Dan Santat is a very talented author and illustrator of over 60 books. He lives in southern California with his wife, two sons and a variety of pets. In 2015 he won the Caldecott Medal for his book Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. This prestigious medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Dan is the illustrator of our feature book this month, Drawn Together.  

MARMALADE BOOKS (MB): In order to convey the language barrier that the boy and his grandfather had in Drawn Together, there was very little text. Your illustrations were so important to the story. How much direction did you get from author Minh Le and/or your editor? And while we’re at it, how did it work for Dude!? This hilarious high concept book (illustrated by you) only has one word by Aaron Reynolds, expressed in many different ways.