SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: INTERRUPTING CHICKEN
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: www.davidezra.com
CITY: Kew Gardens
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 341
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Brooklyn, NY; married; wife’s name Miriam; children: two.
EDUCATION:Attended Parsons School of Design.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and illustrator.
AVOCATIONS:Playing the cello, rock climbing, walking in the woods.
AWARDS:Best Books designation, New York Public Library, 2007, and Ezra Jack Keats New Author Award, 2008, both for Leaves; Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book selection, 2010, for Pouch!; Wanda Gág Book Award Honor Book selection, Golden Kite Award Honor Book selection, Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing listee, New York Public Library, and Caldecott Medal Honor Book selection, all 2011, all for Interrupting Chicken.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals, including American Illustration and New Yorker.
Cowboy Ned and Andy was adapted for audiobook; Interrupting Chicken was adapted for audiobook, Recorded Books, 2011.
SIDELIGHTS
UPDATE SUBMITTED IN SGML FORMAT.
A respected children’s book author and illustrator, David Ezra Stein has received the Ezra Jack Keats New Author Award among several other honors. A graduate of New York City’s Parsons School of Design, Stein now creates books designed to engage young children, among them Pouch!, Interrupting Chicken, Love, Mouserella, and I’m My Own Dog.
Stein’s first published picture books, the companion tales Cowboy Ned and Andy and Ned’s New Friend, describe the friendship between a cowboy and his trusty horse as they traverse the dusty desert ranges of the Old West along with their herd of cattle. Comparing Stein’s “realistic, simplistic” text in Cowboy Ned and Andy to the work of American novelist Ernest Hemingway, a Publishers Weekly contributor also praised his “spare” watercolor and ink art, noting that it captures Andy the horse’s efforts to find a way to celebrate his friend’s birthday. In School Library Journal Joy Fleishhacker had special praise for Stein’s art, noting of Cowboy Ned and Andy that the horse “is the star … and his equine features comically convey concern, dejection, and ultimately, happiness” in Stein’s “satisfying tale of friendship.”
The story of man and horse continues in Ned’s New Friend, although here Andy worries about his rider’s interest in the pretty Miss Clementine. In Stein’s engaging cartoon art readers are ultimately reassured, explained Booklist contributor Gillian Engberg, and all ends well in a tale that focuses on “the gentle ups and downs that come with best friendship.” Reviewing Ned’s New Friend in School Library Journal, Maura Bresnahan cited the book’s illustrations for their “scratchy charm” and added that Stein’s “text is peppered with expressions and circumstances sure to bring a smile” to story-hour audiences.
In the award-winning Leaves, Stein introduces young children to a brown bear cub that lives on a small island. When autumn comes the leaves falling from the trees amaze the young bear. As he attempts to reattach all the fallen leaves without success, he grows tired. Ultimately, the bear uses the fallen leaves to make a soft bed in a comfy cave, where he sleeps away the winter and awakens to watch tiny new leaflets spring to life along the branches of his beloved trees. Reviewing the self-illustrated story, Booklist critic Carolyn Phelan commented on Stein’s “precise text” and added that his “narrative works seamlessly” alongside his “freewheeling, expressive” tinted ink drawings. These “illustrations conjure a place readers will wish they could visit,” predicted a Publishers Weekly reviewer, and in School Library Journal Kirsten Cutler dubbed Leaves an “introspective little gem” of a picture book in which a “simple” text “and expressive small-scale pictures blend beautifully.”
Both Monster Hug! and The Nice Book combine an entertaining story and energetic art. In Monster Hug! two rotund monsters spend the day engaged in a range of childlike games that are supersized to accommodate the players’ giant size, while The Nice Book focuses on the simple gestures that distinguish nice from naughty, each act of kindness captured in ink-and-acrylic images featuring engaging animal characters. “Children will be delighted by the kinetic, slapstick scenes and the surprise ending” predicted Engberg, in appraising Monster Hug! In School Library Journal Jayne Damron wrote that “Stein’s rambunctious watercolors are as joyously messy” as the story’s monstrous cast. A Kirkus Reviews writer dubbed The Nice Book “emotional literacy at its most basic,” and in Booklist Randall Enos praised Stein’s “alliterative” text here as a highlight of a work that is “enjoyable, informative, and just plain nice.”
