Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Over the years, I’ve found Valeri Gorbachev’s picture books (both ones he’s written and illustrated, as well as those written by others that he’s illustrated) to be a breath of fresh air. To be sure, I think he has a contemporary Richard-Scarry vibe—more than any other illustrator working today—but his artwork still possesses, at the same time, a style that is all his own.

(Pictured left is his self-portrait, which won me over right away.)

As I’ve written previously here at 7-Imp, when Valeri, who immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine in 1991, illustrates a new children’s title, I always go running to get a copy. (If you do the same, you stay busy, huh? He’s illustrated over fifty books in his career. Well over that number, I would bet. And I should have clarified this, but let’s carry on.) What do I love about his work? His pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are terrifically kid-friendly — without being condescending to child readers. His colors are always cozy and warm. His expressive, detailed character work—always anthropomorphized animals who are endearing, yet never saccharine—always wins me over, and there’s a subtle humor in his work as well. There’s also usually a real sense of community that pervades his titles, and he creates original cumulative tales that really work.

With the recent release of a new title he both penned and illustrated, Catty Jane Who Hated the Rain (Boyds Mill Press, April 2012), I invited Valeri over for a 7-Imp cyber-breakfast. I’ve wanted to do this for years, and I’m pleased he’s here. “I’m not very creative in my breakfast,” he told me. “Usually, I like sausage. In my life, I’ve probably eaten enough sausages at breakfast that they can be looped around the world a few times. And, of course, I have to have my cup of coffee. Or two. Or three.”

Three cups of coffee always works in my kitchen, so let’s get right to it. I thank Valeri for stopping by.

Jules: Are you an illustrator or author/illustrator?

Valeri (pictured right): I’m an author/illustrator, and these two really work hand in hand to help one another.

Jules: Can you list your books-to-date?

Valeri: Okay, I’ll mention the five from my career that ended up being my favorites. My favorite is Nicky and the Big Bad Wolves, which I credit with starting my career here in America. Next, I’d go with Turtle’s Penguin Day. Christopher Counting is a favorite as well. Then I’d say my retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And, lastly, The Giant Hug.

Jules: What is your usual medium, or––if you use a variety—your preferred one?

Valeri: My favorite medium is watercolors and ink on watercolor paper.

Jules: If you have illustrated for various age ranges (such as, both picture books and early reader books OR, say, picture books and chapter books), can you briefly discuss the differences, if any, in illustrating for one age group to another?

Valeri: I write primarily for younger children, but I do both picture books and chapter books. I look at picture books as a sort of theater, with its own stage…and each picture should be like a scene in a play, leading into the next one.

For chapter books, the illustration usually doesn’t take up that much room and, therefore, the characters and the action become much more important.

Jules: Where are your stompin’ grounds?

Valeri: I currently reside in Brooklyn, NY.

Jules: Can you briefly tell me about your road to publication?

Valeri: I started out as a cartoon artist, and after the art academy, I began working for magazines in my home country of Russia. This was vital to my later career as a children’s book author and illustrator, as it taught me how to bring images to life. Working as a cartoonist didn’t particularly excite me, because I liked to combine stories with humorous characters and specific storylines.

I was lucky to start working for North-South books, who published several of my first books in America. It was a great start, and I met many great editors from Penguin, Random House, and other companies. Step by step, I began to build my career.

Jules: Can you please point readers to your web site and/or blog?

Valeri: Believe it or not, I don’t have one. Once you take away the paintbrush and throw a keyboard in front of me, things get kind of complicated…

Jules: If you do school visits, tell me what they’re like.

Valeri: I haven’t done school visits, but I’ve done several readings at local libraries. I’ve enjoyed this greatly, because I got to meet a lot of the children that enjoy reading my books.

Jules: Any new titles/projects you might be working on now that you can tell me about?

