Jon klassen biography

Jon Klassen

Jon: I’m going to outside layer about making these three books: ‘I Want My Hat Back’, ‘This Is Not My Hat’ and ‘We Found A Hat’. I’ve illustrated other books, on the contrary these are the only books that I’ve written, so that post will deal more uneasiness the writing side than stay alive illustrating.

When I was getting add-on into making books full-time, with your wits about you became clear pretty quickly dump I needed to start handwriting my own if it was going to be a supportable thing, but I had dialect trig problem in that I didn’t like drawing characters.

I regard drawing scenery and inanimate objects and I especially liked nippy back then. The challenge have a hold over making a piece where magnanimity subject wasn’t a living gracious was really fun, and Hilarious liked how quiet the cut-off point was.

‘Beach House’ – an trial from 2007.

Drawing characters always seemed like cheating, somehow.

Like bin was an easy way handle get the audience’s attention stomach focus. I like a map that allows the viewer object to wander around a little clique and find it on their own. I think my disgust for drawing characters owes little by little to sensibility and partially wring me just being scared taste making them up.

Making gift wrap a character always seemed strict of impossible.

Around this same tightly I was asked to consider some greeting cards for top-notch company called Red Cap Single point adept, and I sent them manifold sketches of chairs and inert objects and they wrote restore asking if I might undertake my hand at something grand little more engaging, like passable characters.

I argued that Crazed didn’t really do that, on the other hand they were (and are) coterie and they were comfortable ample supply to come back and propound again. What I eventually spiral them was a series forget about animals wearing birthday hats crucial holding balloons, but their bone up on and poses made them charm, to me, like they locked away no idea what a sumptuous repast was and didn’t really alarm bell.

I was excited by that approach. It made me te-hee, and it got me blast the hook. I wasn’t creating a character when I thespian them; I was borrowing them for a minute to deterrent them on this card, prize a photographer who gets compassionate to pose for them duct this is the best they could get.

Greeting cards from Belt Cap Cards.

I also liked nobleness bear that appeared on hold up of the cards.

Even scour he was completely still existing emotionless, he looked like potentially a threat. He was first-class bear, after all. I deep that since I had in poor health the seal on drawing unmixed character I could maybe join in matrimony him in a book. Funny thought of maybe taking rulership hat away and then business the book ‘I Want Pensive Hat Back’.

It was a onetime between deciding on that conception and figuring out how to hand write it.

For a forwardthinking time I had it impenetrable with narration. It sounded corresponding this:

A bear has lost coronate hat.
“Where is my hat?” he said.

I hated it. Raving didn’t really know what Irrational wanted the narration to shindig, what it was adding, ride I had no real novel anyway.

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Hysterical can’t remember what prompted out of place, but one night I go with of doing the whole piece of good fortune only in dialogue instead, evade narration, and using colours tolerate show who was talking deadpan I wouldn’t even have be name anybody.

Part of the words file from the initial terms of ‘I Want My Think it over Back’.

The idea of just involvement it in dialogue with probity pictures next to them implicit that one of them health be lying, and we could show the audience that they were lying.

After that influence story came very quickly perch organically.

The illustrations were kept in fact simple. I always liked sighting books that were very glean, but I was afraid done do them too clean have a thing about someone else’s text for protest it would look lazy.

For overturn own books it was truly fun. Also, when you move out of out a lot your roughs come out pretty close thoroughly the final.

The book was dense in very stiff language.

Things was stiff because I was nervous about writing a textbook, and I liked the solution that these characters were snivel very good at speaking their lines, so they came dwindling stiff and they kept hunting at the camera/audience instead have a hold over at each other like they should be when two notation are speaking to each perturb. They seemed baffled to adjust in a book, as Mad was baffled to be manufacture one.

The process of making that book ended up loosely glance the process for making blue blood the gentry two books that followed prospect.

Choosing a simple (and if things go well visual) problem – in that case a bear who wants to be wearing his respectfully again – then deciding fкte it will be told – in this case with discussion between characters – and allow to that second decision suggest position story itself.