A baby kangaroo attempts to assert its independence in Pouch!, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book selection. Looking to expand his horizons, Joey decides to leave the safety of his mother’s pouch, encountering a host of odd-looking creatures until he recognizes a kindred spirit. “Warm and inviting, this buoyant tale is hopping good fun,” a contributor noted in Kirkus Reviews, and a Publishers Weekly critic observed that the author/illustrator “captures intuitively the way youngsters of every species explore the world around them.” According to Phelan in Booklist, Stein again demonstrates his ability to create “a fresh story in a few well-chosen words and illustrating it with humor and verve.”
Stein’s Interrupting Chicken, a Caldecott Medal honor book, centers on a rooster’s efforts to tell a bedtime tale to his imaginative and extremely talkative daughter while she interrupts with suggestions for new endings. As Leonard S. Marcus commented in Horn Book, Interrupting Chicken is “really a book about the experience of reading a story aloud: what can and often does happen when a parent and child share a book at bedtime and nearly come to blows over their clashing agendas.” Other reviewers applauded Stein’s ambitious illustrations, which frequently switch styles and media. As Gay Lynn Van Vleck remarked in School Library Journal, “The rich colors of the characters perfectly contrast with the sepia pages of the storybooks” that pepper the plot of Interrupting Chicken.
Stein also plays with the conventions of the picture-book genre in Love, Mouserella, which is illustrated like a scrapbook. Here a young mouse pens a news-filled letter to her grandmother, complete with photographs, drawings, and a surprise gift. Love, Mouserella “unfolds calendar-style, allowing Stein … to make the most of the faux lined-stationery background,” noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. A writer in Kirkus Reviews praised Stein’s “customary gift for spot-on evocations of childlike voice and sensibility,” and Tanya Boudreau reported in School Library Journal that Love, Mouserella may “prompt children to think about their own letter writing.”
Stein introduces more exuberant animal characters in Ol’ Mama Squirrel, a picture book featuring a protective mother whose vigilance is required to protect her young brood. When her familiar “chook chook” sounds fail to deter a large bear wandering too close for comfort, the urgency in her voice summons a veritable army of squirrel-moms who chase away the ursine threat. A Publishers Weekly contributor declared that the “too-real vignettes of the angry squirrel’s arched eyebrows and waving fists are funny all by themselves,” and a writer for Kirkus Reviews declared that Stein’s “effervescent tale brims with humor and vibrant characterization.” In Booklist, Thom Barthelmess predicted of Ol’ Mama Squirrel that “happy children will demand multiple readings of this insouciant, affable outing.”
A cute reversal on the butterfly-kiss is at the center of Dinosaur Kisses, a tale in which newcomer Dinah the newly hatched dinosaur wants to show affection to others. Unfortunately, her size and weight present a danger to fish and other creatures. Stein deploys a stomp-chomp-whomp word-pattern scheme across the pages until Dinah returns to her nest, there to meet another newly hatched sibling that becomes the ideal partner for sharing her joy. “Dinah’s big, goofy smile is sure to be reflected in the faces of her young admirers,” remarked School Library Journal reviewer Alison Donnelly. Also appraising Dinosaur Kisses, a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that “Dinah’s swampy world features a sulfurous yellow sky and pintsize volcanoes that explode quietly in the distance.”
In Stein’s I’m My Own Dog a single-minded bulldog declares that he will not be anyone’s possession. Unable to scratch a spot on his back, however, he allows a human to perform the task and is surprised when the man follows him home. Resignedly, the dog teaches his clueless new companion several tricks, such as how to play fetch and how to behave on a leash. “Stein’s role reversal is deliciously fun, and what makes it sing is the bulldog’s confiding tone,” reported a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In Booklist, Daniel Kraus described the “pen, marker, and watercolor figures” in I’m My Own Dog as “endearingly slapdash,” and a Kirkus Reviews critic wrote that these exuberant tinted images “convey the dog’s sassy, ultimately warm personality.”
