<\/p>\n
Steve agreed to an interview for the Cybils blog, an abbreviated version<\/a><\/strong> of what you’ll read here, posted last week. What follows is the interview in its entirety. We at 7-Imp — and everyone over at the Cybils’ site<\/a><\/strong> — thank him for taking the time to give us some insight into his work. <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: In my experience, teachers and librarians have not been dismissive of non-fiction, though that may be because I\u2019m usually interacting with a self-selected group of non-fiction fans. In fact, that\u2019s so obvious I don\u2019t know why I never thought of it before. <\/p>\n I agree with Jon. I think there are several things going on. Many early education professionals come from a language arts or “soft” science background, such as sociology (I\u2019m not using “soft” in a negative way), rather than from a \u2018hard” science (physics, chemistry, biology) curriculum. Reading and analyzing fiction is an integral part of most teachers\u2019 education. <\/p>\n I also think fiction and non-fiction elicit different kinds of passion in readers. The themes of fiction \u2014 love, fear, adventure, triumph over adversity \u2014 are universal. Read aloud, the exploits of Lilly<\/a><\/strong> or Despereaux<\/a><\/strong> can\u2019t fail to captivate a room full of kids. The pleasures of non-fiction are more subtle. Few readers laugh out loud or cry as they learn about the extraordinary abilities of the jumping spider or how the continents have drifted about. And not all children are interested in the same non-fiction subjects. Some are fascinated by astronomy, others by geology or zoology. Unless a child has expressed interest in a specific subject, I think it\u2019s much harder for a librarian to suggest a sure-fire non-fiction book. <\/p>\n But we shouldn\u2019t let a few little things like that stand in the way of turning kids on to the world of non-fiction books. I\u2019m serious. But I understand why it\u2019s not always easy. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: About your Cybils-nominated Living Color<\/em><\/strong><\/a> Jennifer Schultz of The Kiddosphere @ Fauquier<\/em><\/strong><\/a> wrote (at this post<\/a><\/strong> at the Cybils blog<\/a><\/strong>), \u201cJenkins shares information, rather than lectures, and readers feel as if they are being included in delightful secrets.\u201d <\/p>\n I love that and think it captures well the strengths of the titles you both illustrate and write — or co-write with Robin. So, what\u2019s your secret for delighting us and not lecturing to us? And what advice would you give aspiring non-fiction children\u2019s book writers who want to learn how to do the same?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: I don\u2019t quite know how to answer this, because there certainly isn\u2019t any secret. I have no formal training as a writer (or as a scientist either -\u2013 go figure). I find writing really hard. I rewrite many, many times. It\u2019s a reductive process, and I try to take out what feels patronizing or confusing. I do have a reader of a certain age in mind (it varies with the book), and I try to anticipate questions children might ask. I know I get annoyed when I read something along the lines of: “The rhinoceros is the second largest land animal,” and the obvious next question isn\u2019t answered. I also try to not put adults who might be reading the book on the spot by giving them answers, often at the back of the book, to questions that I think kids are going to ask. Finally \u2014 and I think this is the most important thing \u2014 I never write about something that I\u2019m not fascinated by myself. This is true, I\u2019m sure, of all good science writers. But I do read a lot of non-fiction that, while technically competent, was pretty clearly done in the spirit of a high school book report on a George Eliot<\/a><\/strong> novel (not to dis her . . .). <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: In your Boston Globe\u2013Horn Book Award acceptance speech<\/a><\/strong>, you wrote, \u201c{i}n my books, I try to present straightforward information in a context that makes sense to children. Children don\u2019t need anyone to give them a sense of wonder; they already have that. But they do need a way to incorporate the various bits and pieces of knowledge they acquire into some logical picture of the world. For me, science provides the most elegant and satisfying way to construct this picture.\u201d <\/p>\n There are innumerable ways to structure your non-fiction books in such a way that will provide this \u201clogical picture of the world\u201d (and you \u2013 and Robin — have been praised for your book design and organizational techniques, such as the use of sidebars of information which free you up to wow us with your art work, for instance). What is the first step for you in deciding how to organize your text and illustrations?