What would you do if you weren’t a children’s book creator?
I don’t know. I can’t do anything else.
Can you play the harpsichord?
No.
Can you fix a sports car?
No.
Can you train a White-faced Saki Monkey?
No. I can only make children’s books.
Is there one thing all of your books have in common?
TEXTURE. All of my books are different but they all have lots of texture. It is one of the things that excites me most when starting a new book. I do lots of experimentation with different paints and inks and things and I like to build up interesting surfaces.
I’m not sure where my love of textures started. I think it must go back to my mom. She was an antiques dealer and I grew up in a house with every room filled with dolls and puppets, their paint peeling, their faces cracked, sitting on fading and weathered furniture from another era.
I am always building up paint then scraping it away or spraying with varnishes to break it up. Some of my paintings even have dirt and little rocks in them. I also use pieces of newspaper and other collage elements in my illustrations.
Who is Molly Leach?
The greatest book designer working today. She has designed nearly all of my books. When she designed The Stinky Cheese Man back in 1992 folks called it a “watershed moment.” Suddenly every designer wanted to make books with crazy type and upside-down pages. The problem is it is very hard to do unless you know how. Molly knows how.
How do you two work together?
I usually come up with an idea then sketch it up into a book dummy (a book dummy is a very loose version of the final book). I tell Molly the kind of typography I want. She says no. She changes it. She hands it back to me and I adjust my pictures to go with her “new and improved” type. Then I create the final pictures. Lastly, we figure out together what the cover should look like. She makes everything I do 100 times better but since most people don’t know what a designer does, I usually get all the credit. This isn’t fair.
Some of your books are weird. Are they appropriate for my child?
I do not know your child. But I will say I do not subscribe to the notion that every book is for every child. I make the kinds of books that I liked as a kid. Some are weird.
Do you speak at schools?
No. Speaking in front of humans makes me nervous. I empathize with the quiet student in the back of the class who is too shy to speak up. That was me. But there are other ways of expressing oneself… like through drawings, creative writing or balloon animals.
Do you tweet?
Yes, when I eat radishes. I am not on Twitter however. Or Facebook or Instagram. Writing is hard for me. It takes a long time. If I come up with a really funny line I’ll use it in a book. If it’s not funny I won’t waste anyone’s time putting it out there in a tweet.
Do you really make balloon animals?
No.
How is the best way to contact you?
Through this site. If you want to reach me for business purposes please contact my amazing agent, Steven Malk of Writers House on the contact page.
Who is still reading these FAQs?
1. People who should be working but are not.
2. Students who have been forced to write a paper on my books.
3. My cousin BJ.
Will you speak at our school?
You sneaky dog. I already told you I do not speak at schools.
Where did you grow up?
Corona, California. My dad, Corkey, was an accountant at Rockwell International in Anaheim during the Apollo Space program. My mom, Millie, had many different jobs, but the funniest was when she was an instructor at Sears Charm School.
Our family spent every summer traveling Route 66 back to Oklahoma where I was born. Okay, Molly says I have to list some of my Okie relative’s names. I do not see the humor but here goes: Dub (actually his real name is Delmer), Billy Joe, Leo, Cubby, Uncle Baldy, Grandma Ora, Grandpa Rual, Velma, Macy, Pauline, Fat (who is skinny), Dewey, Darla and Tom & Jerry. My brother’s name is Shane. Shane and Lane. Mom wanted twins and even though we were two years apart she dressed us in matching outfits until we were old enough to put up a fuss. (It was either around third grade or during my last year in College. I forget.)
Do you have any pets?
Yes. We have a cat named Lulu and a dog named JoJo. They are both naughty.
Did you have a favorite teacher?
My high school art teacher, Daniel Baughman. I was a kid who liked to doodle. It never occurred to me I could make a living at it. Mr. Baughman encouraged my habit by driving me to ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena to meet with a counselor there. I was accepted and in 1983 received a BFA in illustration.
What did you do before you became a children’s book illustrator?
For many years I worked as a freelance illustrator. My illustrations appeared in magazines like Time, Sesame Street, Rolling Stone, Ms., Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire and many others. Before that, I was a custodial host at Disneyland. A street sweeper and an illustrator. With both jobs you can’t go home until the paperwork is done.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into children’s books?
It sounds like a cliché but it’s true: don’t give up. Jon Scieszka and I took The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs to many publishers and were rejected by that many. We would huff and snuff but we never gave up. One day Viking Books took a chance on us. Thank goodness. Like I said, I can’t do anything else. I wouldn’t even know where to begin with the harpsichord.
What are some of your favorite children’s books?
Here are some in no particular order (one or two aren’t really children’s books either).
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Aesop’s Fables illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen. (Some of the most beautiful textural illustrations I have ever seen.)
Sylvester & the Magic Pebble by William Steig. (Actually, I recommend all of Steig’s books. A great illustrator but also one of our most underrated writers.)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson
Anything and everything by Kate DiCamillo. Timeless classics.
The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide and Edward Gorey (the 50th anniversary edition has a little foreword by me)
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow and Maurice Sendak
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White and Garth Williams
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Knee-knock Rise by Natalie Babbitt
The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown and Remy Charlip
The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss and Marc Simont
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney by Judith Viorst and Erik Blegved
True Grit by Charles Portis
Finally, one of my favorite books about an artist. Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire. Admit it, with most art books don’t you find yourself skimming the text? I do. Reading about pictures is never as satisfying as simply looking at them. This book is not that. It is so wise and thoughtful with many truly insightful observations about the connective themes and obsessions in Maurice’s work. You’ll want to read it again and again.
WHAT MATTERS to me?
More of me blathering on at The Art of the Picture Book.