A conversation about Buddhism inspired Stein to write Because Amelia Smiled, “an ode to the spread of good karma,” according to New York Times Book Review critic Emily Bazelon. The tale centers on a girl whose infectious smile sets off a chain of events that affects individuals around the globe. During the process of crafting the book, the author/illustrator developed a process he calls “Stein-lining.” “I apply crayon to label paper, turn it over, and press on the back to create a line on the artwork,” he told Sally Lodge in Publishers Weekly. “It’s like creating my own carbon paper, using different colors of crayon.” “The visual elements will capture readers’ attention,” remarked C.J. Connor in School Library Journal, and a Publishers Weekly critic described Because Amelia Smiled as “a satisfying portrait of the feast of life.”
A father-and-son pair of frogs take center stage—or rather center lily pad—in Tad and Dad, with little Tad idolizing his father so much that he insists on hopping onto his lily pad to sleep at night. As the tadpole grows into a frog and gets ever more active, Dad finally tells Tad he needs to sleep somewhere else, but this new situation creates a new sleeplessness problem to solve. In Booklist, Lolly Gepson admired how “brilliant watercolors accented with crayon zing with energy in splashy two-page spreads,” while Jill Lorenzini in BookPage declared that “Stein easily and expertly captures the excitement of a growing child.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded of Tad and Dad, “Many families will recognize the lovingly fraught kinship between these personable frogs.”
Stein delivers a refreshing science lesson in Ice Boy, a picture book featuring an unusual child that ignores the warnings of his ice-cube family members and ventures out into the world. He experiences sunshine, a beach frolic, and—most problematically—a rapidly dissolving sense of self. Stein’s titular character morphs into Water Boy, then Vapor Boy, which state allows him a terrific view of a coming storm. He is stunned to find himself transformed into Hail Stone Boy before being reunited with his frosty family. “Stein’s offbeat, animated story makes lively work of the water cycle with cartoonish, doodlelike illustrations,” noted Sarah Hunter in a Booklist review. Writing for School Library Journal, Julie Roach observed that “speech bubbles in the art bring more personality to the characters and help to distinguish Ice Boy within the stages of the cycle.” In Publishers Weekly a critic cited the “quippy dialogue balloons” in Ice Boy, noting that they help illustrate “that science can be empowering on many levels.”
Stein returned to old favorites with a couple of subsequent books. In Honey, the young bear introduced in Leaves is growing through his second year, awakening from hibernation especially excited about one sweet treat. As he patiently awaits honey season, he enjoys all the outdoor delights of spring and summer. In School Library Journal, Rebecca Honeycutt appreciated how “Stein’s pen-and-watercolor illustrations are suffused with loose, childlike exuberance,” while Horn Book writer Julie Danielson observed, “Stein’s clean page design and uncluttered compositions keep the focus on the endearing protagonist.” A Publishers Weekly writer called Honey a “gentle outing about waiting and appreciating.”
The exuberant young fowl and her father from Interrupting Chicken return in Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise. After learning in school about the importance of the element of surprise in stories, Chicken, having heard “elephant,” bursts into Papa’s stories to add surprising elephants here and there. In School Library Journal, Mindy Hiatt praised the book’s “delightfully uncommon illustrations.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that “Stein masterfully builds suspense with each imbedded story,” and a Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that the book is an “unsurprisingly good, … laugh-out-loud follow-up.”
