My guest on this episode is Jon Klassen. Jon is the creator of beloved, bestselling and award-winning “hat” serious of picture books: I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat, in addition to The Rock from the Sky, and The Skull. He has also worked as an illustrator for many other authors’ books, as well as for feature animated films, music videos, and editorial pieces. His most recent book(s) are a series of board books, Your Forest, Your Farm, and Your Island. In its review of the series, the Wall Street Journal said that “[Klassen] has kept the dry humor but skipped the darkness, and the result is pure delight.”

Jon and I talk about his childhood belief that inanimate objects have feelings, about the book of his that is not only his favourite, but which he believes only got published because of the success of the hat series, and about our shared love of children’s author William Steig—and our shared dislike of the films based on Steig’s most famous book, Shrek!

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.

Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

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