Melissa, Jamie and Denis
Don’t you just love it when one good thing leads to another?
I’ve been a big Melissa Iwai fan for awhile now. How could I not love someone who illustrates a book about a quest for pancakes and then follows up with a self-illustrated title about soup? In addition to her writing, drawing and painting chops, this girl can cook! Just check outThe Hungry Artist, where Melissa regularly creates tasty, healthy magic in the kitchen (please adopt me).
If you’ve seen Melissa’s delightful Soup Day (Henry Holt, 2010), you know it was inspired by the time she spent cooking with her son Jamie. Apparently, we can also thank Jamie for her latest book, Hush, Little Monster (Little, Simon, 2012), which was written by her husband Denis Markell. Because Jamie had trouble sleeping when he was a wee babe, Denis, an award-winning Broadway musical and comedy writer, sang “Hush, Little Baby” to him over and over every. single. night.
Possibly going insane getting really tired of mockingbirds, diamond rings and looking glasses, one night Denis thought about doing a monsterish riff on this traditional lullaby.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to create a picture book with your spouse and live to tell about it, read on. Melissa’s also sharing a Halloweenish recipe for your little monsters to gobble up!
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AND NOW,
♥ AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH THE MOST TALENTED AND GOOD-LOOKING CHILDREN’S BOOK TEAM IN THE WORLD ♥
Denis, how’d you think of doing a monster-ous spin on this classic lullaby? Did you start singing, “Hush, Little Baby,” to Jamie because it was your childhood favorite?
D: Honestly, I had in the back of my mind to try and come up with a “seasonal” book that could be trotted out each holiday like Melissa’sChanukah Lights Everywhere. Somewhere around the third or fourth time singing “Hush Little Baby” one night, the title popped in my head.
All illustrations © 2012 Melissa Iwai
Like any good 21stcentury author, the first thing I did was run to Amazon to see if anyone else had already written it! I knew it was a good hook and was thrilled when Simon and Schuster expressed interest in it.
Ironically, they eventually asked me to change it from a “Halloween” book to a “Goodnight” book, so it could be sold year ‘round. Even so, I think all the reviews have treated it like a Halloween book, even though there are no pumpkins or kids dressed up in costumes.
I can’t say it was a childhood favorite. My good night song, typically, was an old folk song called “The Riddle Song” (“I gave my love a cherry, that had no stone, I gave my love a chicken that had no bone, I gave my love a story that had no end, I gave my love a baby with no crying…”). Unfortunately, I did NOT give my love a baby with no crying. Jamie finally fell asleep somewhere at about six months old. Yikes.
Melissa’s rough thumbnail dummy
Denis and Melissa, would you mind telling us how, when and where you two met? What were your first impressions of each other?
D: We were actually one of the early couples to meet on Match.com. This was about fifteen years ago. It had just come to New York, so this was long before video, etc. You just wrote to one another. Which we did for a while, eventually meeting at the Guggenheim Museum for our first date.
Famously, my first thought when I saw Melissa was “she’s so pretty!” while she has said that her first thought upon meeting me was ‘”He’s so old!” For the record, I am nine years older than my still pretty wife.
She was at a place in her life, having just moved to New York, that she wasn’t ready for someone as wonderful as me, so we were friends for a year. I honestly enjoyed the friendship, and wasn’t expecting anything else from Melissa, but I guess a combination of my incredible charm and the fact that I’d started going to a gym regularly wore her down.
M: Believe it or not, we met on match.com when it was a grass roots, fledging start up! It was free then, and I signed up when I moved to NYC. There were no photos and hardly anyone on it back then. We emailed for a long time and then met at the Guggenheim museum and had a five hour date. Amazingly when we met, it felt like we already knew each other and we joked and laughed and generally related to each other the way we do now. But we didn’t date until a year later. I think I freaked out about how connected I felt, and I needed to process it. Lol.
Hush, Little Monster is your second collaboration. Can you give us an idea of how you work on your children’s books?
D: Usually, we talk to each other about everything, from the earliest glimmers of an idea to a final project. I will discuss concepts with Melissa, and she will show me early sketches. I trust her completely, and I’d like to think I’ve given a few good notes to her along the way. Typically, on the projects that we do together, I have an idea and write a first draft manuscript. Melissa takes it and comes up with a very rough dummy to see if she can find a way into it. If she feels good about it, she’ll go ahead with working up a more detailed dummy. Otherwise, we’ll talk about it, and try and figure out how to adjust the text so it works better for her.
