Got to the "very difficult to have children and create at the same time..." part and realized I'd forgotten to make my kid's camp lunch (thankfully, before we left the house).
Anyhow! I had not read this interview, and I did really enjoy it! It was not as superficial as many; I do feel like I got a better sense of the person here.
And you were spot on for Orson. From a 1979 interview in the NYT, “We named him Orson,” he says, “because we thought he would grow into an Orson Welles. Instead he grew into an Orson Bean..."
Particularly loved Lobel’s comment on piss poor reviewing of children’s books. “I would prefer an intelligent bad review … You’ve worked long and hard to create something and they say, ‘Mr. Lobel’s watercolors are very charming.’ This is not reviewing.”
This was a great interview; thanks for digging it up! The part about Lobel's Mother Goose book cracked me up. Just a few months ago I picked it up at the library and was quite excited to see what Lobel had managed to do with it. In the end, it turns out that there's only so much you can do with Mother Goose.
I just picked up from the library Mary Ann Hoberman's last book How Elegant the Elephant illustrated by Marla Frazee. What a wonderful collection of poetry from a very talented children's writer! And the illustrations are delightful! Perhaps a post about Hoberman? 45 books! Young People's Poet Laureate!
Really enjoyed the Arnold Lobel interview. Thank you for sharing. On a side note, Kemmons Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inn, was the speaker at my high school graduation ceremony! He also received his honorary diploma, as he’d had to drop out to help support his family.
Would love to hear your recs on who (besides yourselves) is writing and illustrating the best children’s books today. Unfortunately the selection at the (otherwise wonderful and independent!) local bookstores is so often such a disappointment. Too many crummy digital illustrations and way too many parents present for the entirety of the story. Outside some truly notable exceptions, I keep turning to the past, but I’d love to see what contemporary folks are doing. I worry it’s just not making it onto the shelves (or worse, the publishers don’t want the good stuff).
The favorite recent-ish books in our home are Rain! by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson and Music for Mr Moon by Philip and Erin Stead. There are some other nonfiction and memoir books we like but… that’s basically it in terms of fiction, other than Barnett/Klassen? Where are the adventures and escapades of creatures and children?
I would argue that we’re seeing an INCREDIBLE number of truly phenomenal picture books in 2025, actually. And no, you’re not going to necessarily see them on a bookstore shelf. Consider checking out the following:
- Broken by X. Fang
- Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
- Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, ill. Catia Chen
- The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi, ill. Monica Arnaldo
Thank you, would love some recs! Picture books for now, my son is not yet 2. (But has a long attention span, will happily sit through a full Curious George, multiple Frog and Toad stories, etc!) We have many, many old favorites but I’m finding that our post-circa 2005 selection is quite limited.
I love the Chirri & Chirra by Kaya Doi. They are full of surprising wonderful things and manage to be both gentle and exciting! I also like Wolf In the Snow by Matthew Cordell which has no written narrative but a very strong story! Cressida Cowell's Emily Brown and the Thing is also very fun - and great to read outlout!
What a fantastic interview of Lobel!
It makes me even more excited for Emmy Kastner's forthcoming picture book about Lobel: https://www.emmykmakes.com/outside-in-and-the-inside-out.
Got to the "very difficult to have children and create at the same time..." part and realized I'd forgotten to make my kid's camp lunch (thankfully, before we left the house).
Anyhow! I had not read this interview, and I did really enjoy it! It was not as superficial as many; I do feel like I got a better sense of the person here.
And you were spot on for Orson. From a 1979 interview in the NYT, “We named him Orson,” he says, “because we thought he would grow into an Orson Welles. Instead he grew into an Orson Bean..."
Particularly loved Lobel’s comment on piss poor reviewing of children’s books. “I would prefer an intelligent bad review … You’ve worked long and hard to create something and they say, ‘Mr. Lobel’s watercolors are very charming.’ This is not reviewing.”
Put THAT on a t-shirt too, sirs. Please!
When the interviewer pointed out the overuse of "delightful" I thought, "Oh crap, they're on to me!"
This was a great interview; thanks for digging it up! The part about Lobel's Mother Goose book cracked me up. Just a few months ago I picked it up at the library and was quite excited to see what Lobel had managed to do with it. In the end, it turns out that there's only so much you can do with Mother Goose.
I just picked up from the library Mary Ann Hoberman's last book How Elegant the Elephant illustrated by Marla Frazee. What a wonderful collection of poetry from a very talented children's writer! And the illustrations are delightful! Perhaps a post about Hoberman? 45 books! Young People's Poet Laureate!
Will you be restocking the hats?
This was a gem. Thank you.
Thank you for this! Can’t wait to read your conversation about Frog and Toad.
Really enjoyed the Arnold Lobel interview. Thank you for sharing. On a side note, Kemmons Wilson, the founder of Holiday Inn, was the speaker at my high school graduation ceremony! He also received his honorary diploma, as he’d had to drop out to help support his family.
Ha! I finally made sense of your logo…took a while though…it’s clever (me, not so much)
Ugh it’s all so good!
Would love to hear your recs on who (besides yourselves) is writing and illustrating the best children’s books today. Unfortunately the selection at the (otherwise wonderful and independent!) local bookstores is so often such a disappointment. Too many crummy digital illustrations and way too many parents present for the entirety of the story. Outside some truly notable exceptions, I keep turning to the past, but I’d love to see what contemporary folks are doing. I worry it’s just not making it onto the shelves (or worse, the publishers don’t want the good stuff).
The favorite recent-ish books in our home are Rain! by Linda Ashman and Christian Robinson and Music for Mr Moon by Philip and Erin Stead. There are some other nonfiction and memoir books we like but… that’s basically it in terms of fiction, other than Barnett/Klassen? Where are the adventures and escapades of creatures and children?
There are so many amazing ones! Are you looking for picture books only or chapter books too?
I would argue that we’re seeing an INCREDIBLE number of truly phenomenal picture books in 2025, actually. And no, you’re not going to necessarily see them on a bookstore shelf. Consider checking out the following:
- Broken by X. Fang
- Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
- Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, ill. Catia Chen
- The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi, ill. Monica Arnaldo
- Island Storm by Brian Floca, ill. Sydney Smith
- Mistaco! by Eliza Kinkz
- Our Lake by Angie Kang
- Let’s Be Bees by Shawn Harris
Thank you, would love some recs! Picture books for now, my son is not yet 2. (But has a long attention span, will happily sit through a full Curious George, multiple Frog and Toad stories, etc!) We have many, many old favorites but I’m finding that our post-circa 2005 selection is quite limited.
I love the Chirri & Chirra by Kaya Doi. They are full of surprising wonderful things and manage to be both gentle and exciting! I also like Wolf In the Snow by Matthew Cordell which has no written narrative but a very strong story! Cressida Cowell's Emily Brown and the Thing is also very fun - and great to read outlout!