NJ Creatives Network April 2004 Meeting

How Daniel Kirk Built a Career as a
Children’s Book Illustrator and writer.

by Eileen Watkins

Synopsis    Comments    Photos    Press Release

This Meeting    Next Meeting    2003-04 Meetings   2004-2005 Meetings    2005-06 Meetings

Daniel Kirk's parents put on puppet shows for children in their spare time. Meanwhile, his father worked at a day job he hated.

"I swore I'd never do that," Kirk recalled.

At the April meeting, Kirk recounted his career as an illustrator, and sometimes author of children's books.
He first came to New York to be an artist, but didn't take to the art world. He "fell into illustration," creating many book covers and ads. Over the years, however, the venues for work dwindled. He didn't want to do Web sites or animation, and didn't particularly like taking orders from a boss.

He'd always collected children's books. Eventually, he had kids of his own, and while reading to them at night, he decided on a new career path.

Kirk came up with the idea for his first book, Skateboard Monsters, because his little daughter seemed spooked by the sound of skateboarders. He found a publisher through networking, and received $3,000 to write and illustrate the work.

With his next book, How the Wind Plays, Kirk developed a "retro" style, based on 1950s and '60s kid's books, that he would return to frequently in his career. He took it even further with Lucky's 24-Hour Garage and Breakfast at the Liberty Diner, books designed to show children what everyday life was like in the 1930s and '40s. Of the latter, Kirk said, "It got great notices and awards, but it was the worst-selling of all my books, and went out of print in six months. It's what happens at Barnes & Noble that matters."

His best seller has been Chugga-Chugga, Choo-Choo, a train book geared toward toddlers. Kirk said, "It paid off the debt from my first two books that didn't do so well."

His most harrowing war story surrounds a holiday mailer he designed for his publisher--an ironically humorous image of snowmen dancing around a bonfire. The publisher thought it could be a children's book, but couldn't decide on the approach. It went through repeated rewrites over a year's time, during which Kirk received no payment. After he revised it to a three-year-old's level, he finally got $15,000 for several years' work. Snow Family, published by Hyperion in 2000, was the final result. He even did a "spec" script for a TV show based on the snow characters. It eventually became the book Snow Dude, which shuttled back and forth between "edgy" and cute before ending up in a form that pleased the publisher. It is due out this fall.

Kirk explained that "a whole committee of people" decides on the story line for a book, and only when everybody is happy does it see print.

He also warned, "People think if they've written a children's book, they should find someone to illustrate it. Actually, publishers hate that--it's their job to find an illustrator for the manuscript. I write and illustrate, and they don't really like that, either!"

As if the double threat weren't enough, Kirk also plays guitar and writes songs to accompany some of his stories. Both his books Dogs Rule and one about transportation called Go! include CDs featuring his original songs.

Next year, he'll bring out his first chapter book, Rex Tabby, Cat Detective, with about 75 illustrations, geared toward a "more mature" audience. He pointed out that the mass market is skewed more toward toddlers, while the library market wants books with more content for older kids.

Kirk works in oil paint or gouache on paper or canvas. He has never done his artwork on a computer, and said, "It seemed harder than painting and doesn't have any of the 'hand pleasure.'"

He advised artists looking to break into his field to check out books they like, copy the names of the publishers and submit to them. He advised, "Publishers these days are looking for people who don't have track records and are just getting started." He admitted that the big marketing dollars go to children's books by celebrities, but he promotes himself through his Web site, www.DanielKirk.com, and school visits.
Kirk lives in Glen Ridge, works in a studio in his garage, and still collects kids' books to get ideas for themes. He said, "My favorite time of the day is still when I can read to my ten-year-old."

# # #

Top of Page