<\/font> <\/p>\n Typically, there is a lot of back-and-forth between the art and text \u2014 especially when it\u2019s a collaboration with Robin. Ultimately, a kind of narrative develops. As we work, we decide just what we want to explain about a subject, and experiment with different combinations and sequences of words and images. A lot of this is trial and error, and we will create eight, ten, sometimes as many as twenty dummy layouts trying to figure out what works best. Some of it is stylistic -\u2013 I might be determined to illustrate a particular animal, whether it makes complete sense or not. Usually Robin will gently talk me out of this kind of self-indulgence. I rarely use diagrammatic illustrations (if you don\u2019t count scale comparisons). Diagrams can be a wonderful way to communicate complex information (David Macaulay<\/a><\/strong> comes to mind). It\u2019s just that I like to create a different kind of illusion with the art. <\/p>\n One simple technique we\u2019ve used a number of times is based on reading to and with our kids when they were younger. It involves two levels of text, one that can be managed by a beginning reader and a second that can be read by a more proficient reader, or aloud by an adult if a younger child is interested in finding out more. <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: Robin and I have our own graphic design studio, and we have been working together for a long time \u2014 25 years or so by the time we did that book, so there were not many surprises. It\u2019s never been hard for us, I think because we have very different ways of solving problems. I\u2019m very linear, and Robin makes intuitive leaps. It\u2019s fun, and we make each other better. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: Vulture View<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by the talented April Pulley Sayre<\/strong><\/a> was nominated for the Cybils in the same category as Living Color<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. Tell us briefly the pros and cons, if any, of illustrating someone else\u2019s text as opposed to writing your own or working with Robin. What is the collaboration process like when working with other authors? Do you typically work hand-in-hand throughout the entire process of the book\u2019s creation, or is a text for you to illustrate as you see fit simply handed over to you?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: I did correspond a few times with April as I worked on Vulture View<\/em>, but that was really more the exception than the rule. Typically, I get a manuscript that\u2019s already been through at least a first edit. Editors control the process pretty tightly. Not that an editor has ever suggested that I don\u2019t speak to an author, but in my experience it\u2019s been clear that the editor (and art director) are the people who must be pleased. They may show an author work-in-progress, but I\u2019ve never had an author contact me directly with a request to change anything. Occasionally, I\u2019ve asked for a small change in the text that allows me to solve a design or illustration problem. It\u2019s curious, really. I understand why the system is set up this way, but coming from the world of design, which is a very collaborative discipline, it has always seemed like a bit of a lost opportunity. I think that\u2019s one reason I enjoy the books that Robin and I do together so much. <\/p>\n It is easier, in a way, to illustrate another author\u2019s book, because I don\u2019t have to keep questioning whether the text is okay or the concept presented clearly enough. Or if the whole idea even makes sense. I don\u2019t think, however, that I\u2019d illustrate a book by another author unless I thought it worked. Ultimately, the most satisfying books are the ones I write (or write with Robin) and illustrate. <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: It was a lot of fun to work with my father. The book was his idea, and I went for it immediately. Though it\u2019s impossible for me to sort out all the influences and congenital tendencies that have made me a children\u2019s science book author, I\u2019m convinced that my father played an important role by nurturing my early interest in science. I think I got to art and design more on my own, though I imagine that seeing my father paint and draw influenced me as well. <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: I did a lot of drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography before I got to collage. I would like to draw more \u2014 maybe even paint \u2014 but just for myself, not for publication. I honestly don\u2019t think I have much to offer the world in those media. There are so many people who do it so well . . . <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: Book Buds’<\/em><\/a><\/strong> Anne Boles Levy, Cybils<\/a><\/strong> Co-Founder and Editor, has this to contribute: \u201cOkay, this is process porn: how do you put one of your sublime illustrations together? Do you start with a sketch or photograph? How do you choose which papers to use, how to get the right shapes and effects. Walk me through the whole thing. I like to live vicariously.