This interview originally appeared in the November/December 2025 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Picture Books and Graphic Novels, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a chance to each highlight a book from its current list. They choose the books; we ask the questions.

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When The Polar Bear and the Ballerina meet in Manhattan, a night of magic is in store for them both.

1. Polar bears or ballerinas — which are harder to paint?

The polar bear was harder because I’ve painted so many people and so few bears in the past. The proportions and the fur texture under the various lighting conditions were challenging. Perhaps the hardest part was striking the balance between the ­realistic and the anthropomorphic.

2. How do you approach conveying movement on the printed page?

From the rough sketches to the storyboard to the book dummy to the final drawing before I begin painting, I am constantly checking that the images and the characters’ movement and gestures help to move the story along.

3. What is your favorite evening walk in New York City?

My wife and I recently walked around the Lincoln Center complex (which is loosely the setting for most of the story) after a concert. We both remarked how beautiful that section of the city is in the evening. It really looks magical.

4. What is the biggest challenge in creating a wordless book?

It is easy to take for granted how much I usually rely on even minimal text to help tell the story visually. If something is stated in the text, it gives me the choice of not depicting it in the illustration. The characters, their gestures, and the locations and time of day took on greater importance in illustrating this story because I could not rely on text. The challenge was further amplified due to the many layers and themes. Some aspects of the story are very literal while others are open to interpretation.

5. Fair to say red is your color?

I believed my favorite color to be blue because of the vast amount of blue clothing I own. However, a girl on a school visit said my favorite color had to be red because there’s always something important that is red in my books, and she was right. For this book, I used a limited palette with four tubes of oil paint to let the red scarf stand out. I consider this book to have fewer colors than my other books, but more story.

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