Jashar Awan knows a good story when he sees one. He’s inspired by the small moments in life and the classic picture books he read with his young son, Max, while staying home with him during his first four years. Awan says that this was “a real education.” Today, Awan writes stories with his son in mind: “It’s always Max, sitting on my lap.” The Geisel and Caldecott Honor–winning creator is the author-illustrator of a growing list of acclaimed titles, including What a Lucky Day, I’m Going to Build a Snowman, Every Monday Mabel, and Towed by Toad. His two latest books are Loops and Where I Grew, the latter of which is illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell. PW spoke with Awan about what it feels like to have a shiny silver sticker on Every Monday Mabel, where his focus on life's little details comes from, and why he has chosen to explore heavier topics in his latest picture books.
Congratulations on your Caldecott Honor! Can you tell us what the award means for you and Mabel?
It’s a dream come true to see that sticker on the cover of Every Monday Mabel. It means so much to me because I remember when I was a kid going to the library and I most definitely picked out books that had the stickers. I don’t think that I realized what they meant at the time, but I knew that they were on so many of my favorites. It’s mind-blowing to me to think that Mabel has received the same honor that Madeline received, and that it is going to be placed on shelves alongside the other wonderful books from my childhood. It’s also an honor to be able to make a book, put it out into the world, and have people notice it, be excited about it, and talk about it. As for Mabel, I’m not sure what she’s thinking. Where the sticker is placed on the cover, she’s not really looking at it. She’s in the zone going to wait for the garbage truck to show up. I imagine that her sister, Mira, would be excited because she’s more of a reader.
Every Monday Mabel and your recent picture book Loops, among others, explore the bigness of small moments in children’s lives. Can you talk about why you have chosen to write/illustrate these particular moments and how these two stories came to be? What are your hopes for these stories and your readers?
The exploration of the “bigness of small moments” is one of those things that I don’t even realize that I’m doing until someone points it out to me. What I do know is that I’m taking these moments from life and observing things. I think it’s also from being able to stay home with my son, Max, and spend so much time with him for his first four years. It was such a wonderful experience. It’s definitely a time that I still think about a lot; it’s a part of me. With many of these moments, it takes me a while to figure out how each one, and the initial spark of a story, can fill 32 to 48 pages with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s exciting when I sit down and sketch out the page layouts and realize I’m going to be able to make it a book!
With both Mabel and Loops, they were inspired by things I saw. Like Mabel, my son would drag his chair down to the end of our driveway and wait for the garbage truck every Monday. He’d go out with a book, a snack, or something, and just wait for it. He’d get so excited when he’d see the trash get picked up, and he’d come back to the house, and then he’d say to me, “Every Monday, I do the most boring thing.” After he said that, I said, “There’s a book here. I just have to write it.”
Loops came from when I’d take my son to the playground and sit at one of the picnic tables trying to do some work. And every time I’d look up to check on my son, I’d see this one kid running around with only one shoe on. He’d fall out of his shoe, run around again, find his shoe, put it back on, and then run off again. It really captured my imagination and it gave me an excuse to play with storytelling in a way that I hadn’t done yet. I’d been wanting to do some illustrations where a character appears on the right side of a page and you see only half of them. And then, when the reader turns the page, they see the other half of the character. I wanted my character to run right off the page and right around onto the other page. And then, when you go to the end, he asks where the shoe is and he has to go back to the beginning. I worked with the themes of practice and repetition and invited the reader to start the book over again.
My hope for each of my books is that my readers are entertained: that it’s a fun story and they read it over and over again, and the messages that I have woven in will resonate at some point. With Mabel, it’s about being a fan and/or having an interest and people around you not understanding it. With Loops, it’s more than learning how to tie your shoes. It’s about persevering, practicing, and trying not to be hard on yourself when things don’t turn out the way you want. You can just start over, do it again, and keep going. It’s a variation on my message in I’m Going to Build a Snowman. In that book, it’s about doing something for the joy of it, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s something that I keep on having to learn and relearn, too.
Your most recent picture book, Where I Grew, has heavier themes of immigration and the environment. How and why did you choose to write about these in your story, especially in the current state of both our country and the world at large?
This book began as a poem that I wrote before the pandemic and a few years before my family and I moved from New York to Ohio to be closer to family. It was a big change for us. It got me thinking about all of the immigrants who are under attack and how luck has something to do with where you’re born. We ended up moving to a lush green area in Ohio, and we’re excited about being surrounded by nature. I began to see parallels between this move, our new home, and becoming a parent. And I started thinking about being a part of a family, and all the decisions that our ancestors made that impact us today. This also got me thinking about nature and how a seed’s journey is like ours, finding where it’s going and laying down its roots. And that’s when Where I Grew started to grow!
With this story, I envisioned someone with a more painterly and poetic style illustrating it. That’s when my publisher suggested Rahele [Jomepour Bell], and I was thrilled by this choice. They told me that it might take a while because she’s in great demand. But she was worth the wait. I had thought and hoped that the issues in the book wouldn’t still be issues in our country when it came out. But, sadly, they are. I hope that readers, educators, and parents will take away that we all come from some place and we’re all immigrants.
Word on the lily pad is that your Geisel Honor–winning Toad Gets Towed is getting a sequel. What can you tell us about it?
In Toad’s second story, Toad on the Go [Tundra, June 16], he gets a call that someone needs help. It’s about how Toad makes a big mistake and takes responsibility for it. He also tries to fix things and forgive himself. There’s a whole bunch of new characters in Toad’s town that he will cross paths with. Making these books, I have been inspired by both P.D. Eastman and Richard Scarry. I mean, how can you draw an animal in a car and not think of Scarry? And, while I don’t have a gold bug like Scarry, students in Columbus, Ohio pointed out that I do have a black cat in many of my books. Who knew? All I know is that I’m inspired, often influenced by, and stand on the shoulders of book creators who have come before me. I’m also always trying to do different things in each book, if only in my process. It’s my way to challenge myself, grow as an artist, and keep kids loving and reading my books over and over again!
Loops by Jashar Awan. Simon & Schuster, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-6659-7494-3
Where I Grew by Jashar Awan, illus. by Rahele Jomepour Bell. Norton, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-3240-1661-8
Toad on the Go by Jashar Awan. Tundra, $18.99, June 16; ISBN 978-1-77488-350-1
