In Our Notes…Illustrator Simone Krüger

We recently celebrated our second birthday, and as we looked for more ways to share with you as we publish new faith-based fiction for young readers, we have chosen to launch a new series of monthly posts called In Our Notes. These Q&A sessions with the illustrators and authors that we work with will, we hope, give you a behind-the-scenes view of who we are working with and how they are writing and drawing our elementary, middle grade, and young adult titles!

We are super excited to kick off our In Our Notes series this month with an introduction to Simone Krüger, the illustrator of The Bubble Who Would Not POP!

Simone lives in Karlsruhe, in the south west of Germany, near the French border. She originally studied graphic design and was employed as a graphic and web designer, but found that she preferred to draw all kinds of cute animals, lovely characters, and strange creatures instead. She signed with The Bright Agency about 2016, and Shelly Roark’s The Bubble Who Would Not POP! is her first illustrated children’s picture book.

Tell us a little bit about your family.
I think it must be quite a challenge for my Mom and Dad to raise three tomboy girls like us. I’m sure it wasn’t always easy for them but they did a fantastic job.

What do you enjoy most about Germany?
I like the varied nature in the south of Germany. There are lot of forests, hills and rivers…and vineyards. I love the vineyards here. They look great no matter what season and produce some fantastic vines.

When did you realize that you wanted to spend your life drawing?
I was 9 or 10 years old, and I read an article in the Mickey Mouse Magazine about the German-American character animator Andreas Deja. I was fascinated and asked my Mom if it would be ok if I could become an animator or character artist at the Disney Studios. She laughed and said it would be a great idea. I think this was the day I realized I want to spend my life drawing in some way.

How do you choose your projects?
This is simple: If it has at least two cute characters in it I’m in! Well, I wish it would be this simple, but as I try to earn a living, I always have to take a look at the budget and the time a project will take. But, cute characters definitely is a plus!

What drew you to the story of Billy Bubble in The Bubble Who Would Not POP!?
The timing for The Bubble Who Would Not POP! was just perfect. I was thinking about becoming a full-time freelance illustrator and talked with the lovely people at The Bright Agency about it. They helped me a lot and introduced me to Little Lamb Books. As I read the manuscript, I thought it was such a lovely story and I was very excited they gave me the chance to bring this great manuscript to life.

What are you the most excited about with your debut picture book?
As this is my debut book, I’m very excited about the thought that people will actually buy the book and read it with their children. I hope they will have a lot of fun reading the story and spot all the little details hidden in the illustrations. And, I hope the book will help them when they experience hard times.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
I would encourage them to try to draw as much as they can. And there is no need to hide their drawing. Go and show the world. Even if it is not perfect (and it never will be), the feedback from other people will be very helpful to get better and better.

Crayons or Markers? Why?
Definitely Crayons! I like their roughness, how they blend and their smell reminds me to my childhood. I used to have a great box with all different kinds of colors when I was a kid and I loved drawing with them.

What makes you happiest or brings you the most joy about what you do?
I love it when clients or costumers are excited about my work. I think this feeling beats all the joy and pleasure you feel while working on a illustration.

You can find out more about Simone and her illustrations via Instagram and Twitter. The Bubble Who Would Not POP! released September 28, and is available with Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Pick up your copy today!