Creating Characters That Connect with Dan Yaccarino

00:00:00.493 --> 00:00:03.213
Erin Bailey: Welcome to Reading Inspires by Reading is Fundamental.

00:00:03.213 --> 00:00:05.073
I'm your host, Dr. Aaron Bailey.

00:00:05.283 --> 00:00:08.613
This podcast celebrates the power of books and the joy of reading.

00:00:08.853 --> 00:00:15.208
In each episode, we talk with educators, librarians, families, authors, and literacy champions to explore one big question.

00:00:16.113 --> 00:00:17.673
What does Reading inspire for you?

00:00:18.063 --> 00:00:26.013
Through stories, research, and real world experiences from classrooms, libraries, and homes, we explore what literacy looks like and why it matters.

00:00:26.253 --> 00:00:31.263
Whether you're nurturing young readers, shaping learning spaces, or simply love a good book, we're glad you're here.

00:00:31.533 --> 00:00:34.653
Be sure to subscribe to get the podcast latest episode.

00:00:34.823 --> 00:00:35.933
Let's get inspired.

00:00:36.173 --> 00:00:43.013
Today I'm chatting with author and illustrator, Dan Ya Carino to culminate this year's Rally to Read 100 program.

00:00:43.013 --> 00:00:54.863
Dan will be reading aloud one of his books at Reading his Fundamentals Live Reading celebration event reading inspires at the Barnes and Noble flagship store in New York City on March 6th at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

00:00:55.163 --> 00:01:02.363
If you are a teacher who's listening now, I will link in the show notes that you can attend the live event virtually with your class room.

00:01:02.363 --> 00:01:03.803
So welcome Dan.

00:01:05.228 --> 00:01:05.568
Dan Yaccarino: Hello.

00:01:05.598 --> 00:01:07.218
Thank you so much for inviting me.

00:01:07.218 --> 00:01:08.418
This is so exciting.

00:01:08.898 --> 00:01:09.408
I really appreciate.

00:01:10.563 --> 00:01:14.043
Erin Bailey: we have some questions that I prepared that which we will dive into.

00:01:14.043 --> 00:01:18.093
But first I wanna show off the book that you'll be reading at the event.

00:01:18.093 --> 00:01:18.483
Here it is.

00:01:19.278 --> 00:01:22.638
Luna Sisters and the Battle for the Moon Blossom.

00:01:22.998 --> 00:01:31.098
And I have to share with you that I got this book about a week ago to prepare for our interview and event, and my daughter has asked that.

00:01:31.098 --> 00:01:34.258
I read it to her every single night since we got it.

00:01:34.588 --> 00:01:38.008
So you have a five-year-old fan in the Bailey household.

00:01:38.308 --> 00:01:46.018
And before we jump into our official questions, my daughter's question for you is, will there be more Luna Sisters books?

00:01:46.963 --> 00:01:48.613
Dan Yaccarino: Well there are two so far.

00:01:48.703 --> 00:01:51.523
So hopefully in the future there'll be more.

00:01:51.613 --> 00:01:57.073
And I have lots and lots of ideas for, for the bickering Luna Sisters.

00:01:57.808 --> 00:01:59.488
Erin Bailey: I am excited to share that with her.

00:01:59.648 --> 00:02:01.178
So let's start with your background.

00:02:01.178 --> 00:02:05.318
Your journey into art and storytelling began long before your first book.

00:02:05.318 --> 00:02:13.898
Can you share a little bit about growing up in New Jersey and early influences on your work like comic books, vintage animation, and old films?

00:02:14.453 --> 00:02:14.813
Dan Yaccarino: Yeah.

00:02:15.083 --> 00:02:16.643
Well, I, I have.

00:02:17.513 --> 00:02:25.973
Loved drawing ever since I could pick up a crayon and draw all over the basement walls, which I got in trouble for.

00:02:26.433 --> 00:02:35.313
But I always, I don't know, I can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in creating something and so my childhood, I would.

00:02:35.868 --> 00:02:37.698
Draw, I'd make my own little books.

00:02:37.698 --> 00:02:40.848
I'd fold some paper together and staple it and make my own books.

00:02:41.058 --> 00:02:44.688
I would make, you know, home movies, I would build things.

00:02:44.688 --> 00:02:46.248
I would, you know, record.

