Simply 7 with Benson Shum & Giveaway: IMAGINE YOU AND ME

Today’s picture book is a delightful celebration of imagination.  Even better?  It comes with another giveaway!

Benson Shum has visited my blog several times before.  He has illustrated a number of picture books and is also an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios.  Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Benson now lives in sunny Southern California.  He uses watercolor, ink and digital tools to create his illustrations.  You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.

IMAGINE YOU AND ME is a picture book about imaginary friends and the joys that come with them.  A bear, Randall, and a little girl, Parker, are best friends.  They love summers, ice cream, and playing together best of all.  Then some new bears come into the picture and Randall is uncomfortable.  Yet Parker encourages him to go play with them (as only the best friends do) and their relationship begins to change.  What happens next (without any spoilers from me) will grab your heart strings with a firm tug.  Would you expect anything less from Benson who I am now dubbing the KING of heart?  This is such a sweet book and there were several surprises in the story that I didn’t expect.

Welcome back Benson!

Me: I love make believe friend stories, but I never thought of a role reversal with the plot like this.  What gave you the idea for this story?

Benson: I love make believe stories as well because it makes anything possible. The idea came when I made a painting of a pink bear and a little girl walking home from school. And I asked myself, what’s the story here? Do they exist in the same world? What if they did, but one of them is imaginary? And that was the seed that started it.

Me: You are the king of writing heart into a story.  These characters are so sweet and so loving.  I love that!  And the circular plot is absolutely perfect.  Was this story this tight from the first draft?  Or did it struggle and have to undergo many revisions to get to this state?

Benson: Thank you, Jena, for saying that. I try to write from an emotional and heartfelt perspective. I’m so glad it’s coming through. The plot wasn’t tight to begin with. I had an idea of how it would end, but it changed through multiple revisions. I had help with my critique group and editors. 

Me: I love that both Parker and Randall have glasses, and their imaginary world is in white and blue.  I love that the other bears all wear ties.  What made you make those illustration decisions for this story?

Benson: Thank you! Yes, I wanted to give them something visually in common. And I love kids with glasses, it’s so cute! It was also something they shared. I gave the other bears ties to show how they are different than Randall visually.  At first, Randall doesn’t have a tie, but as he gets more comfortable with the bears and makes friends with them, they give him a tie. I thought it would be a subtle way of showing how Randall and Parker aren’t playing as much and that he’s spending more time with the other bears and they start to match. For this book I wanted to leave lots of white space, so we can really focus on just the characters and when their imagination blooms, the blue ink splashes across the page and gives it a dreamy look. 

Me: I love that!  And I love that Parker is the one that always encourages Randall to go play with others.  What made you want to write the story and her character that way?

Benson: I wanted Parker to represent our conscious as well. We all want to be brave and do things we are afraid of. Parker could be that voice, that courage we have inside us.  

Me: I love this sloth of bears (and the inclusion of new vocabulary words!), but I have to ask, why bears of all creatures you could’ve chosen for this story’s cast of characters?

Benson: Thank you! I had to look up what a group of bears is called. It’s such an interesting word. I love bears and in many bear books they are brown colored, so I wanted to paint a buttery-yellow bear. I thought it served his personality, too!

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in creating this story?

Benson: The one thing that surprised me was how it ended with a circular story. How the beginning circled back at the end. That came later in the revision process. And I loved that. It doesn’t always happen but I’m glad it did.

Me: If you could add anything to this story, what would it be?  Was there anything that got left out of the story (perhaps revised out of writing or illustrations) that you wish you could’ve kept?

Benson: I had other versions of how it ended. And we tried many different ways. but I’m glad with how the end came out. There isn’t a right or wrong way, but we thought this was a great way for our readers to see both Randall and Parker grow together and still be hopeful for the future.

Yes!  I agree 100%.  Thank you for stopping by my blog again today Benson.

But wait, dear readers!  There’s more!  Benson has agreed to giveaway one copy of his book to a lucky winner.  You can enter the raffllecopter here.