Wild About Capybaras!coming May, 2026 will be my 7th TOON book. I want to share my cover sketches. If you are not an illustrator, you may be surprised to see how many sketches I did. This is almost the cover…
My editors liked this idea best, but, they didn’t like the cartoon balloon. They didn’t like the fruit on the capybara’s snout! They didn’t like cut paper landscape! They didn’t like the swimmer! Capybaras are often depicted with yuzu, a fragrant citrus used in Japanese baths. The editors had a good point. Yuzu is not something a Capybara would find in the wilds of their native South America.
Scroll to the bottom to see the final cover. Meanwhile, here are some early sketches. Luckily, the swimming pool idea (below) got rejected. It’s looks like a swipe from Bill Peet’s Capyboppy! Believe me, I never saw Peet’s sweet 1966 book about his pet Capybara until after I finished my book.
Other ideas I played with included this one had two yuzus! The stacked animals recall one of my favorite tales from the Brothers Grimm’s, The Bremen Town Musicians.
Another, simple one. I still kinda’ like this one…
Another…
Another…
Finally, This is the cover. TA-DA!I didn’t do the lettering, which is great. I painted the landscape instead of using cut paper. After eliminating the swimming capybara, I added the Amazonian water lilies and a little frog staring up at the capybaras.
Kids know more about capybaras than most adults do. These TikTok stars, the world’s largest rodents, are quite amazing. If you want to learn more, you’ll want to get the book. I’m looking forward to doing more school visits in 2026. I already got my capybara shirt!
Thanks to The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table for sharing this photo of me at The Kutztown Public Library.
More info on my other TOON books and my school and library visits can be found here.
I brought my sketchbook to the Santa Gathering, Lancaster, PA. The 4-day Santa convention is an incredible event with over 100 professional Santas. There are vendors of custom suits, designer beards, belts, and buckles. I go to meet other Santas.
Santa Ken is a charming fellow and one of several African-American Santas in attendance. He’s a Vietnam vet and a former disc jockey who worked for radio stations in Newark, NJ, and New York City.
83-year old Santa Fran is also a veteran. He was in the Air Force. He travels up to Pennsylvania from his new home in Florida every year. He is a big fan of Allegiant Air as they have special perks for vets. Years ago, an agency sent him on tour as Santa in Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
Santa John and his wife Sylvia have a mission. They distribute free Christmas books to anyone who promises to get them into the hands of children. He ,too, is a veteran. He served on the USS John F. Kennedy, the last non-nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
Santa Dan has a great smile and great beard. When complimented on his beard, he said, “I’m just lucky.” He was a school teacher for years and wasn’t permitted to grow a beard until he retired. He said he never knew he could grow such a good beard.
While most of the attendees were Santas, there were a number of Mrs. Clauses present.
I kept sketching during the lectures. Skip Bowers of Mason-Dixon Santas gave some frank advice. Personally, as a mall Santa, I remain secular and so never mention Jesus. Skip, however, is also a paster so some of his advice was more suited for Christian youth groups.
He also told us the best answer when a child asks, “Santa, What’s your favorite cookie?” The answer -“Round.” Skip made another good point, – Santa should use the term “pro-bono” rather than “free’ on those occasions you are willing to work for a charity.
Speaking of pro-bono, Santa Jimmy Smentana of Minnesota donates his time each Christmas season to a railroad museum, the Jackson Street Roundhouse, in St. Paul.
The Santa Gathering Talent Show was memorable. I never heard “Jesus Take the Wheel!” before. As my old friend Santa Middy noted, it’s easy to be a convincing ventriloquist when you have a bushy mustache.
There were some glitches with the sound system, so the sock hop didn’t go as well as expected.
We had Bingo and Christmas Trivia. The hardest trivia question was this: Who wrote The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas? I’m not going to tell you. I got it wrong. I did win a Snickers bar for getting 6 of 10 questions right.
It wasn’t all fun and games. Well, mostly it was. There was an educational lecture on reindeer husbandry by Cassandra from Spruce Ridge Reindeer Farm.
