Philip, congratulations on your debut picture book, Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast (Roaring Brook Press, 2009), which you wrote and illustrated! Where did you get the idea for this story?
Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast is actually based on a strange but true story that has been passed down in my family for decades. In the 1950’s my Grandpa Jack took his least favorite meal (creamed tuna fish and peas on toast) out to the yard, dug a hole, buried the casserole, and carved a headstone to memorialize the ill-fated dish. All of the characters in Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast are my real family members—my grandparents, aunts, uncle and father. I took some artistic license as I recrafted the story to better fit a picture book format, but the essential details are all factual.
What were some of the challenges in turning the story into a picture book?
Admittedly, Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast is an unusual book. I feel confident that children will understand the inherent humor in the story. The visceral feeling of dislike towards one’s dinner is something that all children understand as a regular part of life. Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast gives them a chance to see an adult dealing (albeit immaturely) with a feeling common in children—disgust with their supper. In Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast the children are in total control, they’re in on the joke the entire time. It’s the adults who need supervision. Unfortunately, it’s the adults who usually buy the books. So the challenge for me was to create a book that parents and librarians would still enjoy despite the lack of an apparent moral or life-lesson that many adults look for in a children’s book. I hope that the care I’ve taken with the artwork—the detailed collage work, the hand-lettered text—will help convince adults of the merits of Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast. If the book can remind them of the craftsmanship that used to be commonplace in the classic books of their own childhood, then I think I’ve succeeded.
What would you do if you were served creamed tuna fish and peas on toast?
Ha! I doubt anyone would dare. I think the book has made my true feelings known. It’s been interesting though to hear other people’s opinions on creamed tuna fish and peas on toast. Some recall it as their favorite weekly dish from childhood. This surprises me since creamed tuna fish and peas on toast has been vilified in my family for over half a century. Of course others have come forward siding squarely with my main character, Jack. I received a story recently from a grownup who, as a child, regularly and secretly buried his creamed tuna fish in the front yard behind the bushes. Coincidence? I think not.
Please tell us a bit about your background as an artist. When and how did you begin creating collage illustrations like those featured in the book?
I studied art and design at the University of Michigan. At the time they had a very limited illustration program. So to supplement my education I began making weekly visits to a fantastic used children’s bookstore in Ann Arbor. Every week the storeowner would set aside books for to see. Some were classics, some were simply rare or unusual. From my weekly visits I became familiar with many classic illustrators of the 1950’s, 1960’s that I still look to today for inspiration—Martin and Alice Provensen, and Evaline Ness to name a few. One week the storeowner set aside a story written by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Eric Carle titled, The Mountain that Loved a Bird. That book caused me to consider collage as a possible media for the first time.
What were some of your favorite books, authors, or illustrators while growing up?
I absolutely loved Roald Dahl as a kid, especially his books that were illustrated by Quentin Blake. The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and The Witches are about as close to perfect as children’s novels can be. As a grownup and a professional artist I still really admire Blake’s illustration work as well. My artwork is so labor intensive (Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast took over 18 months to complete) that I can’t help but marvel at illustrators who conjure whole worlds from simple and seemingly effortless pen strokes. The artwork of William Steig, Shel Silverstein and Jules Feiffer comes to mind as well.
What can your fans look forward to next?
My next collaged picture book will be out in Spring 2011. It is called Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat (Roaring Brook Press). A little boy Jonathan embarks on a journey on a big blue steamboat in an effort to find his lost best friend, a bear named Frederick. Along the way he meets several new companions (a mountain goat, a circus elephant, a whale and more), he battles pirates, overcomes challenges and learns, in general, what it means to be a sea captain and a good friend.
Also, A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Roaring Brook Press) will be published in June 2010. A Sick Day for Amos McGee is written by me but illustrated by my lovely wife, Erin. It is the story of Amos, a kindly, hardworking zookeeper. Amos wakes up one morning feeling under the weather. When he doesn’t show up for work that day his animal friends become concerned. Together they decide to check in on Amos to make sure he’s okay.
Goodbye for now and many thanks to BOOK IT!
To learn more about Philip Christian Stead or Creamed Tuna Fish and Peas on Toast, please visit www.philipstead.com
