The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Lela Nargi and Anne Hunter
Lela Nargi is an author living in a leafy corner of Brooklyn, NY.
Her first picture book, The Honeybee Man, illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker, was a Bank Street "Best Book of the Year" and a 2012 Cook Prize Honoree. Lela is also a journalist covering food and climate science. When she’s lucky she gets to write for kids outlets like Science News for Students and Odyssey magazine.
She’s the author of 24 other books for kids, including Day and Night, illustrated by Xuan Le (2023); Karl's New Beak, illustrated by Harriet Popham (2019); and National Geographic’s Absolute Expert: Volcanoes (2018).
Anne Hunter is the illustrator and sometimes author of 21 picture books about animals and
the natural world, including the Geisel Award honor book Where’s Baby?
Anne grew up in Lake Worth, Florida, and now makes her home in the woods of Southern Vermont.
Her most recent books include the Baby Animal trilogy: Where’s Baby? (2020), Baby Squeaks
(2022), and No No, Baby! (2023) and the books about animal homes The Nest That Wren
Built (2020), The Lodge That Beaver Built (2022), and The Den That Octopus Built (2024) by Randi Sonenshine.
Their newest picture book, The Lonely Goose, releases next Tuesday on March 11th.
Welcome Lela and Anne,
Hi! Thanks for having us!
Tell us a little about yourselves. (Where/when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing or illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to write or illustrate?
LELA – Hi, and thanks for this question. I’ve been a writer my whole adult life, working as a journalist in New York City. I wrote my first book for kids in 2011, about a beekeeper living in Brooklyn. It was based on an experience I had finding Brooklyn-made honey at a local tea shop, which was very unusual at the time. And that’s the way I usually find my way into stories: having something happen that makes me want to know more. Most of the time these stories and experiences are about the natural world.
ANNE - I live in rural Vermont and work from a studio in my house, or sometimes, if it's cold, from my chair by the woodstove. I have been illustrating for a long time for other media, but my first picture book, Possum's Harvest Moon, was published in 1996. I definitely lean toward books set in nature.
It is wonderful to "meet" both of you! What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve written or illustrated a manuscript?
LELA – I’m a creature of habit and I need structure and routine. When I’m writing I’m sitting at my desk in my living room — close to tea, snacks, and my tiny (with a big personality!) dachshund.
ANNE - Sometimes I find myself sharing my drawing table with the very large and very furry cat, but I think many illustrators work around a cat or two.
I love the image of "working" around a cat (or dog)! Lela, what was your inspiration or spark of interest for The Lonely Goose?
LELA - I’ve had this experience a number of times and I’m not sure when the first time was. New York is surrounded by water: it’s bordered by the Hudson and East Rivers as well as the Atlantic Ocean and on numerous occasions I’d find myself sitting near the water and I’d see a single goose or duck flying overhead. It always struck me as somehow melancholy. After all, we’re used to seeing these birds in groups both big and small, almost never by themselves. And I wanted to know what would occur to make a goose be flying through the city all by itself.
I agree that I am always a bit sad to see a Canada goose by itself. I'm glad you were inspired to explore their story. Anne, what about The Lonely Goose manuscript appealed to you as an illustrator?
ANNE - When I read Lela's story, the imagery that came to mind was the windswept, spare
spaciousness of the prairie pothole environment that lends itself to both the poignant
loneliness of the story and the wealth of marshy detail.
So sparsely and beautifully captured on the title page. What is the hardest or most challenging thing for each of you about writing or illustrating The Lonely Goose?
LELA - Honestly, this was the extremely rare occasion where the story came out all in one sitting. I’d been thinking about writing it for a long time and when I did finally sit down to put it together, the words really flowed. I was also going through a very difficult personal crisis at the time and no doubt the loss the goose protagonist (if we can call her that) experiences in the story was very close to home.
ANNE - This book went through a few iterations before it clicked, which is always difficult, but after that, I was in my favorite element of grassy lines and mossy detail.
Thank you both for sharing this with us. We can definitely feel the poignancy of your loss Lela and your joy in the grass and moss, Anne! How. many revisions did The Lonely Goose take for the text or illustrations - from first draft to publication?
LELA - Almost none. I think our editor changed a word. For any readers who aspire to be writers, please know this is NOT the way these things usually go!
ANNE - Luckily, I didn't keep track! Let's just say that my recycling bin was pretty full! I should say here that I work on paper, in this case, with pens and pencils.
Lela, when you first saw Anne’s illustrations did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?