00:02:46.248 --> 00:02:47.778
'cause I had a tape recorder growing up.

00:02:47.778 --> 00:02:48.738
I would record things.

00:02:48.738 --> 00:02:53.988
So I always had this kind of you know, desire to, to create things.

00:02:54.018 --> 00:02:57.678
Now, when I grew up, I watched a lot of old animation.

00:02:57.678 --> 00:02:58.398
I love.

00:02:59.008 --> 00:03:01.528
Old black and white animation and old films.

00:03:01.588 --> 00:03:08.258
And I was surrounded by a very interesting era of design, which was the seventies.

00:03:08.618 --> 00:03:19.148
And but I always, even though it was before my time, I always sort of gravitated towards more mid-century, which is apparent in my work, the designs, the colors and things like that.

00:03:19.898 --> 00:03:24.868
But I always remember being interested in just simply being creative.

00:03:26.203 --> 00:03:26.773
Erin Bailey: Awesome.

00:03:27.023 --> 00:03:28.253
And so also your background.

00:03:28.253 --> 00:03:35.723
You studied at Parsons School of Design and then transitioned into more commercial illustrations and major publications.

00:03:35.963 --> 00:03:39.923
How did your education influence your approach to children's books in animation?

00:03:41.276 --> 00:03:42.836
Dan Yaccarino: Well in art school.

00:03:43.526 --> 00:03:48.626
I was exposed to a lot of different things that I wasn't even aware of when I was growing up.

00:03:48.626 --> 00:03:51.116
So I was the kid in school.

00:03:51.116 --> 00:03:57.696
Maybe one or two other people had any kind of interest in, in drawing or art of any kind throughout all of my schooling.

00:03:57.696 --> 00:04:04.986
So that was sort of my unique thing about me is that, oh, that's the kid that, that draws all those pictures and, and so.

00:04:05.241 --> 00:04:06.981
That was sort of my identity.

00:04:07.371 --> 00:04:21.411
And then when I went to art school, it was totally different because in a sense that one kid, you know, in art school was the kid, the one kid in their schools growing up, being the artist, the creative person.

00:04:21.411 --> 00:04:25.571
So it was really sort of amazing to me that I was surrounded by all these.

00:04:26.036 --> 00:04:28.466
You know, ambitious, creative people.

00:04:28.796 --> 00:04:30.196
And I love that.

00:04:30.196 --> 00:04:37.636
I felt like, you know, I'm on my home planet, you know, I found my people and so that inspired me to move forward.

00:04:37.636 --> 00:04:41.806
I felt like, I guess in my final year at Parsons.

00:04:43.141 --> 00:04:50.701
I had to sort of pick a direction, and at that time there were so many magazines and, and things in print.

00:04:51.001 --> 00:04:52.681
So I decided I can do that.

00:04:52.711 --> 00:05:15.411
You know, I, I I sort of apprenticed under a, commercial illustrator in my last year of art school, and I learned so much just from the real life experience of working
with him that I sort of figured out how the industry worked and, you know, about meeting your deadline, presenting sketches, doing revisions, you know, all of that.

00:05:15.411 --> 00:05:20.331
Sort of maintaining a relationship with all these different publications, so right out of school.

00:05:20.941 --> 00:05:23.671
The first place I went to was the New York Times.

00:05:24.181 --> 00:05:34.021
I went to the book review section because I heard that that art director gave a lot of people their first break, people coming into this country that he gave Steven Heller gave them their first break.

00:05:34.441 --> 00:05:40.771
And so in my first meeting, in my first portfolio presentation, I got my first job.

00:05:41.191 --> 00:05:44.251
And since then, being that I had sort of.

00:05:45.071 --> 00:05:47.171
Had an idea of how the business worked.

00:05:47.171 --> 00:05:58.301
I sort of charged ahead and sought out work from other magazines, and then eventually I'd started working for ad agencies doing ad campaigns and posters and different things like that.

00:05:58.871 --> 00:06:06.311
And, about five years out of school, really sort of in the thick of this commercial illustration phase of my career.

00:06:06.581 --> 00:06:13.461
I met a children's book editor and I didn't know much about children's books to be honest with you.

00:06:14.011 --> 00:06:18.301
There were no classes to, you know, there was no master's degree in children's literature.

