Jules Feiffer

Meet award-winning illustrator, cartoonist, and writer Jules Feiffer and his talented daughter, Kate, also a writer of children’s books.

Jules Feiffer says he feels lucky that he’s doing work that is still challenging and that he loves.

Jules Feiffer fell in love with American comic strips as a young kid in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jules Feiffer describes cartooning as a kind of visual magic act.

After illustrating the Phantom Tollbooth Jules Feiffer never thought about doing children’s books again, until he had his own kids and that changed everything.

In the early stages of a book, the story can sometimes seem to write itself. Then come the careful revisions and polish.

Kate Feiffer says that most of her children’s books are inspired by her own family life and adventures.

Jules Feiffer’s story Bark, George started out as a bedtime story (a “radio story”) for his two-year old daughter.

The Daddy Mountain and There’s a Zoo in My Room were inspired by Jules Feiffer’s granddaughter and daughter.

Kate and Jules Feiffer have an easy collaborative working style. They vividly remember working together on Which Puppy? and My Side of the Car.

Kate Feiffer’s background as a television news reporter taught her to write to the pictures. Jules Feiffer says that picture book making is kind of like film; the text is the starting point for storyboards.

For Jules Feiffer, the great fun in creating a book is in the counterpoint between what the text says and how the illustrations react.

Have you ever wondered why Milo wore a plain black tee-shirt, or how Jules Feiffer imagined what Humbug and Tock should look like?

 Jules Feiffer shares his fondness for By the Side of the Road, a picture book with a not-so-happy ending.

Kate and Jules Feiffer read their book My Side of the Car together.

Success is nothing to sneeze at, but failure also offers great possibilities. That’s where so much learning and growth happens.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to stand aside and let kids discover their own creative muse and feel free to experiment and make mistakes.