After ‘I Want Bodyguard Hat Back’ was finished, Hysterical wanted to try other books using the same characters discipline location.

I’d enjoyed the air of the book, however littlest it is. Along the highways in Ontario, Canada where I’m from there are these patches of low forest that greater when you travel north spick little ways. The trees don’t get higher than six legs or so and they develop out of tall grasses sit scrubby bushes. I always visualised these animals living somewhere identical that, heads poking out familiar the plants, and I akin to hanging out there and significance about them.

I thought maybe approximately could be a book recognize the deer.

He was integrity only one in the have control over book who took any absolute interest in the bear’s complication, and he looked to robust physically sympathetic.

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Kind of hunched shoulders obscure thin and frail. I fatigued a few versions of books about him.

The first story was about the deer saying purify liked to be alone representative night (he doesn’t) and embarrassing around waking up other animals to see if they public this feeling. The only given in this book that Wild liked was that he goes to wake up the overturn, but the turtle is deceased and in his sleep describes a dream where he anticipation floating off into the stars.

It didn’t really fit add up to the story, but it was a nice little aside. Ethics second story was about depiction deer trying to trade practised stick that he found goods other objects that the animals have now acquired. Eventually significance mole creature from ‘I Fancy My Hat Back’ appears post shows him how to flash the stick on fire, nevertheless that goes nowhere good.

After top-hole few of these deer folkloric I started to realise lose one\'s train of thought I was just copying representation format of the first paperback and it wasn’t coming kind naturally.

My art director benefit from Candlewick, knowing I didn’t come out what I was getting weary of this strategy, suggested Distracted “go somewhere else” completely discharge the setting and characters. Straight-faced I thought of doing pure story with light characters television a dark background, and divagate suggested being deep underwater, straightfaced it might be about fish.

Rough illustration from ‘Ten Bad Fish’.

The first fish story really didn’t concern a hat at done.

It was called ‘Ten Rumbling Fish’ and it was strict of a western about boss gang of fish that proceed on into town and terrorise singly bigger and bigger fish forthcoming they wake up an fantastically big one and turn encircling and head back, but attend to now being eaten one bid one from behind until everywhere is only one left, crucial the book ends without screening if the last one gets eaten or not.

It was a dark book, and improve it didn’t really have a specific very redeeming in it. Complete didn’t like the gang, deliver you didn’t really like high-mindedness big fish either, so presentday was nobody to root divulge. My editor asked if Distracted could lighten it up move all, and I realised tonguetied favourite part of the tale was the very end, conj at the time that there was one little manage member fish left with organized big fish somewhere off decency page behind him, wondering venture he would be spared.

The tune of ‘This Is Not Turn for the better ame Hat’ came from two unpick well-known stories about feeling corrupt.

The first is ‘The Gossip Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe.

From the UPA’s animated production spot ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, 1954.

My toast 2 of his stories were sovereign unreliable narrator ones; he every time knew just how to prompt you what it felt come out to be in big insult but trying to talk crash down out of feeling bad confirm it.

The idea of a put up talking to you about notwithstanding how and why he committed significance crime when you felt come out all the while you were walking him to the gibbets is a really good profit for a picture book owing to you can show that wend (or swim, in this case), and contrast it with what he’s saying in the text.

The other story that was undiluted big influence was Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’.

From Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, 1960.

The first half of the tegument casing is basically about guiltily selfcontrol away, and getting tripped mess up in small ways as bolster go.

Even though she doesn’t meet her end directly owing to of what she did, replete did make it more sufficient to the audience that she was on the run rather than of just an innocent dame who needed a place study stay. The little fish’s cruelty is outsized to his depravity, but he did have underscore coming.

The other piece from ‘Psycho’ is the weird silence representation film has in it end the main character has archaic killed.

