(How) Can we read? An interview with Douglas Florian

November 14, 2024

Nov 14, 2024

Sometimes I meet someone who has never heard of Douglas Florian — this happened during lunch with a dear friend, a children’s author, just a few weeks ago — I am simultaneously horrified that they’ve been missing out on these wonderful poetry books, and delighted that I get to be the one who introduces them.

Since 1980, Florian has written and illustrated dozens of books of children’s poetry — I’ve reviewed Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All (2018), Beast Feast (1994), Mammalabilia (2000), and Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings (2012), which demonstrate the depth and breadth of his topics — many of which have won awards and made it to lists full of fanfare.

With good reason — I mean it when I say Florian’s books are delightful. Often focusing on a single topic — like, say, space, or bees, or friendship — he not only employs poetry techniques like rhyme and rhythm but goes well beyond those familiar tools to the cleverest of wordplay and humor.

See this poem (in its entirety) from Bow Wow Meow Meow: It’s Rhyming Cats and Dogs (2003):

He is also an equally successful fine artist, and his unique crayon-on-paper bag illustrations appear in most (though not all) of this books.

Here’s a lightly edited biography of bit Florian, from the Poetry Foundation:

Artist and poet Douglas Florian was born and raised in New York City, and educated at Queens College and the School of Visual Art. Florian was a cartoonist for the New Yorker before a chance encounter with William Cole’s anthology of children’s verse, Oh, That’s Ridiculous (1977), inspired him to try his hand at the art.

Florian’s illustrated poetry books for children often incorporate elements of collage, watercolor, and gouache on a surface of primed paper bags. He frequently takes the natural world as his subject, using wordplay, neologisms, rhyme, and humor to engage young readers. In a BookPage interview with Heidi Henneman, Florian spoke of the linguistic and syntactic pliability his poems flex, noting “poetry is not black and white. It is more like the gray and purple area that connects all the things we live in.”

Florian’s abstract paintings have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, several of which have been favorably reviewed in the New Yorker and the New York Times.

Florian lives in New York City with his family.

Here’s more from Florian.

How long have you been writing and illustrating for children? What called you to this work? And how do you balance a career as an abstract painter with your literary work?

The first book I wrote and illustrated was A Bird Can Fly, in 1980. I was doing cartoons and covers for The New Yorker but I needed something more steady and after I saw a children’s book supplement in The New York Times, I decided to contact an editor. I was lucky because my first editor was the illustrious, industrious Susan Hirschman, who was very open to new ideas and creators. My first breakout book was Beast Feast, published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. It got starred reviews and won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award.

As far as my painting goes, I set aside a time of the year to paint and a time to do children’s books. These days I devote more time to painting than in the past.

You’ve produced dozens of acclaimed picture books, many of them poetry. How do you decide what to write about? What is your research process?

I write about subjects that fascinate me, usually connected to nature.

I like to purchase nonfiction books on my subject, especially ones that are amazing and inspiring, such as Dava Sobel’s The Planets which was a reference for my book Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars. I also research on the internet from reliable primary sources such as NASA’s website. Sometimes, my publisher will have a scientist look over the book, checking for the accuracy of facts.

Why do you write poetry for children? Why is poetry important for children? What makes a good poem?

I write poetry for children because I’ve always had a love of poetry and light verse. In the 5^th grade I discovered the witty poems of Ogden Nash in a New York City public library, and he was a big influence on me.

Poetry is important for children because it uses metaphorical and imaginative language and can evoke so much. Poetry can break the rules of prose. It can be shaped, invent new words, invert lines, use wordplay, bad grammar, spell words wrong, and play with letterforms.

That’s poetic license, and I get mine renewed every five years.

As a father of five and a creator of children’s books, do you have any advice for parents, other caregivers, and educators about reading aloud?

Poetry is usually meant to be read aloud, recited. The important thing is to do that with enthusiasm and feeling, emphasizing the rhythm, and using variety and emotion in your voice. Shel Silverstein was the master of that in his audio recordings of such books as Where the Sidewalk Ends.

What are a few titles, recent or otherwise, that have stood out to you as being so excellent you wish they were on the shelf in every home and classroom?

A few of my all-time favorites that should be every bookshelf are:

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B Williams
A Hippopotamusn’t by J. Patrick Lewis
Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein
Golem: The Giant Made of Mud by Mark Podwal
Hansel and Gretel by Paul Zelinsky
Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham
Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom by Teresa Robeson and Rebecca Waung
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman

What’s next for you?

My latest book, Windsongs: Poems About Weather, was published this past May. It’s gotten rave reviews, included a starred one in Kirkus.

[Ed: it’s excellent!]

Thank you to Florian for taking the time to grant me this interview.

Be sure to check out his books at your local library and bookstore, or order online.

Thanks for reading today, and always,
Sarah

P.S. Bookshop.org links in this post are affiliate ones — I get a tiny commission if you use any of them to make a purchase.

Can we read?