The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Curtis Manley and Tracy Subisak
Curtis Manley grew up in western Pennsylvania and then lived in Ohio, Arizona, California, Arizona (again!), and North Carolina before moving to the Seattle area of Washington state. He knows that books are doors to special places that you can't always get to on your own, whether across the country, on the other side of the world, far back in time, or way out in space.
Combining real facts into fictional stories that entertain is Curtis' favorite way of making the Universe a little more understandable. His interests include birds, bugs, and mammals; trees; tornadoes and volcanoes; planets, moons, and asteroids; haiku; and software—and if he's lucky you will see books that include one or more of those topics in the future...
Curtis is the author of Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku, illustrated by Jennifer K. Mann (2024), The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures, illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins (2021), Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet, illustrated by Jessica Lanan (2019), Shawn Loves Sharks, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (2017), The Crane Girl, illustrated by Lin Wang (2017), and The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read, illustrated by Kate Berube (2016).
Tracy Subisak is an author and illustrator. Tracy calls the Pacific Northwest home and was born and raised in Ohio. She really likes plants and gardening, and loves to get her dog Lala, son and husband involved whether they like it or not. Besides that, she can be found going on long walks with a pal, being curious about little details of daily life, whilst likely telling terribly unfunny jokes.
Her books have been featured in publications such as the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and she has been interviewed by PBS Books. Tracy has a background in industrial design and is an experienced yoga teacher. She is of Polish and Taiwanese heritage and a believer that stories connect us all in some way.
Tracy’s the author and illustrator of Sorry, Snail (2023) and Jenny Mei Is Sad (2021) and the illustrator of Mixed-Up Mooncakes by Erica Lyons and Christina Matula (2024), Amah Faraway by Margaret Chiu Greanias (2022), This Book Is Not For You! by Shannon Hale (2022), Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane by Kirsten W. Larson (2020), Grizzly Boy by Barbara Davis-Pyles (2018), Shawn Loves Sharks by Curtis Manley (2017), and Cy Makes a Friend by Ann Marie Stephens (2017).
Their newest picture book, Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog, was released on March 11th.
Welcome Curtis and Tracy, thank you so much for stopping by to talk about your writing and illustration.
First off, Tracy, tell us a little about yourself. (Where/when do you illustrate? How long have you been illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to illustrate?)
TRACY - Hello! I am a Taiwanese-Polish author-illustrator of children’s books! Grace Builds An Almost Perfect Dog is my tenth published picture book. I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a crayon. My first “unpublished” picture book was made when I was in first grade. Even though I’ve been making up characters and writing stories all my life, I studied industrial design in college and designed electronics before becoming a children’s book illustrator.
My favorite type of book to illustrate? Goodness, I just love a good story and its power to connect us. I hope people can see themselves in my work and/or learn more about a friend.
This must have been a fun way to bring a bit of your electronics training into a picture book. What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve illustrated a manuscript?
TRACY- I’ve been fortunate to illustrate books in many different settings! The most meaningful place was when I made final artwork for Mixed-Up Mooncakes (written by Erica Lyons and Christina Matula, Quill Tree, 2024), which is about a girl who celebrates both her Jewish and Chinese heritage during Sukkot and the Mid-Autumn Festival, in Taiwan during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was special to be in the moment - eating mooncakes, barbecuing, and watching festivities, while celebrating my own Taiwanese heritage.
That sounds like a truly amazing time! Curtis, what was the inspiration or spark of interest for Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog?
CURTIS - I’ve always been interested in science and technology, so along with my geology classes in college I also took a programming class. A few years later in graduate school, I wrote a program to find out how quickly hot lava flows cool after they erupt (hint: not quickly at all!). Then years after that, I was working in the technology sector, writing code to help test email software. Coding was fun, and I liked what I could do with it. After several of my children’s book manuscripts caught the eyes of publishers, I noticed a few picture books about simple aspects of coding—and though the content about coding was good, the stories seemed more like afterthoughts. So, I asked myself what kind of a story would naturally go well with basic coding logic. A story about a robot dog, of course!
I love how you combined the coding elements into a real story of the age-old problem of having a pet dog. Tracy, what about the Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog manuscript appealed to you as an illustrator?
TRACY - There were a lot of aspects that drew me in! From a pure illustration perspective, I loved the design aspect - figuring out what Kit would look like and the manual, all the bits and bobs that would be necessary to build Kit, the challenge of how to show the coding part of the story, the character design, and how I wanted Kit to change over the storyline.
From a storytelling perspective, I love the cadence, the story of persistence and problem-solving, and the sweet moments that come with it. I really like how Curtis writes characters who have flaws and learn about themselves. And the way he writes friendships is so relatable as well. I found this with both the Grace Builds manuscript and Shawn Loves Sharks manuscript.
Thank you for sharing the appealing design and storytelling aspects of the story. It sounds like it was a lot of fun to play with. Curtis, titles can be tricky. How long did it take to come up with this title?
CURTIS - Some titles are very easy—but not this one! One of the very first titles I came up with was “Grace Builds a Robot Dog”—but it took many months and many other possibilities to get from there to the final title, even though the two are very similar. And the way the title is styled for the book’s cover—with the < > brackets to get across the idea not just of a robot, but also of code—was a great idea. But it wasn’t my great idea—someone on the design team at the publisher suggested it.
It's interesting to learn about all the creative minds involved in creating a stunning picture book. Curtis, what was the toughest or most challenging aspect of writing Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog? And what was the most fun?
