Jess Hannigan is the author and illustrator of the picture books Spider in the Well and The Bear Out There. She also works in editorial illustration, and considers herself an all-purpose illustrator. Some of her clients include The New York Times, Reader’s Digest Canada, Cottage Life Magazine, VOX, and more.

She was awarded the Warby Parker Visionary Scholarship Award by the Society of Illustrators in 2020, and the Bronze Jon Klassen award in her graduating years’ showcase at Sheridan College. She lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with her partner Dan and her cats, Mac and Theo.

Today she talks to Ian Eagleton about her wonderful new picture book THE BEAR OUT THERE…

Before we settle down in The Reading Realm to talk about your new book, what’s your drink and snack of choice?

I don’t think I’d have these together, but black coffee and sweet chili heat Doritos. Or maybe I would. Don’t judge me, please.

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about THE BEAR OUT THERE?

This is great, because I hate to give spoilers. It’s from our POV, so we’re a character in the book, and we’ve stumbled upon a house in the woods. There’s a weird girl inside, who says she’s hiding from a bear she knows is out there watching us RIGHT NOW. She claims to be an expert in bears, but as the story goes on, her expertise isn’t the only thing to start seeming questionable. It’s suspenseful, funny, and has lots of good yelling parts.

How is THE BEAR OUT THERE similar to your debut picture book SPIDER IN THE WELL? How is it different?

I’d say they both have kind of devious protagonists. I love an untrustworthy character, and both books share that in common. Also, both have big moments of drama (said yelling parts). The biggest difference is how colourful this new one is! It’s very pink and green and blue, while SPIDER was quieter, other than that neon orange.

Your artwork and illustrations are so quirky and distinctive. What inspires you?

Thank you!! I pull inspiration from so many places, as long as I’ve been drawing I’ve been finding art I like and saying “I’m trying this now”. I like a lot of abstract paintings, poster design, block printers, album covers, collage artists, my incredible picture book peers. I’m basically trying to scratch every itch with my artwork, so maybe that why it has a uniqueness.

I wondered if you could talk us through how you went about illustrating THE BEAR OUT THERE? What’s your process like?

The whole book is made with paper collage, from sheets of painted tracing paper. I started with my sketches and colour plans, which I make with Procreate on my iPad, and then trace out each shape roughly onto the papers. From there it was chopping, gluing, and scanning. It was really fun to make, even thought I had to carefully cut out all the lettering too!

Can we look forward to more fractured fairy tales from you? What are you working on next?

Not a fairy tale, but I do have a new one that should be out next year, called The Cow in the Dark at Night. I’m really excited for it, because it has a lot of my favourite things in it at once! Cows, cats, vampires, and maybe… Martians?

Finally, can you describe THE BEAR OUT THERE in three words?

PREPARE TO YELL!