Jon Klassen makes children’s books, but this isn’t really a conversation about children’s books.

Jon recently won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (one of the biggest honors in children’s literature), and we start there before getting into what makes his work so compelling in the first place.

We talk about why he leaves space for readers instead of explaining everything, how kids are smarter than we often give them credit for, the value of ambiguity, and why making work for yourself is usually the only way to make something honest.

And of course, we get into running, menswear, Studio Ghibli, Maurice Sendak, creative insecurity, and the weird pressure of trying to make good work over and over again.

Jon's acceptance speech

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