\u201d <\/p>\n We know you cover some of this at your site with your wonderful \u201cMaking Books\u201d<\/a><\/strong> feature, but you can talk about that here anyway, for those who haven\u2019t seen that informative presentation?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: Sure . . . let\u2019s assume we\u2019re talking about a portrait of an animal. I begin with a very rough “thumbnail” sketch \u2013- usually a lot of them \u2014 exploring the reader\u2019s point of view, how the subject will fit on a page, and where text might go. If it\u2019s a book I\u2019m doing with Robin, she often does these early studies. The next step is to find reference images. I collect photos and illustrations of my animal in books (we have a pretty big library of natural history books, and we\u2019re always adding to it), on the internet, or in photos that I\u2019ve taken at zoos or museums. Robin does most of this if the book is a collaboration. From these reference images (typically a dozen or so) I\u2019ll make my own composite sketch. I find it\u2019s important not to trace, but to draw freehand. The little (or not so little) distortions that creep in give the drawing a kind of energy that a tracing never seems to achieve. Once I have a sketch I like, I redraw it (it\u2019s OK to trace my own sketch), making decisions about where the edges of different sheets of paper will be. Shading doesn\u2019t work \u2014 I have to commit to a definite line, since I\u2019ll be cutting a sheet of paper. As I work on this drawing, I\u2019m looking at my papers (organized by color in a big flat file) and deciding what colors and patterns I want to use. There is often an element of surprise at this point. I rarely know ahead of time what paper I\u2019m going to use for a particular creature, and I may find a paper works in some unexpected way to evoke fur, feathers, skin, or whatever. When my outline drawing is complete and I\u2019ve picked out the papers with which I want to work, I photocopy the drawing a number of times. These copies will be my patterns for cutting out each individual piece of paper for the illustration. I use a two-sided adhesive film, removing a protective covering from one side and adhering it to the back of my color paper. Cutting through the Xerox and the color paper at the same time with an exacto knife gives me a color-paper shape that I\u2019ll stick down on a board or color background. Of course, I have to work from the bottom up. Some small, simple shapes -\u2013 eyeballs and the like \u2014 can be cut freehand, without a guide. The adhesive is not repositionable, so I have to be confident about what I\u2019m sticking down and where it\u2019s going. Some illustrations come together beautifully. Others I may do several times before I get them right. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: Kelly Fineman of Writing and Ruminating<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, Cybils \u201908 Poetry Organizer, reviewed the Cybils-nominated Animal Poems<\/em><\/strong><\/a> at her blog this year and wrote: <\/p>\n Steve Jenkins’s artwork throughout the book is simply spectacular. The jellyfish has a translucence to it that shines through, even though he’s made it from paper. The porcupine (one of my favorite images) is convincingly prickly, but with a spot on his snout, just above his nose, that looks so velvety soft that I actually want to pet it. The hummingbird, while made of paper, looks as though its wings and tail are made for actual flying. And the groundhog — well, he’s cuter than any paper animal has a right to be. He appears to have been made from a particularly furry sort of paper, and but for a bit of a glint in his eye that appears to be a warning and some pretty sharp (and long) claws, he’d be the perfect object of a good cuddling.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Steve<\/strong>: The translucency comes from the papers themselves. I have many beautiful Japanese rice papers (that jellyfish is made of one). The furry effect comes from tearing rather than cutting, and produces different effects with different papers. Tearing is a trial and error process, not always easy to control. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t make my own papers, though recently Robin taught me how to make paste papers and I\u2019ve been experimenting with that. It\u2019s about painting the surface rather than actually working with pulp to make a sheet of paper. The birds\u2019 wings in Vulture View<\/em><\/strong><\/a> are done with some of the paste papers we made. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: Little Willow of Bildungsroman<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, the Cybils \u201908 YA Coordinator and interviewer extraordinaire herself, wants to know: What intrigues you personally that you’ve yet to make a book topic?