When I asked my wife, Patt, if she wanted to come to a Santa convention. She said, “Let’s see, Do I really want to be in a room with 100 overweight bearded extroverts? -No, You go, have fun” And I did!
It is a paradox. Santa is Santa, yet each Santa is unique. Santas wear all sort of hats. Yes, Santas do tend to be extroverts. But who wants to go to an introvert convention?
My favorite hat was the red Greek fisherman’s cap worm by Santa George Grasic. He got it at a Santa event many years ago and has never seen another one since.
So glad I brought my sketchbook to collect my memories of the Santa Gathering. Portraying Santa is an odd job, but it is also a calling. If you can make another person experience joy, you are likely to experience joy yourself. Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!
The Society of Illustrators , NYC, hosted “TheBologna Children’s Book Fair as the Epicenter of International Illustration.” Illustrator Steven Guarnaccia paced the floor and delivered a rousing pep talk about the BCBF (Bologna Children’s Book Fair.) The room was packed to capacity with famous illustrators including Leslie Cober , president of the Society. Much of the crowd seemed to be newly minted MFA students, many from my alma mater, SVA.
Steven, the best dressed illustrator in NYC, is also bella Bologna’s biggest booster. In a country famed for its food, he insisted Bologna is the foodie capital.
LIBRERIE COOP Bookstore. A modern bookstore with medieval walls. Photo by Janna Morishima
Steven waxed poetic about the people, the architecture, the magnificent bookstores, and the camaraderie of book lovers.
Steven Guarnaccia, Maria Russo, and me.
I ran into Steven several times at BCBF 2025 where I had the privilege of manning the TOON Books table at the fair’s “Comics Corner.”
Steven Guarnaccia and Elena Pasoli, BCBF Director took questions.
Elena Pasoli, director of the BCBF, explained how Bologna has supported the fair for 60 plus years. The University of Bologna is the oldest university in the western world. The Fine Arts and Education faculty at the university and at other Italian schools are key partners. Bologna (population 400,000) may not be not as big as Milan or Rome, but it punches above its weight. It has numerous museums and galleries, and pop-up art events to coincide with the fair.
Steven spoke about mind-blowing art that would never be published in American children’s books. A case in point was the art from the Baltic nation of Estonia, the Guest of Honor for 2025.
The kid-friendly exhibition of Estonian Illustration.
Estonia’s booth at the fair displayed scores of new books. By the end of the fair, many of the Estonian books sported bookmarks bragging of international rights negotiated at the fair. Elena explained this is the essential reason the fair exists. It is a “rights fair.” Agencies and publishers flock to Bologna to make deals. Oddly enough, though it is a children’s book fair, children are not in attendance in the exhibition halls. There are, however, plenty of concurrent events where children are welcome.
One of Bologna’s palaces, the PALAZZO D`ACCURSIO had a wild kid-friendly exhibition of plywood cut-outs based on Estonian children’s book illustration.
Work of Priit Pärn, Estonia
Bologna has unique cultural institutes like Hamelin. A team from Hamelin was also in NYC to explain how they support of the fair. They are instrumental in highlighting international illustrators and especially comics creators. They arranged nearly nonstop panel discussions on all aspects of comics. In fact, Hamelin invited me to speak on a panel on “Comics in the Classroom.” One of many panels I enjoyed was about comics in South America, something I want to know more about.
Juan Pablo Fajardo of Colombia speaking of his publishing house Piedra Tijera Papel at one on many panels.
Back to NYC. The audience had plenty of questions for Steven and Elena….
Steven Guarnaccia and Elaine Pasoli
“What if we work in comics and zines?” Steven responded that he ‘s taken students from both his Parsons illustration classes and from his comics/zine classes to the fair. All manner of students found the trip inspiring. “When I started as an illustrator in NY, there were specific sorts of illustrators,” said Steven, ” There were book cover illustrators, editorial illustrators, comic book artist. Some might cross over a bit, but in the rest of the world illustrators don’t stick to these sorts of silos.”
Steven joked that the audience should look under their chairs for a ticket to Bologna 2026. I must admit I reached under my seat.