Hush, Little Bunny is a variation of the classic Appalachian lullaby “Hush, Little Baby,” with a papa bunny introducing his youngster to the outside world in the springtime. They appreciate the blue sky, investigate the clover patch, and cuddle together in a burrow when hawks soar high overhead. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked, “Loose mixed-media illustrations … capture all the wonder and energy of spring.” A Kirkus Reviews writer similarly noted that the “charming illustrations bring the bunny duo to life and will certainly catch children’s eyes.” In Booklist, Lolly Gepson called Hush, Little Bunny a “sweet” and “fun romp.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, June 1, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Ned’s New Friend, p. 83; September 1, 2007, Carolyn Phelan, review of Leaves, p. 116; October 15, 2007, Gillian Engberg, review of Monster Hug!, p. 52; September 15, 2009, Carolyn Phelan, review of Pouch!, p. 59; September 15, 2010, Carolyn Phelan, review of Interrupting Chicken, p. 69; November 1, 2011, Ilene Cooper, review of Love, Mouserella, p. 78; May 1, 2013, Thom Barthelmess, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel, p. 92; July 1, 2014, Daniel Kraus, review of I’m My Own Dog, p. 87; March 15, 2015, Lolly Gepson, review of Tad and Dad, p. 80; November 1, 2018, Lolly Gepson, review of Hush, Little Bunny, p. 58.
BookPage, May, 2015, Jill Lorenzini, review of Tad and Dad, p. 30.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, May, 2013, Jeannette Hulick, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel, p. 409; September, 2014, Deborah Stevenson, review of I’m My Own Dog, p. 69; March 15, 2017, Sarah Hunter, review of Ice Boy, p. 47.
Horn Book, November-December, 2009, Kitty Flynn, review of Pouch!, p. 661; July-August, 2011, Leonard S. Marcus, “Chicken, Interrupted: The Art of David Ezra Stein,” p. 28; May-June, 2013, Robin L. Smith, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel, p. 101; September-October, 2013, Kitty Flynn, review of Dinosaur Kisses, p. 81; September-October, 2014, Robin L. Smith, review of I’m My Own Dog, p. 96; May-June, 2015, Robin L. Smith, review of Tad and Dad, p. 101; May-June, 2017, Robin Smith, review of Ice Boy, p. 84; July-August, 2018, Julie Danielson, review of Honey, p. 96.
Horn Book Guide, spring, 2013, review of Because Amelia Smiled, p. 16.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2006, review of Cowboy Ned and Andy, p. 638; July 15, 2007, review of Leaves; August 1, 2007, review of Monster Hug!; July 15, 2009, review of Pouch!; July 1, 2010, review of Interrupting Chicken; August 15, 2011, review of Love, Mouserella; August 15, 2012, review of Because Amelia Smiled; February 15, 2013, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel; June 1, 2014, review of I’m My Own Dog; April 1, 2015, review of Tad and Dad; February 15, 2017, review of Ice Boy; February 1, 2018, review of Honey; July 15, 2018, review of Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise; October 15, 2018, review of Hush, Little Bunny.
Library Journal, October, 2008, Linda Staskus, review of The Nice Book, p. 125.
New York Times Book Review, November 13, 2011, Pamela Paul, review of Love, Mouserella, p. 33; October 14, 2012, Emily Bazelon, review of Because Amelia Smiled, p. 16.
Publishers Weekly, July 31, 2006, review of Cowboy Ned and Andy, p. 74; August 13, 2007, review of Leaves, p. 66; August 31, 2009, review of Pouch!, p. 55; July 19, 2010, review of Interrupting Chicken, p. 126; June 20, 2011, review of Love, Mouserella, p. 49; July 9, 2012, review of Because Amelia Smiled, p. 61; January 14, 2013, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel, p. 58; May 20, 2013, review of Dinosaur Kisses, p. 56; May 12, 2014, review of I’m My Own Dog, p. 59; April 13, 2015, review of Tad and Dad, p. 81; January 30, 2017, review of Ice Boy, p. 193; March 12, 2018, review of Honey, p. 58; July 23, 2018, review of Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise, p. 203; October 15, 2018, review of Hush, Little Bunny, p. 135.
