Rotraut: First, I thought about a kind of book for children not yet able to read, but able to read stories only in pictures. In my opinion, reading pictures is something children are very good at, even better than adults, and it is important to explore the world. The idea was not only to tell one story, but to show complex relations between a lot of individuals, stories depending on seasons and places, stories with a time factor, which is the first condition of storytelling. And last but not least, I loved picture-stories when I was a child. It was my very first experience of independent reading.
Rotraut: I was asked in 2002 by my publisher if I could do a big paperboard-book for very little children - a more modern version of the so-called "Wimmel-books“. Those books were successful in Germany since the seventies. To be honest, I was not motivated to do something like this, but I began to think about something new: a series of books where I could show the developing of a whole year, of relationships, the seasons, the change of time, nature and life without any words. I began in 2003 with the winter-book and finished the series in 2007 with the autumn-book. One year later, I completed the series with the night-book. So you find not only a whole year, but also all daytimes and nighttimes in the books.
Rotraut: I had some friends in mind when I developed the characters for the first book, which was the Winter-book. There was, for instance, my husband, who is the bookseller at the market square. But there is also another friend, who is always losing something. The little story in the winter-book when he loses his key and wallet is taken from life, as well as the running gag which you find in each following book: a lost hat or cap from Susanne (that’s her German name), who could be probably be me.
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e: What do you think makes an illustration magical, what I call "Heart Art” - the sort that makes a reader want to come back to look again and again?Rotraut: This is a difficult question: if I knew exactly what it was, I could probably create a recipe. The balance between distance and high identification with the figures you are drawing could be a key. And it is also important to forget to whom the work is addressed. If I feel that the moment of the work is the most important, when I try to do my very best just for me, there could spring up something we call authenticity.
e: How do you advertise yourself, or do you?
Rotraut: I hope that my work is doing a good job advertising itself.
e: Indeed, I think it is! Congratulations on the Hans Christian Andersen Awards!
What is your favorite or most challenging part of being a creator?
Rotraut: Being free in creating and inventing books, stories, art…. but this can also be paralyzing: creating is always an act of deciding, which means that I am always forced to discard so many possibilities and ideas.
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Rotraut: I meet now a lot of people who grew up with my books, and I am always moved when I am told how much they loved, for instance, some special persons or animals or stories in my books. This is more I could ever expect from my work. And I am really proud that a lot of parents let me know that they are grateful for the time when their very little children occupy themselves with the books, reading them again and again…..
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Rotraut: There is another series for little children I wrote over the last 18 years: it is about a little rabbit-boy called Karlchen (little Charly). His adventures are going to be filmed right now as an animated movie for cinema, and I will do something for this event.
e: Wow - that sounds fabulous! It's been an honor to have you visit - thank you!
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