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| Photo by Michelle Magdalena |
Nicole Dillenberg is the author and illustrator of the new children's picture book Bennett Will Only Eat Blueberries. Also a singer-songwriter and recording artist, she is based in Los Angeles.
Q: What inspired you to create Bennett Will Only Eat Blueberries?
A: After a few years of finally feeling pleased with my bear greeting cards, I felt inspired to try a book.
I’d been digitizing home movies, and I rewatched a video of my infant son tasting his first banana. My poor baby ran the gamut of emotions; he was alternately terrified, then intrigued by this new food.
In preschool, my son was briefly food avoidant and started to lose a bit of weight. That terrified me. Our culture – especially American culture – is so disordered when it comes to food.
This little story came to me pretty much in response to all of these things. I lucked out when Bruce Socially at Henry Gray Publishing offered to publish the book. Bruce is an incredibly patient editor, and fortunately, he likes bears.
Q: How did you create the book’s illustrations, and what is the history behind the bear family?
A: My inspiration for the photos started with the 1960s WC Jones-style postcards I treasured as a child. Typically printed in Japan or West Germany, the colors were deeply saturated, and the settings were dressed with wonderful dollhouse props.
My grandmother began to collect West German miniature bears in the 1960s, and I spent much of my childhood playing with them. She constructed a bear house for us out of a cardboard drum, which had paper mache’ bark and real working nightlights inside.
In 2019, I began to photograph bear dioramas, originally because I planned to make postcards and toddler T-shirts. This morphed into my designing holiday cards to send out to friends and family.
I’m not a professional photographer by any means, but eventually, I got comfortable with depth of field and perspective. It helps that each time I photograph the bears, one of them always comes to life for a split second, enabling me to grab the shot I need – Bennett and his friends are magical bears.
Q: Did you work on the text first or the photos first, or both simultaneously?
A: I wrote the text first, as a fiction manuscript. Even though it was short and simple, I went through about five drafts, tweaking every word and comma until the story flowed.
Once the story was locked, I storyboarded each scene as if I were shooting a film. I dedicated a full day to dressing and shooting each of the three settings. Ultimately, I went back and did pick-up shots (re-shoots) in both the kitchen and Bennett’s bedroom. My favorite time to shoot is around 2 p.m.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?
A: My hope is that “Bennett” and his family inspire toddlers to feel more courageous about tackling new experiences. Also, we’re excited that teenaged girls and grandparents are responding so well to the book. We welcome all to Bennett’s den with open arms!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m quite excited to be in pre-production on a “Bennett" ABC book, as well as a new story about Bennett’s female cousin, a young bear who feels like nobody likes her.
Also, about a year ago, I began experimenting with framed art photographs of the bears, and I'm continuing that work as well.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: We would love to reach out to children suffering through illness or natural disaster. Please feel free to contact us if you know of a charity or shelter that might like a donation of our “Bennett” books.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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