Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Logan S. Kline (Finding Fire)!
Read on to learn more about him, his book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Logan S. Kline
Logan S. Kline is an artist living in the foothills of the Taconic Mountains of New York State. His work has appeared in The Boxcar Children series and in several magazines, including Highlights, Ladybug, and Cricket. His debut picture book is Finding Fire, recently published by Candlewick Press. “I love telling stories; stories with adventure and wonder, filled with expressive characters. I think storytelling can help us meet challenges that we didn’t anticipate. If a story is told well, it can help us understand what matters most.” When he’s not in his studio, you can find Logan S. Kline teaching high school art, playing Catan with his family, or hiking with the family dog, Tucker. He has a passion for the outdoors and primitive skills which inspired the story for Finding Fire. To see more of his work, visit www.loganskline.com.
About the Book: Finding Fire
Can a young boy find fire for his family—and bring it safely home? An exciting, nearly wordless picture book adventure as visually compelling as a Pixar short.
After a hard rain douses the family fire, a brave young boy sets out to search for more fire to bring home before the cold season sets in. Along the way, he’ll face many challenges, from perilous mountains to fearsome predators to raging rivers, and find something wholly unexpected: a friend. In his picture book debut, artist Logan S. Kline crafts a dramatic tale inspired by prehistoric times and told almost entirely through stunningly detailed illustrations. “Finding Fire started with the sketch of a small boy holding a torch and grew from there,” he says. “A lot of research went into creating the art for this book, yet the look of the boy changed very little over time as he was inspired by my children, from my younger son’s wiry frame to my elder son’s wild hair that goes in a million different directions.” This gorgeous adventure story just begs to be visited again and again, with each perusal promising new discoveries.
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~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
My sketchbooks can meander from one interest to the next. I like it that way. By having all your ideas spilling out and
overlapping one another, you gain an immediate understanding of which ideas are compelling and which ideas are
fleeting. Finding Fire started with a sketch of a Prehistoric child, a little boy. He had a lot of charm and charisma right off
the bat (that is not always the case with my character design). It only took a few attempts to get him ‘right’. I know why
he looked the way he did, he was a fusion of my two sons; my eldest’s wild hair and my youngest’s wiry frame. In the
beginning, this was accidental but I embraced it once I started rendering him in the way that he would appear in a
finished illustration. After that, the basic story almost wrote itself…it just tumbled out of me in one quick session. It was
rather organic and it blended a lot of my interests into one compact story.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the story?
Probably the story. For me, it almost always starts with a character sketch and then the story coalesces around the
character as I draw them. The title Finding Fire popped into my head almost as quickly as the plot but the story came
first.
YABC: What spread in the book are you most proud of, and why?
This is the toughest question you’re asking me. To pick one would be disingenuous on my part. But if you are going to
twist my arm…I’d say it’s the spread on pages 26 & 27. It was the second illustration that I created for the book (the
first, was the vignette of the mammoth sniffing the boy’s injured leg). This was well before we had sent the book out to
any publishing houses (and well before I knew that I would even have a publisher). It was my first successful attempt at
using ink and watercolor in my digital work. It was with this illustration that I realized how much work it was going to take
to finish the book. This spread also encompasses many of the distinct characteristics of the book; love of landscape and
wilderness, companionship and unlikely friendships, adventure, a primitive fur covered aesthetic. It was also very
challenging to finish…I love things more when I have to earn them.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
My hope for this book is that it connects with a child’s internal desire for adventure, courage, companionship, and the
satisfaction of being brave for those you love and care about.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
I love the cover of the book but it wasn’t what I first envisioned. The cover design came from an early rough sketch of a
book poster that I was considering. I drew it in a small sketchbook that I always keep with me, never intending it to be
the cover. I was told early on, by my editor, that I would have the final say over the text and the illustrations in Finding
Fire (which was true) but the cover would be a different matter. I was hopeful that the original cover design would be
selected by Candlewick’s marketing team but I prepared myself for the worst. The ‘worst’ (in my head) would be that I
would have to illustrate something that I wasn’t passionate about because it didn’t fit the book. When they selected this
design, I knew I was with the right people (I still feel appreciative of this). What I love about the cover is that it is the
result of a fabulous collaboration with my publisher. I’ve been around long enough to know that making a book isn’t
always a pleasant experience but in my case, it was more than pleasant, it was a dream come true.
By the way, since you are asking. Here is a fun fact about the cover. The cover is not just a made-up moment. It
actually takes place at a specific time and place in the story. There are some subtle clues but if you look closely you
can figure it out. This moment was inspired by my own experience camping with my two sons for the first time.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as an illustrator from
then to now?
Seek feedback from your audience…not necessarily for approval on creative decisions but instead for clarity of
communication. That was the best thing I did for this book. I asked kids what they saw on a particular page and then I
did my best to shut my mouth and listen. At a moment in the dummy book stage when I thought I had everything
worked out, a young boy turned to the ‘first fire’ spread and said…”Oh, he’s jumping in the fire!”. It was a shocking and
funny moment…the things kids say, right? It would have been easy to dismiss this sentiment as that of an
unsophisticated viewer but in truth he was the viewer. So instead, I admitted that I had not done my job as an illustrator
and I reworked the pose of the leaping boy. I reworked the ground surface texture, shading, and foreshortening so that
it was clear that this child was leaping for joy. And for the record…there are no human sacrifices in Finding Fire, thank
you very much.
YABC: What advice do you have for new illustrators, or illustrators writing their first book?
Make sure you are fully committed. Make sure you love the idea. It’s a lot of work and then reworking (see below for
some of the many concepts behind pages 2&3). You have to love the process of revision. Even a successful spread or
page turn will need to be finessed and refined more than once. This will be frustrating and will challenge your resolve.
You have to love the idea of creating a powerful moment for a child (and the person they are reading with). You need to
love this a lot more than you want (or need) the money you will make selling the book. Many children’s books do not
earn back their advance. This is a tough business and it is not always lucrative.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I have four stories that I’m mulling over. One is about a neanderthal girl who just might change the word, the other a
modern day Sasquatch girl who does not follow rules, the third is about a monarch butterfly whose white wings are not
the only unusual thing about it, and the fourth is a secret (don’t bother asking because I’m not talking about this one).
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Yes, it’s from my bio: ‘I think storytelling can help us meet challenges that we didn’t anticipate. If a story is told well, it
can help us understand what matters most.’
Title: Finding Fire
Author: Logan S. Kline
Illustrator: Logan S. Kline
Release Date: September 13, 2022
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN-10: 1536213020
ISBN-13: 9781536213027
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: Ages 4-8
~ Giveaway Details ~
Three (3) winners will receive a copy of Finding Fire (Logan S. Kline) ~US ONLY
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
Cool concept!
I love the cover and can’t wait to read and study the gorgeous artwork.
Gorgeous cover!