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: I\u2019ve got a list. Some could easily be children\u2019s books, others would present quite a challenge: <\/p>\n The relationship of scale and form in the natural world. For example, strength increases as the square (cross-sectional area) of linear dimension, but volume (weight) increases as the cube. This has all kinds of implications for animals and the way they live. <\/p>\n Parasites. They\u2019ve evolved extraordinary ways of manipulating their hosts (including humans) to get what they want. <\/p>\n Microfauna. There is an incredible, savage world in our backyards, filled with terrifying predators, venomous creatures, gentle herbivores, and more. Most are too small to see with the naked eye. <\/p>\n Prehistoric mammalian megafauna, those neglected creatures that came after the dinosaurs and before recorded human history. I just read about one just today \u2014 a “guinea pig” the size of a bull. It lived in South America. <\/p>\n The nature of conciousnesss. <\/p>\n How the world might end. <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: A book about the ocean \u2014 mostly the deep ocean. <\/p>\n A book about time. Not timekeeping, but our subjective sense of time. <\/p>\n A book about dangerous animals that, at first blush, don\u2019t seem so scary. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: We know this is considered a clich\u00e9 question, but as book lovers, it interests us: What books or authors and\/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?<\/font><\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: I once ate an entire pecan pie in one sitting. And felt fine. That\u2019s what being 21 will do for you. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: If you could have three (living) illustrators or author\/illustrators — whom you have not yet met — over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?<\/font> <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What is your favorite word?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: “Daddy.” <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What is your least favorite word?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: “Dialogue” used as a verb. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: Life (I don\u2019t mean my life, though that is a bit of a turn on for me . . . but the phenomenon of life \u2014 of things being alive). <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What turns you off?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: Dogma.<\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What is your favorite curse word? (optional)<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: “Barn it” (a mispronunciation by one of our children at a tender age. It\u2019s entered the family lexicon). <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What sound or noise do you love?<\/font> <\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: A basketball touching nothing but net. <\/p>\n 7-Imp<\/strong>: What sound or noise do you hate?<\/font><\/p>\n Steve<\/strong>: The telephone.<\/p>\nListed here<\/a><\/strong> at Steve’s web site is a biblio-
graphy if you’re inter-
ested in becoming more familiar with his titles (and don’t miss his thoughts on science<\/a><\/strong> as well). Whether he’s depicting animals, or parts of animals, in striking spreads that show their actual size<\/a><\/strong>; joining forces with Robin to present a guessing game<\/a><\/strong>, a series of visual riddles on how animals use their tails, noses, ears, feet, mouth, and eyes or showing us the various ways animals move<\/a><\/strong>; or even taking us to the top<\/a><\/strong> of the world’s highest mountain, he is addressing his child readers with clarity yet never condescension and and opening up worlds both microscopic and monumental in what the Tampa Tribune<\/em> calls Jenkins’ “signature medium . . . richly colored and brilliantly designed.”<\/p>\nThis year for the Cybils Awards<\/a><\/strong>, three Jenkins-illustrated titles have been shortlisted: Vulture View<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by April Pulley Sayre<\/a><\/strong> in the category of Nonfiction Picture Books<\/a><\/strong> (also recently named a 2008 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book<\/a><\/strong>); Living Color<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, which he wrote, shortlisted in the same category (“a prime choice for any young animal enthusiast’s collection,” wrote Publishers Weekly<\/em> in their starred review); and Valerie Worth’s Animal Poems<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, shortlisted in the Poetry category<\/a><\/strong> (which I reviewed here<\/a><\/strong> back in July at 7-Imp). In their starred review of Animal Poems<\/em>, a “superlative collaboration {which} will resonate with poetry lovers, but should also open doors for those who feel daunted by poetry,” School Library Journal<\/em> wrote,