An illustrator asked, “Are you suggesting we just go to Bologna? Doesn’t your publisher have to send you?” Answer from Steve and Elena was, “Just Go! “
Janna Morishima’s Bologna Book Fair Budget
“What does it cost ?” The actual fair admission for illustrators is 22 Euros, roughly $25. Great, but what about travel and lodging? Literary agent Janna Morishima piped up to share she did the fair for under $1300 in 2024. (She happily admits to being a very frugal traveller.) Above is her budget from her 2024 Bologna trip posted at Kids Comics Unite. Janna’s whole illustrated Bologna 2024 journey can be found here.
Catiebelle Bulmer, Illustrator and Kutztown University grad.
P.S. I was surprised to find one of my former Kutztown illustration students went to the fair. I asked Catiebelle Bulmer to share her impressions. She wrote, ” This was my first time attending the Bologna Book Fair, and it was completely soul-filling. I left feeling wildly inspired—not only by the incredible talent on display, but by the reminder that there’s room for all kinds of illustrators in the children’s book world. The wide range of styles, voices, and storytelling approaches made it clear that there’s no one “right way” to be an illustrator. I came home with a renewed sense of purpose and am now working on a children’s book of my own—one rooted in themes of identity, inclusivity, and environmental stewardship. It’s colorful, heartfelt, and meant to help kids feel like they belong in their bodies because their bodies are part of the natural world, and that world is worth protecting. The most memorable part of the city was absolutely the food (I mean, Bologna!), but at the fair itself, nothing topped the chaos and community energy around the Illustrators Wall—it was like a living, breathing collage of creativity.”
The Illustrator’s Wall. Photo by Catiebelle Bulmer
Catie sounds every bit as enthusiastic about Bologna as Steven and Elena. If you are an illustrator, or hope to be an illustrator, a pilgrimage to Bologna is the trip of a lifetime.
I’d never been to Italy and didn’t expect to visit. Françoise Mouly, the founder of TOON Books, was invited to the 2025 Bologna Children’s Book Fair. As luck would have it, she had a conflict and asked the Book Fair if she could pass the invitation on to me.
So, I represented TOON Books in the magnificent city of Bologna as a guest of the fair. It was a feast for the eyes. TOON Books had table at the Comics Corner where I met brilliant comics publishers from all over the world, including Colombia, The Philippines, and Brazil.
Bebel Books of Brazil gifted me a copy of a remarkable little book, Acqua Alta. I guessed right, the title translates as ‘High Water.’ Bebel Books has published over 100 books. Some of them are NSFW, like Suruba para Colorir (Orgy Coloring Book.) Another, a comic anthology about toxic masculinity, BOY DODÓI, is a hit in Brazil.
Acqua Alta is safe-for-work and very lovely book. I’ll share some of my favorite pages. At the end of this post is a link to the entire story.
The story is wordless. A little girl arrives in Venice on a cruise ship. She gets distracted at a mask shop and suddenly she is on her own. No longer part of the throng of tourists, she manages to wander empty side streets.
Look at that partial mask in the upper left corner and how it directs our eyes to the girl. The following page, once she has put on the mask is one of my favorites. So gutsy.
I’ve never been to Venice, but I think I know it because of movies, The Merchant of Venice, Casino Royale, and Don’t Look Now! Don’t Look Now!made a lasting impression on me. Donald Sutherland plays a grieving father who thinks he sees his recently deceased daughter running around Venice. As the little girl in Acqua Alta wandered around I felt uneasy for her because of my personal catalog of Venetian movie imagery. Every reader carries their cocktail of impressions of the great city. I doubt Nik Neves’ intention was to channel a 1970’s horror film.
I want to thank the sisters Bebel Abrue and Manaira Abrue of São Paulo, Brazil for the gift of this Acqua Alta. Bebel is the Editor-in-Chief at Bebel Books. Manaira, art director and designer. Both are brimming with positive energy and deserve the international acclaim coming their way. Find them on Instagram @bebelbooks
ACQUA ALTA : FREE ONLINE! The pictures above are just a sampler of Acqua Alta. The entire book, all 64 pages, is FREE on Nik Neves’ website. Of course, the physical book is a different experience. The printing is exquisite. The cream-colored paper stock is so substantial that each individual page has the heft of a classic post card. It is a joy to savor the visual poetry of Nik Neves.
