Update - Winner Announced! Celebrate World Turtle Day with Tara J. Hannon!

6/4: Congrats to Dianne Borowski on winning Tara J. Hannon's giveaway! We'll be in touch soon with more details.

A special thanks to everyone who joined us and celebrated Birtles and turtles with us, too!

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5/23/2024

Hello, readers, writers, and turtle lovers of all sorts! Today is World Turtle Day - a day where we celebrate our shelled friends. And what better way to celebrate than with Tara J. Hannon, author and illustrator of the adorable Graphic Novel Series, Birtle! Birtle and the Purple Turtles and new release Birtle and the (Very) Unwelcome Garry follow Tootie and Teeny, a turtle and bird duo, as they celebrate their friendship and differences. The colorful illustrations also make these reads such a treat! Want to know about Tara, here adorable books and illustrations, PLUS want tips on writing Graphic Novels and a chance to win a copy of her new book, Birtle and the (Very) Unwelcome Garry? Read on...

Q: Thanks so much for joining #SeasonsOfKidLit, Tara! We’re thrilled to host you, and to hear about your graphic novel series, Birtle and the Purple Turtles & Birtle and the (Very) Unwelcome Garry.  Before we get started, can you share a little bit about yourself and how you got started in your career as a writer and illustrator for kids?  

A: Thank you so much for having me! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate World Turtle Day. Ok, let’s see. I have wanted to illustrate children’s books since I was very young. I remember setting a goal after I graduated college to, 'illustrate my first children’s book by age 23’. (That timeline came and went - as timelines tend to do - but I kept going.) It wasn’t until I had my first baby that I actually started digging into the craft of writing picture books and working toward that goal in a realistic way. That’s also when I learned about agents, queries, and submission processes. My oldest is now 9 year-old and my first author-illustrator book was released this year. My timeline was vastly off from my originally projection but somehow everything still feels right on time. 

Q: Birtle and the Purple Turtles features Tootie the turtle and Teeny. Together, they play tag and find they have a lot in common. Tootie, however, soon realizes that Teeny isn’t a turtle - she’s a bird!

Can you share more about the story and the inspiration behind it? What do you hope young readers will take away from your book? 

A: I hope that readers walk away from this book series with the understanding that they are perfect just the way they are. When we are young (and not so young) a lot of the messages we receive tell us that we need to fit in to survive. Change this, change that, assimilate, don’t stand out… etc. But all that does is fuel that voice in our head telling us that we aren’t enough. So I’d like BIRTLE to be a little boost to that other voice we have jingling around inside our heads that says, I am enough. Because YOU ARE PERFECT JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!

Q:  Congrats on your newest book, Birtle and the (Very) Unwelcome Garry, releasing on May 28th!

I love how Tootie and Teeny, the unlikely friend-duo, get another adventure together. 

In this story, Tootie and Teeny head to the beach and meet a gull named Gary who keeps interrupting their plans. 

Can you share more about this new adventure? How is their friendship put to the test?

A: In BIRTLE AND THE (VERY) UNWELCOME GARRY Tootie and Teeny head to the beach for what they are calling a BFF Birtle Beach Bonanza! They have big plans for the two of them, it’s going to be birtle-tastic! But when Garry, a very eager seagull comes along, three feels like a crowd. Teeny is very excited to meet another bird - they have some much in common, but Tootie is not used to sharing her best friend and begins to feel left out. After a bit of a blowout, the BFFs work through their jealousy and Tootie discovers that making new friends with your best friend can be pretty awesome. It explores the topics of friendship, jealousy, and acceptance.

Q:  I’ve always been such a big fan of your whimsical and colorful illustrations! Can you share some of your favorite spreads from the book? Why are they your favorites and do you have any illustration tips out there for those looking to become graphic novel illustrators? 

