Jan Brett’s Blog

Happy November,

This is Jan Brett.  I’d like to tell you about my creative life in hopes that you will be inspired to write and illustrate stories of your own.
My books correspond to the calendar year, although I am always puzzling together future book ideas, and in the fall, my publisher sends me on a book tour.  My husband and I travel across the country on a huge bus, the largest that is allowed on US highways — why so big?  We bring Hedgie along with us, our rather large hedgehog character.  He helps me welcome kids and their parents and teachers to my book signings.  The bus also has room for my 2011 collectible buttons picturing Rollo troll and his moose friend.  I give them out to everyone who comes to my signings, I also give away posters and my news notes — full-color letters I write to children about my latest book, HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.  I also bring aboard my easel, paper and markers so I can give a drawing lesson before my signing.  It is open to everyone, and it’s not just for young artists, but young writers too.  I like to explain to children how I got the idea for my book and all the fascinating places I went to in order to make the setting of my book authentic.  In this case the country I went to was Sweden.  Not only did I visit a place where Norse legends feature trolls, but where moose, reindeer, bear, otter, and lynx abound.  Especially moose, who feature in my book, along with Rollo the troll.  There is even room for a giant antler my friend Elof found in Kiruna, Sweden near the Arctic Circle.  Our bus will travel to  25 towns and cities, and I’m looking forward to speaking to all the children and their parents, teachers, and librarians who will be at my signings.  I’m also looking forward to having lunch with the Lunch on the Bus contest winner and her three friends.
While I’m on the book trail, I will miss my chickens and ducks back home.  I am hard at work on my book about a turtle who grows a garden on her back, but I’m also gathering photographs of chicken breeds to give me ideas for my chicken Cinderella book.  We have a trip scheduled to St. Petersburg Russia where I am planning to set my book, although I’ll be plumbing my imagination for the right “half for real” and “half for fantasy” world I want to create my poultry fairy tale.
MOSSY still has a lot of pages in it to complete, but I’m starting to feel like she is a real character.  When I look in the water of our turtle pond I used for the book’s setting, I really appreciate the intricacies of the changing flora and fauna around our pond as the seasons change.  Mossy is an Eastern box turtle, a terrestrial species that occasionally takes a swim in the pond.  I’ve seen bullfrogs and green frogs in the pond and lots of tadpoles.  There have been lots of dragonflies and butterflies too.  A friend of mine released a spotted turtle in the pond but I haven’t seen it.  It was crossing a street and he helped it into the woods away from traffic.  Turtles are dwindling in Southeastern Massachusetts where I live and some species are endangered or threatened.  Unless a turtle is going to be run over, it’s best to leave it alone because their travels take them from one habitat to another, and we humans shouldn’t disrupt their travels.  I’m concentrating on making a good environment for turtles, and I hope they will visit my pond.  Our pond is pretty deep, it extends below the frost line, has built-in caves and basking rocks.  Last spring we added a large area of loose, loamy sand that we hope is good for nesting, and my friend Scott planted wild strawberries all around.  We have miles of perfect turtle habitat behind our house, unfortunately it’s also the home of the deer tick that carries Lyme disease a pest that is very active during early spring when it is interesting to look for wildlife in the vernal ponds.
Illustrating children’s books is always an adventure that leads you into unexplored paths.  I hope you will give it a try, you may not be exploring turtle ponds or poultry yards but you probably will be exploring something equally fascinating.  Good luck with your creative project!
Your friend,
Jan Brett

Mossy Dummy Pages 17 – 18

Happy October,

This is Jan Brett, and I’d like to say a few words about what’s going on in my life as a children’s author and illustrator.
I have about a month to work on my new book, MOSSY before going out on the book tour, and I’m looking forward to a stretch of time where I can devote a lot of time to it. When I’m working on the finishes, I’ll continue doing a little research on the side, but it’s mostly putting slot of hours in painting. I created a fairly elaborate book dummy this time. If you could see it, it’s loose cartoon like drawings done with rapidiograph ( a kind of mechanical ink pen) and watercolors on typing paper. It’s a about 1/2 the size the final pages will be, but in the same proportions as the published book. Tomorrow I’ll bring the first 17 pages to NY city to show to my editor, the art director and designer. It’s always disconcerting because there are already things I plan to improve, but I’m possessive about my work. This is probably because the best work comes from way back in my sub-conscience, and when a lot of people add their opinions it’s hard to hear my own voice. This is not to say that sometimes others are right. The publisher works far ahead of the publishing date, and they present a brief visual version to book buyers early on. That means I do a few pages in the beginning of the story, some in the middle and several at the end. It’s not the ideal way to work, but if I had completed more of the book earlier it would be different.I love wild flowers , and since Mossy takes place in the spring I’ve been sticking to the wild flowers the bloom at that time. But one of the last pages pictures Mossy, her mate Scute, and their little babies and I realized I could time it anytime that turtles are not in hibernation. I’ve been gathering the flowers that grow in early October including one of my favorites new England purple aster, and goldenrod. I was surprised to see their are over 25 varieties of goldenrod.  I may be asked to work on the jacket next, but after that I’ll be working on the pages showing people in their 1913 time period clothes, which should be fun, since I m interested in costume.

