Moo Baa Sa Sa Sa Sandra Boynton!
Last week I had the most fun, fantastic privilege to meet the one, the only, Sandra “Hippos Go Berserk” Boynton. If you have a kid, you have a Sandra Boynton library. I do! And my 2 ½-year-old Will, husband Bill, and I love every book—have most of ‘em memorized. They're whimsical, lyrical, joyful, funny (shall I go on?). The reason I got to meet Sandra was the upcoming release of Blue Moo:17 Jukebox hits From Way Back Never, her fourth album (yep, in addition to the gazillion board books she writes and illustrates, she—and her partner—do magical stuff with music). This new CD is original Fifties-inspired groovin’ sounds that Will and I totally dig. And what’s really cool is that she called up the actual legendary artists of that era and asked them to record the original tunes: Steve Lawrence, Neil Sedaka, Brian Wilson, Sha Na Na, BBKing, Davy Jones of The Monkees….(There’s a cool behind-the-scenes making-of-the-book youtube video.)
Anyway, I had five minutes and asked her a couple of questions:
You started drawing at 3…
SB: Everyone starts drawing as soon as they can; it’s just that kids tend to stop at a certain point because art teachers tend to tell kids who’s got talent and who doesn’t. I just never stopped.
So it’s been your passion since your were a little kid…
SB: Well, music is the first thing I’ve done that I’m a natural at. Drawing is hard for me; it’s gotten a lot easier, but it doesn’t come naturally. I loved drawing as a kid, but I also loved looking at what other people had drawn—Eloise and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear, in particular. I would study those pictures. I was always drawn to very outline drawings—and animals. I can’t draw people.
Yes, cows and hippos and sheep and pigs…
SB: My animals are very people-like; I don’t think of them as zoological animals but as characters. In fact, the animals in my books are real people in my life. All of the small bears are my younger son—he very much has that gentle quality.
Is there an animal you don’t draw?
SB: I don’t think I’ve done a mosquito yet. And I find penguins very difficult to draw.
So that was my cool five minutes with Sandra Boynton (she has her own website where you can learn more about her—if you’ve become obsessed with her as I have.)
