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ABOUT THE STORY
In a world of Perfect Pets, Barnaby is as perfect as they come. When he's brought home to be pampered and cared for by his very own little girl, life is just about perfect… until a new, even more perfect pet comes on the scene - and Barnaby finds himself on a wild adventure through the city and an emotional search for home.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The Fan Brothers are… three brothers (what a surprise!) living in Canada. Devin is a youth worker and Terry & Eric followed an art training at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. The three of them worked on The Barnabus Project and the book we "talk" about today Barnaby Unboxed! Terry and Eric are the illustrators-authors of The Night Gardener, Ocean Meets Sky, It Fell from the Sky, Lizzy and the Cloud and they illustrated Chris Hadfield's picture book The Darkest Dark. Eric is also the author of Night Lunch, which is illustrated by Dena Seiferling.
OUR LITTLE INTERVIEW
1. After you wrote 'The Barnabus Project', did you know immediately you wanted another picture book in this universe? And how did you come up with little Barnaby's story? (sorry not sorry, I'm cheating with two questions!)
Eric: I don’t know exactly when we decided we wanted to write a second book, but I know it was fairly early on, possibly before The Barnabus Project had even published.
Terry: Yeah, I think we were still working on the first book. Barnaby’s story was inspired by one of the final spreads in The Barnabus Project, where Barnabus is hiding in the park with all his friends. In that spread, you see a little girl is walking her pet Barnaby, which got us thinking about the story from the opposite side of the fence – what would life be like for one of the Perfect Pets? We landed on the idea of a sequel that would start and end with almost the same two spreads as The Barnabus Project, but from a different and unique perspective. We pitched the book as an homage to the fallen star trope – All About Eve, Sunset Boulevard. It seemed like a funny way to approach the story and slip in some of the themes we wanted to explore.
Devin: I loved the idea of taking something that seems like an incidental detail, like the little girl walking Barnaby in the park, and then writing backwards from that image. Who are they? How did they get there? And then we imagined what it would be like for children looking back and rereading Barnabus because now you see that image in a whole new way.
2. Every picture book you write and illustrate has The Fan Brothers trademark: quality drawings and storytelling. If I'm not mistaken, I believe 'Barnaby Unboxed' and 'The Barnabus Project' are the two picture books with the brightest colors in your œuvre, how do you decide the color scheme when you're working on a story? And could you perhaps "tell" us a bit more about your process of writing/illustrating with each other?
Eric: We try to use color thematically, or to draw special attention to something. In The Night Gardener, for example, color was used to suggest the progression of the town from despair to joy, as well as William’s gradual emotional transformation. In It Fell from the Sky, color was used to show how out of place the marble was in the insect’s world, and introduce an almost Lovecraftian feeling - minus the cosmic dread. We wanted the marble to have an otherworldly quality, from the perspective of the insects.
Terry: For both The Barnabus Project and Barnaby Unboxed! we wanted a slightly more exuberant quality, because the books deal with commercialism and these colorful little creatures that are being manufactured and sold. We still used color to try to convey mood though, in more somber moments, like in the dark secret lab.
Devin: As far as writing/illustrating together, we have a long history of working on stuff together - various projects over the years that never quite got off the ground or are still in development. Through all those projects, working together has almost become second nature, And I love brainstorming! It’s one of my favourite things to do. What I love most is how it’s possible to build on each other’s ideas. A great brainstorming session is like building a fire - little flames spring up and die out, and if you’re lucky, something catches and then takes on a life of its own. I felt Barnaby was like that.
3. There are plenty of messages in this wonderful picture book, what is the most important message for each one of you?
Eric: One of the messages that’s most important to me is that central question of what it means to be “perfect” according to society’s standards, and how we can move away from defining self-worth by those external standards. Both The Barnabus Project and Barnaby Unboxed! are about shedding the labels that society places on you. For Barnabus, it’s about shedding the label of failure, and for Barnaby, it’s about transcending the label of “perfect” and learning about what really matters in life. Even though Barnaby is deemed perfect, he’s still stuck in a box and defined by that box, as much as Barnabus is stuck in his bell jar. His unboxing is about him escaping those defined parameters and finding a more authentic version of himself.