I’ve told this story before, but one thing Marshall Arisman taught me is that a good story deserves to be retold. In 1984, I was a bartender at the 8th Street Tavern in Hoboken and doing occasional illustrations for The New York Times and The Village Voice. I learned from an ad in the Times that The School of Visual Arts was launching a new MFA program. The chair was Marshall Arisman and the program was then called “Illustration as Visual Journalism.” I applied and met Marshall in his office at SVA on 23rd St. He was wearing a tan cashmere sweater. I did most of the talking. He laughed a bit.
A Radiant Monkey, ink and gold leaf by Marshall Arizona
My application included the requisite 20 slides, some Voice cartoons and not very good travel sketches I’d done in Viet Nam during the war. I didn’t have a Bachelor’s degree when I applied. I convinced Marshall to let me enroll by promising to finish that undergrad degree while also getting my MFA at night in his program.
Marshall seldom used paint brushes. He would apply the paint on paper or canvas with a palette knife, a q-tip swab, or the pop top from a soda can. He smoked unfiltered Gauloises cigarettes even while he was painting in oils.
Drawing by Marshall Arisman 2017
Marshall died in 2022. I wept when I heard it as if I lost family. SVA had an exhibition of his work in their Gramercy Gallery this winter. It closed last week. I am so glad I got to see it. His artwork is powerful and plentiful. The personal memorabilia was also fascinating. I had to laugh seeing his rejections slips, including one from J. Carter Brown of the National Gallery of Art. There were touching anniversary cards drawn for his wife, Dee Ito.
I was not sure I was cut out to be a teacher. I wanted that vanishing (even, then, in 1985) job as a freelance illustrator. Marshall learned of a job as sabbatical replacement for an illustration prof at East Carolina University. He persuaded me to take the job. I taught there for a few years, then 30 years at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
Photo form the SVA exhibition: “Marshall Arisman: Does That Make Sense?”
I would always tell students what Marshall told us. Think of yourself not as an illustrator, but as the author of your own projects. Make something personal and then find a place for it. Of course, the work does not always find a place, but, at least, it gets done. I think about Marshall often and try to get back to work.
Radiant Monkey, ink and gold leaf, Marshall Arisman
Tara Hannon is on a roll! She graduated from Kutztown University’s Communication Design program in 2006. In 2024, she will celebrate the publication of her first graphic novel for kids, Birtle. She shares her journey in this Q. and A.
Q. What was your first design-related job after college?
My first design related job was a marketing position for a security company. I didn’t love it. I spent a lot of my time there dreaming about a more creative career. I began to draw greeting cards on my lunch breaks and those greeting cards eventually became the catalyst to begin freelancing illustration.
Q. Any organizations that helped you on the road to publication?
SCBWI was a big help finding information on how to get published, and I still love their webinars. But early on, I think 12×12 was the most helpful. 12×12 is a private online forum (they open for membership at the start of every year) where you can post your manuscripts to be critiqued by other members. Before joining 12×12 I was writing alone without peer review. My writing improved substantially after finding critique groups and people in the writing community that I enjoyed working with and learning from. I found my first critique group through 12×12 in 2017 and four of us from that group are celebrating our debut books this year. I think that’s so cool!
Q. Is Birtle your first graphic novel?
BIRTLE is my first published graphic novel. I created a middle grade graphic novel that went on submission before BIRTLE, but it didn’t get picked up. Before that I focused mostly on picture books. My agent and I sent 4 picture book dummies and one middle grade graphic novel on submission before BIRTLE. BIRTLE was the first book I got an offer on as an author illustrator! Before that, I was also hired to illustrate two board books, which was really fun. I love working in different kid lit genres!
