Teresa Robeson is the author of the new children's book Animals of the Chinese Zodiac: An Illustrated Guide to the 12 Signs. Her other books include Clear and Bright. She lives in Indiana.
Q: What inspired you to write Animals of the Chinese Zodiac?
A: As someone with a Chinese background, I’ve known about, and been interested in, the Chinese zodiac since I was a kid in Hong Kong. It was a source of fun and games for me and my sister growing up, even after moving to Vancouver.
But I’d never thought to write a book about it until Phaidon Press approached me to. Phaidon has a renowned reputation as the maker of visually stunning books, so I felt honored that they asked me to author this idea. How could I say no, right? I squeezed in the schedule between a few other book projects under contract to make it work.
Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially intrigued you?
A: I drew on what I had learned growing up of stories about, and the traits of, the animals that are in the Chinese zodiac. Aside from that, I used books and select sites written for adults or kids to compile what I thought would be a much more fun and interactive version than could be found out there.
Huge kudos to editors Rachel Craig-McFeely and Maya Gartner for their brilliant guidance and suggestions to bring that vision to life.
Much like with Western zodiac, I knew there would be conflicting information because this is not a science but, rather, started out as a way to explain life for people back in ancient times to help them make sense of an otherwise chaotic universe.
So, I wasn’t surprised when, indeed, I ran into discrepancies that my editors and I sorted out to the best of our abilities.
Q: What do you think Ping Zhu’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Ping’s art absolutely makes the book! As I said before, Phaidon is well-known for creating books that are visual treats. I knew they would pair this book with someone who could convey both the fantastic sense of the zodiac and the grandeur of Chinese view of it, while still making it fun and accessible to kids.
Ping was the perfect person to pull it off with aplomb and immense talent.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: I would love for readers, young and old, to have tons of fun with this book…as much as my sister and I had (I wish we had a book like this when we were young)!
It really should be as interactive as a board game and also serve as a clever and unusual conversation starter. I hope that kids will enjoy it with their family, friends, and soon-to-be-friends.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: For things under contract, I’m on edits for the final book in the Discover Now! series about severe weather phenomena with MIT Kids Press/Candlewick and doing a work-for-hire project for Weldon Owen.
As for things not yet under contract, I’m revising several picture books, working on a dummy for one of them, creating a graphic novel pitch for an early middle grade, revising a middle grade novel, finishing a draft on another middle grade novel, and rewriting (for the eighth time…sigh) a young adult novel.
As well, I’m trying to get a surface pattern design career going for creating fabric, mugs, notebooks, and more!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Regarding the book, this is not something one should use to guide their daily actions or make decisions with, but rather to learn about the Chinese culture and history as well as consider how different groups try to make sense of human nature.
But mostly, it’s for good-natured fun and entertainment. I hope there will be much mirth and laughter when readers go through this book and share it with others.
As for me, look for an upcoming picture book about bamboo set in Hong Kong from Penguin Workshop to be released in 2028!
I’d also love for people to sign up for my newsletter where they will get a free short story and a piece of artwork. I send short missives (“Teresa’s High Fives”) every month with a new piece of free art plus interesting tidbits that I hope people find useful.
People can sign up for it at my website - https://teresarobeson.com/home - or at https://teresarobeson.myflodesk.com/fullpage . Alternatively, they can use this QR code:
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Teresa Robeson.
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