Henry Cole has written and illustrated more than 150 books for children, including Spot, the Cat; And Tango Makes Three; Oink?; and Little Bo in France. He is also the illustrator of With a Little Help from My Friends by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A former elementary school teacher, he now writes and paints full time.

I had the opportunity to interview Henry, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thank you for your questions, and for your interest in my work.

I am a self-taught children’s book illustrator. I was an elementary science teacher for many years at a fabulous school outside of Washington DC.  I had always wanted to illustrate, had always been drawing and doodling on the side, and had made some illustrations for a book about bats. One day a visiting author came to our school, I somehow rustled up the courage to ask her the name of an editor that might be interested in my bat book (would never imagine doing that today! So naïve!) But this kind author was also a bat fan, and gave me her editor’s name and address. I wrote a letter (a Letter! With an envelope! And a stamp! It involved the Post Office!) and that evolved into a meeting at HarperCollins in NY, and a contract for book (about bats!). I remember later, that evening, having a vodka gimlet at the Marriott Marquis and requesting ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams’ from the guy playing the piano. What a great day!

That was about 150 books ago.

As an illustrator, one of your most famous projects is And Tango Makes Three, one of the first traditionally published LGBTQ+ children’s books. How did you come to work on this project, and what was the creative collaboration process like with the authors?

David Gale, the editor for ‘Tango’ at Simon and Schuster, contacted me and asked if I would create some character sketches for Roy and Silo, the penguins in the story. I did some soft drawings, I think pencil and water color, trying to give the penguins just a bit of personality and expression. Apparently David, and the art director, and the authors, liked them!

What does having worked on And Tango Makes Three mean to you?

It’s nice having a nationally known book with my name on it. (well, internationally known… it’s printed in a bunch of languages). It wasn’t an easy book to do: most of it takes place in a fairly monotone, rocks-and-water-and-penguin-poop setting. So I tried to make the expressions and emotions of the story take over.

I like seeing it get challenged, usually for having an ‘agenda’. It’s a sweet, true story! There is no agenda!

As a creative, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially picture books?

I didn’t know ‘creative’ was a noun!

I love pictures in books…I wasn’t a great reader as a kid, but I saw the value of the illustrations. ‘Charlotte’s Web’? The best. A little bit of character, of expression, just a bit, in the characters’ faces. Just enough.

How would you describe your creative process?

Early to rise.

Get in the zone.

No distractions. Tell everyone to leave me alone.

Phone is OFF.

But possibly a Bette Davis movie is ON.

A Manhattan may help.

What are some of your favorite elements of illustrating? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult? 

I love creating the character sketches. Over and over. I love working with pen and paper.

There are infinite ways to illustrate any one page of a story, so it’s tough narrowing things down.

This sounds silly but I get tired of leaving space for words. Maybe that’s why I’ve illustrated a number of wordless books!

I’ve heard many times that I don’t have a ‘style’, because I illustrate different books differently. For example, a book about a chicken wearing underwear looks very different from a book about a meadow. Some illustrators have a definite style, which is fine…but then all of their books look alike.

And I’m a bit tired of trying to please everyone. Editors telling me to change the characters of my story to be ‘more inclusive’. I’m an old white guy! My stories are my stories!

As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest artistic and creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?

There’s definitely a what: being outside (a lot) as a kid. I studied Forestry in college and lots of life sciences, identifying plants and animals. Much of that comes out in my pictures.

And some who’s….I never get tired of looking at the works of:

John Audubon

John Singer Sargent

Joaquin Sorolla

Norman Rockwell

Also the New Yorker covers by Sempe.

My mother was an illustrator for magazines and newspapers in the 1940s and I learn a lot by looking at her drawings. So simply done, sparse. They look so effortless.

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

I play the accordion, I love to square dance, I was in 4-H as a youth, and for all of these things I had a large ‘Kick Me’ sign on my back for years!

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

I’ve presented to thousands and thousands of elementary school kids, and they ask great questions, but I’ve never been asked if I like music.

I enjoy all kinds of music, from opera to country to jazz.

And I love to dance, to great music. I once taught Benazir Bhutto to jitterbug!

What advice might you have to give for aspiring picture book creators?

Work with people who understand your work and give you support, and who have a sense of humor. Learn all you can but stick to your gut. MY favorite piece of advice, that I received from a great art director years ago, when I just could NOT get the foot right on a character I was drawing: “Put a bucket in front of it!” Love that!

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

I have a book coming out on the Spring 2025 list: ‘Mighty: The Story of an Oak Tree Ecosystem”.  The art was done with Micron .005 pens on Bristol, (that is one teensy tiny pen!), and each page is roughly 20” x 16”, so lots of work. The book took me about 2 years total to complete.

The project began with several irritating false-starts with different publishers, but I’m so grateful for the wonderful Kathy Landwehr at Peachtree/Holiday House who took it on and spent countless hours working on it with me. Definitely a labor of love.

Finally, books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

I like non-fiction, and I enjoy history. The last few books I’ve read include:

Clouds of Glory (Korda)

Undaunted Courage (again)

War That Ended Peace

Leonardo da Vinci (Issacson)

And b/c I am deeply interested in WW2:

Splendid and the Vile

A Village in the Third Reich

In the Garden of Beasts

THANK YOU!