M: It’s pretty fluid. We discuss ideas together. Usually Denis is the concept person. He’ll write up a manuscript and I give him comments. He’ll rewrite it (usually). I work on the dummy. I show him sketches. Maybe he’ll change something to go with my artwork. I’ll do more sketches. We keep going back and forth like this until we come up with something we’re both happy with.
Aside from initial inspiration, did you seek Jamie’s opinions about either the words or the pictures? What does he think of the finished book?
Early monster sketch
D: To paraphrase a quote from one of Jamie’s favorite books (Boromir, from The Fellowship Of The Ring) “One does not simply seek Jamie’s opinion.” Typically, he is very supportive, but at this point, he is a little old for the picture books that Melissa and I have done together. Now it’s more along the nature of showing up at book events and ‘helping out’ any way he can.
M: For this book, since Jamie was young when it was developed, he didn’t. But these days, as an eight year old, he’s always giving us suggestions on things we are working on now. Ha ha. He’s writing his own “novel” and he wants me to illustrate it. I told him heshould do them! He does love Hush, Little Monster, though, and he is our biggest fan.
Denis, you’ve written for musical theatre and TV sitcoms, as well as lots of other comedy material for people like Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, and Joan Rivers. Is it more difficult writing for children or adults? Do you think you would have gravitated to children’s books if you had not had any kids of your own?
D: Honestly, at the moment I’m writing a Middle Grade novel, which has been by far the hardest writing I’ve had to do. When writing for picture books or for the grown ups you’ve cited, being silly works just fine. I’ve loved the humor of the classic children’s books (Bedtime For Francesbeing a particular favorite) and these days who doesn’t laugh at Mo Willems’ stuff? I think writing humor for nine-to-twelve-year olds is the trickiest, as they are so self conscious about so many things.
As to your second question, Melissa and I were working on children’s books years before Jamie was born, so that wasn’t hypothetical! I don’t think I would have moved over to try my hand at Middle Grade without Jamie, however.
Melissa, any special challenges illustrating Hush, Little Monster? Please give us a brief step-by-step explanation of how you created your favorite illustration from the book.
M: I went through several different approaches with the artwork. I tried all digital, then traditional painting. Nothing seemed right. Then our editor told me they really wanted line work to be a part of the work and so I incorporated line using brush and ink. I’m actually pleased with the way it turned out in the end. I think my favorite piece is the spread where they are kissing him “good night” and the spiders are falling out of his pillow.
Rough sketch of tucking in bed scene
Final art for tucking in bed scene
To create the artwork, I did the paintings in acrylic and various dyes and ink washes on watercolor paper. I painted the line in India ink on opaque vellum. Then I scanned both into the computer and put them together digitally. I did this because I was apprehensive about doing line work and having it on a separate layer made it easier to correct any mistakes I made. I also used separate layers for the ink washes. This gave me more control on the values in the illustrations. For example, for the cover, I made a wash of India ink that I scanned in and put on a separate layer from the painting of the characters. I could make certain areas lighter, for example the cat’s eyes, by “cutting away” parts of that dark wash layer.
Painting of cover
Line work (before assembling) of cover
Denis, what’s your favorite illustration and why?
D: This was a hard one, as I like so many of them. But I’m going to pick the “Zombie Invasion” picture for a couple of reasons. First off, it was a late addition, as originally after the broom flies away, the verse went: If that broom won’t sweep as planned, Here comes our friend the Zombie to lend a hand. If that Hand just runs away/You’ll go to the graveyard where you can play.
The picture Melissa had done was of the Zombie holding one of his hands, which has fallen off, in the other and waving it “hello.”
Then in the next picture, we see him chasing after the hand which is hopping away on two fingers. It was hilarious. The good people at Simon and Schuster felt this was a little too morbid for the little ones, so we came up with the spread that’s in the book.
Monster Mom carrying Monster Cookies! (click to enlarge)
I get a kick out of the classic “Zombies breaking down the door and coming through the walls” but instead of being horrified, the family is delighted to see them, with the Monster Daddy seeming to say “Hey Zombie, what took you so long?” and the Daddy Zombie saying “The Traffic was a nightmare!” I also like that Little Monster has gotten a playmate!
Three things Jamie has taught you.
D: 1. Eight hours of sleep is not necessary. Okay, five hours of sleep is not necessary.
2. Real little kids (like Jamie and his friends) come up with comments and remarks that if you were to put it in a script, people would say “no child actually talks like that.” Yes, they do.
3. You never get tired of hearing “I love you daddy” no matter how many times you hear it. Then again, if you’re lucky you’ll get stuff like: “You’re the best daddy in the whole world…okay, in Brooklyn…okay, on this block..”
