Harold's Hungry Eyes Blog Tour

It is great fun being part of blog tours for new and inventive books being published. We love the classics, and they feature heavily on our creaking bookshelves, but there is something thoroughly exciting about getting a first glance at the dream-weaving, toddler-taming classics of tomorrow. We particularly love great illustration. Kevin Waldron, author of Harold’s Hungry Eyes from creative publisher Phaidon, has used line drawings, block colours and photographic collage to produce a quirky and original picture book. His exceedingly cute, wide-eyed Boston terrier Harold is torn between his twin loves: his smelly old chair and his insatiable appetite for treats. He is content, until the morning he discovers that his beloved couch has been confined to the jaws of a departing refuse-collecting truck. Hot in pursuit, he sets off across an alien city and finally, utterly lost and without the chair, he finds his way home using his rumbling stomach to guide him. 

In scenes, reminiscent of the fertile imagination of a Magritte landscape, hungry Harold sees over-sized pieces of food at every juncture: raspberry hydrants, pizza windows, street lamp sundaes, as he searches for clues to get him home for his breakfast. Waldron hopes, with his surreal cityscapes, to inspire his young readers to use their own imagination when observing objects in their everyday life. Given that toddlers seem to constantly graze and chart distance and hours by access to snacks, perhaps they are not so far removed from this kindred canine - the book certainly gripped the imagination of both Culturebabies.

We leapt at the opportunity to ask Kevin a few further questions about his creative process and influences and display some of his original notebooks and images used in creating the book:

- What inspired you to write the book? Where did the idea come from?

I’ve been drawing black and white cats for years, it’s like hand writing to me at this stage! So I thought I’d draw some black and white dogs. I’ve always had a soft spot for Boston terriers. Around that time I was making a lot of collage art for my own amusement. I brought everything along to a meeting with Phaidon, not with anything in mind particularly, and they saw potential for a children’s book. Making art purely for fun is a great way to start. 

 

- Is Harold based on a real canine? 

I suppose he is an amalgamation of all the dogs I knew growing up! I like to watch the vastly wide variety of breeds in the dog runs here in New York - it’s fun and helped when I was drawing Harold’s body position, the position of his ears, etc.

- The illustrations are reminiscent of a surrealist landscape- rather like a Magritte. Are they inspired by this sort of art? What are your other artistic influences?

 

Probably more from eastern European illustrators and artists from the 60s & 70s - Květa Pacovská , Janusz Stanny, Bohumil Stepan, etc. (I've since checked these out and their work is extremely interesting)

- who is your favourite artist and why?

I don’t have a favourite artist. Some things stick with you for a lifetime I’m sure, depending on when you were exposed to them, but one thing leads to another to another… I could only say what I’m into now, this month or this week! I was very keen on the paintings of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner a few weeks ago. 

- what childhood book influenced you the most?

I have always drawn, I have always wanted to draw but I didn’t know I wanted to make children’s books until I was in my twenties. There are lots of books I discovered then that had a profound effect on me, but from my childhood I just remember what kind of books would appeal to me. Mr Tickle was a favourite! “today looks very much like a tickling day” he thought to himself.

- do you exchange a lot of thoughts and ideas with the other author/illustrators you share a studio with? (Oliver Jeffers and Jon Burgerman)

Absolutely, I’m very fortunate in that regard. I’ve learned a lot not just from my peers’ opinions but my own interpretation of their tastes if that makes sense?! A defining moment for me was when I was asked for my opinion on some work and I realised that everything I was saying was equally meant for me. It echoed in my head for weeks and finally started to manifest itself on paper! 

- what comes first - the story or the images when you are writing?

The very genesis for me is always a drawing in my notebook. There is always a ‘first time’ that I draw a character even if I’ve tried twenty times. One scrawl will have a mystery that I try to unravel the best I can.  

 - where do you go to get inspiration for a new book?

The answers are usually somewhere in your notebooks already. But I do like to pair visual ideas; it’s like a hook to me. So sometimes if I’m starting a book I’ll go to the library and pull out books from any section I think might be applicable or catch my eye. At the moment I work at a rate of one of my own books to two of another author’s. I wouldn’t accept another author’s text if it didn’t inspire me.

- If you could curate an exhibition with five great artists and five illustrators to show children the breath of creativity in art & imagination. Who would you choose?

If you don’t mind I’d like to amend your question to suit myself, much like a politican! I would like to show the children five animated shorts, because the people involved in creating these marvels are artists, illustrators, storytellers, innovators all rolled into one. 

The Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) directed by YuriyNorshteyn 

The Oompahs (1952) directed by Robert Cannon

Creature Comforts (1989) by Nick Park

Betty Boo in Snow White (1933) directed by Dave Fleischer 

Windy Day (1968) directed by John & Faith Hubley 

Phaidon have created an activity pack and desktop wallpaper to accompany this book. The activity pack can be downloaded here www.phaidon.com/resource/hungryharold-uk.pdf and a desktop wallpaper image is available here www.phaidon.com/resource/harolds-hungry-eyes-desktop-background.jpg. 