Q. How did you get an agent?
My first agent, Jordan Hamessley, contacted me through Twitter. I had tweeted my portfolio website and one of her clients retweeted it. (Thanks, AJ!) It caught her eye and she emailed me. (I had been in the query trenches for a long time, so receiving that email totally blew my mind.) I sent her some work and after she reviewed it, she offered rep! It was really awesome and a great example of how social media can work for artists. A few years later, I found myself back in the query trenches and a friend of mine in the writing community contacted me to say, “I think my agent might be a good fit for you.” (Thanks, Christine!) My friend connected me to her agent, Elizabeth Bennett, who reviewed my work and decided we would be a good match! I was thrilled! Querying can be soul crushing at times. But both of these moments are an example of how incredible the kid lit community is!
Q. How did you agent help you?
When I started writing, I was laser beam focused on writing and illustrating picture books. My first agent, Jordan, thought my art would be well suited to illustrate chapter books. I remember the exact moment she said it to me because I was shocked but I also thought it was very cool that she saw more for me than I did.
A few years later when my picture book, The Only Ghost In School, went out on submission and didn’t get picked up, she encouraged me to try writing it as a chapter book. I did and we got an offer from Penguin Workshop (Woop!). Chapter books were not on my radar, until Jordan encouraged me to try it. Now I LOVE writing longer format books. Who knew!?
Q. How would you describe Birtle?
Birtle is an early reader graphic novel. It is playful and funny and about loving ourselves and each other just as we are. Some people might read it and think it’s a just cute friendship story. And that’s great, because it is a cute friendship story, but when I simmer it all down, it is truly a book about belonging. While I was writing Birtle I heard this quote from Brene Brown, “The opposite of belonging is fitting in.” (Oof, I still love that quote.) I kind of picture Birtle being the book version of that quote. Teeny and Tootie’s friendship is an example finding true belonging with someone who loves you just the way you are.
Q. What do you daughters think of your success? Did they get to witness you unboxing Birtle?
Good question! They are in Elementary School, (Kindergarten and Fourth Grade) and it is really fun writing books that they will read. Tootie and Teeny come up in conversation often, we have named many fish after them. And they have loads of ideas for future Birtle books!
I’ve worked from home since they were born, so they have seen so much of the work that goes into creating a book. I read them drafts and get their feedback, which is often quite good! They root for my characters when they go out on submission. I appreciate that they have a front row seat to the wins and the rejections. And it was a really special moment when my oldest read Birtle on her own for the first time – every giggle made my heart swoon.
Q. Has Birtle gotten any reviews ?
Birtle has gotten some early Goodreads reviews and they seem to be good! Phew! One review in particular made me really happy. The reviewer started by saying, “Foster and adoptive parents READ THIS WITH YOUR KIDS!” My sister and brother-in-law foster children, so this felt awesome. It is really rewarding to see my creation through the eyes of other people’s experiences.
Q. Can you say any more about your future books?
Yes! I am writing and illustrating a chapter book series with Penguin Workshop! The series called, The Only Ghost in Town. It’s about a ghost who moves from Scareville to a human town which is a big shock — for everyone. Not only does Ghostie have to navigate being the new kid, everyone is afraid of him.
My first chapter book will be, The Only Ghost In School, and the second book will be, The Only Ghost at Summer Camp. The series explores the subjects of friendship, belonging (surprise!), and being the new kid. I am SO excited for this book. It will be full color and highly illustrated! I hope the colored art on the pages helps engage and encourage kids who are transitioning from picture books to chapter books. And I love drawing Ghostie, so that’s a big plus!
Many thanks, Tara,It’s wonderful that all your hard work is bringing you such success! Birtle will be published in January by AMP (Andrews McMeel Publications) and is available for preorder wherever books are sold.
In 2019, in Seattle, I shared a table at a library conference with one of my heroes, the great Ivan Brunetti. He was there to promote his TOON book Comics Easy as ABC. I was there to promote Snails Are Just My Speed.
Fantagraphics invited Ivan and me to an after party at a taproom miles from the Convention Center. We said we’d never find the place. Tom Kacyzynski of Uncivilized Books offered to drive us. Great! Tom had flown to Seattle from Minneapolis on a red-eye flight and was beyond exhausted. Beneath the Seattle Convention Center is a warren of subterranean parking lots extending for blocks. Tom could not recall where he had parked. I asked him if he remembered taking a left or right turn into the lot. He thought left, maybe. I asked what the car looked like. He thought it was a white compact. He pressed the button on his fob and we clambered over diagonal barriers from one parking level to the next. At one point Ivan was astride a steel barrier and said, “You go. Just leave me.” Ivan may have been kidding, but we refused to leave him in the catacombs.
