When a pair of underwear comes with a warning to not wear during a full moon under any circumstances, the wearer better beware!

Gideon Sterer is the New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Owl, I Will Read to You, From Ed’s to Ned’s, Not Your Nest!, The Night Knights, and The Midnight Fair, among others. Gideon grew up in upstate New York, where his parents owned a little zoo in which he would run around after hours and let the animals out. He now lives in the Hudson Valley. You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Instagram or Twitter.

Charles Santoso loves drawing little things in his little journal. He gathers inspiration from his childhood memories and curiosities he discovers in his everyday travels. He has illustrated several picture books, including The Snurtch, I Don’t Like Koala, Finding Muchness, and Ida, Always. Charles also works as a visual development artist, creating illustrations for feature film projects. He lives and works in Singapore. You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Instagram, Twitter, or BlueSky.

THE UNDERWEARWOLF is a hilarious picture book all about a kid who loves underwear. He gets a very special pair from his Uncle for his birthday, but this pair has a warning note: “do not under any circumstances or for any reason wear these underwear during the full moon.” Of course the kid looks at the (obviously full!) moon and decides it’s not that full. And all sorts of mayhem breaks loose. This is the best kind of funny you can find with wild results. The writing is clever and the illustrations are pitch perfect (but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Charles Santoso).

Please note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher to review, but the opinions, as always, are my own.

Welcome Gideon and Charles!

Me: You both have several published picture books at this point in your career. Can you both talk a little bit about your writing or illustrating journey so far? How has that brought you to this book?

Gideon: Hi! Yes, the writing journey has been ongoing but I seem to really enjoy the idea of kids sneaking out of their houses and going into the woods so this seems like the latest installment in that interest which is funny to consider. My other book with Charles, I Will Read To You, oddly (or not oddly enough) has a kid going into the woods at night under different and more literary and empathetic circumstances!

Charles:  Hello, and thank you for having me. Yes, I have illustrated several books at this point. All these books were quite different and have given me a chance to explore different ways to contribute to the collaboration. I was fortunate to get a chance to collaborate with Gideon on another picture book called I Will Read to You. The book had more on the side of sweet and poetic, peppered with a fun, spooky tone, which was different from The Underwearwolf. I really enjoyed working on it. The manuscript for The Underwearwolf arrived in my inbox through my agent. I laughed out loud, and my brain was filled with visuals when I first read it, which was a really good first sign. I re-read it several times and still had the same strong reaction to the story (still laughing), which means it was a definite Yes for me to take on the collaboration.

Me: Gideon, I love the word play at work here (in both the title and the concept)! What gave you the idea for this story? 

Gideon: I honestly can’t remember when I got the idea but I think the title was kicking around in a notes document for a long time! I have a few books that were odd titles first. So it’s sort of like reverse engineering in a way and in this case it seemed pretty straightforwardly about a kid who put on a weird pair of underwear and then turned into a werewolf! It seemed that to keep making the story bigger the kid would have to achieve some wolf-king status and on the way to that I wanted to cram in as many underwear and butt jokes as possible!

Me: Charles, I’ve been a fan of your work for years and I’m always astonished at your illustration range. Can you talk about your illustration style used here? How did it differ for this project compared to some of your other illustration projects? Why did you choose it? (It’s perfect, by the way.)

Charles: I appreciate your kind words! I think every manuscript deserves its own different approach. For doing picture books, it’s not about me; it’s all about the story. I took some time to explore possibilities for the look and feel before sending the sketch and samples to the editor and art director. For this book, I landed on drawing with a pencil on translucent vellum as a base. I love how it gave a “misty” feeling to the linework, which I thought was appropriate for the tone of the story. I then added colors digitally. I gave the characters more extreme expressions and body language in this book to match the FUN, Read Laugh-out-loud words. I always feel that words and visuals need to be matched appropriately. 50-50 is always what I aimed for.

Another thing to mention is the important roles of my amazing editor, Celia, and AD, Lucy. I’m really grateful for their trust and constant support.

Me: Gideon, I have to ask: why on God’s green earth did you pick WOOL for the underwear? That has to be hellaciously itchy! Is that the point?

Gideon:  Haha. I just thought that was the weirdest, roughest material that the underwear could be credibly made out of and given the power of the underwear I wanted them to be substantial and maybe even sort of rigid!

Me:  What drew you both to this particular story? Gideon, you have written many different kinds of stories. What made you want to write this story and pursue its publication? Charles, what made you decide to work with Gideon’s text to bring it to life? 

Gideon: I love stories about spooky stuff and monsters and curses and woods and nighttime and stupid jokes and this is all of that!

Charles: I love collaborating on stories with emotions and imagination. An additional thing that I haven’t mentioned is that I must be able to entertain my 5-year-old self with the work that I do. This is crucial. In this case, the manuscript ticked all the boxes. Thanks, Gideon!

Me: The text is succinct.  The illustrations are incredibly detailed.  Each component is hilarious and strong on its own. What is one thing that surprised each of you in writing and/or illustrating this story? Are there any surprises left for you at this stage?

Gideon: I have loved Charles’ work forever. It’s incredibly detailed and natural feeling and textural and emotive and accessible while also still being hilarious. But seeing Charles work come in every time is still a singular surprise! On the text side, once I had the “butt naked” riff I was surprised I could shoe-horn that in there so many times and it still felt like it worked and I wasn’t forcing it.

Charles: Yes, each manuscript brings new challenges. Always. It was tricky to make the tension/fun on each spread higher and higher, while keeping it varied to grab the reader’s engagement. The flow needed to be controlled and made so it’s not forced in a way. It was tough, but I found myself giggling every now and then while drawing, which can only mean that I enjoyed the process.

Me: Both of you have published numerous books for kids at this point in your careers. In these difficult publishing times, what keeps you both creating them? What encouragement would you give to other creators who are trying to publish picture books in this market?

Gideon: I’m not sure what else I would find fulfilling! To other people making picture books I would just say make books that you genuinely like and make you, specifically, happy. It’s also a numbers game so when you finish one project start another. And don’t be afraid to make horrible first drafts. Don’t be too precious just get a garbage draft done and then from there it’s a lot easier to refine and improve and learn things!

Charles: I think my love of picture books as a medium for storytelling and art, and as an object, fuel me every day. I collect picture books. Every time I go to bookstores, the picture book section is where I first go. Looking at amazing work by writers and illustrators still gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I’m a big fan of many writers and illustrators! I’m grateful to be a part of this and want to create high-quality books (to the best of my ability) for children (and other readers too). Picture books that are funny, weird, unique, challenging, soothing, educational, and/or entertaining. Children and all of us need lots of these books! I truly love this industry, and I hope that it’ll thrive more than dwindle in the future.

For other creators, I know it never gets easier, and with all the extra uncertainties in the world, it’s getting harder, but let’s keep going, and every now and then, remember why we love it in the first place. I’m cheering for you all. Thank you!

Thank you Gideon and Charles for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book publishes tomorrow (thankfully NOT a full moon). Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it!