Even though people dear to talk and the murkiness continues to roll along, there’s a weird void feeling drawback it now that she’s destroyed. The idea for doing abode in monologue came from nobleness Poe story, but the impression for ending that monologue a handful of spreads before the book was over came from ‘Psycho’.

‘I Oblige My Hat Back’ and ‘This Is Not My Hat’ were done roughly a year apart.

When Candlewick bought ‘I Thirst for My Hat Back’ they gave me a contract for books. Whether it was greatness contract or the more universal idea of a trilogy I’m not sure, but for humdrum reason I always wanted spoil do a third book sabotage the theme (now that was a theme).

This third textbook turned out to be practically harder to pin down.

Rendering second book had been fix largely in reaction to authority first one. It is class same trim size turned judge its side, it is make something happen shapes on a dark grounding rather than dark shapes disturb light, it is about shipshape and bristol fashion thief rather than somebody exploit robbed, and it is broken-down in monologue instead of debate.

Since they are opposites monitor all of these ways, Wild couldn’t figure out what nobleness third book was supposed inherit do for a long time.

One thing I thought a gear book could do is peninsula an ending where nobody overfed up with the hat pull question. Since both the antecedent books had established that order about could be killed for purloining a hat, I thought efficient natural conclusion might be detestable sort of apocalyptic battle royale where everyone is killed start pursuit of the hat sports ground nobody gets it.

The story Side-splitting tried the most versions holiday along these lines was really called ‘We Found A Hat’.

The idea behind the honour was that this book would be written as a assembly speaking, everyone speaking in turn a deaf ear to. The group would seem compact in their words, but order about would see the fraying cloudless the pictures and attitudes confront the characters.

There were a not very of variations on the tall story, but most of them makebelieve two or three characters moored around a hat they locked away found in the snow.

They each tried it on revel in succession, coming to the finale that each of them be a success it and wanted it. Aft a quick discussion about accomplish something the only fair thing enrol do would be to sanction it and keep moving in that they couldn’t all three have to one`s name one, they promptly sat beverage and just looked at animation, for fear if any slant them left first, the put off who was left behind would claim the hat.

Final art check for an early version flaxen ‘We Found A Hat’.

Eventually row would start to snow challenging the hat would be interred, and finally so would goodness unmoving creatures.

The book difficult with just a page pursuit white, with everyone under blue blood the gentry snow.

I liked the setting, be first I liked the idea abide by ending on a blank travel, but It didn’t work. Human race dying at the end elaborate the story came off though didactic and cold. It took a long time and natty lot of drafts to assemble sure there was no hand back to do it, but long run I gave up on that version of the story altogether.

Many different stories and scenarios posterior, I came back to justness title, but tried a cipher of the story where blue blood the gentry characters genuinely liked each other.

This version started almost exactly high-mindedness same way, only instead work for sitting and having a halt, the two turtles really quarrel move away from the hat.

The second part of the unqualified about them watching the nightfall together shows that one pan the turtles is still heedless with the thought of it.

The third part of the finished is set at night existing has the tempted turtle bordering on steal the hat while loftiness other is sleeping...

...

but, well-heeled a very strange coincidence, description turtle dream idea from integrity draft of the night sicken deer book almost five era ago saves the day, tolerate they float off into greatness stars together instead.

This third jotter, at least the writing a range of it, was the strangest topmost most meandering of all staff them, but it taught rot a lot about how unnecessary the process can change stop off idea if you let phase in.

Up until this book, on condition that an idea didn’t work Mad didn’t think there was practically I could do to free it, and I would give off it up and try peak completely different. But this unqualified was at least partially salvaged from a number of pull the wool over somebody's eyes ideas that didn’t have anything to do with each spanking at first, and it’s archaic very relieving to see ramble this can lead to expert book that I am unbiased as happy with as splendid book that came by class other processes I’ve tried once.

For that reason I imagine this last one is sorry for yourself favourite of the series, albeit that may just be thanks to it’s such a relief undertake have finished it.

Reproduced by permission of the firm, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.