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David Shannon
Biography
David Shannon began his career illustrating books for other authors. However, he soon found he had his own stories to tell, as in the Caldecott Honor book No David! -- based on pictures he drew of himself at the age of 5 doing all the things he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He is the illustrator and author of more than 20 books for children, including David Goes to School and David Gets in Trouble -- both best-sellers. His latest is Too Many Toys (Scholastic/Blue Sky Press, 2008). He lives in Los Angeles.
The Scoop
What sparked your imagination for your newest book - Too Many Toys?
I have a nine year-old daughter, so I didn't have to imagine too much. I've stepped on a Lego -- it really hurts!
What challenges do you face in your writing and drawing process? How do you overcome them? Do you find one more difficult than the other (writing vs. drawing)?
I find that writing and drawing have very different problems with very different solutions. We've all heard the expression, "A picture's worth a thousand words," but sometimes the right word is worth a thousand pictures. For instance, try drawing what something smells like! So what I try to do is tell part of the story with words and part of the story with pictures. Hopefully, when you combine the two and mix them up with the reader's own imagination you get the whole story.
What artists have inspired you? Are you often inspired by your everyday surroundings or dreams?
I'm inspired by all kinds of art and artists -- illustration, painting, sculpture, music, movies, and lots of books! I never know how they're going to influence my stuff. One time I realized a poster I designed was inspired by a TV show I watched when I was a little kid ("Captain Kangaroo")! One of my favorite illustrators is N.C. Wyeth. My uncle gave me a copy of The Boys' King Arthur when I was nine and he's been a big influence on me ever since.
I don't get inspired by dreams much, but I do get a lot of ideas right before I go to sleep or right after I wake up, so I keep a little sketch pad by my bed. More and more I get ideas from everyday surroundings -- Too Many Toys and Alice the Fairy are based on my daughter, Emma, and Fergus really is my dog. And, of course, I did a lot of the things David does in No, David! (People always ask me which ones, but I'm not telling.
What tips or advice can you share with young students who hope to start writing/illustrating?
The best advice I can give is to write or draw a lot -- like anything, the more you practice the better you'll get -- and write or draw about things you like. When I was a little kid I loved to read about and draw baseball players and pirates and trucks. When I got a little older I got into comic books so I drew lots of super heroes. Then I went to art school where I drew really exciting things... like fruit! And now I'm a children's book illustrator and guess what I'm drawing --baseball players and pirates and trucks and TOYS.
How do you decide on themes for your books?
I don't really decide on a theme for my books. It's kind of the other way around. I get an idea for a story that I think would be fun or interesting, then I let it tell me what its true meaning should be. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get it right -- you have to listen very carefully!
What is your list of favorite children or teen books?
I don't really have a list of books. Some of my favorites are:
- Make Way For the Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague
- The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson
- The Taran books by Lloyd Alexander
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
- The Boys' King Arthur by Thomas Malory (edited by Sidney Lanier, N.C. Wyeth illust.)
- Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (illustrated by N.C. Wyeth)
- The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
If you were not writing and drawing, what do you think you would be doing?
Right this second? I'd be fishing!
What is your advice to parents for passing the joys of reading on to their children?
Read to them A LOT when they're little (and even when they're not). Any reading is good. Let them read stuff they think is awesome, like comics or Manga (you can still make them read the classics). Read the same book at the same time.
Book Covers
Too Many Toys |
No David! |
David Gets In Trouble |
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Last Updated: 08/04/2009