Valeri: I don’t like to give too much away, but I am working on a few new books. I just finished illustrating a chapter book for Candlewick Press, called Squirrel’s Fun Day by Lisa Moser. It should be in stores by spring of 2013. After this, I’ll be working on illustrating Rufus Goes to School by Kim T. Griswell. Then I’ll be doing my own book, Me Too, for Holiday House. Lastly, I’ll be doing Happy Day For Katty Jane for Boyds Mills Press. All three will be out in the not-so-distant future.

Okay, the first three cups of coffee are on the table, and it’s time to get a bit more detailed with seven questions over breakfast. I thank Valeri again for visiting 7-Imp.

1. Jules: What exactly is your process when you are illustrating a book? You can start wherever you’d like when answering: getting initial ideas, starting to illustrate, or even what it’s like under deadline, etc. Do you outline a great deal of the book before you illustrate or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up?

Valeri: I begin by drawing small sketches, like a tiny storyboard. I usually fit all thirty-two spreads onto one or two sheets of paper with the text next to them. I write the text both in English and in Russian at the same time, so anyone looking at the storyboard is likely to think I’m crazy.

At meetings with the publisher, I present the soon-to-be book in rows of tiny pictures on cardboard and then create a first draft. Then I work on the text, and lastly, the final art appears and the original version of the book is created.

2. Jules: Describe your studio or usual work space.

Valeri: It’s hard for me to describe my studio, because it’s such a mess that words fail me when I try to explain it.

3. Jules: As a book-lover, it interests me: What books or authors and/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?

Valeri: I grew up in Russia, so most of the books and illustrators that influenced me were Russian. I loved the work of Yuri Koval (pictured right), and my favorite Russian artists were Yuri Vasnetsov and Vladimir Konashevich.

4. Jules: If you could have three (living) authors or illustrators—whom you have not yet met—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?

Valeri: I would go with John A. Rowe, Maurice Sendak, and John Burningham.

[Ed. Note: Valeri sent me these interview responses before the sad day we lost Sendak.]

5. Jules: What is currently in rotation on your iPod or loaded in your CD player? Do you listen to music while you create books?

Valeri: To be honest, I don’t really listen to music often. I prefer to write and draw in silence, so I can really concentrate.

6. Jules: What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

Valeri: I’d be interested to know that myself!

7. 7-Imp: Is there something you wish interviewers would ask you — but never do? Feel free to ask and respond here.

Valeri: I think I’ve answered enough. Don’t want the readers to get sick of me.

Jules: What is your favorite word?

Valeri: “Good.”

Jules: What is your least favorite word?

Valeri: “Bad.”

Jules: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Valeri: Simply life — and all the wonderful things that happen in it.

Jules: What turns you off?

Valeri: Nothing.

Jules: What sound or noise do you love?

Valeri: I love hearing the voices of my friends and family.

Jules: What sound or noise do you hate?

Valeri: My alarm clock going off in the morning.

Jules: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Valeri: I’d like to try my hand at working on films.

Jules: What profession would you not like to do?

Valeri: Any paperwork-based job that doesn’t allow for creativity.

Jules: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Valeri: “Wow, Valeri! How did you find the time to visit us?”

All artwork and images used with permission of Valeri Gorbachev — with the exception of the picture of Yuri Koval, which Jules took from this site.

CATTY JANE WHO HATED THE RAIN. Copyright © 2012 by Valeri Gorbachev. Published by Boyds Mill Press, Honesdale, PA. Images reproduced by permission of Valeri Gorbachev.

LITTLE BUNNY AND THE MAGIC CHRISTMAS TREE. Copyright © 2011 David Martin. Illustrations © 2011 Valeri Gorbachev. Published by Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA. Image reproduced by permission of Valeri Gorbachev.

THE MISSING CHICK. Copyright © 2009 Valeri Gorbachev. Image originally published in this 2009 7-Imp post—reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA—and re-posted here.

SHHH! Copyright © 2011 by Valeri Gorbachev. Published by Philomel Books, New York, NY. Images originally published in this 2011 7-Imp post—reproduced by permission of publisher—and re-posted here.

The spiffy and slightly sinister gentleman introducing the Pivot Questionnaire is Alfred, © 2009 Matt Phelan.