Tom kept clicking the key fob and we thought could hear the car beeping back. Eventually we found the rental car. It was little and white.
New Yorker covers by Ivan Brunetti
When we got to the party there were a half dozen artists sitting on a stage with a microphone. The moderator asked the speakers, “Is there any sort of comics you don’t like? The response, “Anything by old white guys!” was met with approving laughter. So for me, the party was less fun than finding the car.
From COMICS:EASY AS ABC by Ivan Brunetti
I am doing a presentation for the Pennsylvania Art Educators Association on the best books to teach the art of creating comics. Ivan’s Comics Easy as ABC is, in my opinion, the best book to teach elementary schoolers how to make comics. Full disclosure, I contributed a drawing to this book.
His Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice is geared for adults and published by Yale University Press. In it Ivan insists that the lessons be done in the precise order that are presented in the book. I told Ivan I thought that was a bit bossy. He said that rule was meant for college students and that as a professional I was permitted to skip around.
He has a new kids’ book,Shapes and Shapes, coming in October from TOON Books.
The FREE Cartoonist Certificate
This summer Ivan posted a somewhat curmudgeonly, yet wonderful screed on instagram. He was frustrated by aspiring cartoonists sending him comics and asking for feedback. (He made an exception for students enrolled in his class at Columbia College Chicago.) I suggested making an auto-reply to send corespondents, – a Cartoonist Certificate. I was thinking of the certificates bestowed by the Wizard of OZ. I am delighted to report he ran with my suggestion. See Below…
Ivan Brunetti, photo from Yale University Press
FROM IVANBRUNETTI.COM: “Today, the Curia shares one of the Foundation’s most recent pro bono efforts to bolster the confidence of aspiring cartoonists everywhere: The Cartoonist Certificate.
These certificates have been consecrated by Mr. Brunetti himself and thus are to be considered Holy Writ. Like an indulgence. They can be dowloaded as a high-resolution PDF file . Simply fill in your name and date the document, and you are now a cartoonist. Mr. Brunetti blesses you.
We simply ask that you make a serious commitment to the venerable and timeless Art of Cartooning before downloading this sacred and legally/morally binding document. The certificate merely takes your internal dedication and gives it an external form, one that can easily be resized to accommodate your printing and framing needs. Go forth and draw. Don’t ask Mr. Brunetti for feedback, as you no longer need it. You are very welcome.“
The Procreate iPad app is a great bargain. It cost $12.99 in the U.S. It was under $10 when I got it in 2020, half the price of my monthly Photoshop subscription. Procreate is intuitive. It comes with lots of crisp tutorials, but I wasn’t able to teach myself to the point that I would want to share my work. I found a class that helped me a lot.
In January, 2022, I enrolled in an online course in Udemy called Procreate Solid Foundations. The teacher, Simon Foster, is based in Manchester, England. The class has 18 hours of video tutorials. Simon, pictured below, is affable and knowledgeable.
I recommend this course for anyone just getting Procreate. If you do a search for Udemy coupons you can often find this class on sale for $20 or less.
Lately, I’ve been drawing a comic strip for the Sunday HaHa. The Sunday HaHa offers free comics ever Sunday by children’s book creators, including the page’s founders Mika Song and Jen De Oliveira.
95% of ‘Small Word Rat and Big Word Rat’ is done in Procreate. It is easier to refine the type in Photoshop, so I haven’t given up my Adobe subscription. I’ll share some images here to give you an idea of my process.
I begin, as always, with pencil and paper. Then ink. Above is the very rough ink over the even rougher pencil sketch. Below is the finished strip for the Sunday Haha.
Here is how I do the lettering. First I letter the text, then I draw the speech bubble around it on a separate layer. I spill white into that bubble, then rearrange the layers so the text on top. I added the “?” to the text before exporting the final art.