LELA - I felt so fortunate from the beginning that Anne agreed to illustrate this story; I was familiar with (and a big fan of) her work, especially her animal portraits, which convey so much empathy for the creatures we share this planet with. But I was really worried about how differentiated the pages would be; as I said to our editor, “It’s a lot of goose!” When I saw the sketches and then the final illustrations, though, I was really blown away. Each page has a small detail — a fox, a turtle, another birdie — tucked away for readers to discover, and the goose moments are each so unique and uniquely tender.
Text © Lela Nargi, 2025. Image © Anne Hunter, 2025.
My favorite illustration is on the first of the pages that reads “The world was the two of them,” and Anne has illustrated that with two geese butts up in the air as they dive under the water for a snack. It’s sweet but also funny, which helps break some of the monotony of anticipation for the sad thing you know will happen.
It is a really fun moment of togetherness, before the family & its responsibilities, too. And I love the serenading red-winged black bird on the pussy willows, too! Anne, is there a spread that you were especially excited about or proud of? Or perhaps one which is your favorite spread?
Text © Lela Nargi, 2025. Image © Anne Hunter, 2025.
ANNE - I have to say that I am very pleased with it overall, which is not always the case. 😊 I think my favorite spread is where the goose is seen very small, resting alone beside the pond that has that silvery grey autumn light and shape against the browns of the field.
So eerily stark and sad, as the rest fly off. What's something each of you want your readers to know about The Lonely Goose?
LELA - I did an interview a few days ago where the interviewer admitted up front, “I don’t like geese.” I get it — they’re noisy and poop on lawns and they can be intimidating. But I hope people will come to learn that they really are remarkable animals, with whole lives and experiences that are worth knowing about. “Exotic” species like polar bears and penguins are not the only animals that deserve our care and compassion; there are many “common” animals right nearby that deserve a deeper look.
ANNE – Well...I spent about a year looking up to watch the geese fly over, and stopping my car by the roadside to look, trying to get the right feeling for them. Also, I learned a lot about their emotional bonds from this story!
Here, here Lela. There is so much for us to learn about all creatures on the planet. Lela, how did the experience of writing The Lonely Goose differ from your other nonfiction picture books?
LELA - I’m not sure I can compare the things I write in that way. Each story has its own needs — research, edits, sometimes even interviewing people — and I just follow along in the direction it needs to go.
Anne, many illustrators leave treasures or weave an element throughout the illustrations. Did you do this in The Lonely Goose? If so, could you share one or more with us?
ANNE - I always like to incorporate some of my favorite things into my books - like moss! And the cool little light blue cross shaped flowers called Quaker Ladies, or Bluets, and the fuzzy blossoms of pussy willows. Often these are things I incorporate from my own yard.
I found the pussy willows in one of the earlier illustrations and the blue flowers are on the cover! Are there any upcoming books or new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
LELA - I have two other books coming out this year: Miss Betti, What Is This, with Sleeping Bear Press and illustrated by Kristen Uroda, about Detroit’s famous lunch lady Betti Wiggins (although she’s now lunch lady for Houston’s schools); and Drift, with Templar Books, about the way air and ocean currents move living things around our planet. It’s sort of a companion “opposites” book to an earlier Templar book called Day and Night, both illustrated by Xuan Le.
ANNE – I am working on writing two of my own stories, which are now just a pile of cryptic sketches, but I do have another book coming out this year that I illustrated: The Blue Jays That Grew a Forest written by debut author Lynn Street. Lots of birds this year!
These all sound intriguing and I look forward to seeing them later this year! Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why?
LELA – I fulfilled a girlhood dream to visit the Grand Canyon a few years back. But I’m very eager to visit parks as far North as I can go (which means Alaska as well as West Coast Canadian parks) — I want to be in the ice and snow! Every year I buy an annual National Parks Pass and keep it in my wallet for when I’m traveling; this past year I happened to be near to White Sands National Park in New Mexico, which was very cool, as well as Sequoia National Park in California — although, they were doing prescribed burns the day I visited, which was an eerie experience.
ANNE - Sometimes we go to the desert, to a remote place in the Coronado National Forest, which I love for all the dry and scrubby subtle detail in the landscape, and the total darkness of the night. Also, someday I would love to visit the Tall Grass Prairie. I like wide open spaces.
Thank you Lela & Anne for sharing with us a bit about yourselves and your new picture book.
Be sure to come back on Friday for the Perfect Picture Book #PPBF post on The Lonely Goose.
To find out more about Lela Nargi, or to contact her:
Website: https://lelanargi.com/
To find out more about Anne Hunter, or to contact her:
Website: https://annehunterstudio.com/
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