Harold's Hungry Eyes was published this week.

Can I Eat That?

We are really excited to be part of a blog tour to introduce an innovative and engaging new book from American journalist and food critic Joshua David Stein and illustrator of scrumptious design Julia Rothman. Can I Eat That? uses a series of whimsical questions and unusual foods to challenge children about tastes they know and foods they have never thought of and to introduce the idea that concepts of what we can eat are different in different countries. It has proved a perennial mealtime favourite in the last couple of weeks and has been requested continually.

It has also led to a little experimentation of our own. We decided to use the page about pickles as a prompt to try something new and also to learn about various types of taste.

With a simple activity we selected a food from each category, tried it, and learned the name for that particular sensation:

Sweet - sugar, honey, mango;

Salty - salt, crisps;

Bitter - olives, citrus peel;

Sour - Pickles, citrus fruits;

Umami (Savouriness) - Tomato, soy sauce, mushrooms.

We also had a great time yesterday at Hampton Court Palace smelling, selecting and mixing herbs used to season Tudor food, wrapping them up and taking them home to try cooking with. We ended up with a selection of mustard seeds, cloves, pepper corns, bay leaves, parsley, thyme and rosemary.

We took the opportunity of the blog tour to ask Joshua a few questions, and he's also written us his own guide to the top places for families to eat in his own stomping ground, the wonderful New York City.

We said that we were very interested to know about the process of working with an illustrator. We love the pictures in this book - how much creative input did you get as an author?

Well, one of the things I loved so much about working with Julia is she brought so much I had never thought of. I had mocked up some watercolors originally. I was almost good enough but not quite. But Julia took these ideas added dimensionality and a level of skill and imagination that was just beyond.  

As a food critic and writer, we asked Joshua his views of English food & favourite spots in London. We enjoyed talking about egg plant (US) vs. aubergine in his book and wondered whether there are things we eat here and names we have that Americans find odd?

Yeah, actually if you look at the US v. UK edition there are a couple of changes. Besides eggplant v. aubergine, there you call what we call chicken fingers, chicken sticks, and what we call fish sticks, fish fingers, so that spread was changed. In general, about English food and London spots, my thoughts are, yippee! A full English breakfast remains one of my favorite experiences as well as what you call, I believe, a ploughman's lunch. Generally, the English are strong on sausage and beans. And I too love sausage and beans. Finally, my all-time favorite meal in my life can only be found in London, at Borough Market, at the Kappacasein stand. There's something so intensely satisfying watching someone scrape melted cheese from a wheel. 

Have you eaten all the the things in the book? Did you like sea urchin and jellyfish? 

I have eaten all the edible things, yes. I personally love the richness of uni, which also happens to be quite a popular ingredient here. Jelly fish I'm okay with but rarely seek out.  

What made you write this particular book. The kids love it - it is so original. We are interested to hear a bit more about its genesis.

The book really came out of dinner conversations I had with my eldest son, Achilles. He's an extremely picky eater so dinner became a battleground. I wanted to find a way to talk about food without it becoming a fight. So making it playful and, I suppose you could say, neutral, was a wonderful way to bond with him about something that is a big part of my life too.

TOP FIVE PLACES FOR FAMILIES TO EAT IN N.Y. FOR UK PARENTS PLANNING TO VISIT


Restaurants, like space in general, in New York City is short. And as any parent knows, tiny restaurants and small children do not mix well. That’s doesn’t mean a family can’t eat well together. Simply that one must think strategically about where one goes.

Dinosaur BBQ -- This massive restaurant on the far west side of Harlem -- and there’s a Brooklyn location too -- has some of the best BBQ in the city and a laid-back environment where hootin’ and hollerin’ may not even be noticed.

Hudson Eats -- A food court like Hudson Eats happens to have tremendous stalls for adult palates and plenty of wide-open space for child restlessness. Another plus of this one in particular is that it abuts the Hudson River and has plenty of outdoor space to frolic.

Dimsum A Go Go -- This dim sum place in the heart of Chinatown isn’t too large but it’s been a long-time favourite in my house. Chaos, to some extent, is expected here and no one seems to mind the mess children inevitably create. Plus the dumplings are beyond excellent.

Roberta’s -- I wouldn’t recommend Roberta’s during dinner rush, when the waits stretch to bureaucratic levels but this famous pizzeria has a large outdoor space with picnic tables where one often finds families of Brooklyn hipsters on weekends, enjoying pizzas like the Cheesus Christ and Lil’ Stinker.


Picnic -- One of our favourite things to do, weather permitting, is to spread a blanket out in one of the city’s many sprawling parks for a picnic. Food + running around, what could be better? Besides the well-known parks like Central and Prospect Parks, Riverside Park, especially the Promenade, is among the most relaxing (and close to Dinosaur BBQ too!)

Disclaimer: We received a copy of Can I Eat That? for the purposes of review. All opinions are very much my own. Go and check out some of the other posts that are part of this blog tour too. In Magpie That we hear about what inspired Joshua to write this book, and from Read it Daddy, some tips for aspiring food critics.