00:06:18.301 --> 00:06:20.971
There was no classes even about how to assemble a book.

00:06:21.391 --> 00:06:26.056
So I went to a bookstore and, and looked at how these were, how many pages, how big they are, and all that.

00:06:26.716 --> 00:06:32.286
And from there I created my first book Dummy and presented it to this editor at Hyperion.

00:06:33.426 --> 00:06:35.946
And once I did one book.

00:06:36.938 --> 00:06:38.198
I became hooked.

00:06:39.008 --> 00:06:41.648
It's such an amazing canvas.

00:06:41.678 --> 00:06:50.918
You know, I'm used to, you know, prior to that I was working for magazine, so they only required most of the time just a single image that would reflect what was in an article.

00:06:51.518 --> 00:06:58.358
And now I have this huge opportunity, this canvas, to be able to create sequential art focusing.

00:06:58.668 --> 00:07:07.998
On a character and building a world and creating a story, and it was everything that I had been doing growing up in the first place.

00:07:08.298 --> 00:07:10.188
So I sort of took to it very quickly.

00:07:10.278 --> 00:07:12.948
And again, I love it.

00:07:12.948 --> 00:07:24.178
And I've been doing this, I published my first book in, it came out in 1993, so it's a long time, but I am more excited.

00:07:24.478 --> 00:07:31.388
Today to be creating books for kids than even when I was just starting off and the whole thing was new.

00:07:31.748 --> 00:07:33.158
And so I love it.

00:07:33.158 --> 00:07:45.598
It is such a gratifying wonderful industry to be in and I'm so very grateful to be able to continue to create stories and characters and, and fun books for kids.

00:07:46.593 --> 00:07:55.673
Erin Bailey: I love that journey so much, and I think that becoming hooked on children's literature, the thing I love the most about children's literature is that it continues to grow.

00:07:55.673 --> 00:07:57.443
Isn't that a beautiful thing?

00:07:57.443 --> 00:07:58.268
Every year there are.

00:07:58.693 --> 00:08:04.813
More and more beautiful children's books and we can still have the classics that we love and in include the new ones.

00:08:05.083 --> 00:08:06.283
And I also.

00:08:06.903 --> 00:08:10.833
Relate with you so much because I was that art kid in school too.

00:08:11.073 --> 00:08:13.473
I always wanted to be an artist and a writer.

00:08:13.473 --> 00:08:18.393
If you ask my classmates, who is the best artist in the class, it was Aaron.

00:08:18.783 --> 00:08:20.583
I took a different direction than you.

00:08:20.613 --> 00:08:25.143
Clearly I went into education, but you can see how things kind of.

00:08:25.238 --> 00:08:31.358
Come full circle because now I get to work with wonderful authors and illustrators like, like yourself every day.

00:08:31.358 --> 00:08:32.748
So thank you.

00:08:33.058 --> 00:08:35.368
So let's talk about your characters.

00:08:35.448 --> 00:08:43.458
Many know you as the creator of Oswald and Doug Unplugs and the designer of the Backyardigans, which are animated series.

00:08:43.458 --> 00:08:48.318
Can you talk about the difference between developing these type of characters versus picture book?

00:08:49.298 --> 00:08:50.468
Dan Yaccarino: There's a big difference.

00:08:50.888 --> 00:08:54.608
I had an idea to create some.

00:08:55.258 --> 00:08:56.968
Picture books about an octopus.

00:08:57.868 --> 00:09:00.568
And that was the original concept was to create this.

00:09:00.568 --> 00:09:07.048
And then I thought, well maybe one day I can, you know, dare I dream that I can create an animated, animated series.

00:09:07.588 --> 00:09:33.828
And I didn't get a chance to publish the book 'cause I met someone, you know, with Nickelodeon and I pitched them this oddball idea about an octopus that has a pet hot dog and drives a car and has a
friend that's a flower and a snowman and, it's a very different process because with a book mostly it's, it's sort of you know, the, the creator, the book creator and an editor and, and a designer.

00:09:34.368 --> 00:09:37.288
And it's a very intimate sort of process.

00:09:37.708 --> 00:09:42.748
And I feel like comparing the two, the book.

00:09:43.888 --> 00:09:53.048
You know, the, the, the story, the characters and all of that in the book are closer to what I had in my head, but with an animated series.

