The World of Kevin Henkes

The World of Kevin Henkes URE BOO ICT K GUIDE P A Old Bear “It doesn’t matter if you’re the most popular kid in class when you’re lost Tr 978-0-06-155205-2 • $17.99 Lb 978-0-06-155206-9 • $18.89 in a book. Or if you’re the smartest. Or the best basketball player. Board 978-0-06-208963-2 • $7.99 What matters is the book and the world it brings you.” ALA Notable Children’s Book —Kevin Henkes Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice Capitol Choices (Washington, DC) Wisconsin Library Association’s Children’s Book Award KevinHenkes_Cover.qxd5 10/9/11 10:32 PM Page 2 KevinHenkesInterior 10/9/11 10:40 PM Page 16 Q: Children adore Kitten’s First Full Moon, but they do wonder why there’s no color in it. Can you give them some insight into how you Q&A with Kevin Henkes came up with the story and developed the illustrations? Kevin Henkes A:The story began as part of a failed attempt at creating a young Q: How did you come to use mice as the characters in so many of concept book about circles. There was one line from the manu- your books? Did you consider other animals as well? script I liked:“The cat thought the moon was a bowl of milk.” This A: My early books have realistically rendered humans as the protag- line stuck in the back of my mind. I expanded upon it to write onists. As my stories became more humorous, I thought that I Kitten’s First Full Moon. could better match my texts by drawing more loosely and using All along I saw the book in my mind as a black-and-white book. animals as my main characters. Bailey Goes Camping was the first I’d long wanted to do a book with limited or no color, and for the book in which I did this; Bailey and his family are rabbits. For my first time, I’d written a story that seemed just right for this next book, AWeekend with Wendell, I chose to use animals again, but approach. I wanted to draw something other than rabbits. I made sketches— The text is simple and young, and so I wanted the art to be sim- Kevin Henkes was born in In 1986, Henkes’s picture book profile grew a a dog, a cat, an elephant, and a mouse. I liked the mouse sketch, and ple, too. I liked the idea of having a white cat, a white moon, and a Photo © by Michelle Corpora 1960 in Racine, Wisconsin, bit larger, thanks to the birth of some little mice in so,Wendell was a mouse. I enjoyed doing that book so much, I con- white bowl of milk surrounded by the night. and during his childhood often visited the local art tinued to use mice as the protagonists in many of my picture books. A Weekend with Wendell. Thirteen books featuring Q:What is a typical workday like for you? museum—the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine these mouse characters would follow, including the Q: Your mouse characters have loving, supportive, understanding A: Now that I’m a parent, I work from the time my kids go to Arts. Henkes was greatly inspired by these visits and 1994 Caldecott Honor Book Owen, but the most parents, teachers, and other adults in their lives. What was your school until they return home. Sometimes, I’ll work again before I by reading his favorite books. As a young child, he famous of them is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. With the own childhood like? go to bed. pored over books and was intrigued by their authors A: I grew up in the 1960s in a working-class neighborhood in Among other things, my day may include: drawing, painting, release of that book in 1996, Henkes gave the world Racine, Wisconsin, with my three brothers, my sister, and my par- writing, answering mail, working on a speech, going over a contract, and illustrators but says, “I never imagined that one of children’s literature a memorable new addition to ents. There were people of all ages in my neighborhood . and or getting slides organized for a talk. day I would be one myself.” its roster of cherished characters. At the same time, many children. In his senior year of high school a public librarian As a boy, I drew more than anything. I also read, rode my bike, Q:What does your studio look like? another star was born: Henkes himself was firmly and played outside a lot.We didn’t own many books, but we went A: My studio is in the remodeled attic on the third floor of our introduced him to Barbara Bader’s American Picturebooks established as an outstanding and inimitable contribu- to the public library regularly. This was one of my favorite family house. It is a large room filled with books. From the windows I have from Noah’s Ark to The Beast Within. “It was the first tor to the canon of children’s literature. activities, and I’m certain it played a role in my becoming a writer a great view of our yard.When I’m working, I feel as if I’m up in the serious book about picture books, written for and illustrator. trees. My “tools” are old-fashioned, but they suit me well. I use a In addition to his thirty-four picture books, Henkes typewriter that belonged to my wife when she was a teenager.And adults, that I had ever read,” Henkes says, and he felt has published ten novels. Words of Stone is especially Q:Which of your characters is most like you? the light box I use for drawing is a small plastic one I received as a encouraged and emboldened by it. meaningful to Henkes because this book was his A: Like Owen, I think I’m quiet, yet tenacious.And, like Wemberly, I Christmas gift when I was a boy. Henkes began college at the University of Wisconsin am a worrier. first to elicit letters from older children and adults. Q:Which is more satisfying to you—writing or drawing? at Madison, choosing to go there in large part His novel Olive’s Ocean won the Newbery Honor in Q: How long does it take you to complete a new picture book, A:Writing and drawing are very different, but both are satisfying. I because of the School of Education’s Cooperative 2003. from getting the idea to final page proofs? How much time do you suppose drawing comes more naturally to me. I am much more Children’s Book Center (CCBC). At the CCBC, spend on each illustration, and what kinds of changes do you make daunted by a blank piece of typing paper than I am by a blank piece Indeed, the impact that Henkes has made in to your words and pictures? of drawing paper. Henkes learned about the history and future trajec- his impressive career was made official when the A: Each book is different. Some come easily, and some are very tory of children’s literature. The July after his fresh- Association for Library Service to Children, a divi- difficult to bring to completion. I’ll often think about an idea for Q: In your books, we meet several inspirational teachers, notably man year Henkes set off for New York, a ranked sion of the American Library Association, selected months, even years, before I’m ready to write. Mr. Slinger and Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle. Who were the inspira- It’s difficult to say how much time I spend on each illustration. tional teachers in your life? list of his favorite publishers in hand. His first choice him to deliver the prestigious May Hill Arbuthnot I don’t do each illustration from start to finish; I do them in stages. I A: I’ve had several teachers who inspired me. Most notable was, was Greenwillow Books, headed at the time by its Lecture in 2007. This is an honor given to “an indi- do sketches for the entire book first.Then I’ll refine all the sketches. perhaps, an English teacher I had during my junior year of high founder, Susan Hirschman. Hirschman signed him up vidual who has made significant contributions to the Next, I’ll do a finished pencil drawing for each illustration in the school. All my life I’d been praised and encouraged as an artist.This on the spot, and Henkes took the fall semester off book. Inking comes next. particular teacher did this, but she also encouraged me as a writer, field of children’s literature.” At this point, I make several copies of each ink drawing so that I going so far as to say once, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw your to work on a book dummy. The result was Henkes’s can test different colors before I finally paint each piece. name on a book one day.” The power of these words was enor- first published picture book, All Alone (1981). If I change words at this point, it’s usually a matter of taking some- mous. I’ll never forget them. Or her. thing out that isn’t necessary any longer. Perhaps I’ve “said” what I want to say in the illustration and don’t need the words any Q: Do you have any recommendations for ways classroom more. teachers or parents can help children grow as readers, writers, and artists? Q:What comes first—the words or the pictures? A: Exposure is everything.

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