Stephen Savage is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book Rescue Cat. His other books include Supertruck. He lives in Brooklyn.
Q: What inspired you to create Rescue Cat?
A: What usually happens is you find a kernel, a tiny little seed, that maybe could become a book. My in-laws have a dog, and he really reacts to other animals on screen. He gets so worked up that they get anxious about it.
It got me thinking—it’s weird that animals think [what’s happening on TV] is reality but it isn’t. But what if it is?! I was piecing the story together—if he jumps into the TV, what happens? To cobble it all together was a lot of hard work.
Q: Was your character Butterscotch based on a particular cat?
A: Up to now, I hadn’t created a character with a name. If you name a character, it comes to life more. Up to now, I used generic names—Supertruck, the Mixed-Up Truck.
I thought, we have to name her. I asked a friend for cute, quintessential cat names. She would name cats who came to her back porch. One was an orange tabby.
Emily, my editor, liked the name Butterscotch. It’s in the first line—it’s comfortable, it’s cozy. A rescue cat named Butterscotch means she is cared for now. And in a picture book, it’s good to have a name that’s fun to say out loud, and Butterscotch is fun to say.
Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, in part, “The book makes it infinitely clear that simply because someone is afraid of something, that doesn’t mean they can’t also be brave.” What do you think of that assessment, and what do you hope kids take away from the story?
A: I loved that. It’s so great when a reviewer puts something on your book that you didn’t even think of that has value.
It is something I think about in life—my own childhood, feeling scared a lot of the time. It was the ‘70s and my parents didn’t provide me as much emotional safety. There’s now more emphasis on that. I have a 15-year-old daughter, and wanted to make her feel safe, like Butterscotch.
I’m glad the story might have that deeper meaning. It’s not just about rescuing cats, or about the metaverse. My editor Emily said this line made her think we have a book: “Instead of running from danger, she ran toward it!”
Q: So what do you hope kids take away from the story?
A: With a good children’s book, kids identify with the protagonist. No matter where you are in life, you can have courage, you can help other people, you want your kids to not be fearful. But also if a book can be fun, it can deliver a message with a candy coating.
I hope my stories have a bunch of layers to them. The emotion layer is the hardest part. It doesn’t come naturally to me.
The spread at the end where the cub goes back—I had her just go back and her parents were happy to see her. My editor said, Wouldn’t it be nice if she’s having a nice moment with her parents, and Butterscotch is having a nice moment with the boy? They mirror each other.
In that spread, there’s a lot going on. There’s storytelling that’s not in the words.
Q: What was your process for illustrating this book?
A: It was a very long process! Most of my books have full-page single-image spreads.
Emily wanted to do a new kind of story, narratively and visually, with tiny vignettes, more like a graphic novel. Getting there was tough. I’m a pretty slow picture-maker.
Another challenge was that I used a different style for the two realities, the real world and the TV world. There was a lot of trial and error getting what would work. The TV style is like Pop Art. The real-world style feels like an old Golden Book from the ‘50s, more realistic.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Some new books with Roaring Brook—two more. Wide Load on the Road is a truck book. It has a mystery load—a wind turbine blade. And there’s a sequel to Supertruck, a 10-year-old book. There’s a snowstorm in it, and there’s a climate change twist in the sequel.
Both have environmental themes. I’m always trying to do new things.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Stephen Savage.
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