Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Storyteller,
and what do you see as the importance of storytelling today?
A: I came up with the idea while researching for a trip to
Morocco back in 2012. I read a book called The Last Storytellers, by Richard
Hamilton, that talked about the dying art of Moroccan storytelling and its
thousand-year-old history.
When I went to Morocco that fall and discovered that most
storytellers were not telling stories in the squares anymore, I decided to
write this ode to storytelling as a way to talk about that. The form of the
story was inspired by 1001 Nights, and how Scheherazade used stories
to save herself.
I see storytelling as important in many different ways in
today’s world. There is the power of oral storytelling, like in the book, which
is something that really connects us to past generations in a unique way.
But there is also the idea of storytelling in all of our
different media today (movies, video games, books, TV, and even political
campaigns), and how being able to tell a story and captivate an audience is
such a powerful art form. There are more venues than ever for being a
storyteller.
Q: Did you write the text at the same time that you created
the illustrations, or did one come before the other?
A: The text was written before the final illustrations, but
I usually work back and forth on a project, tweaking the text and the style and
content of the illustrations as the story evolves and grows. But there is
always a draft of the text to see how the story will be paced first.
Q: Did you need to do much research to write the book?
A: Research was very important for the book, because I
wanted to make sure the book was accurately representing Morocco, the art of
their storytelling, and the types of stories they tell.
I did a lot of reading of Moroccan folk tales, and tales
from the Middle East that are popular in Morocco, such as 1001 Nights, to try
to understand how their stories were formed and how they flowed.
I also tried to get a sense of how the stories fit into
Moroccan history (with their use to pass messages during French occupation) and
their relevance in today’s Morocco.
Equally important was the visual and experiential research
done in Morocco getting to meet, talk to, and observe the Moroccan storytellers
and carpet weavers, and give the book, its characters, and the stories more
depth.
I also developed the style of the art while on location in
Morocco. I find that drawing on location forces unexpected choices in
art-making, and makes for a more unique, responsive feeling in the art.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: I hope that readers take away the importance of
preserving traditions and the power that comes from passing this knowledge and
these traditions down.
One question I always like to ask on school visits is
whether the kids have any storytellers in their own family. I am always amazed
at how many children hear incredible stories from their parents and
grandparents, and I always urge kids to really listen the next time these
stories are told.
It is stories like these that are often never written down,
and if we don’t listen now, they might disappear forever. So I would like
readers to feel the preciousness of that gift.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I have a few projects at various stages in the pipeline!
A book I illustrated called Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters,
written by Michael Mahin, will be out in September and I’m very excited to see
that book come into the world!
I just finished the illustrations for my next book as
author/illustrator called Heartbeat. It’s about a baby whale who loses her
mother during the heyday of American whaling in the 19th century, and swims
through the next 200 years seeing how human attitudes towards whales shift
throughout the decades.
In the end, she’s able to find solace in the compassion of
one young girl who hears her song and sings with her, with hope for a brighter
future.
It’s based on the reality of whaling, in that there were
many orphaned whale calves, and that recently some whales have been discovered
to have been over 200 years old! Heartbeat will be out in 2018.
And finally, I’m in the research phase for a book called A
Thousand Glass Flowers that takes place in Venice during the Renaissance, that
will be out in 2019.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’m so honored to receive the Children’s Africana Book
Award, and thank you so much for having me on your blog!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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