“Liveliness is the key thing”: Illustrator Anke Kuhl on TRUMAN TOAD & THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT HUG
Today is publication day for Truman Toad and the Quest for the Perfect Hug, in which a self-important but lovable toad tries to find the other half of the hug of his dreams. To celebrate, we’re thrilled to be sharing an interview with illustrator Anke Kuhl, who wrote to us from her studio in Germany about the expressivity of her characters, how she captures humor in her art, illustrating a comic vs. a picture book, and more about how she found the visual language for this funny and heartwarming story!
ELB: What was your favorite book as a child?
AK: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I think that’s truly the book I looked at more than any other—again and again, over many years of my life. Those round, shaggy monsters are just the perfect mix of cuddly-cute and slightly eerie. Just wonderful!
ELB: When did you begin to take an interest in art?
AK: Honestly, I can’t remember ever not being interested in it. My parents were both teachers, not artists, but they were very engaged with art, music, and culture. So I was always surrounded by inspiring images and books, and we would often go to see children’s theater, exhibitions, and concerts.
ELB: How would you describe your illustration style? How did you find it, and has it changed over time?
AK: It has definitely changed—quite a lot, actually. But there’s also something that has run through my drawings since childhood. If I had to describe my style, I’d say that liveliness is the key thing. I mostly focus on figures—whether it’s people, animals, or imaginary creatures—and for me, it’s always been about expression—facial expressions and body language. I never consciously set out to do that; I’ve just always drawn, and it naturally developed in that direction.
ELB: From where do you draw inspiration?
AK: I’m constantly observing characters everywhere—in everyday life, in films, in books, in sacred buildings, in museums. And it really doesn’t matter whether it’s a fantasy creature in a medieval painting, a person on the subway, or a dog in the park. To me, they’re all equally important. I look at everything with the same eye. Landscapes, on the other hand, don’t inspire me at all. I always need figures with emotions—the gaze, the gestures, and the sometimes unintended humor within them.
ELB: Do you have a favorite place to work? What does a typical day in your life as an illustrator look like?
AK: My favorite place is definitely my shared studio space called Labor, which I founded 27 years ago. I can’t work as well anywhere else. But I do need my own room—with the door closed. As much as I need the community, I also need quiet. A typical day starts around 9:30 a.m. in the studio. I work until midday, then have lunch together with colleagues, and then continue working into the late afternoon or early evening.
ELB: How do you balance routine and improvisation in your creative practice?
AK: Ideally, I manage to carve out time where I can just draw freely, experiment, improvise. That then feeds back into my commissioned work. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen as often as I’d like. So I try to build variation into each project: Which style fits? Which materials? I don’t want to keep reproducing myself. For Truman Toad, for example, I consciously chose a very sketchy approach because it feels more lively. The looser the line, the more alive the expression.
ELB: What role does collaboration play in your illustration work?
AK: A very big role—and at the same time, it’s something I have to balance. I think collaboration is incredibly important, with authors and publishers. It pushes me forward; I need that exchange. At the same time, I also need projects where I can completely do my own thing—like comics, where I also write the text myself. In those cases, I want to stay in my own universe and have as little outside interference as possible.
ELB: What piece of advice do you have for aspiring illustrators?
AK: There isn’t just one path. But what I can really recommend is: find your people and team up. It’s simply more fun—and more promising—than sitting at home alone as a lone fighter. At least for me, I can say: without my network, I definitely wouldn’t have made it.
Photo credit: Stephan Jockel
ELB: What appealed to you about Truman Toad and the Quest for the Perfect Hug? Why did you decide to illustrate it?
AK: I read the manuscript and immediately had to laugh. The tone is incredibly charming and funny. And the character Truman is beautifully ambivalent—not just nice, but also a bit annoying, egocentric, and quirky. Fantastic! I could visualize him right away. And then there was another aspect: I received the text during the pandemic. The whole theme of “hugging”—or rather, “not hugging”—was huge at the time. I immediately felt it was very much in tune with the moment.
ELB: How is this picture book similar to and different from your other books?
AK: The big common thread across all my books is humor. For me, text and image always need a certain wit, a kind of irony. What was special about Truman Toad, though, is that it’s a picture book. In recent years, I’ve mainly worked on children’s comics, novels, or nonfiction—so this felt a bit like going back to my roots.
ELB: What medium did you use for Truman Toad? Can you take us through your illustration process?
AK: I start with graphite pencil sketches. Once everything is right—expression and composition—I redraw it more loosely on a light table, again with soft pencil. Then I scan it and increase the contrast so the lines become nicely black. After that, I color the drawing with watercolor and scan it again. While painting, the lines fade a bit, so I digitally overlay the original line drawing onto the colored image, which is quite a fiddly process, to be honest.