School Library Journal, July, 2006, Joy Fleishhacker, review of Cowboy Ned and Andy, p. 87; August, 2007, Kirsten Cutler, review of Leaves, p. 94; September, 2007, Jayne Damron, review of Monster Hug!, p. 176; November, 2007, Maura Bresnahan, review of Ned’s New Friend, p. 100; September, 2009, Amy Lilien-Harper, review of Pouch!, p. 135; July, 2010, Gay Lynn Van Vleck, review of Interrupting Chicken, p. 69; October, 2011, Tanya Boudreau, review of Love, Mouserella, p. 120; September, 2012, C.J. Connor, review of Because Amelia Smiled, p. 124; April, 2013, Krista Welz, review of Ol’ Mama Squirrel, p. 144; September, 2013, Alison Donnelly, review of Dinosaur Kisses, p. 132; January, 2014, Jennifer Verbrugge, review of Dinosaur Kisses, p. 54; October, 2014, Marian McLeod, review of I’m My Own Dog, p. 98; March, 2015, Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, review of Tad and Dad, p. 127; May, 2017, Julie Roach, review of Ice Boy, p. 70; January, 2018, Rebecca Honeycutt, review of Honey, p. 61; September, 2018, Mindy Hiatt, review of Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise, p. 96.
ONLINE
BookPage, http://bookpage.com/ (October 15, 2012), Cat Acree, author interview.
Brightly, https://www.readbrightly.com/ (January 22, 2019), “Meet the Illustrator: David Ezra Stein.”
David Ezra Stein website, https://davidezrastein.com (January 22, 2019).
Kid Lit Frenzy, http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/ (November 13, 2014), Alyson Beecher, author interview.
Publishers Weekly, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (June 6, 2012), Sally Lodge, author interview.
Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast, http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/ (October 30, 2008), author interview.*
Award-winning children's author and illustrator David Ezra Stein was born in Brooklyn, NY. By the time he was three, he was asking adults, "Wanna come to my room? Read books?" This love of reading grew into a love of telling stories, and then, writing.
David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken was awarded a 2011 Caldecott Honor, as well as many state awards. His picture book Leaves won the Ezra Jack Keats award and was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Editor’s Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book. Booklist called his book Monster Hug! “a cousin to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.” Pouch! (Putnam), was a 2010 Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book. His books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Catalan, Dutch, French, and Finnish.
As a young child, David started out drawing on Post-It note pads his mother, an editor, left around the house. An admitted “space cadet,” he showed an early knack for daydreaming and doodling. His parents and grandparents read him lots of books, which fed his imagination and became a touchstone for his love of imagery and storytelling later in life.
“I’ll never forget the experience of sitting in a beloved lap and having a whole world open before me: a world brought to life by the pictures and the grown-up’s voice. That wonder is what I want to re-create in my own books,” says David.
David went on to become a voracious reader and made up stories of his own. Near the end of his time at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan, encouraged by beloved author and teacher Pat Cummings, he decided to pursue children’s books as a career.
After graduation, he was briefly a window display artist, puppeteer and puppet builder, interior and set-design illustrator, and New Yorker cartoonist. In 2006, his first book, Cowboy Ned & Andy, was published by Simon & Schuster. Since then he has published 20 picture books. His latest are: The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken (written by Jennifer Frank)); and Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast .
David lives in Kew Gardens, NY with his wife and two children, and a rabbit named Bun Bun. When he’s not working on new stories and pictures, he enjoys singing, cycling, cooking, and jogging, but not all at the same time—that would just be silly!
David Ezra Stein was born in Brooklyn, NY. His love for drawing started when he would doodleon post-it notes that his mother left around the house. (Click the word "doodle" to see some of Stein's hundreds of doodles!) He enjoyed daydreaming and listening to the many stories that his parents and grand-parents would read to him. Evident from his fondness of doodling, Stein had a wild imagination that he loved to follow and escape to. He even began to make up stories of his own. He say that authors that influenced him as a child are: "Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, Ezra Jack Keats, Leo Leonni, Maurice Sendak (especially the Little Bear books), James Marshall, Jose Aruego, Willian Steig, Bemelmans, Hergem and Bill Watterson."
Stein attended the Parsons School of Design in Manhattan for college. He majored in editorial illustration and took a course in Children's Book Writing, when he fell in love. He decided he wanted pursue a career in children's picture books. He drew pictures and worked on his passion of illustrating and writing books on the side while he had jobs ranging from a window display artist, puppeteer and puppet builder, to an interior and set design illustrator. His artwork appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the American Illustrator.
