The message of Look! A Book! A Zany Seek-and-Find Adventure is clear – books are a place of discovery for children of all ages. Award-winning artist Bob Staake delivers a unique picture book experience for his fans to engage in the process of reading by taking the time to look, “so many objects big and small. Let’s see if you can find them ALL…”
Kids are lured to explore by the die-cuts on every page (“A king! A wing! A one-eyed-thing!) and open up to further investigate a wacky world of escaped Museum Creatures on a busy city street, an Aqua-Goofy Jubilee, and a Treetop Town. After being pleasantly consumed in the wild artwork throughout the book, children will be excited to discover more treasure-hunting fun waiting for them at the end. A gate-fold page sends them once again back through the pages for a closer look to find hidden objects - 7 pizza slices, 11 baseballs, and so on.
Bob Staake has been a freelance illustrator since 1981 with an expansive client list which includes Disney, TIME, Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, and countless others. He has authored and/or illustrated over 50 books including Hello Robots, This Is Not A Pumpkin, and The Red Lemon to name just a few. Parents might be familiar with his nationally recognized artwork which has appeared in publications like The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
We were fortunate enough to get the chance to speak with Bob about his work and his newest children’s picture book.
Q: We spoke with you last summer about your book The First Pup, and since that time it seems that you’ve been very busy. Look! A Book! has just been published and your website shows many more on the way. How do you handle this pace?
A: I have a case of self-diagnosed ADD and it work to my advantage. When I get bored with one thing I’m working on, I move on to the next and this enables me to work on many things at once, whether it is a cover for The New Yorker or Washington Post, or a picture book. I really love to work this way.
Q: The sense of humor that you share in your books seems to resonate with both children and their parents. How do you foster your sense of humor and keep it fresh time and time again?
A: It’s kind of what I do. I have always had a real active sense of humor. Right now I really like Facebook as an outlet; it’s a great way to connect with fans. I have a nice large following of different and diverse groups and it allows me to be goofy and spread information about myself that may or may not be true. This gets people egged on and it gives me a daily channel to keep myself entertained. I think that most creative people find humor in everyday things.
Q: Is there anything you see as a mainstay in your work?
A: Yes, I do think that there is a certain aesthetic, a certain attitude, or point-of-view that has to stay the same. I can’t point to it exactly, but most of my picture books have a universal truth or lesson that is woven into the back of the story – with The Red Lemon it is “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and in Hello Robots it is “If you work together you get more done.” But at the same time, I do always try and do something different, especially with my picture books. I feel that each one has to be different from the one before and be unexpected in some way. Right now, I’m working on something entirely new for me that my readers might be surprised by.
Q: Look! A Book! was certainly different and exciting…
A: Yes, it came out of a conversation that I had with one of my editors about how children start to read by looking at books. They engage in the whole process, first, but looking. Look! A Book! demonstrates to parents and kids the value of the looking.
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