ELB: What was the most satisfying or challenging moment in Truman Toad to convey through your art?
AK: The biggest challenge was building a world in which all the animals are anthropomorphized to the same degree—and finding suitable habitats for them that are both animal-appropriate and human-like. So, on the one hand, you have a toad living in a house, but you also need to design homes for a giraffe, a spider, and—most difficult of all—a goldfish, in a way that makes the whole world feel internally consistent.
ELB: The facial expressions, body language, and personalities of the different animal characters in this picture book are perfect. Tell us more about how you illustrated this!
AK: That’s basically the result of about 50 years of research. Really! As I said, that’s my main focus: facial expressions, body language, and emotions. The text helped me enormously—it was a huge playground, with so many nuances of mood in the characters! You can really let the whole orchestra play, and use the full range of emotions.
ELB: Can you share how you approached depicting both the humor and the heart of this book in your art?
AK: Oren Lavie’s text helped me a lot with that. What he does so well in writing fits perfectly with what I aim to do visually.
ELB: Your illustrations have several moments in panels, like in a comic. Tell us about this choice!
AK: I love comics. And I didn’t want to give up that kind of sequential storytelling, even in a picture book. Panels also allow me to show changes—like emotional shifts—step by step. And they bring rhythm into the book: large images, small vignettes, then a panel again. I think that keeps both the narrative and the visual design lively.
ELB: Do you remember any of your big dreams from childhood?
AK: As a child, I desperately wanted a pig. Honestly, I still kind of do.
ELB: What animal do you feel like best captures your personality?
AK: It depends. Sometimes I’m a squirrel, sometimes a sloth. If I had to choose just one—maybe a little monkey?
And now… Enchanted Lion’s rapid-fire questions!
What word do you love?
AK: Gemütlich. A beautiful German word that can’t really be translated. It describes a warm, cozy, welcoming atmosphere.
What word do you hate?
AK: The German word Einkommensteuererklärung. In English, it’s just “tax return.” But even worse—it’s just as complicated in Germany as the word itself, and you spend ages on it every year.
What is your life motto?
AK: Always try to keep your sense of humor.
What qualities do you most admire?
AK: Empathy. Peacefulness. And the ability to listen well.
How would you describe your monsters?
AK: Very nocturnal!
If you weren’t an illustrator, what would you most like to do?
AK: Make music professionally. Or cook.
What rituals are part of your creative process?
AK: The first step is always making a mess. A tidy desk just doesn’t work for me at all. And snacking—I always have little treats on my desk.
What does procrastination look like you?
AK: Communicating a lot, answering private emails and messages, cooking elaborate meals—and, I have to admit, sometimes pointless online shopping, which I then feel guilty about.
What is earthly happiness?
AK: World peace. Family. Love. Health.
Where do you think we go after we die?
AK: I think our sense of self dissolves and we become part of something larger again—a cycle of nature. We return to where we were before we were born.
Written by Oren Lavie
Illustrated by Anke Kuhl
A self-important but good-hearted toad, with an ample amount of self-love, discovers his love for others in this entertaining and charming picture book!
When Truman Toad—the most stubborn, perfectionist toad in Green Grove—wakes up one morning from a dream about the perfect hug, he knows exactly what he must do: find whoever is holding the other half.
With a charmingly witty text by author Oren Lavie and playful illustrations by beloved artist Anke Kuhl, Truman Toad and the Quest for the Perfect Hug is a delightful tale that reminds us that the best things in life will always take us by surprise!
ISBN: 978-1-59270-459-0 • 8.25” (W) x 11” (H) • 40 pages • HC
TRUMAN TOAD AND THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT HUG
Written by Oren Lavie
Illustrated by Anke Kuhl
A self-important but good-hearted toad, with an ample amount of self-love, discovers his love for others in this entertaining and charming picture book!
When Truman Toad—the most stubborn, perfectionist toad in Green Grove—wakes up one morning from a dream about the perfect hug, he knows exactly what he must do: find whoever is holding the other half.
With a charmingly witty text by author Oren Lavie and playful illustrations by beloved artist Anke Kuhl, Truman Toad and the Quest for the Perfect Hug is a delightful tale that reminds us that the best things in life will always take us by surprise!
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STARRED REVIEW! ★ "Kuhl’s visuals are an engrossing mix of William Steig’s and Arnold Lobel’s illustrations, with hijinks and hilarity." —Kirkus Reviews
STARRED REVIEW! ★ “Absolutely ribbiting… For anyone seeking their own perfect something, this irresistibly funny title hints, the answer may lie in embracing imperfection.” —Publishers Weekly
"I just love everything about this book SO much!" —Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (A School Library Journal blog)