Hi Saarah, I also love wearing nice graphic t-shirts. Many people have asked about shirts. Sadly I’m just too busy at the moment to organize it. At some point in the future I hope to have some available. For now you’ll just have to look for some other nice graphic t-shirts. I recommend Threadless.com. They’ve got some great designs.

1. By accident. I just wanted to illustrate books. My lovely editor suggested I try writing. I tried. And to my continued amazement I REALLY enjoyed writing. And an author was born!

2. My parents read to me a LOT. They also told me many stories. I think everyone loves a good story. I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by some excellent stories. You couldn’t have NOT got hooked living in my household.

Hi Scarlett. Thanks! I’m glad you and your son are enjoying my book so much. Grumpy Bird was definitely a moment of inspired lunacy. The animal faces? I don’t know exactly where they all come from. They each just developed slowly as I drew them. The trick was to be expressive while still being incredibly simple. The tongues comment made me laugh though. The only one who I thought had a visible tongue was Fox, the others I thought of more as their mouth. But if it’s their tongue that’s cool too. In fact it might be better if it’s their tongues. As for Fox: I remember a couple of girls in my second grade class who were always drawing dogs (or puppies probably). They always drew them with their tongue hanging out a little. So I drew my fox with his tongue hanging out in honor of those girls and their drawings.

Hi Erica, Thanks for the great question. I get asked this quite often when I visit schools. If you’re a kid who likes writing stories and making books the best advice I can give you is: HAVE FUN! If you’re not having fun then put it aside and work on another idea.

As for getting someone to look at it: if you just want someone to look at it, but aren’t looking for a publisher, you might show it to an author and see what they say (if you happen to meet one). Or you could show your teacher. But something else you might want to do is take it to Kinko’s and make a few copies to give, or sell, to friends and family. I believe Dav Pilkey used to do this — he used to make little Captain Underpants books and sell them on the playground to his friends (which is exactly what George and Harold do in the books!). It’s a great way to get started, have some fun, share your stories, and practice your craft! Go for it. Then, when your stories start to get REALLY good (after all this practice), you might move on to the next step:

If you think your book is really terrific and if you’ve worked very hard on it and if you think a publisher might be interested then send it to a publisher and see what happens! There is a great book called the 2010 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market that lists publishers and tells you what kinds of books they like. It’s a lot more work pitching a book to a publisher, but if you have put in the time to write a really great book then why not see what the publishers say about it?

Three great authors who got their start very young (and whose success stories can be read on their websites): Dav Pilkey; Kenneth Oppel; Gordon Korman (he wrote his first book when he was 12, I think)

2 answers: not for a while (although I’m tinkering with some ideas for another one); As for a board book… that’s a good question. There’s a board book of Grumpy Bird available in the Canadian market, but not elsewhere. I assume Canada will also produce a board book of Boo Hoo Bird in the next couple of years. As for the USA and elsewhere? I hope they make a board book at some point, but time will tell.

The first question is a good one: I’d love to do another Bird book, and so would Scholastic. However, I don’t believe in churning out books that I’ve not put 110 percent of my energy into. I’ll do another one when the time is right and I can make a really excellent book. It’ll be worth the wait! In the meantime I’ve got some other exciting projects on the horizon.

Hi Courtney, I use a variety of programs for my art. Mostly I use Adobe Photoshop CS and Corel Painter X. I’ve been meaning to update Photoshop though, because I’m a little out of date. I use Painter to colour my characters and paint textures for my background art. I use Photoshop to put everything together. Photoshop is a great program for layering lots of pieces and making a collage.

A great program to get started with is ArtRage. It’s a lot cheaper than the ones I use and LOTS of fun to play with. You can check it out online here. I also use a WACOM drawing tablet. They come in a wide range of styles and prices. They’re all good and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get something good.

The most important “program” I use is my sketchbook though. I love it more than my computer and all its programs. I draw with pens, brushes, pencils and markers and it’s waaaay cheaper than a computer or programs. And it’s very portable — I take it everywhere I go! Remember: computers are fun, but there is no substitute for good drawing skills. So, keep drawing and never stop. That’s how you get good.