                       

Norwell Turtle Pond

Once a child asked me what the hardest part of my job is. One of the hardest parts is not having more time to work on my books ideas!  I have three book ideas in the back of my mind work to work on when I’m driving in the car, running, or when I’m getting ready to fall asleep.  They are almost like the big jigsaw puzzle people set up on the table, to be worked on in spurts.  You might find that keeping a mental notebook about a creative project a good way to make use of all your creative energy, with pieces ready when you sit down with a couple of hours of solitude.
Good luck and happy reading,

Jan Brett

Happy September,

This is Jan Brett, and this is my September hedge a gram- the time I take each month to describe what I’m doing in my art world.
It takes a year to create one of my picture books, and I begin in about February, so by September I have finalized the story part of my book. Many kids ask, ” which comes first, the story or the pictures ?” For me the story comes first, but it is always a story that can be illustrated with images that I would like to draw and paint. For example, I like to draw furry creatures, but mechanical objects or things that require a lot of perspective are hard for me. Like for example, a car with a personality. I feel a kind of excitement that is hard to explain about certain things. I love moss, snow, birch trees, lichen, the color gray-green, coral, reindeer, hedgehogs, feathered creatures, pussy willows, sea urchins, red mushrooms and orchids to name a few things. That interest bubbles up in my drawings. I am fascinated by reptiles, but when I draw them I find it hard to capture their essence in the same way as when I draw a hedgehog, a mammal.  In the book I’m working on, the main characters are reptiles, turtles, and the star of the story is Mossy, a turtle who grows a garden on her back.  It wasn’t until I completed my book dummy that I realized I needed all the moss, ferns, and flowers to make her into a being I could then make into a main character.  I spend a year working on the pictures, and that spark of interest and obsession I feel at the beginning has to last.  Someone once asked me if after working on a book for a year, if I was ready to move away from the character and setting, was I tired of it?  No, No, No!  I stall until the very last minute before parting with the finished artwork.  I never feel like it’s ready, and I feel like I’m leaving my best friend when it’s all packed up and sent to the publisher.
Today would be a typical day in my life as an author illustrator.  At breakfast, Joe and I plan a photo session for an ad and discuss an upcoming trip to Russia, for a 2012 book THE TURNIP.  We are also going on a trip to India and we will go bird watching but I will also be trying to find some stories and fables that work for an idea for a book I have that I’m calling Dancing Slippers.  I have definitely fallen into the trap of being infatuated with the character – a tiger and a setting, India,without a fully formed plot.  When I was little my mom read lots of stories set in faraway places that I loved  –  the JUST SO STORIES by Rudyard Kipling set in Africa, THE STORY OF PING by Marjorie Flack set in Asia and THE TAIL OF MRS. TIGGY WIGGLE by Beatrix Potter, set in England.  Also, I devoured all the Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories as well as my favorite ALICE IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll.  They took me to strange and exotic places too.
Back to my day, after breakfast I worked on a double page spread for THE STORY OF MOSSY.  Now that I have two spreads done, I will send them to my editor.  She will troubleshoot and make suggestions about the look of my future book.
I stop working to get ready for a photo.  In the photo, I am reading HEDGIE’S SURPRISE to one of my chickens.  It is for an appearance in Indianapolis at the national poultry show this October 29th.  My husband Joe and I reviewed the photos, and worked on the copy, finishing in time to go to one of his concerts at Tanglewood.  He plays the double bass like Berlioz the Bear in my 1991 book by that name.
During the concert, I let myself be taken away by the music – it often leads my thoughts to unexpected places.  I’m going to be juggling some thoughts about my tiger/India book and also a possible Cinderella peopled by poultry that was my editor’s idea.  Sadly, at the concert I can’t get out a pen and paper because it would look extremely rude and distract the concertgoers.  They will be in their own listening worlds!
Tonight I will sign 10 books for a contest winner and record the Hedge a gram.  Finally I settle down to planning another spread for my book, and if I have time, plant a terrarium I just bought.  There are a lot of mosses and ferns in the Berkshires in Massachusetts our summer home.  I want to keep the moss fresh and happy all fall while I paint them for my book, moss models!  I also will write a note to a man I just met that has a beautiful avairy with hundreds of exotic birds.  One of the pages I plan for Mossy is set in a natural history museum and I’m painting different collections in the borders.  I’m hoping I can borrow some of his feathers.  He also has tame Eastern box turtles and I would love to photograph them.  Good models seem to be popping up everywhere, and a wood frog hopped across my path yesterday.  I have been taking my iPhone everywhere, especially trail running on the Appalachian trail.  I have one eye on the path and one eye on the moss, ferns and little waterfalls along my route.  My day ends with the promise of a dream that may unfold into another book or open a door that fires the imagination.
Good luck with your days ahead, and save some time to create a lasting story or picture!

