The journey begins …
Hi, neighbor. Thanks for visiting me in my neighborhood and joining me on this journey with our favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers.
Like many children growing up in the ‘80s, I spent a lot of time gazing wide-eyed at the television - the magical portal to a world of imagination and inspiration! Among my favorite shows, were Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and countless classic cartoons that filled the airwaves. There was one show, however, that stood out for it’s unique approach from start to finish - Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The moment, Mister Rogers opened the door and began singing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”, you felt safe, calm and joyful. As Mr. Rogers donned his iconic cardigan and laced up his blue shoes, you knew you were in for a unique experience that would explore the neighborhood, your emotions and spark your imagination. No matter what worries, problems or hurts I’d felt that day, I always felt right at home, with Fred’s warm welcome and peaceful spirit.

I Believe in Make-Believe
Growing up in the small town of Buena Vista, Colorado, the neighborhood visits to crayon factories, recycling centers, music shops and more, gave me a glimpse into a world far beyond my own neighborhood. The visits with famous musicians, artists and authors inspired me most. Through these visits, I learned of possibilities for me to pursue my own creative dreams! However, my favorite part of each episode, was Trolley taking us to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. There was a simple creativity to the sets, but a powerful depth to the stories shared there. All the puppet friends too, were far less animated than the characters from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, yet they captured an emotion and energy that made them a perfect pair to Mister Rogers simple, easy to relate with approach to learning life lessons. Daniel Tiger, King Friday the XIII, X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Grandpere, and Cornflake S. Pecially, I loved them all … well, expect Lady Elaine Fairchilde, she frightened me!

Puppets (in some form) populated nearly every favorite live action show and film I grew up loving. To me, they were far more than puppets. They were living characters that could easily exist in reality. That’s the incredible magic of puppetry! One of my all time favorite episodes was when BIG BIRD came to visit the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and this boggled my tiny child brain - having one of my favorite Sesame Street characters, NOW visiting the neighborhood of Make Believe! And to top it all off, they were having a DRAWING contest!? This was rocket fuel for my dreams of being a puppeteer, storyteller and artist!

Finding Fred again
Jump ahead 35 years to June 2018, and I was once again, sitting wide-eyed (and teary-eyed) watching the heartwarming magic of Mister Rogers. This time, it was in a small theatre, and the film was Won’t You Be My Neighbor (from Focus Features). A truly powerful documentary celebrating the life, work and impact that Fred Rogers had on so many areas of our culture, character development and approach to children’s television. I hadn’t visited Mr. Rogers neighborhood in quite some time, and the film brought back a flood of treasured memories. Now seeing this world of Fred Rogers through the eyes of an adult, a father of 3, and an author/illustrator, I was experiencing a whole new range of emotions, and my mind was spinning with new dreams and ideas.

As I left the theatre, I told my wife “I’d LOVE to work on a children’s book that celebrates Mister Rogers, and shares that message of kindness, simplicity and creativity.” I had been missing that message in my own heart, and was feeling stuck in so many areas of life. Once again, Fred Rogers had welcomed me into his inspiring world, and I wanted to find a way to share that same inspiration with a new generation and help the older generation remember what it was like visiting Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

A Simple Invitation
Two months later, on August 5, 2018 the first step of that new journey began. An unexpected, but life-changing email from Doogie Howard (former Art Director at Quirk Books) arrived in my inbox. It read:

"We're publishing a book called A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Poetry of Mr. Rogers. It's a collection of the lyrics of his many songs, presented as verse. Would you be interested in illustrating the book? I like your work, especially your He-Man poster.”

A simple invitation, that would be the start of MANY more invitations and inspiring moments of celebrating Fred Rogers life, work and legacy. My response was an INSTANT and joyful “YES!” to Doogie and the Quirk Books team. The schedule was going to be tight, but I knew the wheels of inspiration where already spinning wildly so the creative energy needed to meet the deadline would be ready to go from day one! I was introduced to the amazingly talented, Andie Reed (Associate Art Director) and we got the first pieces of the project puzzle in place.

