Children’s author-illustrator and Caldecott Medalist Shawn Harris discusses with Taylor Sterling five books that inspired him while creating his latest picture book, The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn. Shawn talks about his interesting journey into publishing, how he landed his agent, how music influences the orchestration of text and image in a picture book, why thinking about book design is important, and so much more.

This is part two of the special feature with children’s author-illustrator Shawn Harris. Before listening to this conversation, I recommend reading Getting to Know Shawn Harris: Pt. 1, which includes pictures and commentary on many of the books we discuss.

The Books

* Telephone Tales written by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Valerio Vidali (2020)

* The Wind in the Willows written by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Ernest Shepard (1908)

* You Can’t Kill Snow White by Beatrice Alemagna (2022)

* The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer (1961)

* The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2017)

* “Iris” from Strange News from Another Star by Hermann Hesse (1919)

* Caldecott & Co. by Maurice Sendak (1988)

* Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino (1956)

Shawn’s Books

* Her Right Foot written by Dave Eggers (2017)

* What Can a Citizen Do? written by Dave Eggers (2018)

* Everyone’s Awake written by Colin Meloy (2020)

* Doing Business (2021)

* A Polar Bear in the Snow written by Mac Barnett (2020)

* The Eyes and the Impossible written by Dave Eggers (2023)

* The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza written by Mac Barnett (2022)

* The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom written by Mac Barnett (2023)

* Have You Ever Seen a Flower? (2021)

* The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn (2024)

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