Jan Brett’s Blog

The Animal’s Santa

Happy January!

It is wonderful to be writing in my art studio with almost all of my new book, THE ANIMAL’S SANTA, including the jacket, up on my bulletin board. It takes up one wall of my room, and like most picture books, there are 32 pages. Once I finished the last page I can go through all finished artwork, color correcting the backgrounds, and making sure all the character’s clothes and details are consistent.
I love how the snowy setting matches the 2 feet of snow outside my window. It makes me think back to last summer when the hot weather, green leaves, and hummingbirds at the flower boxes made my winter scenery seemed very far away. In a way, the last month I work on my book is the most fun of all. I have a deadline so I hole up in my art studio, and say “no” to almost all other activities. One of the challenges of being an illustrator that works from home is the constant interruptions that a normal life brings, but that are not easily put off like if I were in an office somewhere. A gorgeous Flicker woodpecker just came to my studio window where there is a bird feeder. That’s a perfect example of why I wouldn’t want to trade my work place.
I’ve been reading Ann Patchett’s new book of collected essays, and I felt all my inner bells chiming in sympathy when she described her writing process. I highly recommend her essay which is a response to aspiring writer’s questions on how to begin and work.
While I’m working, my mind has been drifting back and forth to book projects I have to choose from for next year’s book. The day after I sent in my final page of art, I begin writing my new story. I have vied back and forth between a gingerbread story and THE TURNIP, a Russian folktale and finally decided on THE TURNIP. I have a really good idea for the border. This will sound silly, but I raise chickens and every year I bring up about 60 babies to adulthood. They get colored leg bands so I can keep track of who’s who, but they also receive names on a theme. That way, when the ones I keep for myself grow old in my mixed flock I’ll know how old they are by their name. For example, my hen Sugar Pie is from the year I created GINGERBREAD FRIENDS and Thule is from the year I did THE 3 SNOW BEARS. My hens went broody early this year, so I had to give them hatching eggs to set on. Those babies will appear in 3 weeks so I better be ready with names! I used every Russian name I could find for CINDERS, so I’m trying to think of another category for them that will relate to THE TURNIP and I’ve crossed off vegetable names. I don’t want chickens named Potato and Brussels Sprout!
I’m always enthusiastic about new beginnings, and ways of improving myself, but this year I haven’t come up with a New Year’s resolution. I think now that I’m thinking about it, my goal for 2014 will be to use more color in my new book. THE TURNIP is the perfect place to start because number 1, it is set on a farm in rural Russia in the olden days, where brightly patterned clothes were worn, and number 2, turnips are the most beautiful of vegetables, with golden yellow bottoms and pinky purple tops! Maybe I will name my chicks after colors.
Good luck using your imagination and storytelling to create a unique story this January!

Happy Creating,

Jan Brett

 Animals Santa Bunnies sketch

Happy December!

This is Jan Brett with my monthly update on my book illustrating I call my hedge a gram after my favorite animal the hedgehog. I’ve just come back from my national two and a half week book tour. If you joined me on one of my stops, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there. I so enjoyed my interactions with all of the dedicated teachers and librarians as well as the families that came and brought their children. I have a very isolated profession, and I spend hours and hours working on my books. Our children are grown, so it is a great pleasure to see so many children excited by books and love drawing and writing. I’m always stunned by the explosion of incredible artwork I see on my tours. When children bring me their drawings, I’m often in awe about our innate artistic ability. I hope that when I do my drawing lesson at the signings, everyone goes home feeling they would also like to draw and color. This tour was a little different because I brought four of my chickens, ones that starred in the book I was signing, CINDERS. They were on TV four times! Cinders, my silver Phoenix pullet jumped right out of her box when it was time to present her to the assembly! She really like showing off! It was fun having the chickens on the bus. When Joe and I finished our evening signing, we would stop to buy a takeout dinner, which we would eat on the bus, and then Cinders would come out of her box and socialize. There is nothing like riding on a beautiful bus with a cozy chicken riding on your shoulder. They had an exercise pen so they had nice outings on green grass almost every day.
I’m back to working on my book set in northern Canada, THE ANIMAL’S SANTA, although I’m doing it in an unexpected place, Thailand. We are visiting with our daughter, her husband, and two grandchildren who live in Okinawa Japan. Our Thailand trip is our holiday time to be with them, although I will work on my book every day. I’m on the last few spreads of my book which is due in January. The jacket art has been completed, but we are in talks with my publisher’s art designer and my editor about the display type. The display type is the sometimes fancy lettering that forms the book title, and is done, not by me but by a very talented designer who works at my publisher.
I’m also thinking about next year’s book. I may do a gingerbread baby story, unofficially called THE GINGERBREAD DANCE, in which I give the wiley gingerbread baby another chance to outwit his arch enemy, the hungry fox. Or, I may retell THE TURNIP, a Russian folktale that I have always loved.
My thoughts return again and again in appreciation to all of you who have come to my signings. I’ve had the rare opportunity to see children from many parts of the US with their amazing artwork in tow. It is especially electrifying to not just to see ability and talent, but some of the children bought their unique vision to their art work which is like a miracle of creativity to me. My dearest wish is that children experiment and enjoy their creative skills, and make it a habit that will stay with them their whole lives.

