Inspirational Interview with Children’s Book Creator Debbie Ridpath Ohi
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I’ve followed Debbie Ridpath Ohi online for over a decade, loving the art that she drew on found objects and cheering her on as she’s become a very successful picture book author and illustrator. I was thrilled to interview Debbie over email about her newest, very personal picture book, I Want to Read All the Books. (A book after my own heart because me, too, Debbie. Me, too.)
About Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Debbie Ridpath Ohi’s writing or art has appeared in over 20 books for young people. She is the award-winning author and illustrator of Where Are My Books? and Sam & Eva with Simon & Schuster. Her illustrations appear in books by Judy Blume, Michael Ian Black and Linda Sue Park, among others. Her upcoming book, I Want To Read ALL The Books, launches Sept 2024. Debbie lives with her husband in Toronto, Canada. For more info, see DebbieOhi.com.
Interview with Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Melissa: Thank you so much for doing this interview with me. Let’s dive in.
What was your writing process like?
Debbie: When I decided to turn my constant mantra, “I want to read all the books, ” into a picture book, I brainstormed possible story ideas. In the beginning, each of these were just a few sentences at most. Then I let them marinate. The marinate stage is essential because I always find that pretty much EVERY story idea is super exciting in the beginning. The real test is whether I’m still excited about the story a few weeks later!
Once I’m positive that an idea is worth pursuing, I work on a full first draft. I usually start with the ending, as counter-intuitive as that may sound. Why? Because figuring out how I want the book to end helps all the other pieces fall into place. When the first draft is finished, then I break the text up into page spreads.
This helps me better visualize what the final spread might look like, if there is enough going on or if there’s too much going on, check for pacing and flow, if the page turns make sense, and so on.
The original version of I Want To Read ALL The Books was also about a little girl who wanted to read ALL the books and had lots of questions, but the girl’s family had just moved and she was sad and feeling disconnected. I liked bits of the story, but I could tell it wasn’t working. My critique partners said the emotional arc wasn’t clear, so I decided to reach out to my editor at Simon & Schuster, Justin Chanda, for help.
One of the many reasons I love working with Justin is that he never micromanages, but instead makes suggestions and asks me lots of questions to help me figure out the heart of my story and how best to tell that story. It’s truly a creative collaboration, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the process. I’ve learned so much from Justin over the years!
Melissa: Did you base this story on your own personal experiences?
Debbie: Yes! When I was a child, I used to believe that someday (SOMEDAY) I’d be able to read all the books. My parents used to take me and my younger siblings to the public library every week, and let us choose whatever books we wanted to borrow.
Of all the books I have helped create, this is the most personal. So many of the people, animals, and places in this book were inspired by people, animals, and places in real-life. The small library was inspired by the Palmerston branch of the Toronto Public Library, where I used to work.
The older couple in the spread showing the Toronto Metro Reference Library exterior are my parents. My mom died over 30 years ago, but I drew her as I imagined she would look today.
Melissa: I can relate to Hana because reading all the books was my childhood goal– and now, I’m the (weirdo?) random person recommending books to readers on my blog and random strangers in bookstores and libraries. 🙂 Where do you get your book recommendations from?
Debbie: Another great question! I get my book recommendations from many places, but primarily word of mouth. The last three children’s books that I bought from Mabel’s Fables (my local children’s indie, which also inspired one of the spreads in my book) were because of book posts and conversations I recently had on Bluesky, as well as the KidLit & YA Book Recommendation feed (link: https://bsky.app/profile/debbieohi.com/feed/kidlit-ya-recs).
I also ask indie booksellers for advice. Kristen Chew and Michelle Sagara West, two booksellers at Bakka-Phoenix in Toronto, are two whose recommendations of middle grade and YA have always been on spot-on. Eleanor LeFave of Mabel’s Fables, has given me excellent picture book recommendations.
Melissa: How did you make the illustrations? I love how the characters are more saturated than the backgrounds!
Debbie: Thanks for the kind words about my art! I have to give credit to Laurent Linn, my brilliant art director at Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, who continues to help me improve my visual storytelling skills. I have learned so much from him!
The first stage of my illustration process is usually very scribbly and full of stick figures. I’ve learned not to spend too much time on details in the beginning but instead focus on figuring out the general layout, how to use visual elements to not just enhance but add depth to the written text.
Drawing backgrounds has always been more of a challenge for me since I far prefer focusing on the characters. For I Want To Read ALL The Books, I purposely wrote a story where I’d have to draw lots of backgrounds, to challenge myself.
I lack the skill and studio space to create physical maquettes, so I created most of the location sets as virtual 3D models, rotating and zooming in and out, figuring out which camera would be the best. I’d take screenshots for reference and then re-draw in my own illustration style.
I also created a bunch of my own textures with acrylic ink and various objects to import into Photoshop. The final art was done in Photoshop.
Melissa: I think curiosity is one of the most important character traits a person can have. Was the trait of curiosity part of your motivation for including all the questions Hana wanted to answer or was it something else?
Debbie: I included Hana’s question list in the illustrations because I love how kids tend to be much more openly curious about the world than grown-ups. Adults tend to be more self-conscious about admitting they don’t know all the answers and also tend to passively absorb the information they are given rather than asking questions.
I also love the kinds of questions that kids ask. I posted a poll on social media, asking others in the kidlit community to suggest questions I could include.
Melissa: Do you have a tip for grown-ups to help them encourage more reading in the children they know, teach, or parent?
Debbie: In order to encourage young people to read more, we need to lead by example. Especially after talking to some of my educator friends, I also think it’s important to give young people opportunity and time to read books they choose themselves. I will remain forever grateful to my parents for doing this for me.
Thank you for letting me visit Imagination Soup, Melissa!
Melissa: THANK YOU, Debbie! What an honor!
KEEP READING