“{p}resented on beautifully designed spreads, the offerings are animated by Jenkins’s exquisite artwork. Whether eye-catching or subtly understated, his designs respectfully bear out each poem’s image.”<\/p>\n7-Imp<\/strong>: You have a long and impressive career of making beautiful, engaging non-fiction books. Children\u2019s book author and America\u2019s first National Ambassador for Young People\u2019s Literature, Jon Scieszka<\/a><\/strong>, talks through his Guys Read<\/a><\/strong> effort about how teachers and librarians can sometimes, whether inadvertently or not, be rather dismissive of non-fiction and how perhaps we could do a better job of acknowledging non-fiction, especially for boy readers. Do you have any thoughts on that?<\/font> <\/p>\n
More: there\u2019s a canon of great childrens\u2019 fiction. Awards, best-of lists, reviews, and blogs focus disproportionately on fiction. And there\u2019s the shelf-life problem. Charlotte\u2019s Web<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and My Father\u2019s Dragon<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (two of our family\u2019s favorites) have lost none of their appeal after more than fifty years. Almost any geology, astronomy, or biology book of that age will be hopelessly out of date in many important respects. Finally (whew), though I hate to say it, I think the bar is higher for children\u2019s fiction. Too many non-fiction books are just collections of facts presented without context or passion. <\/p>\n
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![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/kookaburra1.jpg\")
Steve<\/strong>: Organization is usually driven by the content of a book, though sometimes (rarely) we will have a certain organizational structure in mind and choose content that works with it. I See a Kookaburra<\/em><\/strong><\/a> is an example of the latter. We wanted to show a group of animals in exactly the same position on two spreads, hiding them in an environment on the first spread and revealing them on the second. Exploring different habitats became a vehicle for this structure. <\/p>\n7-Imp<\/strong>: What was it like to collaborate with your wife, Robin Page, for the first time in 2001 on Animals in Flight<\/strong><\/em><\/a>? Were there any surprises there?<\/font><\/p>\n
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![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/neptune.jpg\")
7-Imp<\/strong>: On that note, was it thrilling or challenging — or both — to collaborate with your father on 2004\u2019s Next Stop, Neptune: Experience the Solar System<\/strong><\/a><\/em>? You\u2019ve talked in interviews before about how your physicist father encouraged your interest in science and art as well, particularly since he was a \u201cfrustrated artist\u201d himself. I love that he encouraged both sides of your brain. I don\u2019t know that there\u2019s a question in here, except to say: Can you talk about that a bit and what it means to you now as a children\u2019s illustrator who creates books about science?<\/font> <\/p>\n7-Imp<\/strong> {illustration pictured here is from Vulture View<\/em>}: You have created a most definite signature style with what School Library Journal<\/em> called your \u201cneat, sharp-edged paper collages and pure, simple colors.\u201d Have you ever, by chance, wanted to break away from an easily-recognizable style and try something like, say, oil paints? Or do you find this particular medium the most fitting and most rewarding for you and\/or your subject matter? (We, your devoted and nerdy fans, are happy you\u2019re doing paper collage, but I thought it\u2019d be worth asking. To hear Steve Jenkins, by chance, say, I\u2019ve just always wanted to try a book in chalk would be wild, indeed).<\/font> <\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s Kelly\u2019s interview question: \u201cI guess my curiosities and questions stem from that review excerpt: How do you manage the translucent effect with the jellyfish (vellum?) and the furry effect in other places? Do you make your own papers? How does the printmaking\/photographing process work to so effectively make an object dimensional (unless, of course, they’re digital all the way and just that convincing)?\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n
\n7-Imp<\/strong>: Can you tell us about any new titles\/projects you might be working on now?<\/font> <\/p>\n
Steve<\/strong>: I loved a book called All About Strange Beasts of the Past<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Roy Chapman Andrews. It\u2019s about the author\u2019s search for fossils in Mongolia. I liked Kipling \u2014 The Jungle Book<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was one of my favorites. I went through a tall tales phase (maybe the 5th grade?): Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, those guys. In middle school I was a science fiction fan \u2014 Ray Bradbury<\/a><\/strong>, Andre Norton<\/a><\/strong>, Robert Heinlein<\/a><\/strong>. Around this time I also read everything I could find about the Holocaust, Hiroshima, the Armenian genocide and various other sad chapters in human history. I\u2019m not sure why \u2014 I was a happy child. <\/p>\n
![\"Steven](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/pinker.JPG\")
Steve<\/strong>: Richard Dawkins<\/a><\/strong>, David Wiesner<\/a><\/strong>, Steven Pinker<\/a><\/strong> {pictured here}. <\/p>\n