Chronicle Books: I read that your daughter inspired some parts of He Came with the Couch. Can you talk a bit more about the inspirations and influences that led you to create this book? David Slonim: When I was a kid, I drew my dad a lot. I still do. The character of Moishe in Moishe's Miracle looks a little bit like him. My mom shows up in that book as the wife asleep with a pillow over her eyes and her nose poking up. The father in He Came with the Couch looks like another version of Dad. He would always be the first one up in the morning, wearing his suit and tie, ready to go to the office wearing his hat. One of my favorite artists is William Steig, who wrote a book called When Everybody Wore a Hat. Somewhere I read that Steig didn't do any sketches before creating his art. If that's true, it's amazing. I'd take my hat off to him, if I had one. I do a lot of sketches and studies. Piles of 'em. Behind each image in the books are many pencil sketches, miniature paintings in black and white acrylic paint, little color studies, then trial and error on the final art until I get it right. I don't write with a particular audience in mind. I start with an idea that interests me, from a point of view that makes me laugh. One day my family was stuck in heavy traffic behind a pick-up truck with a guy sitting on a couch in the back. That was the beginning of He Came with the Couch. CB: Each of your books seems to have a very different sensibility and style from the last. For instance, the illustrations in Moishe's Miracle remind me of Jewish folk art, whereas Oh, Ducky! has a more cartoon-like feel. The illustrations in He Came with the Couch have a very tangible, three-dimensional look. Can you describe the creative process and the artistic influences behind your versatility as an artist? DS: Each story has a different flavor. It's important to me that the illustrations and text are in harmony. Moishe's Miracle was written in the style of a classic European folk tale, so I looked at a lot of Russian and Eastern European Jewish painting from the 1800s in my research for that book. I also researched shtetel life, hearth construction, clothing, and architecture from the period. Oh, Ducky! is a slapstick romp, so the art needed to be bright with a whimsical bounce to it. After lots of trial and error, I realized that Rembrandt's reed pen drawings had the line quality that would work. So I cut a reed from the creek in my neighborhood, shaped a point with a penknife, and learned how to draw with a reed pen! I had so much fun with it, I tried the reed pen style for He Came with the Couch, but it just wasn't working. Because it's written in a child's voice, the art needed to have a warmth and tenderness about it. Months into the project, after experimenting with acrylic, colored pencil, watercolor, and pastels, I finally stumbled on the combination of oil paint, to give rich color, and pencil line, to give a childlike feeling. CB: How have your kids influenced your work? DS: My kids have asked me to make up stories for them for years. So if they get their teeth brushed and pajamas on a little early, and if Daddy still has enough energy at the end of the day, we turn off the bedroom light, lie on our backs in the dark, and I make something up out of thin air. As a dad, I believe it is my solemn duty to try to generate a fit of uncontrollable laughter in the kids right before lights out. If that happens, I know it was a good one. If not, at least I had some practice telling stories out loud! My kids also inspire me by the stories they make up, the pictures they draw and paint, and the plays they put on. We love wordplay, bad puns, and silly songs. There's nothing like a silly song to make doing the dishes a little more fun. CB: What were your favorite kids' books when you were growing up? The Little Red Hen; Go, Dog, Go!; Are You My Mother?; Robert the Race Horse; Caps for Sale CB: Are there other particular books/authors/illustrators, other than William Steig, that inspired you to consider illustrating for children? It's funny to hear it put that way, since I don't feel like I ever "considered" illustrating for children. It's been a desire and goal as long as I can remember. Here are some creative authors and artists who stir up a desire in me to go create something: C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia; Robert Frost; Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows; Chris Van Allsburg, especially The Polar Express, Jumanji, and The Garden of Abdul Gazazi; Charles Shulz: A Charlie Brown Christmas TV special; Chuck Jones TV shows: Looney Tunes, How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Jim Henson's The Muppets; Quentin Blake; William Steig; Lane Smith; Ezra Jack Keats, especially A Whistle for Willie; G.K. Chesterton, especially the chapter "The Ethics of Elfland" in the book Orthodoxy. CB: Is there anything else you'd like your fans to know about you? One of the best compliments came from a three-year-old girl at a book signing. She was too shy to talk to me, but she was clutching Oh, Ducky! in both arms. Her mom said that she wanted me to know it's her favorite book and that she sleeps with Oh, Ducky! in her bed every night. He Came with the Couch Moishe's Miracle: A Hanukkah Story - By Laura Krauss Melmed Oh, Ducky! A Chocolate Calamity Emily and Albert - By Jan Ormerod