Read, Write, Repeat.

Wisconsin illustrator Ned Gannon teamed with author Maha Addasi in 2008 on a picture book called The White Nights of Ramadan.

The pairing proved so successful that they joined forces again for the recently released Time to Pray (Boyds Mills, 2010).

The book tells the story of Yasmin who visits her grandmother in the Middle East. Her grandmother begins each day with prayer, but Yasmin is sometimes too tired to get up. 

But Yasmin still learns the value of prayer and finds a way to continue the practice once she returns home.

School Library Journal calls Gannon’s illustrations “a warm and authentic balance of Islamic geometric designs and Arab architecture and culture.”

Today, Ned joins Read, Write, Repeat to talk about his illustration process.

When you receive a manuscript to illustrate, what process do you follow? Is it generally the same every time? Or does it vary?
My approach changes every time I illustrate a book or article. Given the freedom, though, I always read through the text, making sure I understand the action and visuals described. I circle scenes I would like to illustrate and underline details in those scenes, such as the girl has a red skirt.

Occasionally, I am sent a manuscript with passages highlighted as “suggestions” from an editor. I usually take those “suggestions.”

What makes a picture book manuscript good from an illustrator’s perspective?
I suppose my ideal manuscript would be my own. But manuscripts that leave room for the illustrator to interpret the scenes are fun. It’s fine if a story says, “Jim followed the red balloon.”

But it can be distressing for an illustrator to read, “Jim followed the red balloon down the grainy gray sidewalk wearing blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and a blue cap through the park that was speckled with midday shadows from the low-hanging juniper trees.”

There’s no room for the illustrator’s vision there. Someday I hope to illustrate folktales or a fantasy since those kinds of stories were such a personal joy for me as a child. I also love wild animals, like wolves, foxes, badgers and coyotes. 

Many people are surprised to find out the illustrator and author don’t normally interact while a book is being produced. What are the benefits of this?
The idea behind the industry practice is to let a creative individual do his/her work uninhibited. As a writer, you would not want the illustrator reading your drafts saying, “I’d rather have the uncle be fat and bearded instead of skinny and stubbly.”

Editors and art directors invest themselves in hiring illustrators that will do a fine job of bringing a text to life. If something needs to be micro-managed, they want to do it.

Having said this, in the process of illustrating my newest text, I corresponded with Maha Addasi a fair amount. She knew the cultural milieu, and I did not. She was consulted to make sure the cultural details were accurate.

Time to Pray is set in the Middle East. What research did you do to make sure your illustrations were accurate?
The interesting thing about this is very few visual resources on the interior life of Persian Gulf residents are immediately available to the public through internet sources.

I consulted some blogs, books, magazines, and some photos that Maha provided. I also became quite enthralled with some of the philosophical meaning behind the geometry of many Islamic designs. The odd feeling about the whole thing is I had to rely on Maha and Boyds Mills Press to confirm that I got it right. 

This is the second book you’ve collaborated with Maha Addasi on. Does working with the same author make the illustration process easier?
Yes and no. I think that I had a working process with which to approach the material, but I also wanted to improve. I also hoped to live up to any expectations Maha and Boyds Mills Press might have from the first book.

What have you learned about illustrating books as your career has progressed? What advice would you give someone just starting out? 
I have learned that it moves faster and takes more ability and thoughtfulness than I anticipated as a young artist. The only thing I would say to aspiring illustrators is draw people a lot, and don’t give up, even if you get sidetracked.

What other projects are your working on?
I just finished a series of drawings called the TINAW drawings (www.nedgannon.com ), which are all about wolves. I have an amateur naturalist’s obsession with their inhabitance in the United States. Anyone writing about wolves is encouraged to suggest me as an illustrator.

These are drawings I hope to exhibit in regional or national galleries. As far as illustration, I have work in Cricket in the November issue, a story called “Cowgirl.”

 Beyond that you can understand the dilemma of an illustrator – you never know who will come knocking or when they’ll come knocking …

Thanks, Ned!

To learn more about Ned’s work, visit his website. Or his profile on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire site. He teaches illustration there.

To learn more about author Maha Addasi, visit her website.

You also can learn more about Time to Pray by visiting these book reviews:

• On The Paper Wait, a blog by an SCBWI critique group in Madison, New Jersey. I’m in Madison, Wisconsin. A coincidence? You decide.
• On Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup blog.

Or, if you’re looking for a list of other children’s books with similar themes, check out this list compiled by author and storyteller Rukhsana Khan.