00:09:54.068 --> 00:10:03.578
It's, it's a group project, and I want to be surrounded by very, very talented people who can, you know, do a better job than me.

00:10:03.788 --> 00:10:19.888
After I give them the idea, I seek out, you know, designers, storyboard artists, writers, and, and, and then by extension musicians and voice actors and, you know, so it, it, it, I feel like I learned a lot with my first show because.

00:10:20.278 --> 00:10:44.328
I never had done anything like that before, but I got over being shy about asking questions and learning, and that was the best thing I could have done because by the time
we finished our first episode, which traditionally took about nine months to create a whole episode from beginning to end I understood how, how to produce a series and.

00:10:44.898 --> 00:10:47.718
That I became also sort of hooked on.

00:10:48.258 --> 00:10:50.388
I enjoy working with other people.

00:10:50.388 --> 00:10:57.768
I really do, but I also enjoy, you know, sitting near my little studio and, and creating my books as well.

00:10:57.768 --> 00:11:02.988
So it's a, I have a very fortunate to have a, a nice balance between the two.

00:11:03.343 --> 00:11:07.488
So I get a little squirrely when I'm by myself too long and I get a little overwhelmed.

00:11:08.088 --> 00:11:17.178
Around a lot of people for too long, and so I could kind of retreat, you know, I could have this nice back and forth in my career that I could sort of slide to one to the other.

00:11:17.658 --> 00:11:21.798
And they're very different experiences, but they're both so very gratifying.

00:11:22.968 --> 00:11:26.168
Erin Bailey: I had no idea that it takes nine months to produce one.

00:11:26.178 --> 00:11:26.448
Dan Yaccarino: Nobody does.

00:11:26.683 --> 00:11:27.283
Erin Bailey: Episode.

00:11:27.283 --> 00:11:30.223
I mean, I, I mean I can see it now, but Wow.

00:11:30.253 --> 00:11:33.193
That, and it really is a full, a full team effort.

00:11:33.858 --> 00:11:35.928
Dan Yaccarino: Yeah, absolutely it is.

00:11:36.268 --> 00:11:44.498
But they, you know, I mean, not to get technical or anything, but you know, you launch one episode a week, so it's almost like a conveyor belt going by.

00:11:44.498 --> 00:11:48.428
Like, okay, this one's still in script, and that moves down the conveyor belt to boarding.

00:11:48.428 --> 00:11:54.458
But then we launch a new episode that's in script, and then that'll eventually, but then the first one will go to the next phase.

00:11:54.818 --> 00:11:58.668
So it's, at one point you're stacked with maybe 52 episodes, and that's.

00:11:58.908 --> 00:12:04.578
Kind of madness, but then, you know, the schedule starts to become a little bit more tolerable after that.

00:12:04.908 --> 00:12:07.908
But it's a lot, it's a lot, a lot of coordination, a lot.

00:12:07.908 --> 00:12:18.258
I've been so very fortunate to have worked with a lot of really talented people who love what they do, and that just brings everything up to another level.

00:12:18.348 --> 00:12:20.273
So I'm very fortunate in that regard as well.

00:12:21.303 --> 00:12:24.918
Erin Bailey: If I. Connection the way you're describing the conveyor belt.

00:12:24.918 --> 00:12:31.218
You know, we launched Reading Inspires podcast a little over a month now, and it feels exactly like that.

00:12:31.218 --> 00:12:36.568
We filmed the first 10 episodes because we knew we needed to go to launch with 10 episodes.

00:12:36.818 --> 00:12:38.288
And that was a, that was a lot.

00:12:38.468 --> 00:12:46.568
But now we're seeing a steady stream of the episode gets filmed, it gets edited, it gets produced, and then it, it gets aired.

00:12:46.728 --> 00:12:47.358
And, you know.

00:12:48.008 --> 00:12:58.298
The, I'm the host of course, of this podcast, but it really is a team effort and I'm so grateful for the production team and the marketing team because I could not do this solo.

00:12:59.933 --> 00:13:00.918
Dan Yaccarino: That would be impossible.

00:13:02.408 --> 00:13:05.643
Erin Bailey: There are people out there who, who do so though which is impressive.

00:13:06.583 --> 00:13:07.423
Dan Yaccarino: Bless those people.

