Children’s author-illustrator and Caldecott Medalist Shawn Harris discusses with Taylor Sterling (that’s me!) five books that inspired him while creating his latest picture book, The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn. Shawn talks about his interesting journey into publishing, how he landed his agent, how music influences the orchestration of text and image in a picture book, why thinking about book design is important, and so much more.
Before listening to this conversation, I recommend reading Getting to Know Shawn Harris Pt. 1, which includes pictures and commentary on many of the books we discuss.
Here’s a preview of Shawn discussing his musical approach to illustrating picture books:
The Books
Telephone Tales written by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Valerio Vidali (2020)
The Wind in the Willows written by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Ernest Shepard (1908)
You Can’t Kill Snow White by Beatrice Alemagna (2022)
The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer (1961)
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2017)
“Iris” from Strange News from Another Star by Hermann Hesse (1919)
Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino (1956)
Caldecott & Co. by Maurice Sendak (1988)
Shawn’s Books
Her Right Foot written by Dave Eggers (2017)
What Can a Citizen Do? written by Dave Eggers (2018)
Everyone’s Awake written by Colin Meloy (2020)
A Polar Bear in the Snow written by Mac Barnett (2020)
The Eyes and the Impossible written by Dave Eggers (2023)
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza written by Mac Barnett (2022)
The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom written by Mac Barnett (2023)
Have You Ever Seen a Flower? (2021)
The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn (2024)
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Getting to Know Shawn Harris Pt. 2