Today's interview is a little unconventional because normally I try to time interviews with book publication dates (give or take a few months). This time, though, we're turning back the clock to celebrate a book that turned ten this month. I'm talking to Melissa Sweet about the highly-praised, award-winning 2014 picture book The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, written by Jen Bryant, and it's such a blast from the past that I'll let Melissa take it from here!
About the book:
"Words, Peter learned, were powerful things. And when he put them in long, neat rows, he felt as if the world itself clicked into order."
For shy young Peter Mark Roget, books were the best companions -- and it wasn't long before Peter began writing his own book. But he didn't write stories; he wrote lists. Peter took his love for words and used it to organize his ideas and find exactly the right word to express just what he thought. His lists grew and grew, eventually turning into one of the most important reference books of all time.
Check out the endpapers:
Let's talk Melissa Sweet!
MS: Thank you! It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade.
LTPB: How did you become the illustrator of The Right Word? What were the first images that popped into your mind when you saw Jen Bryant’s text?
MS: After Jen and I worked together on A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams (also a Caldecott Honor book with Eerdmans), we hoped to do more books together. When Jen told me about Peter Mark Roget and the genesis of her idea, my first thought was: Words lists. As a confirmed list maker, visual and otherwise, it was a dream project.
LTPB: Can you talk a little bit about the visual evolution of the book and the illustrations? As you did your research, how did your illustrations evolve?
MS: I begin every book by thinking, reading, researching, and considering material that reflects the story. My dummies are notoriously loose and cursory because ideas and imagery happens as I make collages and assemblages.
1. The research began by going to the Karpeles Manuscript Library in California to see Roget’s original thesaurus. It’s a small handwritten book on thin, gossamer paper. It was so delicate I likened it to holding a hummingbird. Though it was valuable to see his penmanship, it wasn’t readable enough to mimic or recreate.
This page is in the back matter of The Right Word.
2. I bought a print copy of Roget’s first thesaurus that was organized by 1000 ideas, unlike today’s thesaurus which is alphabetical. I still refer to this dogeared copy, marked up and tagged in all its glory.
3. Making dummies and thumbnails helps to play with the pacing of the story:
4. As the art unfolded, I pushed the concept of visual lists. Pretty soon I settled on the idea that all the words within the art would be from Roget’s original thesaurus and hand lettered to distinguish them from Jen’s text. I am fortunate that Jen and everyone agreed to this so I could incorporate the words that fit the art as seamlessly as possible.
Sketch for a using an old book...
...that then became these collages:
5. Lastly, because I was so enamored with Roget’s 1000 ideas, I wanted to include them on the back endpapers.
Writing out all these words helped me get to know Roget and this thought process better.
LTPB: You’re in pretty high demand these days! How do you keep your process fresh with every new book?
MS: It’s fun to mix it up, and each story and the research leads me down new paths to the type of art I want to try.
More often than not, I’m in classes to try new materials and techniques, or to learn from teachers who challenge me artistically.
The older I get, the more heightened my curiosity, and I’m spending any free time reading and researching natural world: birding, journaling, dendrology, weather. It’s definitely affecting my work.
LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?
MS: I used old books slated for the landfill. I may cut up pages, paint the covers, use bits of type in the collages. My medium is watercolor and gouache, pencil, collage. The materials change and approach changes slightly with every book, and now I’m having fun with printmaking and making my own papers to cut up.
LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?
MS: I’m working on books by Mary Oliver and one by E. B. White. But nothing I can show just yet. For my own reference I’m working on a book of trees in Maine.
LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?
MS: Great question! Saul Steinberg comes to mind, but the thought is overwhelming. Life is wildly fun, but honestly, from the outside looking in, my work is a quiet and internal process. Aside from pushing paper around in chaotic mess, it’s just me and my dogs and the art.
A decade of thanks to Melissa for taking time to turn back the clock for our chat! The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus published ten years ago this month!
Special thanks to Melissa and Eerdmans for use of these images!
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