00:13:08.949 --> 00:13:13.839
Erin Bailey: So thinking about your books, your books have reached readers around the world.

00:13:13.839 --> 00:13:16.119
They've been translated into multiple languages.

00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:22.539
When you're going to write the books, how do you balance universal themes with your distinct artistic style?

00:13:23.694 --> 00:13:24.714
Dan Yaccarino: That's a good question.

00:13:24.924 --> 00:13:26.124
It it's a funny.

00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:27.399
Phenomenon.

00:13:27.489 --> 00:13:42.369
I had done a book about my great-grandfather coming to the United States from Italy, and it was a very personal story because it's based on what my grandparents told me and I thought it was very particular to my family.

00:13:43.239 --> 00:13:52.299
And I was a a little shy about creating a book so personal, because I'm in the book weirdly, and my kids are in the book.

00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:53.149
But.

00:13:53.779 --> 00:14:10.069
All of the messages and emails that I got and continue to get from that book is that it's, it's weirdly, the, the, the further I dug down into my own life and my family's experience, the more it became universal in a weird way.

00:14:10.109 --> 00:14:25.264
A lot of people, you know, maybe they were able to relate to or, or connect with certain specific aspects, but the whole overall story about someone coming to a new country and building a new life, that's such a universal story.

00:14:25.684 --> 00:14:28.984
So anything that we experience.

00:14:29.574 --> 00:14:31.344
Other people experience it.

00:14:31.824 --> 00:14:39.084
And we're always looking for that connection of, of seeing yourself out there in some way.

00:14:39.354 --> 00:14:46.164
And so I think that a lot of these books that, you know, that I create are about basic, the basic human experience.

00:14:46.164 --> 00:14:53.809
Maybe I use you know, a char, you know, some kind of funny character, an animal to tell that story or to be the vehicle for the story, but.

00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:57.879
A lot of these things are, are, everybody experiences the same thing.

00:14:58.329 --> 00:15:00.219
They experience joy and bliss.

00:15:00.219 --> 00:15:04.029
They experience loneliness and anger and sadness.

00:15:04.569 --> 00:15:12.489
You know, that's, that's what books are about, is to see ourselves in those books portrayed to, you know, feel like, oh, there's someone else out there.

00:15:12.489 --> 00:15:13.149
There's something.

00:15:13.209 --> 00:15:14.259
I'm not alone.

00:15:14.739 --> 00:15:21.879
And that's the beauty of books is that it connects us all together with these sort of universal experiences.

00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:23.969
Erin Bailey: Thank you for sharing that.

00:15:24.719 --> 00:15:35.759
I think we've talked a lot on this podcast about the idea of relevance in literature and finding connections to, to characters, and I think for many readers that's what they're looking for.

00:15:35.764 --> 00:15:35.894
So.

00:15:36.239 --> 00:15:39.209
We're grateful for your characters to, to do that.

00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:46.709
Speaking also of the collaborations that you've had, you've worked with some very acclaimed authors like Margaret Weiss Brown.

00:15:46.709 --> 00:15:51.239
If, if that name doesn't ring a bell to you, goodnight moon, goodnight room.

00:15:51.579 --> 00:15:58.289
What have you learned from illustrating with other, other people's written stories versus writing your own?

00:15:59.162 --> 00:16:00.192
Dan Yaccarino: Other people's work.

00:16:00.859 --> 00:16:13.589
I usually choose these manuscripts to work on because a lot of times it's something that I would not have conceived of or, or have written, and it's an opportunity for me to.

00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:19.049
Interpret someone else's story, and it's, it's a very different experience.

00:16:19.049 --> 00:16:28.199
When I'm writing and illustrating, I'm, I'm in the driver's seat and I'm driving and in a sense, you know, when I'm illustrating I'm in the passenger seat, but I'm sort of giving directions.

00:16:28.199 --> 00:16:33.119
It's sort of a weird combination, Margaret Wise Brown's, but I mean, she's no longer with us.

00:16:33.119 --> 00:16:41.579
But it was so inspiring to be able to illustrate a, a book, a story that she wrote, and it was something that I would not have done myself.

00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:52.149
So I always seek that out with stories that are, are, are presented to me to possibly illustrate because I can already come up with ideas that I come up with.

00:16:52.149 --> 00:16:53.259
I don't need to do that.

