Author of the Month: Interview with Elephant Books

Elephant Books featured me as their author of the month and included Too Crowded in their super cool subscription box. Here is the interview:

You are not only a children’s author, but also have experience as an illustrator of all different creative projects and an artist in the animation industry. What inspired you to pursue a career in the arts? 

I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist, but as a kid I had no idea how many careers in the arts there are. I just knew that I loved to draw and that I wanted to do it all the time. As a toddler, I used to fall asleep with a crayon in my hand because I didn’t want to stop. I’m still that little kid trying to figure out how I can get as much time drawing as possible.

How has your experience in illustration and animation influenced your work as a children’s author?

I always think of the images first. When I’m coming up with an idea, it usually starts with a picture that I think would be fun or funny to draw. When I’m writing, I have an idea of what I think the illustration will look like for that page. If I can’t think of anything good, or if it doesn’t seem like a fun thing to draw, I’ll change the story. I love animation because it can be so absurd and relies heavily on visual jokes and bending reality so I always want to incorporate some of that magic into my stories. In Too Crowded, the idea that a fish could put on shoes and walk out of its bowl and then the whole sequence when Gil realizes they can’t breathe was definitely inspired by cartoon humor. 

We love the imaginative plot in Too Crowded, which follows a fish who puts on his walking shoes and waltzes right out of his jam-packed fishbowl. How did you come up with the idea for this story? 

We experimented with a sad, ill fated aquarium when my oldest kid was 3. Sad, mostly because the fish in the aquarium kept eating everything that the guy at the pet store advised us to put in with it. It got me thinking about how the right environment for one creature could be totally wrong for another and how similar the sensitive ecosystem of a fish bowl is to our kids’ sensitive ecosystems like school and home. At that time we were also working with my 3 year old to identify how his environment made him feel. He would sometimes feel overwhelmed at preschool and act out. He was very triggered by noise especially and even just saying why a space wasn’t working for him made such a big difference. So I was also thinking about all the different ways a space can be too much and eventually Too Crowded came together.

What did your creative process look like when writing and illustrating this book? 

It started with the title and lots of little sketches of fish and things that I thought would be funny to see crammed into a fishbowl. Then I tried playing with the text and trying to figure out what my story would be about. I went through so many different versions- I think around 20 and a lot of them were quite different than what I ended up with, but didn’t quite work. The only thing that never changed was the title and the fish. When I’m figuring out a story, I like to draw little thumbnails of the pages and cut the text up. Then I tape it to the wall in my studio (I have this great green wall) so I can see everything together and move things around. Seeing everything at once helps me see the rhythm of the story and how everything is playing together.

Full of some hilarious moments in text and illustration, Too Crowded ultimately teaches a sweet lesson about the value of friendship and finding home. What were some rewarding and challenging parts of crafting this story? 

Honestly, I have the hardest time ending a story. I love imagining the smaller moments and thinking of interesting visual gags, but when it comes to wrapping it up, I find it really challenging to come up with an ending that isn’t either too predictable or too weird. When I find that sweet spot though, I know because it feels right. With Too Crowded, I knew I wanted the fish to have a buddy, but I worked on a lot of drafts where the buddy was the one making the bowl too crowded and I couldn’t get it to feel right, until I flipped my idea. After all, even the most horrible place can be pleasant if you have the right company.

What is the best thing about being a children’s author? Who were your favorite authors as a child?

Aside from getting to draw and write stories about whatever my crazy brain comes up with, watching kids learn to read and love books is the most magical thing. A whole amazing world opens up when they learn to read. Getting to be part of that is the best. Oh, and also the street cred it gives me with my kids is pretty cool.

I loved everything by Maurice Sendak. In the Night Kitchen was my favorite book growing up. It’s such a weird book full of so many great surreal moments. I love that spread of Mickey flying over this landscape of kitchen supply buildings in his dough plane and that he gets baked into the cake.

I was also obsessed with Shel Silverstein’s poems and used to copy all the drawings from Where the Sidewalk Ends and Light in the Attic. Also, the way my dad read the poem about the Sharp Toothed Snail was really funny.

When you look around at the current state of kids and reading, what are the biggest challenges for parents or opportunities to address? 

I think it’s a big challenge to get kids into reading with all the stimuli that they are constantly being bombarded with. I want my kids to be curious about the world, and to foster creativity and kindness. The reality of raising two young boys is that they are drawn to video games and turn everything into a weapon. As a busy, tired parent, they often get more screen time than I would like. I love books that parents and kids both enjoy because they’re more fun to read together as a family and kids are more likely to love reading if they see their adults or older siblings reading too.

Do you have any upcoming projects we can look forward to reading? 

Well, I have about 50 titles for books that I want to make and a few in development that I am really excited about. My kids give me the best ideas. I feel like I have to write them all down before they grow up- it’s all happening so fast.