March 28

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Thanks Jon, Mac and Ruth: Inspiration for THIS IS A WINDOW by Lauren Paige Conrad

Posted by on March 28, 2024 in Author Posts | 2 Comments

For years, I had been ruminating on boundaries to give myself as an illustrator-aspiring author. There were too many open-ended possibilities, and from my perspective just too many other books already. I needed parameters, or maybe a mantra, that guided my book-making, and one that honored the picture book form. 

To me, that meant intentionally leaving at least 50% of the story’s space for the pictures to tell the story. Even better so, building a visual narrative that the reader is in on that the words don’t say. (Enter THIS IS NOT MY HAT, Jon Klassen, and SAM AND DAVE DIG A HOLE, Mac Barnett and Klassen, which do this concept flawlessly.) To me this is the picture book at its finest. It’s doing exactly what only a picture book can do: it’s marrying images and words and finding that dance where even the reader who cannot-yet-read is reading the story and is part of the storytelling magic. 

So having this mantra in place, and having just finished my first illustrated book, I set out to re-center myself on the theme of imaginative child-led play. I pulled out old classics to read, and found myself spending a lot of time with Ruth Krauss, specifically A HOLE IS TO DIG. 

By-lined “A First Book of First Definitions” Ruth took basic words (a hole, a hand, a brother, the sun) and defined them from a child’s perspective. There is a rhythm that ties these otherwise random concepts together: “A mountain is _” “A sea shell is _” “Dogs are _”. We get the game instantly, and are left to just revel in the simple cleverness of placing ourselves in a child’s mind. Of course “Arms are to hug with,” there is nothing to be argued there. 

Ruth flows between simple child-centered responses like “Eyebrows are to go over your eyes”. Or “Cats are so you can have kittens”. Where practicality and logic take a back seat to common experiences or fondnesses. (Although I do appreciate that “Dishes are to do” with no really fuss about it.) These definitions remain relevant today because they are built upon relatable, universal truths. Children in 1952 were stacking rocks in tiny piles, just like children today are undoubtably doing the same.

Defining the world from a child’s perspective, Ruth exemplifies meeting children where they are and reflecting back to them what they already innately are: little creative, imaginative, thinking beings. 

Reinvigorated on the value of these connective, timeless childhood truths, I went on a walk and wrote THIS IS A WINDOW. It too would use basic vocabulary words in a rhythmic way and be a wink and a nod to those first word books. It would celebrate the developmental stage where imaginations build upon basic language understanding. And it would honor the picture book form because our reader would know our “tree” is actually a chair, and our “city” is actually a tree. They would be in on the secret, even when the words remained simple and sparse.

But most importantly it would be a reflection; not a how-to book, not a book filled with implausible elaborate forts that require big humans. It would be an affirmation for child-made and child-led play, with basic, ordinary, accessible objects. And of course it would include a hole. Because as we know from Ruth, holes can be many, many things.

Lauren Paige Conrad is a self-taught illustrator based in Asheville, NC. She received a BS in textiles from the University of Georgia in 2008 before going on to study fashion design at FIDM San Francisco. After working in product development and with small-scale textile studios, Lauren turned to illustration in 2016. Lauren works in cut paper, gouache, colored pencil, and Neocolor crayon. Lauren is the illustrator of Your One and Only Heart, written by Rajani LaRocca. Download this kit full of activities and discussion questions. And learn more at laurenpaigeconrad.com.