00:16:53.344 --> 00:17:01.509
I, I would prefer with the books that I just illustrate to be something that I, that would be unusual for me, but I still have a connection to it.

00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:20.839
I also write books that I don't illustrate, and it's kind of a very different way to think about your work and you have faith in the illustrator that they're going to do what
they're going to do and you respect their work and them, you know, so it it, but I'm very careful about those kinds of things who I, who I work with, who I collaborate with.

00:17:21.289 --> 00:17:24.259
But it is something that I probably would not have done on my own.

00:17:25.224 --> 00:17:34.104
Erin Bailey: So when you write the book, is it usually the words that come first and then you're kind of like scouting an illustrator who can bring those to life?

00:17:34.104 --> 00:17:36.264
Do people submit applications for it?

00:17:36.264 --> 00:17:36.984
How does it work?

00:17:36.984 --> 00:17:37.014
I.

00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:55.019
Dan Yaccarino: Well, some of the times it's, it's people that I know and I know, you know, I have a lot of friends and colleagues in this business,
so I. Think about, you know, sort of the vibe or the, the subject matter and the, a lot of times it's, it's, you know, there's humor involved.

00:17:55.469 --> 00:17:59.499
So I try to match that up with the manuscript.

00:17:59.829 --> 00:18:05.109
I more illustrate other people's manuscripts as a collaboration rather than the other way around.

00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:12.729
But I do love writing and it's a very different experience when you have to let go of, you know, all the images in your head.

00:18:13.159 --> 00:18:17.779
And see what they do, and it's always, for me anyway, a wonderful surprise.

00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:21.259
And it's so much better than I, you know, had it in my head.

00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:21.709
So

00:18:22.534 --> 00:18:35.434
Erin Bailey: It seems similar to when you're reading a chapter book, one without illustrations, and then you go to see the movie and you're either like, that is spot on, how I pictured that character.

00:18:35.434 --> 00:18:36.364
Or you're like, Ooh, not at.

00:18:36.934 --> 00:18:37.384
All.

00:18:37.954 --> 00:18:38.244
Dan Yaccarino: Yeah.

00:18:39.169 --> 00:18:42.799
We all look for being, you know, to be pleasantly surprised, right?

00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:46.009
Like, oh, this is way better than what was inside my head.

00:18:46.009 --> 00:18:50.479
So that's always, I always loved when that happens, is that I'm bowled over.

00:18:50.479 --> 00:18:52.639
I'm like, I couldn't even think of that.

00:18:52.639 --> 00:18:56.449
So you know, it's, it's, it's a great experience to see your.

00:18:57.094 --> 00:19:00.994
In my, in this case, my words interpreted by someone else.

00:19:01.384 --> 00:19:11.074
And I always get feedback from the author whenever I illustrate someone else's book saying, oh, this is nothing like, I thought it would be, you know, not the, you know, the image I had in my head.

00:19:11.524 --> 00:19:14.884
And it, it's just a fun, it's fun to collaborate too for me.

00:19:15.754 --> 00:19:21.394
Erin Bailey: And then when you are, because you do author and you illustrate books, how do you decide?

00:19:21.454 --> 00:19:27.214
Okay, this one I just am going to author and this one I'm just going to illustrate versus doing it both yourself.

00:19:28.594 --> 00:19:29.104
Dan Yaccarino: Well.

00:19:29.944 --> 00:19:29.974
Erin Bailey: I.

00:19:30.784 --> 00:19:31.774
Dan Yaccarino: That's a good question.

00:19:32.764 --> 00:19:43.214
Well, I, I just wrote three graphic novels, and I, for some reason, right from the beginning, I decided I'm not going to illustrate these.

00:19:43.724 --> 00:19:50.414
And I guess it, you know, I, I've, I've sought out someone who could do different job.

00:19:50.534 --> 00:19:51.494
I don't know about a better job.

00:19:51.524 --> 00:19:51.644
Yeah.

00:19:51.644 --> 00:19:53.804
A better job at this particular thing.

00:19:54.404 --> 00:20:05.204
And, you know, it, it's, it's who's the right person for the job, and if I can't imagine myself illustrating it, then I'll offer it to someone else.

00:20:06.014 --> 00:20:06.344
So

00:20:06.724 --> 00:20:07.799
Erin Bailey: It's a gut feeling.

