What could possibly go wrong for a robot who stays up all night without recharging?

Jacob Souva has visited my blog before many years ago to discuss his debut picture book. He adores making books for children and riding bikes, though not at the same time. He has illustrated many picture books, including The Boy with Big, Big Feelings, Flowers Are Pretty Weird, and Butterflies Are Pretty Gross. His debut as author-illustrator was titled Little Bee’s Flower. He has a beautiful wife and two amazing sons and resides in a small countryside community in Upstate New York. You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Instagram, BlueSky, or his amazing blog on Substack.

WHIRBY is a picture book for all little robots everywhere. Here a little robot is so excited about a school project that he accidentally stays up all night and doesn’t charge himself. The results are what you’d expect and he learns to take better care of himself. It’s such a fun concept, but Jacob’s illustrations really take the story to the next level.

Welcome back Jacob!

Me: You have worn both author and illustrator hats on your own projects, as well as illustrated others. With WHIRBY you are illustrator only of this story. What made you decide to get involved with this illustration project?  

Jacob: There are things on an illustrator’s bucket list and at the very top of mine, alongside monsters and bugs, sat robots. The manuscript was fun and as a rule, if I start to itch to illustrate or can envision scenes I’m more likely to sign on. In addition to all of that I’d just worked with Luana Horry at HarperCollins for Big Bike, Little Bike and really enjoyed it. The Harper team is top notch.

Me: Can you talk a little bit about the illustration process you used for this book? It feels very you, yet it also feels very new. Did you do something different?

Jacob: Thanks! I think some of it is a natural exploration and growth of my style, and some of it was thinking “it’s a robot book, let’s get weird.” There was a bit of world building involved with this project and that provided the room to play and think outside of the box. I’m also more aware that playing it safe can lead to similar outcomes, while playful exploration can lead somewhere new. Whirby was crying out for new!

Me: I have to ask about the cover. I’m very much reminded of a WIRED magazine cover. Was that your intention? Is this cover a tiny bit of an homage to that magazine?

Jacob: Ha! Maybe unintentionally or subconsciously! Now that you say that I can’t unsee it! My thought process for the cover was to make sure it was a great introduction to the character and that it would really stand out on the shelf. I had so much fun playing with blocks of texture and illustrating some of the text, the team thought I should bring that forward. I love it.

Me: This book has a very distinctive color palette. How did you end up choosing that?

Jacob: The whole color palette keyed on Whirby’s energy meter (a lighting bolt on his chest screen). When he’s fully charged, it’s a very bright green. As his energy depletes it changes to pink as a warning. The goal after that was to pick compliments  (in both usages of that word!) that would match the energy. It was risky and really challenging to work with. It took me two spreads and a lot of mistakes to find my way!

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

Jacob: I think I knew that this book would take longer to illustrate due to it’s complexities and large amounts of textured blocks, bits, and bytes. I didn’t know that the combination of that alongside the odd color palette would really stretch me the way that it did. I was really worried I’d bit off more than I could chew for a week or two.

Me:  What is one of your favorite illustrations from the book?

Jacob: I recently submitted this spread to The Society of Illustrators 68 show and was juried in for the first time. I’m really proud of it! It’s the right amount of emotion, beauty, and texture that all gets at the heart of what I was trying to accomplish illustrating Whirby.

Me: Congratulations! That’s exciting (and it is a fantastic spread). How did working on the illustrations for this book help you to grow as an illustrator?

Jacob: Anytime you really try to do something new and experimental on a “live project” you risk a lot. But in that risk taking is a chance to learn and grow and add things to your bag of tricks. When I shared the finals with the Harper team, they sent me a resounding “YES!” to all of my choices despite my worry to the contrary.

I love that. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today Jacob.

Dear readers, this book published just this week. If you haven’t had a chance yet to read it, I highly recommend tracking it down. It’s always so fascinating to me to see how an illustrator’s body of work can evolve over time. It’s also a great robot bedtime story! Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss it.