{"id":2184,"date":"2011-08-11T00:01:44","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T06:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2011-08-11T06:52:47","modified_gmt":"2011-08-11T12:52:47","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-tim-egan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2184","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Tim Egan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Nope, that’s not author\/illustrator Tim Egan<\/a><\/strong>, though I promise he’s pictured below in the interview. That’s Farmer Fred, one of my favorite picture book protagonists. He’s from Egan’s 2003 title, Serious Farm<\/strong><\/a><\/em>. Farmer Fred doesn’t smile much. “He wasn’t a sad fellow,” Egan writes, “just very serious.” He subscribes to the notion that there’s nothing funny about corn, not to mention there is no humor in tomatoes. (He kinda does<\/em> have a point there, doesn’t he?) And, because he owns the farm, his farm animals are all extremely serious, too. See what I mean?<\/p>\n

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Until, that is, one night when Edna, the cow, declares that “it’s okay to be serious, but not all the time. We need some laughter.” Thus begins the animals’ secret plan to “make the farm more fun.” <\/p>\n

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I already covered last week at my Kirkus<\/em> column<\/strong><\/a> why I like Egan’s books so much. Today he visits for a 7-Imp cyber-breakfast to showcase some art and tell us a bit more about his work. But I will summarize here again: He’s quite droll\u2014in both his writing and cartoon illustrations\u2014and I happen to like a good Droll. So far, in the over ten picture book titles he’s brought readers, he’s treated us to an understated, low-key humor. \u201cOffbeat,\u201d as I wrote last week, is used often to describe his humor, and in the picture book world, offbeat is refreshing. <\/p>\n

I took the chance to invite Egan over for a cyber-breakfast, once I saw he had a new Dodsworth title out. Dodsworth, pictured here, is the star of Egan’s beginning reader series. He’s the same mouse who appeared in 2007\u2019s The Pink Refrigerator<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u2014though in this series he is joined by a dry-witted duck\u2014which was launched in 2007 with Dodsworth in New York<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. Dodsworth is a committed traveler, taking us on journeys all over the globe. In each title, child readers are introduced to the landmarks famous to each city he visits, Dodsworth all the while serving as the duck\u2019s very funny straight man. As a Kirkus<\/em> reviewer for the first title pointed out, these are James Marshall<\/a><\/strong>-esque in style, more character-driven than plot-driven. And they’re funny, some of the best early readers you can hand a child learning to read on his or her own. In this latest title<\/a><\/strong>, they zoom through the streets of Rome, the duck finds some white paint and attempts to add a duck to the Sistine Chapel, and they find themselves having to replace coins in Trevi Fountain. Needless to say, other fun adventures ensue. <\/p>\n

I like Tim’s answer to my breakfast-of-choice question: “Hmm. I love almost every kind of breakfast, but I suppose Eggs Benedict would top the list. I don\u2019t have it very often, usually only when we\u2019re traveling to pretty places, for some reason. Maybe that\u2019s why I love it so much, because it means we\u2019re on vacation, and I just love being on vacation. Aside from that, my wife, Ann, and I start our mornings with at least two hot mugs of coffee<\/font>. If we\u2019re not going anywhere, we have three or more cups. We actually call these ‘three-cup mornings.’ I love coffee. And orange juice. And waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, bagels, muffins, omelettes and even an occasional piece of chocolate cake. And more coffee.”<\/p>\n

What a coincidence, because I love all those things, too, especially coffee. This is going to be a good meal. Good food, good company, Tim’s stories and art to make me laugh. I also hope that occasionally an occasional piece of chocolate cake with some occasional (or more than occasional) chocolate icing shows up as we chat. Anyway, yup, I definitely like to laugh along with his books, and so has every child with which I’ve ever shared them. I thank Tim for stopping by, and let’s get to it. <\/p>\n

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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

Tim<\/font><\/strong>: Author\/Illustrator. <\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

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Tim<\/font><\/strong>: <\/p>\n