00:20:08.714 --> 00:20:09.434
Dan Yaccarino: yeah, pretty much.

00:20:10.919 --> 00:20:11.459
Erin Bailey: That's great.

00:20:11.949 --> 00:20:20.074
Looking ahead, are there any projects, whether it's books or animated series or something completely new that you are especially excited about?

00:20:21.444 --> 00:20:21.954
Dan Yaccarino: Sure.

00:20:22.134 --> 00:20:24.324
There's lots of books coming out.

00:20:24.324 --> 00:20:34.504
I recently released or has been released a, a picture book that I wrote, an illustrator called Piccolo, and it's close to my heart.

00:20:34.504 --> 00:20:35.944
And, hang on, hang on.

00:20:36.904 --> 00:20:37.624
Erin Bailey: Oh, cute.

00:20:38.654 --> 00:20:38.894
Dan Yaccarino: Cool.

00:20:38.894 --> 00:20:39.404
Right.

00:20:39.494 --> 00:20:40.394
3D printed.

00:20:40.514 --> 00:20:41.564
Love that thing.

00:20:42.284 --> 00:20:42.764
Yes.

00:20:42.764 --> 00:20:43.094
Yeah.

00:20:43.094 --> 00:20:43.904
Very cool.

00:20:43.984 --> 00:20:44.764
Erin Bailey: amazing.

00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:49.189
Dan Yaccarino: And it takes place in a sort of a fictitious town in Italy.

00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:51.829
And that's the culture I grew up in.

00:20:51.829 --> 00:21:02.179
I grew up here, but it was very close to my heart and I wanted to create sort of a showcase for all the things that I love about the culture that I grew up in.

00:21:02.479 --> 00:21:04.039
Some of it is about food.

00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:09.279
But a lot of it's about, you know, the architecture, the music, and, you know, different aspects of the culture.

00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.859
So I really feel passionate about that.

00:21:11.859 --> 00:21:15.089
And there's a sequel coming actually next, this coming fall.

00:21:15.749 --> 00:21:24.169
So that, and another book, a picture book I wrote and illustrated called I Am Murphy and I am Waiting, and it's about a dog.

00:21:24.459 --> 00:21:25.929
Little Frenchy Bulldog.

00:21:25.929 --> 00:21:26.859
He's more like a Boston.

00:21:26.889 --> 00:21:28.089
I, I know him personally.

00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:32.559
So he is a real dog and he, he's a good friend of mine, even though he is a dog.

00:21:32.909 --> 00:21:35.009
About him waiting for his owner to come home.

00:21:35.069 --> 00:21:35.489
That's it.

00:21:35.489 --> 00:21:43.049
The whole book is just, you know, all the sort of worry and anxiety he's trying to distract himself, and I'm working on a sequel for that as well.

00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:45.029
So, I love these characters.

00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:46.499
I love the Luna Sisters.

00:21:46.499 --> 00:21:52.199
I love the way that they bicker, but, and they're very different, but they need each other.

00:21:52.244 --> 00:21:54.404
And that, you know, drives them both crazy.

00:21:54.644 --> 00:21:58.964
And I love characters that, you know, have that kind of tension and conflict.

00:21:59.414 --> 00:22:03.824
There's a lot to do, you know, like there's so much fun to be had and it's all in good fun.

00:22:03.824 --> 00:22:06.914
It's all in good, good natured fun between the two sisters.

00:22:07.244 --> 00:22:13.634
But I really, you know, love the idea of one is very, you know, sort of, they're opposite brains, you know?

00:22:13.634 --> 00:22:18.044
So one is right brain, one is left brain, one is creative, one is, you know, sort of intellectual.

00:22:19.174 --> 00:22:24.064
I wanted to pit them against each other in situations where they had to deal with each other.

00:22:24.484 --> 00:22:31.504
So it, it just is a lot of fun and I just love playing with these characters and inventing worlds, which I absolutely love to do.

00:22:31.504 --> 00:22:32.794
Invent a whole new world.

00:22:33.184 --> 00:22:34.384
But, so those are coming up.

00:22:34.384 --> 00:22:42.064
So it's Piccolo, I am Murphy, hopefully more Luna Sisters books and yeah, I'm looking forward to more, I'm working on more.

