Bear is a know-it-all when it comes to spotting animals & sharing his advice, but the hilarious reality will have you in stitches.

Aline Portman started writing this book on the tram, where she was surrounded by people looking at their phones and missing out on the world around them. She developed the idea into This Is How to Spot Animals! and illustrated it with pencils, soft pastels, and markers. This book is Aline’s English-language debut. She lives in Ghent, Belgium. You can follow her on Instagram.

THIS IS HOW TO SPOT ANIMALS is a fantastically funny picture book. Bear is an expert on spotting animals through his binoculars. And yet, through his misaligned focus, he misses everything in every way possible.

Welcome Aline!

Me: Can you share about your creative journey? When did you start creating art professionally? How did that bring you to being the author-illustrator of this book?

Aline: I studied graphic design and illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and graduated with a children’s book, but I first wanted to gain some experience in the graphic design industry.

I worked as a graphic designer and illustrator and eventually became an art director at a company that made announcement cards. It was a fun job. I got to design cards and determine the direction of the collections. But the pressure to produce more kept mounting, there were restructuring efforts, computers were taking over more and more, endless meetings, etc., so I ended up with severe burnout. I went back to the basics: paper and pencil.

The slow pace of the pencil was just what I needed. I drew animals and saw a story in them. That’s how my first book came about in my 48^th year, Een bijzondere vriend (Lannoo 2023).

Me: I love this concept! It’s both funny and an astute (yet subtle) commentary on behavior. What gave you the idea for this story?

Aline: The idea came to mind while I was sitting on the tram. I noticed I was surrounded by people looking at their phones. I thought they were missing out on the world around them. They did not see the clear blue sky, the trees, a child laughing—just ordinary but beautiful things.

So I came home and drew Bear sitting on his rock, looking through his binoculars…and missing out on everything around him.

Me: I love the way you illustrated this book. The bear’s fur is fantastic! And all the little textures and details you add are wonderful. Can you tell us a little bit about your illustrations for the book? Did you work with traditional media or digital or both?

Aline: Thank you, Jena! I don’t use digital media; I prefer working with paper and pencil.

A few years ago, I injured my hand, then developed inflammation in my shoulder. It took a year and a half before I could draw again. I sought out soft materials. For the large areas, I rub pastel chalk in with my hands, and for the details, I use a soft pencil. I also use thick markers (the bear’s pants).

Me: It’s funny that it’s a bear looking for animals (and that he’s wearing orange pants), but I have to ask, why did you choose a bear for your main character? Why not a child or an adult?

Aline: That is a good question—nobody’s asked me before.

To be honest, I prefer drawing animals to people. This bear appeared on my piece of paper, and it just felt right in my head. I never stopped to think that a child or an adult would make more sense—until now, that is. 🙂 In hindsight, I think the fact that it’s a bear is what gives it its humor.

Bear is so full of himself that he even forgets that he, too, is an animal that can be spotted. He’s sitting on a big rock, wearing flashy pants, and puts an exclamation point after every sentence, while telling us how to spot animals. You can spot him from miles away.

Maybe there’s a bit of Bear in me. I may say that people look at their cell phones too often, but I catch myself doing the same thing. 

Me: I love the variety of surprises tucked into this book (no spoilers) and the way your work just flows from page to page. Was it always this tight? How many revisions did your text and/or illustrations go through to get to this final state? Or was this a gift from the Muse that was good from the first draft?

Aline: I usually start by making a few drawings, and only later does a story develop from them. It’s a bit like how a musician sometimes has a melody in his head first, and then writes the lyrics to go with it.

The basis of this story came together pretty quickly and has remained largely the same in the final book. I did take a lot of detours along the way and tried out different things.

My style is fairly minimalistic and functional: I don’t draw anything that doesn’t add to the story. But I do see other children’s books that are more detailed and colorful. So I tried that, too, adding trees and more animals. But it didn’t feel right. In the end, I stayed true to myself and stuck to my original basic idea, without any frills.

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing and/or illustrating this story?

Aline: I think the fact that this story has taken me all the way to Sweden. I received a writing grant through deAuteurs to spend two weeks working on the book in the Swedish village of Björköby. I’d never been to Sweden before, but I’d wanted to go for a long time. It was there—oddly enough, surrounded by all those trees—that I decided to leave the trees out of my book.

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

Aline:

1. If you get stuck during your creative process: Shower. Do the dishes. Go for a drive. The best ideas come to me when I don’t have anything with me to write them down.
2. Stay true to yourself. It sounds easy, but it’s a bumpy road, with lots of challenges. Take a side road and get lost for a while. And then go back to the main road. It’s a great adventure and very rewarding in the end.
3. Take your work seriously but stay playful.

That is great advice Aline. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book publishes next week! It’s a story where the joke is on the main character and the reader gets to see all the reveals, but it still contains a giggle on every page. The laughter comes fast and furious with this one. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it!