Author/ Illustrator Interview with Kevin Sherry

The DMS was lucky enough to interview Kevin Sherry. Lizzy reviewed his book The Yeti Files: Meet the Bigfeet, and it was great to share our thoughts about it and hear yours! We're excited to learn a little more about his story. So, without further ado... take it away, Kevin!

What inspired you to write The Yeti Files: Meet the Bigfeet?

A long time ago, I drew a doodle in my sketchbook that was a little pictogram list of about a dozen cryptids. The little yeti was tiny, but it really stood out on the page. I mean, it was small, a dime would cover it. Something about this yeti was just special, in just this little drawing it had this attitude and also it had just perfect proportions. Over the years, I redrew and redrew this yeti hundreds and hundreds of times and the yeti appeared on many t-shirts when I had a t-shirt company. I kept trying to make the yeti into a picture book, once it was even called "Betti the Yeti", but it never flew as a picture book. Luckily, I had given an editor at Scholastic the little "Cryptozoology" print at an illustrator party, and she wanted to see what ideas I had. Once I expanded the format and gave the yeti an awesome attitude and a cool name, the whole idea just took off. 

How long did it take you to write The Yeti Files: Meet the Bigfeet? 

Oh man, well I think I first pitched the idea in May 2012 and then Meet the Bigfeet came out September 30th 2014, so yeah, it takes a long time. And I think the first one took especially long because it was a completely new format for me. I went from doing 16 spread picture books with 2 or 3 gags to this new book, which is 128 pages with jokes on every page. I think when I first went in with the rough outline of the story, I had about 200 pages. Then it was all about compressing pages together and redrawing things and reformatting pages over and over. For this first one I drew the entire book 4 times. I think for the next ones, I'll be able to just draw the book 3 times, because now I know the format a little better.

What was your inspiration for the devious cryptozoologist, George Vanquist?

Well I want the world of the cryptids to be this cool secret side-world to the real world. Mostly humans are not in the story, but for the first book, at least, I wanted a human link to the human world. And I wanted him to be like the Anti-Blizz. Instead of being kind and inclusive to everyone, George Vanquist is rude, mean, and has a lack of self-awareness. And I wanted to say something too about not having to put up with someone being mean to you, so when Noodles leaves Vanquist, he's taking back his self-esteem.

What are some of your favorite books from childhood? Were there any specific authors who inspired you?

It was Roald Dahl that introduced me to the love of reading. Matilda was my first thick book, and after I read that, I realized I could read anything. Also, I was really inspired by Roald Dahl's illustrator, Quentin Blake. So much so that I wrote him a letter in third grade, and he actually wrote me back. I still have that letter.

Other illustrators were Steven Gammel with those Scary Stories books, Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein, and actually, looking back I was reading all of Matt Greoning's Life is Hell books in third grade and that was a HUGE influence on me, too.

If you could live anyplace real or fictional, where would it be? Why?

Oh man, if I'm away from my desk for more than a few days I start to get really nervous. I like working and drawing and making stuff in my studio, with some Netflix on in the background and my rat on my lap. THAT’S my comfort zone. I live in Baltimore and it's awesome because there's a great art scene going on here, and I feel like I have a pretty good standing, but there will always be some people who live here that I'll always look up to and who will always be better at their art than I am at mine. So I know I'll never be top dog, and I'll always have something to strive for.

If you could befriend a cryptid, which would you choose? Why?

A flying one. Probably Jack Saturday, the Unicorn. I wouldn't be opposed to a partnership with a dragon or giant eagle, but I'll just say a Unicorn.

You are the author and illustrator of The Yeti Files. Which scene in the book was your favorite to put together? Which scene was challenging?

If you look on page 10-11, that is the approximation of the "Cryptozoology" doodle that I drew in a sketchbook 8 years ago. It’s awesome to see it come all this way. I will say writing and drawing a whole long book is itself a very difficult thing to think about. I get caught up with anxiety about tackling this huge task, but once I break it down into appropriate, smaller jobs and start drawing, I go into the zone and I love doing it. The thought of the book is the most challenging.

Are you currently working on a book? If so, can you tell us a little bit about it?

I just handed in The Yeti Files 2: Monsters on the Run. So that comes out September 2015 and that's starring Yeti's team and introduces Vanessa, the Loch Ness Monster and Tobin Clover, a very talented leprechaun. Right now, I'm working on illustrating two picture books that other people wrote, Swallow the Leader, which will look somewhat like I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and The Big Problem, which has a bunch of squirrels in it, and then I have the first draft of Yeti 3 due by March 1. That one is going to be Merfolk/Atlantis/Kraken. So I'm staying busy :^)

Kevin Sherry at the 2014 UCONN Children's Book Fair 

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