by Anna Raff

“Wooo-hooo!”

That’s a direct quote from yours truly, the moment I read an email from my art director, offering me the opportunity to illustrate a new picture book by the fantabulous Tara Lazar—our Storystorm Grand Poobah. One glance at the title ”PARTY ANIMALS” and I knew I was going to love it.

I’d illustrated around 15 picture books at this point, with each one being near and dear to my heart. Cue my fellow kidlit creators out there who understand—with the amount of time that goes into them, you’d better feel connected! Yet for me, it felt viceral with Tara’s hilarious story. This was a book I knew I’d have a ball with—visualizing the world of these quirky characters in a way that, hopefully, readers would return to again and again.

Sometimes, it’s the stories that we feel closest too that can morph into something difficult. We assign so much importance to getting things just right, it can feel crippling. I’m no stranger to moments of panic in my work—it’s pretty much been happening my whole career. To be honest, I consider it an intregal part of my process now. After a while, I’d learned to compartmentalize it. But wow…I really wanted this book to be great. Cue the panic!

Inevitably, when I sat down to sketch PARTY ANIMALS, my ideas were flat and obvious…the absolute opposite of a party. Clearly, my usual “take a walk and it’ll be better tomorrow” tactic was not going to cut it. This project demanded more of me, a different approach.

Full disclosure, I am not much of a sketchbook keeper. Sketchbook acquirer? Yes…to the point of obsession. As a kid, I used to collect stickers, but never used them. (Anyone remember Wacky Packages?) I’m very much the same way about sketchbooks now. I keep thinking, one of these days I’ll find the sketchbook of my dreams that will transform me into a sketchbook user extraordinaire. It took me a while to figure it out, but now I accept that I’m more of a sketchbook note-taker, list-maker than a sketchbook sketcher. And that’s okay!

To get myself out of my state of panic, I settled on creating detailed dossiers for the Party Animals. (I liked the word “dossier”, since it implied lists over sketching…that work would come later. Also, it sounded sneaky.) Instead of jumping into thumbnails or character sketches and studies, I focussed on their back stories and motivations, listing everything that came to mind about them.

I started by asking myself questions. What made them tick? Did each animal have a special ability or obsession? For instance Beatrix the elephant is an expert baker. “What sort of bakes does a Party Animal make for the fabulous, oddball house parties in Tara’s text?” I wondered. (Btw, my favorite is the brain cake from the thinking party.) And what does an elephant wear to a party like that?

Or take Phoebe, the rock star musician. What instruments does she play? And if a party demands it, what could she find around the house to incorporate into her party playlist?

In the end, I wound up with a detailed encyclopedia of content that I could go back to again and again as I built the pages. A lot of it made it into the book—plenty of it did not. But all of it helped me visualize their world and calm me down. Much like a method actor might immerse themselves in a character, the dossiers got me to think like a Party Animal. And most of all, it got me out of panic mode…out of my own way.

Anna Raff is an award-winning illustrator of many books for children, including PARTY ANIMALS, IF I WERE A KANGAROO, and YOU MAKE ME SNEEZE! Her book THE DAY THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED MY HEAD was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year and New York Public Library Best Book. Anna is on the faculty of the MFA Illustration program at the School of Visual Arts, and lives in New York City, surrounded by party animals. Visit her online at AnnaRaff.com, on Instagram @annaraff and BlueSky @annaraff.bsky.social. 

Anna Raff is giving away a 30-minute virtual classroom visit via Zoom. 

You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2025 participant and you have commented only once below.

Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.