More Than a Book Project
The greatest source of inspiration was going back to the origin of it all. Re-watching old Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes took me back to those childhood moments of inspiration, but I also found an entirely NEW collection of favorite moments and messages I hadn’t fully understood as a child. While I was working on the book, I had my collection of Mister Rogers’ records (and a few digital albums) playing on repeat to set the mood. A joyful spirit filled the creative cave for each day and night of creativity! I also spent time reading and listening to several books/audiobooks both by Fred, and biographies about Fred. I learned so much, I hadn’t known about the journey that Fred had been on from his childhood to the final days of his life.

This was a TRULY transformative process that has had a lasting impact on my heart, mind and spirit. I was reconnecting with Fred’s message in a way I hadn’t ever felt, and it made a world of difference working every day on this cherished project. It flowed from my heart, into my pen and onto the pages like I had never felt before. A magical and moving experience that was MORE than just a book project - but also a positive, thoughtful and desire to create

A few HIGHLY recommended sources of inspiration:

A Door to the Neighborhood
The journey to finding the correct cover art is always my favorite part of the book process, and key to the success of a book. In the case of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the team all knew the content inside - the songs and poetry of Fred Rogers - had already captured the hearts of millions! No pressure … we just needed to create a cover that would be fitting of the honor of being the first book to collect all these beloved poems/songs into one BEAUTIFUL treasury. The road to capturing the warm spirit of Mister Rogers and his joyful neighborhood friends was quite a winding one.

The FINAL cover for this book, is the EXACT reason I cherish the talents, insights and leadership of art directors! Andie Reed (along with the Quirk Books crew and Fred Rogers Productions team) went above and beyond to help guide this process every step of the way. We started out exploring 3 very different concept styles, then narrowed it to one we felt best fit the tone we were hoping to capture. But that was just the beginning.

Finding the right look for Fred’s face and balance of the surrounding elements/characters was key to making the cover as inviting as possible. My illustrative style is rather whimsical and this meant trying to figure out how to keep my style and still capture Fred’s persona. A challenge that took SEVERAL rounds of concepts … but in the end, was worth every bit of evolution it went through. Yes, Fred started out a bit WIDE-EYED and a little TOO excited, and Daniel started out rather lifeless and flat. But again, that’s the joy of creating with a talented team … working TOGETHER helps it all come together!

I’ve always seen the cover art as the door that readers enter into the world of the story, or in this case, the neighborhood of Fred’s treasury of poetry! The final cover art finally felt like the warm welcoming door for readers to enter through …

FUN NOTE: Quirk provided a great sketch concept (first slide above) for the cover, which had a Shel Silverstein poetry collection vibe. Since Shel Silverstein is the author/illustrator that MOST inspired me to want to be an author/illustrator as a kid this was a double kick of inspiration … and a fun connection that would occur again later on bookshelves alongside Silverstein books!

Tigers, Dragons and Giraffes … OH MY!
The monumental task of not only trying to capture the heart of Fred’s poetry, but also the amount of illustrations required, made this a project like none I’d taken on before. With over 60 unique illustrations, filling the 143 pages, and a fast approaching deadline, I knew this creative marathon was going to be a challenge. And it all began, with a REALLY tall giraffe. That was the first illustration I created for the team, to be sure the correct style for the interior illustrations matched the charm and heart of the cover. From there, the Quirk Books and Fred Rogers Productions team gave me a creative freedom that truly helped bring a calm and clear process to the creation of each page. We moved with a pace that would have made Mr. McFeely quite impressed … each new piece of art delivered with a "SPEEDY DELIVERY” mindset!

I couldn’t have been MORE inspired to be illustrating my favorite puppet pals from The Neighborhood of Make-Believe along with a diverse range of human neighbors young and old. Fred Rogers music, stories and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes playing in the background continued to set the mood in the creative cave. Bringing classic moments from the show to life, like Fred’s powerful duet with Jeff Erlanger, or sweet moments between Daniel Tiger and Lady Aberlin were deeply moving. I also enjoyed creating new adventures for the Neighborhood of Make-Believe friends as they sailed, soared and explored across the pages, mingling with the poems of Mister Rogers.

I imagined all the little readers that would be learning these poems for the first time, or lifelong fans that would be reliving them perhaps alongside their children. I wanted each illustration to take them to that same calm and encouraging space that Mister Rogers created. It kept me clearly focused and fueled with creative energy!

A few sketch to final pieces: