There’s so much dis-information out there now. Do you know how to tell the difference between fake news and fake GNUS??

Leslie Helakoski has written multiple picture books including Woolbur, illustrated by Lee Harper; When the Rain Came Down, illustrated by Keisha Morris; and Are Your Stars Like My Stars? illustrated by Heidi Woodward Sheffield. She served as Regional Advisor for SCBWI Michigan. She is now RA Emeritus, and also runs a picture-book workshop at the Highlights Foundation. She divides her time between northern Michigan and southern Louisiana. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or BlueSky.

FAKE GNUS is a clever picture book all about disinformation AND gnus! A young reporter (Scoop Jackson) asks readers to consider what is real and fake, all while looking for actual gnus! There are so many clever gnu facts snuck into this book that readers won’t even realize they’re learning nonfiction at the same time! HOW brilliant is that??

Welcome Leslie!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your creative journey. When did you start writing and/or illustrating picture books? How has that brought you to writing this picture book?

Leslie: In college, I worked at my parents’ Montessori school. That is where teaching kids with books stole my heart. I loved the books, I loved the kids, I loved the lessons. 25 years later and I’m still at it.

Me: I love the word play woven all throughout this book! What gave you the idea for this story?

Leslie: I’ve always been a big fan of word play and looking at words and language in different ways. I even like designing with words.

The original idea for this story came in the summer of 2019 while I was hiking on Isle Royale, the national park in Lake Superior. The island is known for its moose population and as my group hiked, we listened and hoped to spot one or two.

But every time we heard something, it turned out NOT to be a moose. And I would think…Fake Moose. At home I tried writing a story about spotting a moose but it didn’t feel original and it just wasn’t singing. For the next five years, off and on, I worked on different versions. Finally, I let go of the missing moose and decided to play around with GNUS and NEWS and the importance of media literacy. No one else was writing a book like that, at least not that I knew about, and the need for it was increasing. Plus, when I got to the last pages, there was a perfect spot to end the book with a missing moose!

Me: I love the approach you took here with your illustrations and incorporating bits of collage. Can you talk about that process a little bit? Are you mainly a traditional artist? Or do you also utilize digital tools? What media did you use to create the illustrations in this book?

Leslie: I like to play with actual paint and pigment. I like to feel and see the textures. And because I already spend so much time writing and revising on my computer, I do not want to spend more time painting on my computer. But I do use a few digital tools. I scan early sketches into my computer and use Adobe InDesign to lay out the images with text for a dummy. I use a light box to transfer the sketches to Arches hot press paper. The paintings are in watercolor and pastel with touches of colored pencil. I had fun experimenting with newsprint collage, which I haven’t done before. In this case, incorporating newsprint in the art was just too much fun to pass up. I cut out pieces of newsprint and shaped them with an x-acto knife, then used Elmer’s spray glue to hold it in place and pastel on top for color.

Me: What a great touch! Your sense of humor just shines through your text. Yet you’re also teaching young readers about being fact savvy with all the disinformation out there AND sneakily incorporating a ton of nonfiction facts about gnus! That’s brilliant! How many drafts did it really take to get to this final state? How long did it take from first idea to final published book?

Leslie: There are 58 or so versions of this story on my desktop. From first idea in 2019 to publishing in 2026. I dragged this story out with my crit group over and over. They hung in there with me and kept me going. I thought the story was strong but we did not get much interest from editors. I changed course, I changed the setting, I changed the main character. I wrote and re-wrote.

I started to make headway when I dropped the moose hunt and picked up the gnu. Several author friends who write non-fiction inspired me to incorporate non-fiction into the story. I was saddened by the amount of fake news I encountered and started digging into media literacy. I learned that more and more schools are mandating lessons about media literacy into their curriculum. The information was important, but I wanted the story to remain fun. Finally, my manuscript was starting to sing. But it still didn’t sell.

Me: Can you tell us a bit about your research process for this book? How long did it take you to research all the different facts and tidbits that went into this story? Any favorite discoveries or research methods?

Leslie: My research was pretty basic. I looked things up online in well-known animal-based publications like National Geographic and Audubon. And just like Scoop, I made sure the information came from multiple sources. I read about gnus for days and when I came across a fact that tickled my funny bone, I built a scene around it. Once I knew the structure I wanted, I dug in and had a new version in a few months.

One of my favorite facts is that gnus and zebras are okay grazing together as they both like different parts of the same grass and will share, whereas gnus and cows will not. I also liked finding out that male and females both have horns and both have beards. No females blending into the background here.

And now, of course, I want to witness the GREAT MIGRATION in Africa for myself.

Me: Wouldn’t that be amazing? What is one thing that surprised you in writing this book?

Leslie: I was surprised to learn that gnus, or wildebeests, have different species and different colors. They range from golden brown to black with a blue sheen. That is one of the reasons I created a quiz for the back of the book.

Me: What advice would you give to aspiring picture book writers and/or illustrators?

Leslie: I wish I could think of something new and groundbreaking to offer new writers. But I’m afraid it’s the same old thing — work hard, read lots of books, go to conferences, talk with professionals, join a crit group.

But now I would follow that up with be open to trying something different. My last several books all came about differently than I thought they would.

• One manuscript didn’t sell with my art, so I collaborated with an illustrator I admire and we submitted it together. SOLD
• One manuscript was originally a chapter book and an editor asked me to make it into a picture book. SOLD
• One manuscript about alligators didn’t sell in the mainstream market, so I published it with a small regional press. SOLD
• One of my best-selling books went out of print so I self-published it and it is back on the market. SOLD

I learned something new in each of these cases. This business can be slow and I want my books out there, which may mean that I have to take a different route at times. I’m inspired by writers, like the late Jane Yolen, who published in many different ways and unexpected places. Write on!

That is absolutely great advice Leslie! Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book publishes at the beginning of August with Groundwood books. Keep an eye out for it. It’s an amazing combination of facts and being fact savvy that is unlike anything I’ve seen on the market teaching kiddos be aware of true information. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it!