Chapter 163: Jon Klassen talks turtles, tackling tension, and turning toward the terrifying

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Happy Buck Moon, everyone!

As we sink into the summer heat, I'm thrilled to welcome Jon Klassen on 3 Books!

Jon is a Canadian born, LA living author and illustrator whose darkly humorous, minimalist storytelling has helped define contemporary children’s literature.

In 2016, Jon concluded his breakout book series ‘The Hat Trilogy’, which features ‘I Want My Hat Back’, ‘This Is Not My Hat’, and ‘We Found a Hat.’

‘This Is Not My Hat’ was the first book to ever win both the American Library Association's Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal.

Jon’s books have now sold over 12 million copies (!) and he might be the most decorated children’s book author alive.

About a month after we recorded this conversation, Jon won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award—a prestigious children’s and young adult book award that he accepted from Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at a ceremony in Stockholm.

Nobody deserves this award more than Jon.

He is a genius wordsmith, a remarkable illustrator, and a passionate father of two.

In this chapter, we talk about Jon’s writing routine, what makes a good illustration, the value of accepting fear when writing, how to draw a lying turtle, comfort with contradiction, men's fashion tips, what makes a good children’s book, the publishing industry, and of course… Jon’s 3 most formative books.

Let’s flip the page to chapter 163 now…

Chapter 163: Jon Klassen talks turtles, tackling tension, and turning toward the terrifying

View full transcript here

CONNECT with Jon

Jon’s 3 Books

  • First Book (18:48)

  • Second Book (40:39)

  • Third Book (1:15:04)

wORDCLOUD OF THE CHAPTER

Quotes

  • "Toronto goes through weather together. LA doesn't go through weather together. There's nothing that groups us that way." - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • [Talking about success] "I think it's hard to fit that into your brain and I think I've also seen that it can affect the work if you try and swallow all of it, if you try and internalize it, because you think you ought to, because it's very rare, right? And so you should, you should pay the scale tribute somehow and try to hold it. It's very hard because the work depends on quiet and like weird moods. And those things can get affected when you think that it's gone big or that it's gone very well." - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • "I try to try things out." - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • "I think I've become more distrustful of language generally." - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • “I like turtles because they can’t express themselves physically — it’s just the shell with like sticks out of it. And so you don’t know how the turtle is feeling based on his body language, there’s no way to know, except his eyes.” - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • “You’re not the writer necessarily that you’d like to be, you’re something else completely.” - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • “My best stuff, or at least the stuff I’m proudest of, is when it really surprises me completely.” - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • “I’m very nervous as a writer, and I think I’ve learned to count on that as a thing that drives it.” - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • "I do get in trouble sometimes for implying that kids lie or for showing kids people lying ... but kids lie all day. They're fascinated by lying." - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

  • “So much of my work is reactive. I don’t like making things from scratch. I like reacting and seeing the best I can do with something that’s given to me.” - Jon Klassen | 3 Books Podcast

Show Notes

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