If you love Sergio Ruzzier’s work (and who doesn’t?!), then get ready to love his latest picture book character: Rosie.

Sergio Ruzzier is a Sendak Fellow who has written and illustrated many critically acclaimed children’s books, including NO! Said Custard the Squirrel and The Real Story. Born in Milan, Italy, he now divides his time between Brooklyn and the Apennine Mountains in Italy. You can learn more about him at his website or follow him on Instagram.

ROSIE GETS READY is a picture book about the cutest little pig you’ll ever meet. And I say that with a long history of loving picture book piggies (i.e., Toot and Puddle, Olivia, etc.). Rosie is so particular. Here we see her morning routines and how she gets ready in the most loving details. She washes her face to wake up before she takes a bubble bath. She does everything just so, but there is a very funny surprise twist coming at the end that I absolutely will not spoil. It is full of the quintessential Sergio Ruzzier sense of humor.

Welcome Sergio!

Me: I can’t imagine anyone isn’t familiar with your work, but can you tell us a little bit about your artistic journey? When did you start drawing and/or creating art? How did that lead to where you are now as the author-illustrator of this book?

Sergio: Oh, I know for certain there are at least three people who are not familiar with my work. One lives in Azerbaijan and two in the suburbs of Orekhovo-Zuyevo in Central Russia. For those three people I can say that I started drawing and publishing comic strips in my teens, but illustrating and then writing stories became my full-time profession once I moved to New York City from my native Milan, in the mid ’90s. First I was mainly working as an editorial illustrator for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Nation, and many other magazines and newspapers. Then I was able to start writing and illustrating children’s book, thanks to a lucky encounter with Frances Foster, an extraordinary editor and person who sadly is not with us anymore.

Me: I saw you talk about your illustration process a little bit at a SCBWI conference and was fascinated. Can you talk about that process a little bit? Are you mainly a traditional artist, a digital artist, or a combination of both these days?

Sergio: I’ve always worked in pen & ink and watercolor. I’m not much of an experimenter and I don’t particularly enjoy working digitally. My way of working is very straightforward: The initial pencil sketches become detailed and precise pencil drawings, which I then trace onto watercolor paper using a light box. Once I’m done tracing, I ink the drawing with my nib, erase the pencil marks, and finally color it with watercolors.

Me: I love Rosie! She’s adorable and does everything just so. What gave you the idea for this book?

Sergio: Thank you. Rosie and I appreciate it. The idea came while I was reading the biography of Roman Emperor Commodus, who, besides being a megalomaniacal and bloody tyrant, took up to eight baths a day. Bathing is one of Rosie’s obsessions too.

Me: Ha! Now there’s an origin story you don’t hear every day. Rosie is so well rounded. She’s so three dimensional that she feels like a real child or personality. Is she based on anyone you know? Who or what inspired her character?

Sergio: With well rounded do you mean she is chubby? Well, she is a pig after all. And no, she is not based on anyone I know. She came out like that from my pencil. She is just herself.

Me: I love the subtle elements you’ve placed throughout the story that give hints to the surprise ending (no spoilers given). They really show the forethought you’ve given to this whole story that is so well laid out in text and in illustrations. How long did you sit with this story before you started writing or illustrating it. Once you started the work, did you have to revise it quite a bit? Or was it pretty full-formed after preliminary work?

Sergio: It’s very difficult to know how long it took me to do this book, or any book, for that matter. An idea can come one day and become a full story years later. Then you work on a dummy, you integrate words and pictures, you show it to your agent who sends it to an editor who might ask you for some changes, etc. Let’s say that once the sketches are all approved, it normally takes me three to five months to complete all the final drawings.

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in creating and/or illustrating this story? Is there anything still left to surprise you at this stage in your career?

Sergio: Yes, at my age I tend to forget things easily, so anything can be a surprise. One nice thing of working on a book with a new character is that you get to decide her looks, of course, but also her tastes, her flaws, her peculiarities. That keeps the work interesting.

Me: Any advice for other aspiring picture book writers and/or illustrators?

Sergio: Go to museums, look through art books, read a lot, watch old movies. Travel a lot, if you can afford it. Learn a foreign language. Being curious and open minded is the best way to nurture your creativity.

That is great advice. Thank you for stopping by my blog today Sergio, and for making me laugh. 🙂

Dear readers, this book published in July. If you haven’t yet read Rosie’s story, you need to track it down. Rosie is a sheer delight and Sergio sets the reader up in the very best way here. This is a story that will surprise and delight young readers over and over again. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it.