10 Things About Chris Jones!

For the latest edition of “Get to Know An Author” on the blog, we caught up with Chris Jones! He is a writer, illustrator and the creator of “Our Babysitter is a Monster,” which appeared in the March issue of Chickadee. We asked him to finish 10 sentences for us. Here are his answers:

1. The first thing I do in the morning is go for a walk with my dog, he’s a fun and furry wheaten terrier. After my walk, I will eat a breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries, followed by coffee. (Lots of coffee is very important!)

2. If I were an animal, I would be some sort of bird (maybe an eagle), so I could soar high above, enjoy the views and have the freedom to fly wherever I want.

3. My favourite book character is Gandalf (the wizard) from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings.

4. If I could have any superpower, it would be the power of flight; the ability to avoid all traffic and explore lots of interesting and remote places would be wonderful.

5. When I was a kid, I loved drawing silly characters and monsters.

6. My favorite thing to draw now is silly characters and monsters. I guess I’m still a kid at heart!

7. If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would visit Galápagos Islands. I love exploring nature and wildlife, so I’d really like to travel there one day.

8. My hidden talent is my ability to make myself yawn simply by drawing a person yawning.

9. What I love most about illustrating stories is creating characters, planning which moments in the story to illustrate, and adding as much humour as I can. I guess you could say I love the whole process.

10. My advice for young artists is to draw a lot. The more you draw, the more you learn to see the world around you. Bad drawings are okay—you can learn from them and improve if you keep at it. Draw when you feel like it and also when you don’t feel like it. This will develop your discipline, which is a very important skill for an artist. Most importantly, draw what you love— draw things that excite or inspire you!

Thanks so much, Chris!

If you’re feeling inspired, readers send us photos of your artwork for a chance to be featured on the Chickadee blog! You can send the images to chickadeeblog@owlkids.com.

Have a great day!

-Jenna, chickadeeblog@owlkids.com