Author Jon Klassen is Interviewed by Two of His Biggest (Smallest) Fans About We Found a Hat

By Danielleherzog / November 16, 2016 at 12:00 pm

We Found a Hat

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Hardcover $18.99

When I asked my 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son which picture book author or illustrator they would most love to interview—both immediately pointed to the cover of We Found a Hat, by Jon Klassen. They first fell in love with Klassen after reading I Want My Hat Back, only to become addicted when they learned he was the illustrator behind Extra Yarn, as well as Sam and Dave Dig A Hole. They loved the simplicity of his stories but also the entertaining pictures that capture the overall mood of the book. As a parent, I love the conversations about problem solving and “What would YOU do?” that occur every time we close one of his books.

So you can imagine how much their minds were blown when I told them that they were getting their dream opportunity to interview Jon Klassen. I decided to record and transcribe the conversation between my two children as they created the questions for him, knowing it would probably be memorable. They did not disappoint.

And thank you to Jon Klassen. Not just for your awesome interview but for making some of your young fans’ dreams come true.

I Want My Hat Back

Hardcover $18.99

I Want My Hat Back

By Jon Klassen
Illustrator Jon Klassen

In Stock Online

Hardcover $18.99

Addi: Why did you pick turtles for the animals in We Found A Hat, was it—

Cooper, interrupting her: Do you have turtles as a pet? Because I’ve been trying to get my mom to get me one and she says I have to first learn how to clean up after myself before I can clean up after a turtle.

Jon Klassen: I don’t have a turtle as a pet, but I can understand wanting one. I have heard they are a little messy so your mom is probably right.

Addi: If I was that turtle, I would have totally stolen that hat in the middle of the night.

Cooper: Yeah, she would have. She once stole my giraffe stuffed animal and told Dad that it fell out the window. It was really under her bed. Do you have a sister?

Jon Klassen: I don’t have a sister but I have two younger brothers. There wasn’t any large heists but i think there was a lot of small-time theft, especially just after Halloween.

Addi: I did not steal it! Oh. Wait. Maybe I did. But that’s when I was six. Anyway, what would you have done, Mr. Klassen? Would you have taken the hat?

Jon Klassen: I don’t know! I hope I wouldn’t have taken it, anyway.

Cooper: I like the fancy symbol that’s on the book This Is Not My Hat (the Caldecott Medal stamp)—what was it like getting that award? Did it come with a trophy?

This Is Not My Hat

Hardcover $18.99

This Is Not My Hat

By Jon Klassen
Illustrator Jon Klassen

In Stock Online

Hardcover $18.99

Jon Klassen: It came with a round medal-shaped thing with the same symbol engraved on it that is inside a nice wooden box with a latch. I like it too.

Cooper: I just got a trophy for playing softball. Did you play any sports as a kid? Did you always draw or did you learn that as an adult?

Jon Klassen: I didn’t play a lot of sports as a kid. I liked riding my bike but that was about it. I started drawing I think in 2nd or 3rd grade. Drawing kind of took the place of sports for me, I think. It’s nice to have something you’re good at to balance out the things you’re not as good at.

Cooper: Is he an adult? Like can he drive?

Addi: Yes, he’s a grown up. Geez, Cooper. Anyway, how long does it take you write one of your books? Do you spend more time on the pictures or the words?

Jon Klassen: I spend WAY more time on the words. They are way harder for me. There aren’t very many words in the books, but they are the result of a lot of thinking and re-thinking. The books don’t really have a set amount of time they take since an idea might work right away or it might take ages to get it right, but once the idea itself is figured out and the roughs for the book are working properly, it takes about 4 or 5 months to make the finished book on my end.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

Hardcover $17.99

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

By Mac Barnett
Illustrator Jon Klassen

In Stock Online

Hardcover $17.99

Cooper: I like both the words and the pictures. But I can’t read so I like when someone reads me the words. Which one of your books would you like to be in? I’d love to be with Sam and Dave and probably tell them to dig the other way.

Jon Klassen: That’s a really good question. I guess I’d like to be in this last book, about the turtles. I do like the desert even though there’s not a lot going on there. The sunsets are good, anyway.

Addi (rolling her eyes at her brother): I love to draw too. Did you go to school for it? Do you hang your drawings on your refrigerator?

Jon Klassen: I did sort of go to school for drawing. I went to school for animation which, at the time, was mostly drawing. So all we did all day was draw, it was great! Illustration has a lot to do with painting and colors too, which is a little different than just drawing so I’ve had to learn more about those things as I make the books, but it’s fun to learn that stuff. I don’t hang any of my drawings around the house. If it’s what you do all day, you kind of want to come home and look at other people’s stuff instead.

Addi: Can your next book be about lions? I like how they are always in charge and eat meat. What’s your favorite animal? Will your next book be about an animal or a person?

Jon Klassen: My next book will probably be about a person actually. I get nervous writing about people and animals can be kind of stand-ins for people so they are easier to write about, but I think now I might be brave enough to try one. Fingers crossed.

Thank you Jon Klassen! And you can check out his latest book, We Found a Hat, to be just as entertained as Addi and Cooper!