A: Thank you so much. My favorite spreads - visually - are when I break out of the panel frames. You can’t do that on every spread, so when it happens it feels like a little treat. This page, where Teeny is lying over the panel frame sighing, is one of my favorites. I needed to show Teeny’s growing boredom, but I only had one page to do it. So showing Teeny draped over the panel felt like a good way to exaggerate her emotion in the moment. I also really enjoyed the simplicity of these character’s faces. I think it allowed me to push their expressions, and I had a lot of fun doing that. 

As an illustrator, you can do a lot visually while keeping things simple (the big eyeballs of these characters really help me portray expressive emotions.) That was my goal with these characters. I studied a lot of graphic novels to see how others were doing it and that was very helpful to me. 

Thanks so much for sharing! The spreads are such fun.

Readers, make sure to check out the slideshow above with a closer peek as some of Tara's spreads.

Q: What’s one question about your books/writing/illustrating etc. that you wish we would have asked you?

A: I don’t know that I have a specific question in mind that I wish I had asked. But once I started working with an editor (shout out to Erinn Pascal from AMP Kids, she is AMAZING!) I realized that story making can be more fluid than I originally allowed it. I started creating BIRTLE with lots of rules in mind (page count, word count, color palette, panel structure, etc). Once I started working with Erinn, I realized she wasn’t paying attention to rules, she encouraged me to make my choices based only on what served the story. Yes, we had a specific page count to hit. But every other decision was made specifically to serve the story. The process was far more organic than I realized. It was a great lesson. So now when I create, I focus on the story first and foremost and let everything else fall in place around it. 

Q: BONUS QUESTION: What’s one way Tootie and Teeny celebrate World Turtle Day?

A: Haha. Great question! Tootie and Teeny would definitely grab some grubby snacks and head to the beach to celebrate Turtle Day!

Q: What upcoming books of yours can we keep an eye out for and what other titles can we check out ASAP?

A: I am really excited about my ONLY GHOST chapter book series (Penguin Workshop) that is coming out in Summer 2025. It is about a ghost who moves to an all-human town and struggles to find belonging among his human classmates. I am also illustrating a graphic novel series written by, Lydia Lukidis, called, Groucho the Grouchy Groundhog (AMP Kids). The first book in that series releases Fall 2025 followed by the second book in Spring 2026.

I am honestly so excited about these books and I can’t wait to share them with you all!

So exciting - we'll keep a lookout for those!

Q: Would you like to leave a sweet tip or treat for our readers?

A: I'd like to leave some tips and treats!

I wrote a detailed newsletter filled with tips about creating graphic novels.

Here is a link so they can access it: https://mailchi.mp/35ece5957a46/the-graphic-novel-issue

Also I am happy to give away a copy of BIRTLE AND THE VERY UNWELCOME GARRY!

Wow! Thanks so much for such neat tips and treats!

Giveaway Instructions: Readers, to enter this giveaway please 1) leave a comment below and let Tara know why you can't wait to check out her Birtle series and 2) Please share this post on social media.

The giveaway winner will be drawn and announced on or about 5/31.

Note: Books will be shipped in the US only. Winners must have a US address.

Thanks again for stopping by Tara! We had a great time connecting with you.

About Tara J. Hannon:

Tara J. Hannon lives in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay with her daughters and husband. She is the author-illustrator of the early graphic novel series, BIRTLE (AMP Kids) and the forthcoming chapter book series, THE ONLY GHOST (Penguin Workshop) coming in 2025. She is also excited to be illustrating the graphic novel series, GROUCHO THE GROUCHY GROUNDHOG, written by Lydia Lukidis, slated for 2025.

Tara enjoys honest books, heavy with heart and humor. When not writing or illustrating she can be found being so uncool it's almost cool, with her daughters and husband and jogging. She can rarely be found sleeping and she is okay with that.

For more about Tara, check out the below links:

X (Twitter): @tarajhannon

Instagram: @tarajhannonillustration

To purchase Tara's books on Amazon or to leave a review for them, click here.

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