M: One thing he has taught me is to have faith in myself and my work. Sometimes it is not always easy! He has such an abundance of faith and confidence in himself and in us – it is infectious. I hope he continues to have this ability throughout his life!
Writing and illustrating are both very tough gigs. What are some of the ways you support each other in your work? What do you admire most about each other as artists and human beings?
D: Because of our flexible schedules, we can split the responsibilities of looking after our son, with my taking up some of the slack when Melissa has a deadline, and she doing the same for me. I think we are both very tolerant of the other person’s need for time alone or time to get the work done. We also try to critique each other’s contribution constructively and without rancor. We are not competitive with each other, and I like to think we’re both genuinely happy for the other when they receive praise or success.
As to what I admire as a person, Melissa is the most supportive person in every way, and is able to not only create works of art in her books, but in the kitchen as well (combined so well in her Soup Day)! She puts up with my finicky taste and sees it as a challenge instead of a barrier to creating meals. Well, most of the time. She is also the best mother in the world. Okay, in Brooklyn. Okay, this block.
M: Because we both work in similar fields, we understand the trials and tribulations that come with our occupations in a way that might be more difficult for someone who works a 9-5 job in an office or just even someone who works in-house! So that is something I do not take for granted. We work separately (we have two different floors), but then we can always bounce ideas off of each other at other times during the day—over lunch, at night, etc. So we are very lucky. I can’t imagine doing what I do without Denis. He is definitely my biggest supporter!
What I admire about him as a human being is his enormous capacity for giving and loving. He also has a strong sense of integrity – both of these qualities I admire so much and find to be quite rare. When I see these qualities in him, it pushes me to be a better person in those ways myself. He’s a wonderful partner and father, and I feel very lucky to have him in my life.
Please tell us about your most memorable Halloween as a child and as an adult.
D: I can’t remember the year, maybe I was four or so. My parents made me a robot costume out of a box and silver paper. I remember being thrilled with it. The fact that I couldn’t really move in it, and had to wear a sweater because it was so cold (Robots do not wear sweaters! – wait…that could be a title for a new book..) didn’t lessen the coolness factor.
Denis in his robot costume
As an adult? Hmmm….We tend to do Halloween pretty big here in Brooklyn, so most Halloweens since Jamie has been born have been a lot of fun. Last year, Jamie decided to be a character from Harry Potter. Being Jamie, he didn’t want to be Harry or Ron, or even Dumbledore…he wanted to be Nagini, Lord Voldemort’s snake. Which meant that I got to be Lord Voldemort. I tried to scare all the little Harrys and Hermiones running around, but they were too tough for me.
M: The only thing I can remember is that when I was about 10, I was allowed to go trick-or-treating with my friends without an adult. It was really liberating and a bit scary at the same time. Of course, that probably wouldn’t happen today!
Melissa in her robot costume
What are your plans for Halloween this year (will you be dressing up as the characters in the book)?
D: That’s a great idea, but I don’t think Jamie would go for it. Although I think he will be green this year. He wants to go as a creeper from Minecraft (if you don’t know what that is, lucky you).
M: I was thinking of being a zombie mom. I was a zombie/Death Eater (we were all Harry Potter characters – Denis was Voldemort, and Jamie was Nagini). I loved doing the gory makeup. I have a tutorial on it here.
Anything else you’d like to add about the experience of creating this book?
D: I worked with a terrific editor at Little Simon, Sonali Fry, whose attention to detail and overall dedication to making the book the best it could be was a pleasure to experience.
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SPOOKY RECIPE!
* * * GRAVEYARD CUPS * * *
Ingredients:
Chocolate Pudding
Some Oreo cookies or other chocolate wafer cookies
Graveyard decorations (Halloween candy, gummy worms, fondant shaped into creatures)
Long cookie, such as Milano or graham cracker shaped into a tombstone shape
Frosting for decorating
- Spoon some chocolate pudding into glass cups (it’s more fun to see what is buried in the “dirt”!) You can place gummy worms or other creepy candy creatures on top, then cover with more pudding.
- Process cookies in a food processor until ground to form “dirt”. Alternately, place cookies in a plastic bag, seal, and crush with a rolling pin.
- Make tombstones by writing “RIP” in frosting on Milano cookies or graham cracker. Place into dirt and decorate with more Halloween inspired creatures. We made fondant ghosts. Recipe for fondant found here.
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written by Denis Markell
illustrated by Melissa Iwai
published by Little Simon, 2012
Full-color Picture Book for ages 4-6, 32 pp.
Cool themes: lullabies, humor, Halloween, monsters, family
*Starred Review* from Publishers Weekly
**Available in hardcover and eBook
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♥ MORE TREATS ♥