| Questions about Dav |
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How do you pronounce your first name? |
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Most people pronounce it "Dave"
(rhymes with "rave"), but "Dav" (rhymes with "have") is also
correct. Bonus points are given for "Däv" (rhymes with "suave").
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Are you married? Do you have children? |
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Yes and no. In 2005 I married my sweetheart, Sayuri (pronounced "Sy-you-dee").
We don't have any children yet.
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What is your favorite book? |
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I have lots of favorite books. Some of
them are: the "George and Martha" books by James Marshall; the "Stupids"
books and the "Miss Nelson" books by Harry Allard and James Marshall; the "Frog and Toad" books by Arnold Lobel; Jake and
Honeybunch go to Heaven by Margot Zemach; Hop on Pop by Dr.
Seuss; and The Animal Family by
Randall Jarrell.
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How many pets do you have? |
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I have a cat named Blueberry, and three dogs,
Martha Jane, Leia, and Little Dog. I used to have three mice named Rabies, Flash,
and Dwayne, but I had to give them away when I moved to Oregon a few years ago.
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Did you get good grades in school? |
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No. I had a pretty tough
time in school. I've always had reading problems, and I didn't learn the same way
that most of the kids in my class learned (being severely hyperactive didn't help
much, either).
I was discouraged a lot, and
sometimes I felt like a total failure. But I had a lot of encouragement and support
from my parents. They helped me get through the hard times. It's good to know
that even if you're not successful in school, you can still be successful in life.
(Thomas Edison was terrible at school, but he turned out o.k!)
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What are your hobbies? |
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I like reading, watching movies, playing video games,
taking naps, and building toy monsters and robots. |
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Why do you spell your first name wrong? |
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Back in 1983 I was a waiter at Pizza Hut.
One day they were making a name tag for me, but the label-maker was broken. Instead
of printing "Dave", it printed "Dav". The name stuck!
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Do you do author visits? |
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No. I have stomach problems that
become almost unbearable when I travel, so I avoid speaking engagements whenever possible.
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If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be? |
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A flying monkey.
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| Questions about Writing Children's Books |
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How do you get the ideas for your books? |
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I never try to "think" up a story,
stories just come to me. I live a very simple life, and often spend several
hours each day just daydreaming. It is usually during these times that my ideas come to
me.
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How did you get your start writing and illustrating
books? |
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When I was 19 years old, I wrote a book called World War Won and entered it in Landmark Editions’ National Written and Illustrated by... Awards Contest for Students. My book won first prize for my age group, and was published.
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Who are your major influences as an artist? |
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The painters who have influenced me most as an
artist are Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, and Marc Chagall. Of all these artists,
I think Marc Chagall is my favorite. I love the way he sees things... there are no
straight lines in his world, and no gravity to speak of either. All the laws of
physics go out the window! It's very liberating as a painter to have a hero who
didn't follow the rules.
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How long does it take you to make a book? |
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It depends on the book. When Cats
Dream and The Paperboy each took 15 minutes to write. 'Twas the Night
Before Thanksgiving took almost a whole year (partially due to the fact that the first
draft was eaten by a herd of cows). Rhyming books usually take much more time to
write than non-rhyming books. Most of my picture books take between 1 and 3 months to
illustrate.
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What comes first, the pictures or the stories? |
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Usually the title, then the story, then the
pictures.
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Who is your favorite Author and illustrator? |
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I have many favorites. They include James Marshall, Arnold Lobel, and Dr. Seuss.
I'm also a big fan of my friends Audrey and Don Wood, and Pam Muñoz Ryan. |
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| Common Questions about Dav's Books |
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In the book Kat Kong, the ship is called the
"U.S.S. Ignatz". What's an 'Ignatz'? |
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Ignatz is the name of the mouse who appeared in
a very old comic strip called Krazy Kat. The comic was about a nasty,
brick-tossing mouse, and the cat who loved him. The picture on the right is of a
1995 U.S. postage stamp commemorating the comic strip. That's Ignatz there in the
bottom right corner.
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What's that thing on the table on the front cover of
The Dumb Bunnies? |
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That thing was a can of SPAM. It was
meant to be a joke, but the people who make SPAM didn't think it was funny. They
threatened to sue the Dumb Bunnies if it wasn't changed. The first printing of the
book was thus changed by slapping a gold sticker over the can of "you know
what". Later when the book was reprinted, the offensive word was removed. If you ever come across a copy of The Dumb Bunnies with
the word "SPAM" still on the cover, hang on to it. There are only a
handful in existence, and they'll be valuable some day!
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How did you make the pictures in Kat Kong
and Dogzilla? |
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The pictures in Kat Kong and Dogzilla
were made by combining actual photographs of my pets with painted backgrounds.
First, I took lots of pictures of my cat Blueberry, my dog Leia, and my pet mice, then I
carefully cut the animals out of the photographs. The cut-outs of the animals were
then pasted onto backgrounds which I had painted.
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