I drew a dozen “Small Word Rat and Big Word Rat” strips before I realized the little bird should have a name. It needed to be short enough that Small Word Rat could say it. She is a Wren named Jen.
Not only am I getting a feel for Procreate, I’m getting a feel for the characters. If someone uses small words it doesn’t mean they are are unintelligent. Both Small Word Rat and Big Word Rat are clever. They understand each other most of the time. Sometimes we need Jen to ask for a bit of clarification.
I hope to do more strips to the Sunday Haha. Meanwhile, I’ve posted more Small Word Rat and Big Word Rat on my website HeyMcCloskey.com. See you there.
As the subtitle explains, it is a book about the making of a classic. I like the fact the Stadtlander’s cover art uses the same forest green as the original.
Robert McCloskey came up with the germ of his most famous story as an art student in Boston observing a duck family in the park. By the time he got to working on Make Way for Ducklings he had moved to New York City.
That man could draw. In the days before Google images, illustrators in New York City would go the New York Public Library’s picture collection for photo reference. I am old enough to remember doing this myself. Robert McCloskey took his research a step further and visited the Museum of Natural History to draw from taxidermy specimens. Finally, he decided he needed to get some real ducks as models.
Robert McCloskey with his ducks on the subway.(detail) Art by Becca Stadtlander
Robert McCloskey drew his beloved duck illustrations with a litho pencil on zinc plates. They were printed in a sepia-toned ink. Becca Stadlander’s full-color illustrations are done in gouache and colored pencil on watercolor paper. Stadtlander’s art does not resemble Robert McCloskey’s work, but it evokes a midcentury charm appropriate for the story.
Text by Emma Bland Smith Art by Becca Stadtlander
Emma Bland Smith’s story emphasizes Mr. McCloskey’s determination to perfect his craft. She also describes how a good editor contributes to a book project. May Massee of Viking Press is credited for her crucial role in bringing McCloskey’s book into print.
What Wine Goes with Duck?
Speaking of editors, I am certain Emma Bland Smith is familiar with my favorite story about the creation of Make Way for Ducklings. Believe it or not, Robert McCloskey fed his ducks red wine so they would slow down and be better models. Amazing story, but no editor would allow this episode to appear in a 21st century kid’s book. The red wine story can be found in Gary Schmidt’s definitive 1990 biography, Robert McCloskey, which Bland Smith credits as a primary source.
Art by Becca Stadtlander
Spoiler alert: Robert McCloskey did not eat his ducks. His downstairs neighbors complained about the constant quacking and water from his overflowing bathtub. He released them at a friend’s country home. Full Disclosure: I received a review copy of Mr. McCloskey’s Marvelous Mallards -The Making of Make Way for Ducklings from the publisher, Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. Astra bought TOON books this year, so my Giggle and Learn series is also published by Astra.
Hey McCloskey, What’s in a name?
The McCloskey Coat of Arms
Robert McCloskey is not related to me. He was born in 1914 in Hamilton, Ohio, around the same time my McCloskey grandparents immigrated from Donegal, Ireland. Way back in 12th-century Ireland we likely had a common ancestor named Bloskey O’Kane, but we are not closely related.
Make Way For McCloskey
Growing up in New Jersey, I learned about Robert McCloskey at the Elizabeth Public Library. Librarians took my library card and invariably remarked, “McCloskey? There’s famous author named McCloskey.” I knew that already because I was a vain, perhaps delusional, child.
I would look up my own name, Kevin McCloskey, in the card catalog. I liked to imagine I had written a book, but suffered from amnesia and had forgotten about my own great work. I’d find Robert McCloskey’s many books when I looked up my name.
Somehow, Robert McCloskey inspired me. If one McCloskey could write a book, so could I. This groundless idea stuck with me for life. In 1991, I published my first children’s picture book, Mrs Fitz’s Flamingos. It, too, is a book about birds in the city, but I never thought to fill my apartment with flamingos.
