Travis Jonker is a school librarian, creator of the 100 Scope Notes blog, co-creator of The Yarn podcast, and a children’s author and illustrator. His titles include The Very Last Castle, illustrated by Mark Pett; Blue Floats Away, illustrated by Grant Snide,; and the solo picture book Just One Flake. His latest book, A Ship in the Window illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, sailed onto shelves last week. PW spoke with Jonker about how he started writing and illustrating for kids, what he has learned from other creators over the years, and what it’s like living a life surrounded by books and book lovers.
Since 2005, you’ve been a busy school librarian impacting students’ reading lives at Dorr Elementary in Dorr, Mich., and now you’re writing books for them. How did you become a writer?
My love of making books began when I was in elementary school and we got to make our own. You know the ones—with white paper, construction paper covers, and “comb” binding that holds the pages together. At recess I would pace back and forth on the playground trying to think of a story—and it worked! I took a lot of art classes in college, so drawing and writing have always interested me. When I began my first job as a school librarian, it wasn’t long until ideas started bubbling up inside of me. It was inevitable with reading everything from picture books to middle grade novels, doing storytimes, and recommending books to students and teachers. You get to know and internalize what kids respond to really well. I started thinking, “Oh, that would be cool if there was a book about this… or how about this kind of story?”
When did you begin turning these ideas into stories for kids?
At the same time I was coming up with all of these ideas, I was also trying to stop myself from having them! That’s because after reading so many great books by so many great authors and illustrators, I had a feeling that I couldn’t do what they do—or be as good as them. But, after a few years of trying not to have ideas, I gave myself permission to write some of them down, and start writing a story.
A big “writer” moment happened during an author visit that I set up for my third graders, The author said, “Real authors finish things.” She also encouraged my students, and me, to write an entire story from beginning to end. Her words struck a chord with me, and I started writing full stories.
Your first picture book, The Very Last Castle, was published in 2018. How did it find its way into readers’ hands?
Amid my writing full stories and learning so much from writing my 100 Scope Notes blog, a literary agent, Stephen Barbara, reached out to me. He was working with writers who had blogs on children’s literature, and asked if I had ever thought about writing for kids. So, I shared some of my ideas with him, and he set up a conversation with an editor who was particularly drawn to one of my ideas. It was about a curious girl who wondered about a castle in the middle of her small town. While that editor eventually passed on the finished story, Tamar Brazis, while at Abrams, loved it and wanted to publish it. This title became my debut picture book, The Very Last Castle. My second book Blue Floats Away, which is about an iceberg that gets lost came out a few years later.
Your recent book, Just One Flake, is your debut as an author-illustrator. Where did the idea of this book, and illustrating it, come from?
I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I’d really like to illustrate something—someday. Of course, I know that there are many professional illustrators who do incredible work. So I knew that if I were to try to illustrate something that it would have to be the right story for me. In other words, I knew that I couldn’t illustrate just any book, but I could illustrate a very specific type of book.
With this goal in mind—and the knowledge that one of my editors, Courtney Code, at Abrams, followed me on Instagram—I started posting drawings on my account with the hope that she’d see them. I wanted her to feel after looking at my posts, “I know this guy can do it, and I know he can be an illustrator!” And so when I came up with the idea for Just One Flake while looking out my window on a snowy morning before school, I sent it to my editor, and we decided the story catered to my art style.
How would you describe your illustration style?
I like things to be very simple and very bold, and would describe it as “rudimentary.” And I am happy with that. I want the illustrations to be like cave paintings so when you’re reading my book to kids and/or you’re holding up the pictures, they can see what’s going on without any shadow of a doubt. I am also that way with my writing, too, sometimes to a fault. I try to get so simple sometimes with the words that editors sometimes ask me to give a little bit more. For me, I think about what’s the simplest way to get the story and the images across.
My illustrations are never going to be like Sendak, whose illustrations could hang in the Louvre. But, maybe, kids will connect with them more easily because they are a bit more child-like.
Your latest children’s book is Ship in the Window, illustrated by Matthew Cordell. How did the two of you get onboard with the book?
There’s a house near a park in Holland, Mich, with a beautiful model ship in its front window. It has been there for years, and I’ve driven past it at least a hundred times. I always wondered what the story of the ship might be. And, then one day, I thought—what if there was a character that wanted to sail the ship, but the problem may be that the ship was the prized possession of the owner of the house? And the story evolved from there.
When my agent and I were ready to send it out, I had always wanted to send another story to my former editor at Abrams, Tamar Brazis, now with Viking. She was the first person to really take a chance on me and publish my first book. I knew what type of book she might be interested in: one with a timeless feel. And we sent it to her, and she wanted to publish it! Soon after, Tamar and I had a conversation about who might be a good illustrator for the book. Well, Matthew Cordell is absolutely one of my all-time favorite illustrators and Tamar’s connection with him [Brazis had published Cordell’s first books at Abrams] made it happen—and quite smoothly. The only hiccups were that it sold in March 2020 right after everything shut down with the pandemic, and Matthew had a whole bunch of other projects lined up. But we were more than happy to wait and be patient because the work that he did in the book is incredible. I hope to drop off a copy of our book to the house and ship’s owner as a “thank you” gift.
What are your hopes for your books?
Of course, I would love kids to read my books and have great experiences with them. But, as Hervé Tullet once said in an interview on The Yarn, “I hope that it brings me to my next book.” I like the idea that one book can lead you down this creative path where you’re able to make more books, because that’s the most fun part!
Can you tell us about your next book–and any other books on the horizon?
First, I have a book called Caboose, illustrated by Ruth Chen, coming out with Abrams in February. It is about the cut-throat world of lining up in elementary school, ripped from my own personal experiences in the school library, and having been a kid who raced to line up after lunch. There’s also a sequel to Just One Flake called Just One Wave.
Books, books, and more books! You read them, evangelize them, write them, and write about them. What’s the best part about being surrounded by books as an author, librarian, blogger and podcaster?
The fact that I can write down an idea that I have and try to turn it into a story—and maybe, it gets turned into a book; or being creative with books and storytimes in the library to help keep kids reading. I think it all combines to make a more creative life—and the true meaning of my life.
