On "Q":
This story is supposed
to be about a question.
But I can't find it anywhere.
Do you know where it is?
"Q" was one of the trickiest ones, because there's not a lot of things you can do with stories with words beginning with "Q," which is why I ended up going for a bit of a conundrum with that one. It's really a question rather than a story. ... The interesting thing is that kids get that immediately, but most adults I show it to, they're like, "I don't get it." They don't understand that the very last question is the question that they were looking for.
On the process of illustrating the book
This book has been about two years in the making and I started illustrating it from "A" to "Z" once the stories and the rough drawings were all in place. And I got all the way up to "T" in full color oil painting, collage and a whole range of media. And that whole thing was totally in full color when I realized that it was just too much — it was too heavy and the simplicity of the book had been lost. So I went back to the drawing board and ended up redoing everything. And this is just ink and ink washes then with the occasional splash of color — of watercolor. ...
Sometimes you get into a project and you can't really see it anymore. But it was one of those good instincts that was confirmed by two artist friends when they came around. And I just happened to have left some of the ink sketches sitting out on my desk. I showed them the oils, saying, "What do you think?" And they [said], "These are lovely. These are really great, but what are these ones over here?" Looking at the whole thing, as a whole, I had a gut feeling that it was too heavy. The whole thing felt too cumbersome and arguably a little intimidating to pick up just because there was so much going on. And the stories were sacrificed because of the emphasis on the art. And I thought, "This is not what this book is about." It's supposed to be lighter and easier to access. So I ended up recreating all of the art.
Book Your Trip
The Fly List: Books About Takeoffs, Landings And Bumpy Rides
On how he feels about being labeled a writer and illustrator of kids' books
I take it as an honor that kids love the book, but I always refer to the books that I make as picture books because I think by saying they're kids' books, you alienate non-kids.