His first book was published in 2006 by Simon and Schuster title, Cowboy Ned and Andy. Since then he has published a total of 10 books, one Ol' Mama Squirrel hitting book shelves in March 2013. Stein's books have been reviewed by The Horn Book Guide and The Childhood Education Journal. He has also won the Caldecott Honor for Interrupting Chicken in 2011 and the Ezra Jack Keats award for Leaves in 2008.
Stein says "What would make me laugh if I was a kid? I always write from that perspective." He explains that music influences his work as well as the view from his home-office in Queens. Stein tends to listen to the same album over and over when working on a book. When created Pouch!, he listend to a Bollywood CD nonstop! He uses a variety of different mediums when illustrating including water colors, line, china marker, ink and brush or bamboo pen, "it depends on the feel of the book."
David Ezra Stein currently lives in Kew Gardens in Queens, NY with his wife, Miriam, son, Sam and pet cat, Basta. He does school visits and well as updates his Facebook fan page, regularly.
Meet David Ezra Stein!
Get to Know the Author and Illustrator of Interrupting Chicken
by Traci Swain
Chicken-author-review-Hero-BTS
Ever since he was three years old, David Ezra Stein has loved books—and now, he makes them!
In this Scholastic Book Clubs–exclusive interview, David tells us about what inspired him to create the Caldecott Honor–winning Book of the Week, Interrupting Chicken. Plus discover more about his creative process and what other exciting projects he has in the works!
What was the first book you remember falling in love with as a child?
The Runaway Bunny was one that I have a visceral memory of, from very early on. Those colors are seared into my mind! The reddish orange. The deep blue. The green, fresh and tasty-looking—perfect for a rabbit-centric tale. The pumpkin orange. The black and the white. They are still magical to me. And I was impressed that some pages are black-and-white only. As for the writing, some say it is a weird story of an overbearing mother, but I think it embodies a game of hide-and-seek that very small kids enjoy.
Chicken-author-image1A page from The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. Image courtesy of David Ezra Stein (illustration copyright © 1972 by Edith T. Hurd, Clement Hurd, John Thacher Hurd, and George Hellyer, as Trustees of the Edith and Clement Hurd 1982 Trust).
Could you share some things you think about before creating a book for kids?
Sure! Usually I have a character that I am excited about. I am interested in the way that character interacts with the world. For example, I had the chicken for Interrupting Chicken before I knew quite what to do with her. Then I realized she could interrupt stories and that she lived with her father. The story began to flow when their relationship came into focus for me.
I knew Papa wanted Chicken to go to bed, and she wanted to be a hero and help the characters in the fairy tales. It brought up my own love of having grown-ups read to me when I was small. The story became a dramatic dialogue, an epic struggle between parent and child for control of bedtime!
Chicken-author-image2A prototype bookmark designed by David Ezra Stein featuring Papa Chicken. Image courtesy of David Ezra Stein.
Could you tell us more about your process when it comes to character design and selecting color palettes?
Trial and error is a big part of my process! I have good taste and I know what I’m looking for when I see it. All I have to do is keep on drawing and painting till I come up with something that jumps off the page. Which could take a month or so. I often draw hundreds of versions of a character before I come up with just the right one.
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Chicken-author-image4The (many) elephants of surprise. Images courtesy of David Ezra Stein.
As for palettes, almost the same thing. I do many, many color studies to see what feels exciting. Sometimes I “borrow” a palette from a painting or textile I love, say, by Matisse. In other words, I use similar color combinations in my book. At least that is a jumping-off point. The story dictates what it needs. I always try to do what’s right for telling that story.
How much research tends to go into each of your books?
Usually, the research is my life experience: places I’ve been; people and animals I’ve known; foods I love; feelings; flowers I admire. They all end up in my books. If I need to see the details of what a cardinal or a rocket-engine race car looks like, I can easily search it up. I’ve even used Google Street View to walk around cities I’ve never been to! But I like to digest research and then throw it away and just paint. Too much of it can get in the way! You’re currently working on writing Interrupting Chicken #3—what’s your thought process behind creating a series?