00:22:42.064 --> 00:22:42.664
There's some.

00:22:43.259 --> 00:22:57.574
I can't give away any details yet, but there are two animated series coming hopefully within no more than a year, year and a half, so, and that's all I can tell you.

00:22:57.699 --> 00:22:59.289
I can't tell you anymore.

00:23:00.114 --> 00:23:01.944
Erin Bailey: A sup, I that's a cliffhanger.

00:23:01.944 --> 00:23:08.454
And now that I know that it takes nine months to do one episode, I, I'm looking forward to, to that very much.

00:23:08.674 --> 00:23:13.784
I will link for all of our viewers Piccolo and I am Murphy for them to check out as well.

00:23:13.784 --> 00:23:17.174
But the cliffhanger, they're j you're all, y'all are just gonna have to wait.

00:23:17.909 --> 00:23:18.869
Dan Yaccarino: Yeah, sorry.

00:23:18.959 --> 00:23:19.769
Sorry, gang.

00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:20.069
Gotta.

00:23:21.996 --> 00:23:23.796
Erin Bailey: So thank you so much, Dan.

00:23:23.796 --> 00:23:29.076
I always end our episodes by asking our guest, what does reading inspire for you?

00:23:29.076 --> 00:23:29.136
I.

00:23:30.208 --> 00:23:31.758
Dan Yaccarino: What does reading inspire for me?

00:23:32.068 --> 00:23:38.398
Possibilities There are, or I would go to the library every week when I was growing up and I'd come home with.

00:23:39.088 --> 00:23:41.458
Big stack of books, variety of books.

00:23:41.458 --> 00:23:53.928
Some were art, some were comics, some were picture books and they opened up worlds to me that I didn't know existed or only knew a little bit about and.

00:23:54.598 --> 00:23:57.418
It opens up, it, it inspires possibility.

00:23:57.418 --> 00:24:09.328
So from that, having not visited Italy when I was a kid, that was my only window in there not having visited outer space or, you know, some other realm or something.

00:24:09.328 --> 00:24:11.638
That's my, that was my window into it.

00:24:11.638 --> 00:24:15.853
And then that, you know that possibility that, that, that this stuff.

00:24:16.733 --> 00:24:21.173
These places, these characters, I can venture forth into them through the book.

00:24:21.743 --> 00:24:33.123
And as an adult now creating those books, I always keep that in mind that this may be the introduction to a young reader, to a certain idea or a place or, you know.

00:24:33.123 --> 00:24:42.373
And so that to me is so exciting and, I would, every week I'd return those books, get a big stack, and I'd go home and I'd read them over and over.

00:24:42.373 --> 00:24:46.213
Sometimes I'd try to draw the pictures out of the book to learn how to draw a little bit better.

00:24:46.483 --> 00:24:52.903
So it was all these possibilities for me that opened up once I discovered, you know, all these wonderful books at the library.

00:24:54.218 --> 00:24:56.118
Erin Bailey: Now you're creating those opportunities.

00:24:56.268 --> 00:24:59.558
When you were talking about traveling to Italy, just then it reminded.

00:24:59.953 --> 00:25:05.953
Of a quote, and I read this on LaVar Burton's LinkedIn.

00:25:06.313 --> 00:25:16.693
Someone commented on his LinkedIn and said, while my body has not traveled, my mind has because of books, and thank you for inspiring me to read.

00:25:16.693 --> 00:25:18.053
So thank you Dan.

00:25:18.053 --> 00:25:22.853
It's been so wonderful and inspiring, and please keep doing what you are doing.

00:25:23.703 --> 00:25:29.683
Dan Yaccarino: I, I will continue and like I said, I'm very, very grateful to be able to continue to do that.

00:25:30.103 --> 00:25:30.973
Thank you so much.

00:25:30.973 --> 00:25:31.873
I really appreciate it.

00:25:31.873 --> 00:25:32.563
It was such a pleasure.

00:25:33.813 --> 00:25:37.833
Erin Bailey: And thank you all for listening to Reading Inspires by Reading is Fundamental.

00:25:37.833 --> 00:25:43.413
I hope today's conversation sparked new ideas, meaningful connections, and a renewed love of reading.

00:25:43.623 --> 00:25:52.623
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, share it with a fellow literacy champion, and join us next time as we continue exploring what reading inspires.