Hi Lisa. Edwin’s hair is surprisingly difficult to draw! His name is a good story (at least I think so). He’s named after a very good friend of mine who grew up in France. When I first met Edwin his English wasn’t too good and, being French, he has a love of fine food and good wine. He’s tall and keeps his head close shaven.

When I started working on ME HUNGRY my little caveboy was more of a toddler — he was mostly bald, he was on a quest for something good to eat and his language skills were lacking. In honour of my good friend I named my caveboy Edwin (Edwin, if you’re reading this, I’m not trying to compare you to a toddler). I thought it was a good joke and that I’d eventually change it to something more “caveman-like”, like, say, Ug or Dug or something like that. But the more I worked with him the more Edwin stuck. Luckily my editor loved it too. Eventually my drawings grew some hair so the physical resemblance to Edwin was lost, but the spirit was still there. When I showed the dummy of the book to Edwin he said, “Me flattered.”

Hi melodee. Nah, one Grumpy Bird is enough. Although I have to admit grumpy animals are way fun to draw. I think I’ll poke fun at some other emotions next time. Sad is next: Boo Hoo Bird is all about sadness. It’s quite tragic really. But you’ll have to wait until early 2009 to see it. Sigh. I have to admit I’m a little taken-aback by the huge number of people who claim to be as grumpy as bird. Perhaps you just need some exercise and irritatingly friendly companions? It seemed to work for Bird. — jeremy

Nope, I’m definitely a righty. Although I do, on very rare occasions, draw with my left hand — just to see what will happen. And I’ve found that napping usually works best if you don’t peek at anything (personally, I like my eyes to be closed when I’m napping). But maybe that’s just me.

In a treehouse. Perferably with a good view of the sea. It would have ladders and bridges to other parts of the house. My studio would be near the top where the view is best (but not so high as to sway too much when I’m drawing). There might be an enchanted forest nearby too. Oh, and a dock where I can moor my pirate ship when I’m not out plundering. If you happen to see such a place in your MLS listings, please let me know, okay? Thanks Kate!

Hi matt! I have a lot of fun making these pictures so it’s always a pleasure to know that others are also enjoying them. My art is digital and I have often made prints for those who are interested in them. I use a process called Giclee printing which produces beautiful, archival-quality images. If you’re interested you can contact me here and let me know what you would like.

I seldom part with my original ink drawings as they are all in sketchbooks.

Hi Leon! I use a variety of different techniques and tools in my work. Most commonly I use a brush pen. My favourite is made by Pentel. It has nice soft bristles. When I use “real” ink I prefer a Chinese brand that comes in a tall black bottle with a green cap (I don’t read Chinese or I’d tell you the brand). It’s nice thick ink with a good, slow flow. I prefer those bamboo-handled Chinese brushes when using “traditional” brushes.

I scan my ink drawings into Photoshop and clean them up. I either colour the characters with Painter or with acrylics. I use Photoshop to layer in all the textures, photos and other bits and pieces. However, the ink drawings are by far the most important part of the whole process. I never touch the computer until I’m completely confident that the drawings are just right.

Apes = smart. Monkeys = funny. Therefore: ape + monkey - lemur = Jeremy

Lots of reasons, Joyce. Most importantly I don’t have enough time to do the things that I really want to do - like writing, drawing, reading, hanging out with my daughter, etc. I suspect I’d get even fewer of those things done if I had a TV.

Well, I got all inky while I was drawing today and I could have used more arms. So I guess I’d be an octopus. Or some other briny sea dwelling thing. What would you be?

Hey Janet, I’m not sure how I feel about that. I don’t personally own a tv, but I know there are some pretty cool shows on these days. I’d certainly consider it if the opportunity arose and the project sounded interesting.

Chartreuse. Now, my favourite colour combination is orange and green.

No it won’t. My first book, Grumpy Bird, features Bird and his friends Rabbit, Raccoon, Sheep, Beaver and Fox. It’s published by Scholastic. My second book is called Me Hungry and is to be published by Candlewick Press. I can’t say too much about it at the moment though. I can tell you that it features people instead of animals. My third book however, will likely feature Bird and his friends again.