Terry: I liked that book critically explores our current culture of disposability. We tried to present it in a humorous way that hopefully isn’t overly didactic. It takes a theme that was hinted at in The Barnabus Project and expands upon it – the commodification of the Perfect Pets and the endless consumerism of “the next best thing.” There are a lot of images of trash in the book - things carelessly tossed aside or thrown away. Barnaby isn’t the only victim of this in the book since the whole business model of Perfect Pets is premised upon disposability, almost like fast fashion.
Devin: Like Eric, I hope kids reading this story realize that you don’t have to be perfect to find fulfillment and meaning; you just have to become yourself. I feel like Barnaby didn’t become himself until he had lost everything and had to find out who he was without his celebrity and everything that was attached to that. Who are you when you only have yourself to rely on? Who are your friends when there is no benefit to being your friend other than what you have to offer as a person (or pink elephant mouse)?
4. Our fourth question is always a different kind of question... here it goes: You already illustrated some book covers and created the illustrations in 'The Book that Proves Time Travel Happens'. What if one day they ask you to illustrate a book for adults, which book would you like to illustrate (and why)?
Eric: That’s a tough one! My first thought was Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino, just because it filled my head with so many vivid images while I read it, but when I actually imagine drawing all those intricate and fantastical cities, it seems pretty daunting. Maybe I’ll pick Animal Farm, by George Orwell. For an adult book, it leans visually into the realm of picture books and middle-grade, so maybe it would be more in my wheelhouse.
Terry: Hmmm, that is a tough one! There are so many wonderful books out there. I think it would be fun to do illustrations for Journey to the West, a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty, by Wu Cheng'en. Our dad had given me a two-volume copy of the books translated into English, and it’s such a richly imaginative story. I think it would suit my style, and it would be an honor to illustrate such a Chinese classic. However, it would be a tremendous challenge, so I’m glad this is just a “what if” question.
Devin: What a great and thought-provoking question! That’s so difficult. One of my all-time favourite books is called The Narrow Road to the Deep North. It’s an 18th century poetry travel journal by Matsuo Basho. I just love the images in that book, and they’ve stuck with me for life. It would be challenging because the Haiku in that book already serve as the illustrations in a way. But I love the material so much I think I could do something fun with it!
5. Can you already give us a hint about your next book?
Eric: Terry and I just started working on our next picture book, which should be published in 2026. I’m not sure how much we’re allowed to say about it at the moment.
Terry: Eric and I also just finished working on a cover and chapter illustrations for a middle-grade book, Growing Home, written by Beth Ferry.
Devin: I’m so excited to be illustrating a beautiful story written by a writer I love, but unfortunately, that’s all I can say about it right now!
Bonus question: what are you reading at the moment?
Eric: As to what I’m currently reading, I just finished Piranesi, by Susanna Clark, which was quite wonderful and mysterious. I have a couple of books on the go – Trust, by Hernan Diaz, and A Month in the Country, by James Lloyd Carr.
Devin: Right now I’m re-reading Anne of Green Gables, and loving it, and also the Saga of Erik the Viking. The Star-Sword! What a classic.
ABOUT THE BOOK
'Barnaby Unboxed!' (4+) is set in the universe of 'The Barnabus Project'. Both picture books are beautifully drawn, cute, and full of messages. This is the strength of The Fan Brothers: they know how to tell a good story both visually and lyrically. "Barnaby Unboxed!" follows Perfect Barnaby who has to find his own place in the world and who has to learn there is more to life than being perfect. It's a little adventure on the streets, it's about making friends, it's a picture book for young and old - how could it not with all its fantastic messages and gorgeous illustrations? And, of course, the book (like the rest of their work we mentioned!) is available in our shop.
Author: The Fan Brothers
Book: Barnaby Unboxed!
Publishing date: 05.09.2024
Website: The Fan Brothers
Instagram: thefanbrothers