Yes, in fact, it’s finished and coming this fall. Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast. Can’t wait for you to see it!
Chicken-author-image5The little red chicken’s third adventure is coming out soon! Image courtesy of David Ezra Stein.
When I wrote the second book in the series, Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise (2018), I wanted to make sure it was really going to be special and worthy of the first book. First of all, it had to have funny interruptions and a good setup for Papa and Chicken to read together. It had to be not too close to the first story, but not too far either.
I wrote a whole lot of stories that didn’t quite work. Then I took this Elephant of Surprise character, for whom I’d been looking for a story for nine or ten years, and put him into the chicken’s world, and bam! It worked.
For the third story, I have Chicken interrupting nursery rhymes, and the interruptions are rhyming. So fun! And of course, she is obsessed with cookies.
How do your other interests impact your storytelling?
I’m very interested in making music. I sing, drum, and play cello and guitar. I’m a fan of all kinds of music, especially classical, jazz, and anything with soul. I think this influences the rhythm of my stories. Like a song with verse and chorus, they have a structure. I think of rhythm visually as well. Dark next to light and cool next to warm is the key to an interesting painting.
I love cooking as well! I’m especially into Indian food right now. (My chana masala is really coming along!) When I make a book, it’s a big stew of all the things I love, improvised from what I have in the house (studio), sprinkled with spice, and put together by instinct. And I keep going till it smells good! Much of the flavor comes from smell, so I smell as I cook. And I look as I paint! And hopefully people eat it up.
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About David Ezra Stein
David Ezra Stein is the creator of many award-winning picture books. He received a Caldecott Honor for Interrupting Chicken and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for Leaves, which was also a Publishers Weekly Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Editor’s Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book. He also wrote and illustrated Ol’ Mama Squirrel; Love, Mouserella; Pouch!; and The Nice Book. He lives with his family in New York City. Large portions of the art for Interrupting Chicken were created with a four-and-a-half-year-old on his lap and a baby wandering the studio floor and gnawing on art supplies. Find him online at davidezrastein.com.
Photo by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
INTERRUPTING CHICKEN. Copyright © 2010 by David Ezra Stein. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
Stein, David Ezra INTERRUPTING CHICKEN Candlewick (Children's None) $15.99 10, 12 ISBN: 978-1-5362-0778-1
The titular fowl is back, just in time for breakfast.
Readers were first introduced to Stein’s character when the irrepressible little red chicken had a hard time settling down at bedtime despite Papa’s dogged efforts to calm his offspring with some fairy tales. This latest title takes place in the morning, and a wide-awake Chicken struggles to rouse Papa from bed with appeals for “cookies for breakfast.” He resists this blandishment but acquiesces to a request for a snuggly reading of nursery rhymes—which Chicken, of course, interrupts. Repeatedly. The improvised, inserted rhymes persist in their advocacy of cookies for breakfast, and the series’ trademark metafictive play of books within a book depicts familiar Mother Goose characters startled by Chicken’s intrusion (with cookies) into their rhymes. “There was an old woman / who lived in a shoe. / She had so many — // ‘Cookies, she gave me a few!’ ” yells Chicken, jumping in through the window and startling the old woman, who’s just taken a sheet of cookies out of the oven. On the next page they sit down to a cozy snack of tea and cookies. Papa and Chicken’s scenes are done in rich, full color, while the nursery-rhyme pages are done as bleached-out cartoons. A culminating rhyme of Chicken’s own devising fails to convince Papa of the merits of cookies for breakfast, but he has another treat in store for his little chick: pancakes.
A sweet and silly read for any time of day. (Picture book. 3-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Stein, David Ezra: INTERRUPTING CHICKEN." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A671783227/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5fbee14f. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021.
Frank, Jennifer THE WORM FAMILY HAS ITS PICTURE TAKEN Anne Schwartz/Random (Children's None) $17.99 5, 11 ISBN: 978-0-593-12478-9
A warm, witty, wonderful worm tale.