Happy reading, Jan

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS Kiruna Sweden research

Happy August,

This is Jan Brett, and this is my August hedge a gram- the time I take each month to describe what I’m doing in my art world.
It takes a year to create one of my picture books, and I begin in about February, so by August I have finalized the story part of my book. Many kids ask, ” which comes first, the story or the pictures ?” For me the story comes first, but it is always a story that can be illustrated with images that I would like to draw and paint. For example, I like to draw furry creatures, but mechanical objects or things that require a lot of perspective are hard for me. Like for example, a car with a personality. I feel a kind of excitement that is hard to explain about certain things. I love moss, snow, birch trees, lichen, the color gray-green, coral, reindeer, hedgehogs, feathered creatures, pussy willows, sea urchins, red mushrooms and orchids to name a few things. That interest bubbles up in my drawings. I am fascinated by reptiles, but when I draw them I find it hard to capture their essence in the same way as when I draw a hedgehog, a mammal.  In the book I’m working on, the main characters are reptiles, turtles, and the star of the story is Mossy, a turtle who grows a garden on her back.  It wasn’t until I completed my book dummy that I realized I needed all the moss, ferns, and flowers to make her into a being I could then make into a main character.  I spend a year working on the pictures, and that spark of interest and obsession I feel at the beginning has to last.  Someone once asked me if after working on a book for a year, if I was ready to move away from the character and setting, was I tired of it?  No, No, No!  I stall until the very last minute before parting with the finished artwork.  I never feel like it’s ready, and I feel like I’m leaving my best friend when it’s all packed up and sent to the publisher.
Today would be a typical day in my life as an author illustrator.  At breakfast, Joe and I plan a photo session for an ad and discuss an upcoming trip to Russia, for a 2012 book THE TURNIP.  We are also going on a trip to India and we will go bird watching but I will also be trying to find some stories and fables that work for an idea for a book I have that I’m calling Dancing Slippers.  I have definitely fallen into the trap of being infatuated with the character – a tiger and a setting, India,without a fully formed plot.  When I was little my mom read lots of stories set in faraway places that I loved  –  the JUST SO STORIES by Rudyard Kipling set in Africa, THE STORY OF PING by Marjorie Flack set in Asia and THE TAIL OF MRS. TIGGY WIGGLE by Beatrix Potter, set in England.  Also, I devoured all the Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories as well as my favorite ALICE IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll.  They took me to strange and exotic places too.
Back to my day, after breakfast I worked on a double page spread for THE STORY OF MOSSY.  Now that I have two spreads done, I will send them to my editor.  She will troubleshoot and make suggestions about the look of my future book.
I stop working to get ready for a photo.  In the photo, I am reading HEDGIE’S SURPRISE to one of my chickens.  It is for an appearance in Indianapolis at the national poultry show this October 29th.  My husband Joe and I reviewed the photos, and worked on the copy, finishing in time to go to one of his concerts at Tanglewood.  He plays the double bass like Berlioz the Bear in my 1991 book by that name.
During the concert, I let myself be taken away by the music – it often leads my thoughts to unexpected places.  I’m going to be juggling some thoughts about my tiger/India book and also a possible Cinderella peopled by poultry that was my editor’s idea.  Sadly, at the concert I can’t get out a pen and paper because it would look extremely rude and distract the concertgoers.  They will be in their own listening worlds!
Tonight I will sign 10 books for a contest winner and record the Hedge a gram.  Finally I settle down to planning another spread for my book, and if I have time, plant a terrarium I just bought.  There are a lot of mosses and ferns in the Berkshires in Massachusetts our summer home.  I want to keep the moss fresh and happy all fall while I paint them for my book, moss models!  I also will write a note to a man I just met that has a beautiful avairy with hundreds of exotic birds.  One of the pages I plan for Mossy is set in a natural history museum and I’m painting different collections in the borders.  I’m hoping I can borrow some of his feathers.  He also has tame Eastern box turtles and I would love to photograph them.  Good models seem to be popping up everywhere, and a wood frog hopped across my path yesterday.  I have been taking my iPhone everywhere, especially trail running on the Appalachian trail.  I have one eye on the path and one eye on the moss, ferns and little waterfalls along my route.  My day ends with the promise of a dream that may unfold into another book or open a door that fires the imagination.
Good luck with your days ahead, and save some time to create a lasting story or picture!

Happy reading, Jan