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Kids Q&A INK Q&A Tech Q&A


 
Kids Q & A

 
Antoinette Portis

Describe your latest project.
My new book, Not a Stick, is about what a child (in this case a pig) imagines when playing with a stick. It's a sequel to Not a Box (in case you hadn't figured that out).

Not a Stick
by Antoinette Portis
Your Price: $12.99
(New - Hardcover)
Not a Box
by Antoinette Portis
Your Price: $12.99
(New - Hardcover)

How did the last good book you read end up in your hands?
My daughter gave me The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman for Christmas. It's a beautiful book — a journal in words and paintings. I love her work — it's inspiring. We collect some of the same weird stuff, like claim check numbers and ephemera (like paper bags) from abroad.

Do you read the Sunday funnies, and which are your favorites?
I enjoy reading the Sunday funnies when I have time. (My highest priority is the crossword puzzle!) I like Mutts. Patrick McDonnell is a wonderful artist — there's kind of a Japanese sumi-e brush work influence visible which I really like. And I read Bliss because I'm a big fan of Diary of a Worm. I like Baby Blues too, even though my baby is all grown up.

What is your favorite breakfast cereal?
Cap'n Crunch, even though it lacerates the roof of your mouth. I like it for dessert — then your mouth has time to heal overnight.

What do you do for relaxation?
I read, go on hikes in the mountains with my husband, and do crossword puzzles.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was a kid I wanted to write and illustrate books. After my class went to the Natural History Museum, I also wanted to be an archaeologist and dig up Egyptian mummies and Canopic jars with livers and hearts in them. Here's whats weird — my little sister (who went to the same museum) did become an archaeologist and she was on a dig in Peru and found an ancient body buried in a jar.

Why do you write books for kids?
I write books for kids because when I was a kid, they were central to my life. Reading was my most favorite thing in the world. I always wanted to be part of that alchemy. To make something that would be part of children's memories the way so many books are a part of mine.

Tell us about your pets.
My daughter had a pet rat when she was little. The nakedness of a rat's tail creeped me out at first — looked too much like a snake... But rats are intelligent and affectionate and I grew to love Sophie. We bonded because one day she escaped from her cage and we couldn't find her anywhere. That night I woke up because she was running through my hair. I was touched that she sought out human contact. I put her back in her cage, and her tail didn't gross me out anymore after that.

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Antoinette Portis attended the UCLA School of Fine Arts and is a former creative director at Disney Consumer Products. She lives in Studio City, CA.