Happy Creating,

Jan Brett

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THE ANIMAL’S SANTA Page 28-29

Happy October!

I’d like to tell you all about the children’s book I’ve been working on. It is called the Animal’s Santa, and it tells the story of a snowshoe rabbit that is very sceptical about Santa. His older brother knows that the forest animals are receiving presents on Christmas morning, and he wants his little brother to join in the fun of Christmas. He is pretty sure that Santa is leaving the presents, but he just doesn’t have any proof. My story is how he traps Santa.
I set my story in North America, in the north of Canada, because it seemed possible that the animal’s story could take place there. The animals that live in the North woods are somewhat reclusive and mysterious. There is an Artic Fox vixen, Raven twins, a Porcupine and the Snowshoe Hare brothers. A Polar Bear, Moose and Badger also make appearances when the animals describe who they think Santa might be.
I’ve worked on my book for many months now, and its beginning to have a momentum of its own. I start with a dummy, or cartoon version that is 32 pages, the same length as the book will be, so I can refer to it, but I always wait for that moment when the story starts rolling along. The sketches serve as a road map, but I try not to let them get in the way of new ideas that crop up.
When I lived in Boston as an art student and a young mother, I spent many days at the Peabody Museum at Harvard. My young daughter and I spent hours looking at the taxidermied animal specimens that had been collected from all over the world. The museum also has an extensive collection of Native American arts and crafts, and it cast a spell on me. I was very intrigued with the porcupine quill work. One of the reasons I set my book in North America was so I could paint quill work in the borders. I didn’t copy any of the quill work from the museum, but tried to imagine the forest family in my book as an undiscovered native people, with their own esthetic. Most of the materials I used are typical of the materials used by First Peoples.
Today I’ll be working on my book’s jacket. My editor and I have been giving a lot of thought on what the title should be. We both love “Who is the Animal’s Santa?” But it takes up a lot of room on the jacket, and restricts the art. The publisher is afraid there will be confusion about the title, and people won’t remember the title. So right now the title is “The Animal’s Santa” I show the question being asked in the body language of the main character, “Little Snow”.
I just received my authors copies of “Cinders”, about three weeks before the publisher’s release. I am just thrilled with the way it is presented. It is a wintery fairy tale, and there are subtle sparkles on the jacket, and on the display type. Marikka, a very talented designer at G.P.Putnam’s Sons (Penguin) created an extraordinary jacket. Not wanting “Cinders” to look like one of the more commercial offerings, she added copper foil to embellish my name, which is a bold choice when paired with the ombre pink and white lettering of the display type. The effect is very nuanced and ethereal, and represents the kind of subtlety that children can appreciate when they are exposed to it. As electronic games and movies become more available, children’s books are becoming more defined. They seem to have the potential to fully realize the human imagination in a very personal and intimate way.
I am looking out my window into a beautiful early fall landscape, but even more real to me at this moment, is the winter palace peopled by gorgeous poultry in their finery, and my north woods tribe of animals, in their snowy woods. Maybe now is the time for you to realize a complex world of your own making. It’s an exercise puzzle in creativity and discovery that leads to unexpected places.

Happy Creating,

Jan Brett