email address to berrietr (at) gmail. I will send you an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) to review. I would greatly appreciate a review on Goodreads here and will ask you to transfer the review to your Amazon account when the book takes flight (October 1, 2025). I will choose one reviewer to receive a copy after the book launches. 

What is your preferred medium and illustration style?

I sketch with a ballpoint pen ( it’s too easy to become eraser obsessed and lose my first ideas while sketching in pencil).  I create the layout and more refined sketches with a mechanical pencil on Canson’s Comic Book Art Board paper, scan my illustrations, and use Procreate for the finishing touches. 

My illustration style is whimsical with a limited palette and a side of quirky. My mentor text when writing and illustrating my debut early reader graphic novel  Bella & Blue (The Little Press) was Harry the Dirty Dog written by Gene Zion and illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. I loved the humor and heart in this classic picture book. Harry, like many kids, doesn't want to take a bath, and when he is dirty, his family doesn't recognize him. While writing the second Bella & Blue book, Bella & Blue: Times Two, Bella accidentally spills flour on Blue while measuring ingredients for a lemon tart turning him from a blue dog into a white dog. Bella’s grandmother Gigi announces that Blue needs a bubble bath and asks “Where is Blue?” Readers will find Blue hiding under Gigi’s stuffed chair with his tail peeking out. 

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

What projects are you working on now?

I’m working on the second of the Bella & Blue series Bella & Blue: Times Two. Bella, who struggles with anxiety, continues to tackle new situations along with her adopted dog Blue and Gigi (Bella’s hat-obsessed grandma). Together they  help calm Bella’s nerves and chase her blues away as she develops useful coping skills. Bella & Blue: Times Two will have three new chapters  (Math Class Blues, Pajama Jitters, and Fear of Flying) filled with more struggles, silliness, and surprises.

I am also working on other stories that are orbiting in my head and are in the “sloppy copy” stage. These stories are not ready for take-off (space humor as well as duck humor here just in case you needed more).

What is something most people don't know about you

Keeping with the space theme, I used to work for NASA. I was an intern at my first job out of art school. I worked at the visitor’s center at NASA Lewis Space Center in Cleveland, OH. The most thrilling part of the job was using my creativity to create an astronaut cartoon that led children around the museum. 

© Berrie Torgan-Randall

Where can people find you online?

My portfolio and more information about my books are available on my website Berrietr.com.  Follow me and I’ll follow you back on Instagram #blue.berrie and Bluesky @berrietr.bsky.social . Please consider subscribing to my seasonal newsletter to find out about my latest projects here.

Berrie Torgan-Randall is an author/illustrator working from her home studio in Media, PA. Berrie’s illustrations have appeared in Ladybug Magazine, and her debut early reader graphic novel, Bella & Blue: Bella Meets Blue was published by The Little Press Publishing in 2022. The second book in the Bella & Blue series is to launch in October 2026 titled Bella & Blue: Times Two. In addition, Berrie’s debut picture book Just Ducky: A Friendship Takes Flight is set to soar in October 2025  published by Cardinal Rule Press. Berrie is Cardinal Rule Press’s first author/illustrator.

  

 

 

 

 

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