CURTIS - More so than my other fiction picture books, there’s a lot going on in the story that can’t be glossed over, so the text was a bit longer than usual. There were also many specific things that needed to show up in the illustrations. Both of those considerations meant that for most pages I needed to distill the text and dialog into as few words as possible—while maximizing the meaning and the emotions of Grace and Danny. As others before me have noted, it can be very slow and difficult to write a shorter—instead of a longer—letter (or story)!
As for what was the most fun, that was probably working out the first drafts of the manuscript and feeling excited to see the pieces of the story begin to fall into place.
I could see how picture books with technical components or threads could be a challenge to distill. You did a great job! Tracy, what was the trickiest or hardest part of illustrating Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog? Do you find it harder to be the illustrator or author/illustrator of a picture book?
TRACY - Figuring out the components that would be used to build Kit and figuring out how to distinguish the code pages while keeping the visual story flowing were the two biggest challenges for me.
For me, illustrating someone else's manuscript and author-illustrating have their own challenges and delights! No matter what, I love to see what details and story I can tell visually to accompany the manuscript.
Those coding pages are so fun and interesting. Curtis, when you first saw Tracy’s illustrations in Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog, did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?
CURTIS - Of course (well, I shouldn’t say that, because not all picture books follow the same process), what I first saw of Tracy’s illustrations were her sketches. The whole arc of the story came across even in rough sketch form, and as Tracy turned those sketches into finished art, very little changed. I knew about Tracy’s background in industrial design, and that was one reason (of many) that I knew she’d do a great job with the robot (and its components) in this book.
Text © Curtis Manley Pierce, 2025. Image © Tracy Subisak, 2025.
When I first saw the sketches, I was very happy with the pages where Grace opens the box with all the parts—and then has them spread all over the porch. And the emotions and body language that Grace shows on those pages are just right, too (I knew she’d do a great job with that aspect, too, based on her art for Shawn Loves Sharks).
But perhaps my favorite spread is where Grace and Danny rescue the dog after his accident. The art has exactly what is needed to get across the story, emotions, and reactions at that pivotal point.
I really enjoyed your first image too and shared it, since Tracy also chose the emotional rescue as her favorite spread. Tracy, is there a spread that you were especially excited about or proud of? Which is your favorite spread?
Text © Curtis Manley Pierce, 2025. Image © Tracy Subisak, 2025.
TRACY - My favorite spread is the spread when Grace and Danny discovered Kit’s broken tail and leg near the creek. Have you ever accidentally broken something you made, or found out a painting you made got ruined in the rain? Sometimes accidents happen and things go wrong with the things we make - we put our all into making that thing, and it really hurts to see it broken! I wanted to convey that with this image and really like how it turned out.
This is such a poignant and heart wrenchingly powerful moment. Is there something you both want your readers to know about Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog?
CURTIS - The reader can approach the book in at least two different ways. First of all, it’s a story, and I hope it’s fun, with interesting characters and some plot twists and a happy ending.
But after you’ve read the story, you can go back and see it in a different light by looking at the code Grace writes... and rewrites... and fixes... That code isn’t part of the story per se, but it’s included in background images on a few of the pages. It is “pseudo code” that shows the logic needed for Kit to interact with Grace, but it is not written in a specific programming language like C# or Python or Ruby. You don’t have to have any prior experience with code to be able to follow the logic of Kit’s programming—and how everything he does in the story is determined by the instructions written in that code...
TRACY - I would love to encourage readers to have fun trying new things and experimenting in any of your creative endeavors!
Oh, I love both of those thoughts! It was lots of fun to read through the code (and remember some elementary programing I took years ago). Tracy, many illustrators leave treasures or weave their own story (or special elements) throughout the illustrations. Did you do this in Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog? Could you share one or more with us?
TRACY - The main treasures are that my dog Lala was a model for Kit in this story, and my youngest niece inspired how I depicted Grace.
Absolutely perfect treasures! Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
CURTIS - All my books so far have been picture books. Most are fiction, one is nonfiction, one is nonfiction/poetry, and one is a retold folktale. The next book scheduled to appear is one that I envisioned as a nonfiction picture book for slightly older readers—but an editor instead saw the seed of a nonfiction middle grade book... So now the manuscript is about 11,000 words—the longest thing I’ve written for readers who aren’t scientists—and it’s in a format like that of a novel in verse. And there will be some artwork! I can’t reveal any more about it now, but when it’s announced you’ll say “Oh!”
TRACY - I’m currently working on a lovely picture book written by Kyo Maclear about what to do when there is nothing to do, and also working on my next authored picture book about modern dragon boating!
Now, I am super intrigued and can't wait to see the announcements for these books. Best of luck with them! Last question, what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why?
CURTIS - Perhaps nothing will come of it, but I have an idea for a nonfiction picture book about a number of different animals that all have an aspect of their biology in common—at least from a human perspective. The project would involve ten or so animals, most of which I know very little about at the moment, so it will require a lot of (fun, I hope!) research in the library and online. Someday.
TRACY - As a dog-lover, I can always learn more about dogs! I would also love to learn more about the flora, fauna, and how natural features develop in the Pacific Northwest!
Thank you, Curtis and Tracy for stopping by and sharing with us. It was truly wonderful to chat with you both.
Be sure to come back on Friday for the Perfect Picture Book #PPBF post on Grace Builds an Almost-Perfect Dog.
To find out more about Curtis Manley, or contact him:
Website: https://curtismanley.com/
To find out more about Tracy Subisak, or contact her:
Website: https://tracysubisak.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracysubisak/
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