Chronicle Books: Dave, your illustrations in the Hot Dog and Bob series are super lively and funny. Hot Dog, Bob, and Clementine (and assorted friends, teachers, and villains) would make terrific animated cartoon characters. These books are wonderful for reluctant readers making the transition from picture books to chapter books, as your drawings are so full of action it's almost like watching television! Did you like TV cartoons when you were a kid?

Dave Whamond: Ever since I started working on Hot Dog and Bob, I kept seeing it as an animated cartoon because the stories are so fun and have so much action in them. I absolutely loved both TV cartoons and comic books when I was a kid. I couldn't get enough. I would often wake up early on a Saturday morning and watch cartoons on TV before anyone got up. I would eat a bunch of sugar cereal and I would be vibrating with a sugar high, watching cartoons. It didn't get any better than that. I also loved Saturday as that was when the color funnies would come in the newspaper. Whenever I smell that newspaper smell, it brings me right back to that time.

CB: Whether they are saving their school from Slobbery Dog-Wash Doggies, or Dangerous Hypno Hamsters, or Pesky Pencil People, your illustrations of Hot Dog and Bob show many playful details in all of their madcap glory. You have illustrated these books in a terrifically amusing way. When you read the first book, did L. Bob's text make you laugh?

DW: When I first read the text, I couldn't wait to start drawing it. This is like a dream job . . . so much fun imagery to work with. L. Bob has so many good ideas . . . I kept thinking "Man, this is great. I wish I had thought of that!" She makes my job easy (not that I call it work)!

CB: Not only do you illustrate children's books, but you are also a famous cartoonist of a very popular one-panel comic strip called Reality Check. Will you tell us a little about Reality Check?

DW: Since I was a kid, I’ve always wished that I could be a newspaper cartoonist. Well, my dream came true. I've been doing Reality Check since 1994. It doesn't seem like it's been that long but if you someone told me back then that I would be drawing 4,745 cartoons, that would be a little intimidating. Luckily, most cartoonists are bad at math so I didn't figure that out beforehand. 4,745 may not sound like that many cartoons but wait until you have drawn 745 cartoons and then realize you have 4,000 to go! It's fun to have my own little corner of the paper to draw my little daily cartoons. It appears mostly in Canada and the U.S. but it also has appeared in places like Trinidad and Istanbul, Turkey. I often wonder how it translates there.

CB: Your illustrations in Hot Dog and Bob really pack a punch—they work a little bit like a one panel strip, don't they?

DW: I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I didn't actually think you could do this for a living when I was a kid but you know what they say . . . do what you love! I kind of feel guilty when all of my friends are hard at work as accountants, lawyers, etc., and I have such a fun job. I don't call it work because I think that will jinx it and someone will take it away from me. "You've been doing this for a living? You can't do that . . . now add up these columns of numbers and get that report to me by noon!"

CB: How do you keep inspired, fired up, about your work?

DW: Inspiration is easy . . . it's still fun after 20 years of drawing plus I have hundreds of real live cartoon characters out there working for me everyday!

CB: You also teach illustration. Do you have any advice for young illustrators? Do you advise a daily practice? A regimen?

DW: There will be a lot of people telling you [if you're a young illustrator] that you can't do this for a living. It's not practical, after all. How many cartoonist/illustrators do you know out there? But if you really believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything. Don't listen to the nay sayers, they can really take the wind out of your sails. But, don't kid yourself, it takes a lot of hard work. There are a lot of very talented people out there but many don't go out and show their stuff to people. Employers won't fall through your ceiling while you are eating corn pops and watching TV and hire you.

Keep drawing . . . you will get better and better in time. I also recommend a good art college. You may think you know everything but you will see your artwork with a new eye after four years of perfecting your craft. Once you get out there, you have to discipline yourself, like you have a real job (deadlines help!). Don't have any distractions around your work area, especially if you have a studio in your home. I know a lot of people that work at home whose daily planners include Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc.

CB: You are now a Dad—how has having kids affected your work? Do you find your sense of humor or your approach to your work changing along with fatherhood?

DW: I didn't think it would at first, but it definitely does affect your work. I find myself thinking, "I can't make this illustration too edgy . . . my kids are going to see this some day!" They are also little cartoon characters themselves and provide a lot of great material. Bob is loosely based on my son. Clementine has some characteristics of my daughter. I didn't set out to do this but I can see it now in the characters.

CB: Who are your favorite children's book illustrators? Would you like to create more for children?

DW: I would love to illustrate more children's books. I do a lot of work for magazines, advertising campaigns, etc., but they are soon forgotten about or tossed in the trash. Books stick around, sometimes for generations. I also love working with the imagery that these books provide. I still haven't done my masterpiece yet but I think it will come through children's books. I also like the idea of my kids enjoying their Dad's books and maybe even reading them to their kids some day. Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

As far as my favorite children's book illustrators are concerned, there are so many wonderful people to consider, I don't know where to begin. Since I've had my own kids, I've discovered a lot of great new books as well as rediscovered some old ones from my childhood. If I had to pick one, I would say Dr. Seuss is still the king. I know it's old school but it is probably because it takes me right back to fond memories of my childhood and my parents reading them to me or me sitting in bed late at night, thumbing through these books (when I was supposed to be going to sleep).

CB: Have you had any comments from kids about Hot Dog and Bob?

DW: My son, who is three years old, is a bit too young to "get" Hot Dog and Bob but I can see him loving them when he gets a bit older. This is right up his alley as far as his sense of humor is concerned. My daughter, who is now five, seems to be a bit more analytical about things. She often interrupts me as I'm reading the books to her and asks questions like "Why don't they just eat Cheese Face?" or "Why does Hot Dog only have a mustard "S" and not a relish and a ketchup "S" (you can probably guess what she likes on her hot dogs). She comes up with some real classics with other books as well. We write them all down on a calendar. You can't write better stuff than what kids say. On an unrelated note, when she was three, she asked me "Dad, what starts with 'P'?", to which I replied, "I don't know, what?" She stood there looking at me for a long moment and then said "Well, I guess that's the end of THAT conversation!"

CB: What has been your favorite villain to draw in the series?

DW: The villains are the best part of every book. You get to invent new characters for every book. I really enjoyed drawing Cheese Face in the first book. All that gross dripping goopy cheese; is there anything more fun to draw than that, I ask you? I also dig drawing Hypnodini. He had a bit more of an unexpected look than your typical hamster. He was more of an alien-hamster hybrid. It's almost sad when you finish drawing a book because that may be the last time you draw them. I like the other characters in the other books too but if I had to pick from them all, those two would be at the top of my list.

CB: If you could bring any sort of "bad guy" of your own choosing to Lugenheimer Elementary School, what sort of character would you most like to draw?

DW: Hmmm . . . good question. How about an alien who comes down and has a big black cape and mask and he sounds a bit like James Earl Jones on a respirator and Bob discovers that he is really his father at the end. What? That's been done? Let's see, how about Bob and Clementine are investigating old library files involving alien and paranormal phenomena. Bob really believes in aliens but Scully, I mean, Clementine is a real skeptic. No, are you serious? That's been done too? Ah well . . . I'll leave the writing to L. Bob. Like I said, the greatest compliment you can pay a creative person is "Man, I wish I thought of that!"