An Interview with Author/Illustrator Jeremy Tankard

Jeremy Tankard makes us smile.

His picture books are bursting with bright, bold colours and he has a pet goldfish named Rosie.

What’s not to like?

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Jeremy has lived in Columbia, the U.S. and now makes his home in Canada.

He studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design, and has been storytelling, writing and illustrating children’s books for a number of years.

His most recent book, Boo Hoo Bird (Scholastic Canada, 2009) has been nominated for a Blue Spruce Award by the Ontario Library Association.

Last September, our family heard Jeremy speak at the Telling Tales children’s book festival in Rockton, Ontario. Recently, we caught up with him to ask a few questions about his work.

Logan, aged 7 and Myles, aged 6 were in charge of the interview questions, which came out something like this:

Logan: Where did you learn to be such an amazing artist?

Jeremy: I'm not amazing! If I'm good at making art it's sheer hard work and persistence paying off. I love drawing and have always done it. I just did soooo much of it that I eventually got pretty good at drawing some things. I'm still learning though. Some things are easy and others more difficult. But I love a challenge.

Think of drawing like a musical instrument: it's very difficult to play a violin, but if you keep practicing and trying and learning you eventually learn to do it. The more you practice drawing the better you'll get. It really is that simple!

Myles: This book is about a bird with a boo-boo. Do you have a pet bird or any other pets?

Jeremy: I have a goldfish named Rosie. I'm actually allergic to most animals (they make my nose run like crazy) but the fish is okay. She's hilarious -- she begs for food when she sees me. I love cats and dogs. My favourite animals are: squid; octopus; tiger. And, like most people, I think small, furry creatures are pretty cute.

Logan: You really seem to love animals. Have you ever helped out an animal that was hurting before?

Jeremy: I do love animals. I tried helping an injured Bird once. I don't think it survived my care though. That was probably more the fault of the injuries than the care. At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself!

A couple of years ago while I was walking home I came across an orphaned baby squirrel. It was REALLY cute. I stopped walking and watched it for a while (you don't usually see young squirrels until they are much bigger).

I kept looking around for the mother but she didn't seem to be around. When I looked back down the squirrel had moved onto my shoe and was looking hopefully up at me.

"Oh no!" I thought, "this squirrel thinks I'm his mom!"

I walked home very carefully and rang my doorbell. When my wife opened the door I just said, "There's a squirrel on my shoe!" which seemed like the right amount of ludicrous to get a laugh.

Then I sat on my front steps for a while. Most passersby didn't notice the squirrel, but when they did they usually said, "Awwwww, he's soooooo cute!" And other people would stop and chat and not even notice the squirrel. In mid conversation I'd suddenly say, "There's a squirrel on my shoe!" It was both a conversation stopper and a conversation starter!

Eventually a nice young lady came by and asked what I was planning on doing with the squirrel on my shoe. She came back with a box and took it home. I've often wondered what happened to it (the squirrel, not the shoe. I kept the shoe).

Myles: We both liked that this book was so colourful. What’s your favourite colour?

Jeremy: Chartreuse. And I've got two favourite colour combinations: orange and blue; and earthy-green and orange. And I like my colours REALLY bright (as I'm sure you noticed).

Logan: Are you working on any other books right now?

Jeremy: I am indeed. I've got two picture books in the works with other authors, a first for me, and then a chapter book of sorts. And hopefully another Bird book as well.

Myles: Do you like to listen to music when you draw?

Jeremy: I love music. I listen to a wide variety of things. I tend to listen to more indie rock and electronic music than anything else for some reason.

Grumpy Bird was illustrated to a rotation of Eels, the Magnetic Fields and Jesus Jones.

Me Hungry! had a slightly heavier soundtrack with lots of Pop Will Eat Itself and some Buckethead. I love Buckethead!

And with Boo Hoo Bird there was a lot of The Knife and the Chemical Brothers.

When I'm just doodling I'm less specific and listen to everything from classical music (I love classical -- in fact when I was growing up I reeeeally wanted to be a violinist). I still enjoy playing the violin! Some jazz, electronic, indie, experimental, industrial, rock, you name it. I'm not much of a country music fan though.

Logan and Myles: Thanks so much for answering our questions, Jeremy! We love your books and we look forward to reading whatever you think up next.