Q&A with Josh Funk, Author of September/October Kids’ Indie Next List Top Pick “Whodonut?: A Holiday Mystery”

Bookselling This Week: So, I’ve seen the story about how this series was inspired by your children. But the first book came out in 2015, so I’m curious how your relationship to the series has changed over time, and what your kids think of it now.

Josh Funk: I have told the story of how I got the idea because my kids were arguing about pancakes and French toast so many times, I’m not sure how true it is at this point. When you tell a story so many times, it starts to lose all meaning and you can trick yourself.

They were about three and seven years old when I got the idea for this series. When the first book came out, it was four years later, so they were probably seven and ten. They are 17 and 20 now — they’re three and a half years apart.

So, they inspired the first book, but it was also my debut book in general. I was still learning both the craft and the business of writing. I didn’t realize at the time, that we have a lot of books about farm animals and woodland creatures, and so something different — like a book about food — might stick and might have more appeal. So, I was just trying everything and this is the one that stuck.

I didn’t realize that it would go on to have a single sequel, let alone have seven books in the series. But it’s pretty cool, the way that the audience has connected with it.

My kids still enjoy it, I think. They got pretty tired of going to story times within a year or two of me being an author, but they appreciate it. They understand that it allows them to go to Disney World once or twice when I sell a book.

I also think that they’re both creative in their own ways and in different ways, and they’re both helpful as readers for me. Often, they’re the first readers.

That’s how it’s evolved over time.

The publisher was very, very good about marketing the first book. It was Sterling at the time, and it’s become Union Square. They did an amazing job publicizing the book. They gave it a huge leg up from the beginning.

And Brendan Kearney’s illustrations are fantastic. I know every author thinks their illustrators are great (and it’s true, they all are!), but he made the perfect book, the perfect character design, and the perfect color palettes for this story.

In addition, the design of the cover was amazing. Andrea Miller designed the cover.

They did an amazing job making this book. I had the idea and I wrote the words, but it’s a huge team effort, making a book and getting it into readers’ hands, and getting booksellers to know about the book. You can make the best books in the world, but if booksellers don’t know about them, then they’re not going to sell.

Even though it was my first book, I know that not all books get that kind of attention.

I wrote a sequel before the first one even came out, and they liked it. They wanted to see how the book did, but they made an offer on the sequel. I just kept doing that, and here we are at book number seven and Whodonut.

BTW: It’s adorable. I like this one especially because it kind of comes full circle. But that does make me wonder if we’re going to get more of Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast.

JF: We’ll have to see.

Right now, the series has done very well, and I think that there’s a lot of room for people to find out about all the books.

So will there be more? I have a lot of ideas for more and different ways to take this. Maybe there’ll be more picture books and maybe there’ll be something else. I’ll just have to wait and see.

BTW: Awesome. We’ll definitely keep an eye on you! I’m fascinated by the way authors and their illustrators interact, because some of them are very close and some of them are entirely arranged by the publisher. So I would love to hear more about your relationship with your illustrator.

JF: Brendan Kearney lives in England and I have heard his voice three times in the 11 years that we’ve made seven books together!

I’ve never met him in person and I don’t really talk to him directly. It’s one of those situations, which is the most common in children’s books, where everything goes through the publisher.

It makes sense to me that it goes that way, because the publisher is investing a lot in the book, and as an author, I don’t know how to illustrate a book. Whodonut will be my 21st book, so I know a little bit more than I did 10 years ago. But I can’t tell Brendan how to draw an avocado better. He’s the one who has to look in his fridge and figure out how to draw an avocado.

I’m thrilled with all the illustrators I’ve ever been paired with. Brendan is amazing. I couldn’t I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be illustrating these books.

BTW: So, 21 books in, is there anything particularly weird or surprising that you’ve learned along the way?

JF: Everything was surprising to me, because nobody knows what it’s like to be an author until you become an author.

One of the coolest things about being an author (especially of picture books) is that there’s going to be some kids that remember Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast from their childhood when they’re adults.

They’ll remember the huge bestsellers and some of the classics that were around when we were kids, but some kids out there are going to have a memory of this series. That’s just one of the cool things that I didn’t intend when I became a writer.

I’m writing books for children and for the adults that read to children. Like a Pixar movie, I’m always trying to make sure that the adult reader is enjoying the book as well. I want to make it fun for everyone.

I always make sure that there are little hidden jokes in there for the adults, and sometimes the kids will get them too.

On the very first spread of Whodonut, there are a bunch of Breadway musicals like “Figula on the Roof” and “My Pear Lady.” But some of the kids will know these shows. In the second book, The Case of the Stinky Stench, there was a literal and figurative red herring. I’ve had second and third graders come up to me and say, “We know what a red herring is. We studied mysteries.”

I try not to underestimate kids and their intelligence, as well as entertain all ages.

But that’s one surprising thing about being an author, just how much satisfaction I get from seeing these kids enjoy reading.

Another cool thing about being an author is that I’m friends with all these new people.

I’m friends with librarians, and other authors, and illustrators, and booksellers. I love the whole network of people and the community that being an author has pulled me into.

That community was there when I was an unpublished writer, but it’s only grown and it’s been an amazing aspect of being an author.

BTW: Do you want to tell me a little bit about the role of books and independent bookstores in your life?

I have a lot of vivid memories of going to bookstores as a child.

I was not a huge reader as a kid. I did not love to read all the time. But when I found the right book, I was obsessed.

In kindergarten, my teachers would not read us Charlotte’s Web fast enough, so I made my parents go and buy the book at the New England Mobile Book Fair. I vividly remember making them get this book. 

When we were on summer vacations on Cape Cod, we went to Brewster Book Store. I vividly remember looking through the Cam Jansen books to find ones that I hadn’t read.

We used to take vacations up in New Hampshire and we’d go to the Dartmouth Bookstore in Hanover. I was a little younger then. There’s even a picture of me reading Dinner Time by Jan Pienkowski on one of those vacations. It was one of my favorite books as a kid.

Bookstores have always been a place that I really enjoyed going. Every bookstore has knowledgeable people that intentionally selected every single book that’s in there, so getting recommendations from booksellers is one of my favorite things. Independent bookstores carry what they like. They’re not carrying the same handful of books that you can find in every chain. There are real human beings behind each decision.