My wife Carson Ellis and I have cool friends who do cool things — and sometimes they stay at our house! And rather than making them do their laundry or pay for groceries, we’re making them be guests on our brand new podcast, Houseguest.
There’s no real telling who will be a guest on Houseguest, or what we’ll talk about. It all depends on who’s staying at our house. Sometimes, those people will be luminaries in the writing, music, and illustration world — other times they will be our children, our parents, or anybody else who happens to be staying at our house. Everyone has a valuable and interesting story to tell.
So: pull up a chair, make yourself a cup of tea and spend a few moments with our Houseguest.
This week’s guest is Jon Klassen. Jon is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and an animator. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote. His animation projects include design work for DreamWorks Feature Animation as well as LAIKA Studios on their feature film Coraline. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Jon Klassen now lives in Los Angeles.
Vera Brosgol also appears, secretly. Vera was born in Moscow, Russia in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. She has storyboarded for Laika on the feature films Coraline, Paranorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, as well as for Cartoon Network, Frederator and various commercial projects. Her first picture book, Leave Me Alone, was published in 2016 by Roaring Brook Press and won a Caldecott Honor. She lives in Portland, OR. Vera will likely be a featured guest on Houseguest one day, provided she stays at our house.
Introducing: Houseguest Episode 1