I do school visits. Kids ask, “What made you want to become and author and illustrator?” I tell them my silly, superstitious idea based on finding the name McCloskey in a card catalog. I ask them their names and repeat them back. Sometimes I can blurt out a writer with their name: Garcia; Song; Johnson; or Singh. Other times I tell them to look their surname up on the internet. They will surely find an author or artist with their own name. And for some of them it might prove a lucky charm.
McCloskey Varnish label from the collection of Daniel C.Kirk, author and illustrator.
Lastly, the I want to share a this old paint can label. McCloskey Varnish has nothing to do with me or Robert McCloskey. But I was taught in school every essay needs a good finish and McCloskey varnish makes a wonderful finish!
P.S. I sent a copy of Mrs. Fitz’s Flamingos to Robert McCloskey c/o his publisher, Viking Press. Months later a I received a note from the great Robert McCloskey, his return address simply was Deer Isle, Maine. He wished me success from one McCloskey to another.
Daniel McCloskey, the creator of the new graphic novel Cloud Town, is my son. That’s my full disclosure. So, take what I say with a grain of salt. Daniel is a genius. I write kid’s books for TOON Books, so some might assume Daniel learned to make graphic novels from me. Not so.
Dan and me in my Kutztown, PA studio.
I taught illustration for 30 years at Kutztown University. Daniel was never in my class. In fact, he never studied illustration, precisely. But he has always been a storyteller and image maker. When he was 12, Dr. Tom Schantz gave him keys to Kutztown University’s animation studio. Dan made wild stop-motion animations. He studied printmaking at Kutztown University with Evan Summer. Then he studied writing at Pitt and spent a formative semester in Tokyo studying manga at Temple University Japan.
If you want to know about his Kutztown years, the Comics Beat published Dan’s 6-part autobiography. You can read it here: Failing to Quit.
The pages below will give you an idea of what Cloud Town is all about. His publisher, Abrams Comic Arts, calls it a Young Adult title, but old adults have enjoyed it, too.
Bill Boichel of Copacetic Comics, Pittsburgh, summarized Cloud Town‘s plot: “Hold onto your hats and get ready for 220 pages of non-stop, high-school-oriented, manga-inflected, duo-tone comics action! It’s a new school for Cloud Towners, Pen and Olive, and that means new friends, new enemies and new challenges, not the least of which is helping to protect Cloud Town from gigantic monsters that come through “The Rip” (as in, a tear in the fabric of reality, a rending of the space-time continuum) by learning to pilot a giant-size android known as a Care Corps Storm Catcher … all while managing family responsibilities and shredding the town.”
Example of Lettering and Onomatopoeia
Cloud Town is 224 pages long. More pages than my last 5 books! Dan did everything in Cloud Town: story, pencils, inks, lettering, and coloring. He is a master storyteller and deserves a black belt in onomatopoeia! BOOSH!
Big sister Zoe (left) had custom hats made for Cloud Town’s launch at Mission Comics, S.F.
Dan lives in Oakland, CA. He sometimes works at Mission Comics in San Francisco. He spent the month of June doing an East-Coast mini-tour. He signed books at Phantom of the Attic in Pittsburgh, the Cecil County Children’s Book Festival in Maryland, Firefly Bookstore in Kutztown. I got to join him on a road trip to the American Library Association Convention in Washington, D.C. We had a blast.
Dan is now back in California. He got to sign a stack of Cloud Town at San Diego ComicCon. Want to know a secret? He is working on a sequel.
Daniel Signing at the ALA Convention, Washington,D.C.
“McCloskey’s debut graphic novel is a story of compatibility and divergence as two friends explore and adapt beyond the confines of their relationship and their own self-imposed limitations. . .Weirdly and unexpectedly wonderful.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“McCloskey’s detailed art does a great job of emphasizing the emotional highs and lows of high school and mech combat. The gritty, textured look makes the characters and settings feel real and helps create a seamless transition between reality and the more fantastical elements of this adventure.” ―School Library Journal
Cloud Town is now available at over 150 libraries worldwide and wherever books are sold. Visit www.danielmccloskey.com if you want to get in touch with BeanCan Dan. He is happy to do school and library visits, virtually, or in real life!
Illustration Concentration 