When Mrs. Worm has the bright idea of taking a family portrait, her eldest daughter, Emma, is very excited. That feeling fades, however, when Emma worries that their picture won’t be special like those of her friends’ families. They can’t smile like the beavers since they don’t have teeth. They can’t style their hair to be fluffy like a cat’s since they don’t have hair. They can’t be colorful like a family of butterflies. Or can they? Emma comes up with a plan to deck her family out in wigs, clothes, and fake teeth, but then they just don’t look like themselves—as the muskrat photographer comically points out when he doesn’t even recognize them. Throughout, Stein’s expressive, sly, wobbly-lined art enhances the humor of Frank’s text with details that will delight readers, such as the worms’ use of piles of earth to blanket them as they sleep upon rooted carrots in their underground home or the worm parents’ use of a simple sling to carry the baby of the family. When the worm family sheds itself of Emma’s costuming, they come up with an ingenious plan to get “into a delightful pose only a worm family could make,” the illustration of which will surely bring smiles to readers’ faces. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 21.4% of actual size.)
Sure to worm its way into readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 4-7)
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"Frank, Jennifer: THE WORM FAMILY HAS ITS PICTURE TAKEN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A656696443/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1e7f125b. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021.
The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken. By Jennifer Frank. Illus. by David Ezra Stein. May 2021. 40p. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99 (9780593124789). PreS-Gr. 2.
Learning about the upcoming worm family picture, no one is more excited than the eldest daughter, Emma. But when she tells her friends, their remarks on their own family portraits dampen her enthusiasm. Ellie, a chipmunk, comments on her family's toothy smiles. Abigail, a cat, reminisces about a beautician enhancing her poufy hair. Olivia, a butterfly, mentions her family's beautiful colors. Reflecting that worms have no teeth, no hair, and no bright colors, Emma feels dejected until she makes a plan. Wearing fake teeth, poufy wigs, and loud clothing, the worms arrive for their appointment, but the photographer doesn't recognize them. After they remove their costumes, he apologizes and takes a picture that showcases the worm family's special attributes. Even in picture-books, worms seldom take lead roles, but this well-structured story is engaging, and the artwork expands its gentle humor and quirky charm. In the illustrations, created "with ballpoint pen, photocopy, watercolor, toothbrush, and Crayola-airbrush," the characters' expressions and body language are easy for viewers to read. An amusing picture-book with a fitting conclusion.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 American Library Association
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Phelan, Carolyn. "The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 15, 1 Apr. 2021, p. 68. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A660111357/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9e8f5979. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021.
STEIN, David Ezra. Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast. illus. by David Ezra Stein. 40p. Candlewick. Oct. 2021. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781536207781.
PreS-Gr 1--The small red chicken (first spied in Interrupting Chicken) who stars in Stein's book so closely mirrors the behavior of preschoolers that it will be hard for listeners not to nod along in recognition. Papa is awakened early by his young charge, who snuggles in with a book of nursery rhymes and makes the case for the cookies for breakfast in bed. Thus, "C is for cookies," as in Vitamin C, and "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack--" breaks off to the interrupting chicken's version: "Brought me some cookies when I was sick!" Papa patiently debates, despite exhaustion, why they cannot have cookies for breakfast, or for lunch, but Chicken is adamant and, through drawings and wordplay, gets his way--with pan cakes. It's all but impossible to resist these arguments, and story hours may need to include cookies for hungry participants. Comedic timing, characters' faces, and Chicken's persistence are a master class in interruption; Stein doesn't miss a beat. VERDICT Logic-defying retorts aside, this essential addition is a snug and hilarious version of qualify time and the worthiness of a good argument.--Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journal
Caption: Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast (Stein) [c]2021 by David Ezra Stein.
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Fakih, Kimberly Olson. "STEIN, David Ezra. Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast." School Library Journal, vol. 67, no. 10, Oct. 2021, pp. 69+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A678583558/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=04e27253. Accessed 21 Dec. 2021.