She’s so over the top adorable with her giant glasses and luggage. I was smitten with the June bug reporter, Ms. What was your favorite character to draw? Did you find any of the characters harder or easier to draw? Mona actually came to me relatively quickly, I could see her in my head as soon as a read the manuscript! I sketched lots of slightly different mice until she felt right. How did you go about designing Mona the mouse, the main character? Did you try out different mice versions? Did she come to you relatively easily?

I think Rotem helped me focus, because there was so much that seemed perfect to draw! Generally, I want to draw scenes that establish a sense of place, or ones that have a strong sense of emotion.

I had a little help choosing from our fantastic editor, Rotem Moscovich. How did/do you decide which parts of the chapters to illustrate? Unlike the picture books, where every page is illustrated, only some are illustrated in Heartwood Hotel. I know you work on picture books and chapter books. To this day, they’re my favorite thing to draw. Maybe it’s that the characters aren’t restrained by human conventions. There’s something about anthropomorphic animals that is very appealing. When I was a kid I would make my own little, handmade books, and they always had animal characters. My favorite books as a young kid were his Busytown books-I would pour over their details for hours. Another inspiration for drawing animals was Richard Scarry. Growing up we always had pets: cats, parakeets, gerbils, hamsters and fish to name a few (now I just have one orange cat). Stephanie Graegin: I’ve always loved drawing animals, ever since I could hold a crayon I’ve been drawing them. I saw your work before and I just knew it was perfect, mainly because you draw the cutest animals ever. Kallie George: I felt so lucky when I found out you were going to be the illustrator on this series. Kallie George Interviews Stephanie Graegin Here’s a lovely chance to listen in on author Kallie George and illustrator Stephanie Graegin as they discuss their individual inspirations, processes, and favorite characters from the delightful series Heartwood Hotel. The Children’s Book Review | July 4, 2017

Heartwood hotel a true home