MW: I've always loved Louis Armstrong's music and his wonderful gravelly voice. And through all my years of teaching school (23 years), I saw how kids gravitated toward bubble gum. When my grandchildren were growing up, their love for bubble gum tapped something in me, and I started chewing it myself. It was such fun that I started playing with words and music in my head to convey chewity fun while crunching that ooozity gum. I come from a sing-along, hum-along, join-us-in-a-song family: Poppa played the French horn in the Moscow Symphony, Momma was a contralto nightingale, and my brother Steve, who looked more Irish than Jewish (his red hair and freckles seen miles away), was a talented violinist. Therefore turning to scat and music was natural. I'd chew and sing while driving my car, while walking my walks and while dancing with my grandchildren.

I'm 85 years old and masquerading as a senior. This is my first children's book. I must add this as I think it's unique and inspiring for older and younger people to develop different role models.

What is it about Louis Armstrong that intrigues you?

MW: I flip over his gravelly voice. It "sends" me. It has the quality of earth, ocean and Louisiana mud in it. I love his musical sense: how he adds scat, how that scat enhances the music, and lastly, his marvelous horn. Louis is the horn and the horn is Louis. He also never loses the integrity of a song or the music. His sense of what is "good" in music is unerring. His musical intuition, his spirit, his ear, and his intelligence make his music.

Gregory, how did you come to this project, and why did you choose to work on it?

RC: I had worked with Chronicle Books earlier in my career (on Stars in the Darkness by Barbara Joosse) and was approached by the company with the When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat manuscript. I chose to accept the job because I felt that the story was an interesting approach to introducing Louis Armstrong to children.

Did the story immediately appeal to you?

RC: Definitely—I enjoyed the challenge to bring the scat song lyrics to life. When I first took on the project I was really stumped by how I would render a cricket's throne, puppy's mozzarella bone and so on. It's a fun, upbeat manuscript, and I did my best to create accurate images that would be just as strong as the words.

Muriel and Gregory, did you learn anything new while writing the book? Did you have to do any research?

MW: I sure did! In fact, I learned a lot! And what I learned was so fascinating that I even wrote a new biography of Louis which is being published soon. I read Louis' autobiography and others' works in order to understand him and write the Afterword in When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat. Then, I researched the scatting sequences Louis used and researched those other vocalists who copied him: Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, etc.

RC: I had to find many pictures of Louis Armstrong and at that point decide if he'd be depicted as a young Louis, older Louis, and a thin or rotund Louis. Eventually I decided upon the heavier Louis Armstrong in a tuxedo from the '50s. I also had to search for images specific to the scat singing references.

Did his music inspire your art for the book?

RC: Not during the painting stage, but I did listen as I re-read the manuscript. I knew with his personality and jovial sense of humor that the art had to be expansive across each page and the color pallet had to have juxtaposition between playful and sophisticated.

Did you find it challenging or liberating to translate a dream about Louis Armstrong's jazz music into illustration?

RC: A little of both. I've rarely been asked to render animals with my previous books, so I had to translate everything into a graphic, semi-cartoon style. Once I found my mark I was very excited to reinterpret everything I could into that newfound aesthetic.

The colors used in the book are quite striking and bold, and seem to capture the spunky, improvisational nature of jazz. Is that what you were going for?

RC: Definitely—I want to bring the reader into a fantastical world. This is a new endeavor for me, and I am very happy with the finished book. The key to developing an illustrated story is to have continuity between each spread while not being monotonous. So I broke up each set of pages with color and thought about which colors complemented each other between the subject matter and spreads.

What was your favorite aspect of working on this project?

RC: It was bringing these characters to life (with the help of my editors). I really pushed myself in order to create a believable world in those pages. The art direction and design was exemplary and helped to really pull things together.

Muriel, this is your first published picture book. After years of writing, what does it feel like to see your work in print?

MW: Can you imagine the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve at the same time? That's the explosion in my heart! The image in my eyes! It's not merely wonderful but it is deep down satisfying.

How did it feel to find out that R. Gregory Christie would be the illustrator?

MW: How lucky could I get? I could have been dreaming! In fact, when the book was finished I loved what he had done so much I had to send him an e-mail telling him what I felt.

Last question for you both: How are your scat skills?

MW: Terrible! I learned this at a recent event promoting the book. As I read during my presentation things morphed into a sing-along. Thank goodness the children were better as a chorus than I was as a solo performer!

RC: I'm still working on them! I can't approach Louis no matter how hard I try. Maybe if I played a horn and had a gravelly voice I could do it…