SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

June 21, 2017 by Brigid Alverson

Interview: Kevin McCloskey on Making Science Comics for Kids

June 21, 2017 by Brigid Alverson   Leave a Comment

Kevin McCloskey

In the course of researching my article on science comics for SLJ, I interviewed Kevin McCloskey, the author of We Dig Worms!, The Real Poop on Pigeons!, and Something’s Fishy, all published by TOON Books as part of their “Giggle and Learn” series. Here’s the full interview; you can check out previews from each of the books at the links above.

You seem to be tuned in to what kids are interested in—for instance, in the fish book you discuss the fish that appear in the movie Finding Nemo, and you put poop right in the title of your book on pigeons. How do you stay tuned in to what children want to know?

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Toon Books sent me to ALA in Orlando last summer. I was researching squirrels, but wandered into the Sea Life Aquarium with my sketchbook. Children clearly loved the place. Toddlers screamed, “Nemo!” the moment they spotted a clown fish. In each room I asked the attendants which fish kids liked best. That’s how I discovered the sea stars that look like chocolate chip cookies.

I do go to animated films and I do lots of school visits. Last week at St. Peter’s in Reading, PA, students were fascinated that Something’s Fishyincluded fish that began with their initial. My wife Patt is a traveling storyteller for our Berks County Libraries. I go with her to story hour sometimes.  

The Real Poop on Pigeons

While a lot of books about animals are pretty straightforward, yours jump from topic to topic—in Something’s Fishy, for example, you do an ABC of fish, then discuss the characteristics of fish (with an exception for every one) and then there’s a little bit about goldfish and their history. Why do you like this approach?

Honestly, an early version of Something’s Fishy had a more typical character-driven story, but I painted twice as many pages as could fit in one book. In the end, I include the pages that are the most amazing. I am like that kid visiting in the aquarium bouncing from one wonder to the other. I keep just enough story to string the wonders together.

Somethings Fishy

When you start these books, do you have a list of information you want to include? Are they tied in to any particular science curriculum or Common Core, or do you just write about what interests you about the topic?

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

My mission is to remind children they live in the natural world. That’s why I pick common animals we all know. Pigeons, worms, and goldfish can be just as amazing as elephants and giraffes.

I’ve read the Common Core, but don’t let it direct the narrative. I believe as long the material is true there is a place for it in the classroom. Every Toon Book has online lesson plans aligned to the Common Core. My wife Patt writes the plans for my books, so she finds the connections after the fact.

We Dig Worms

I’m a grownup, but every one of your books includes something I didn’t know about the topic. Is that a goal of yours—to find surprising facts?

Absolutely! I am grown up, too. As I do my research reading, I sketch the things I expect will wow children. 

Your books are now a series, called “Giggle and Learn,” and it seems like there’s as much giggling as learning going on. How do you balance real facts with goofiness and jokes?

It began when my wife asked me for a worm book that was funny and true. There are plenty of fine books of facts. I enjoy seeing the funny side of things. That said, the actual information in my books is not nearly as important as getting children enthused about investigating their world through reading.​ 

Filed under: All Ages, Interviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Brigid Alverson

Brigid Alverson, the editor of the Good Comics for Kids blog, has been reading comics since she was 4. She has an MFA in printmaking and has worked as a book editor and a newspaper reporter; now she is assistant to the mayor of Melrose, Massachusetts. In addition to editing GC4K, she writes about comics and graphic novels at MangaBlog, SLJTeen, Publishers Weekly Comics World, Comic Book Resources, MTV Geek, and Good E-Reader.com. Brigid is married to a physicist and has two daughters in college, which is why she writes so much. She was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

June 2019

Interview: George O’Connor

by Brigid Alverson

September 2018

This Is Not a Taco—It's an Interview!

by Brigid Alverson

August 2018

Interview: Shea Fontana on 'DC Super Hero Girls: Out of the Bottle'

by Brigid Alverson

July 2018

Interview: Sean O'Neill on 'Rocket Robinson'

by Brigid Alverson

July 2017

Interview: Martin Cendreda on 'An Apple and an Adventure'

by Brigid Alverson

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Your 2023 Caldecott Comment Card

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Poems As Picture Books: Zetta Elliott Discusses the Upcoming A Song for Juneteenth

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

2023 ALA Youth Media Awards

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

FREEWATER wins the Newbery Medal, live reactions from Heavy Medal bloggers

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

A Conversation with Kendare Blake about BUFFY, THE NEXT GENERATION

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Top 10 Manga of 2022

First-Person Graphic Memoirs: 17 Recommended Titles

26 Chapter Books, Middle Grade, and Graphic Novels for Latinx Heritage Month and Beyond

PEN America and Trust Project Release Newsroom Transparency Tracker | News Bites

12 Graphic Novel Series Updates for Young Readers

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023