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Behind the Book

The artwork for All God’s Critters was inspired, in large part, by a middle school production of Oklahoma that I somehow found myself attending in my wife’s stead. I can’t say that I really enjoyed the show, as the singing was a bit comical and the acting left a bit to be desired, but in all fairness, it was a middle school production. However, I did find inspiration in the set dressing for the play: the rows of corn, the barn in the distance, the wooden fence, the flower in the pony’s hair. I also knew I wanted to set the show on a Broadway stage, and that the performers and audience would be made up of animals, but I hadn’t yet settled on the backdrop until I saw the play. It leads me to believe that there are no accidents.

I also went to a real Broadway show in New York City to find lighting clues and observe professional staging. I bought a ticket to see Mary Poppins and watched the whole thing amongst screaming children with runny noses. To my delight, all the actors could sing beautifully and act just as well. And as luck would have it, my final treat was that at the end of the play, Ms. Poppins flew right over me, umbrella in hand.

For the performers in my book, I found images of animals yawning, which is great because it looks like they are really singing their little (or big) hearts out. I perused books by Norman Rockwell to find images like the singing barbershop quartet, and watched the animated film Madagascar to learn how to anthropomorphize the animals. I decided the frog and the hippo would be the show’s starlets who would compete for the spotlight—although there are a few others who give them a run for their money! At the end of the show, the curtain closes, the animals take their grand bow, and the audience of wild animals goes . . . well, wild of course!

All in all, I wanted to try something new with this book and have a little fun, too. I hope that young readers will enjoy the lyrics and the artwork and make a few joyful noises of their own!