Janko and the Giant: About the author and illustrator
About the author
Joseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished..
He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio.
His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review , Cricket, and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children
His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children’s Literature, the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and the 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.
An interview with Joseph Bruchac
Q. In the past your writing has focused on your Native American roots. In Janko and the Giant: A Tale of Old Slovakia you turn to other ethnic roots. What brought you to this current story?
A. Although half of my ethnic heritage is Slovak, I grew up at a time when my Slovak elders wanted the kids of my generation to be “real Americans,” which meant NOT telling us the old stories or teaching us how to speak Slovak. But I have had a deep interest in that part of my ancestry for many years and have been in regular contact for two decades with writers and translators in Slovakia – who have translated many of my stories and poems into Slovak and also sent me books of traditional Slovak stories. My contacts with Slovak culture grew to the point where I felt confident about trying to shape some of my knowledge into a story for your readers. Few people know just how rich Slovak folk culture is, filled with wonderful stories and pithy proverbs and a great sense of humor. In fact, the Brothers Grimm actually took many of their “German” stories from Slovak traditions – without acknowledging their sources! As a writer, I feel blessed by everything that has made me who I am, and I am as eager to acknowledge and learn from my European roots as from those that are American Indian.
Q. Janko is full of pithy proverbs. Are they traditional? Did you make some up?
A. All of the proverbs in the story are based on Slovak folk tradition and culture. About half of them are fully traditional. There is even a scholarly book about Slovak proverbs entitled Small Fish Taste Sweet.
The others are sort of original – although I have already heard from Slovak relatives that at least one of my supposedly made-up proverbs is actually a traditional one.
Q. This is your second Breakfast Serials story. What aspect of this kind of publishing appeals to you? Have you had any notable experiences from you first encounter with newspaper publication?
A. I love so many aspects of Breakfast Serials that I hardly know where to start. The experience of writing in the serial form has been extremely inspiring and useful for me. For example, after writing The Black Squirrel, I went on to write a novel called Skeleton Man in which I used the lessons I had learned from my Breakfast Serials experience. Though it wasn’t used as a Breakfast Serials story, it was published by HarperCollins and has been very successful.
I am very appreciative of the opportunity to reach such a wide and interesting audience.
Q. You are a storyteller as well as a storywriter. Janko, a folktale, is a written story that comes from a storytelling tradition. In what way is a told (oral) story different from a written story? If you told this story out loud, would it be different?
A. An oral story is different in a number of ways. First of all, the storyteller and the audience are in the same room and the inflection, the tone, the volume of the teller’s voice carries all kinds of messages, as do the body movements and facial expressions. Plus you have the factor of audience reaction-laughter, for example. In a sense, the same story will be a little different each time it is told orally because every audience, every performing space, every day, is different. A story on a page is fixed in time and space. A told story is more fluid and responsive.
Q. Are stories universal? Do the same kinds of stories – characters, plots, and traditions – appear in European culture as in ancient American culture? In what ways do they connect with U.S. culture today?
A. I have no doubt that the experience and practice of storytelling are universal, found in every culture and every language. There are many similarities between European stories and American Indian tales, so many that some European stories (for example, the Jack tales of France and the British Isles) have been absorbed almost in their entirety and retold in American Indian languages with Native characters taking the place of the European ones. Many stories travel so freely and well.
What do these old European folk traditions have that makes them connect with U.S. culture today? Lots. The underdog hero who uses his wits to overcome obstacles; the importance of listening to the wisdom of our elders; the fact that kindness to others will be repaid; the importance of keeping your head in a dangerous situation – all of these themes are found in Janko and the Giant, and all of them come directly from Slovak traditions that are centuries old.
Q. If someone wanted to become a storyteller, how would you advise him, or her, to go about it?
A. To become a storyteller, practice listening. You hear very little whe you are talking. And be patient in your listening. Sometimes asking too many questions is worse than asking none at all.
About the illustrator
Anna was born and grew up in Prague, Czechoslovakia, what is now the Czech Republic. She studied art and animation film at the Academy of Art in Prague, as well in as in Antwerp, Belgium and Hamburg, Germany. In 1971, she and her German-American husband came to Montreal, Canada where Anna worked as a freelance artist in the animation department at the National Film Board and various film companies. Since 1982, she has lived with her family in Massachusetts.
Through her work in animation she has developed a unique approach to illustration. She likes to tell stories in pictures. She mostly illustrates folk tales and stories about Nature in which she finds a strong source of inspiration..
She has illustrated “Tough Beginnings” by Marilyn Singer, a book about how baby animals survive, published in Spring 2001. It has been awarded Best Book for Science for 2001 by the Society of School Librarians International and Outstanding Science Trade Book for 2002 by NSTA/CBC.
Anna works in different techniques, from watercolor, pen & ink, pastel, acrylic, oil, to creating 3d objects and puppets from various
An interview with Anna Vojtech
Q. You were a film animator. How does this influence your work as an illustrator?
A. I wouldn’t call myself an animator. In Czechoslovakia, where I grew up, the creators of animated films seldom get involved in the technical side of animation. They create the art, the script, the characters-the whole visual and conceptual aspect of the movie. When I came to North America, first to Canada, I worked at the National Film Board in Montreal. That was when I realized that over here, animators do everything, from camera work and animation to editing. This was the main reason I started concentrating on book illustration. I prefer painting images rather than getting involved in the technical aspect of animation. I like to tell stories in pictures, and by illustrating books I have been able to continue doing this.
Q. You were born and educated in what was then called Czechoslovakia. Is there a tradition of book illustration in your native Czechoslovakia that differs from the US tradition?
A. I was born and grew up in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia. In 1991 the country was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Prague is now part of the Czech Republic.
When I was growing up, a substantial part of the country’s cultural life, which was subsidized by the State, was children-oriented. There were many theaters for children, puppet shows, movies, and of course, books. Children’s books were not necessarily illustrated by artists who specialized in children’s book illustration. Therefore, many books were artistically challenging and interesting. Some of them I learned to appreciate later in life, and was grateful that I had been exposed to them at an early age.
Q. How does illustrating a story that will be published in a newspaper differ from illustrating a story that will be published as a book?
A. A good story is a good story in a book or in a newspaper. But I like very much the idea of publishing children’s stories in newspapers. But children’s stories are even better – especially Janko and the Giant! For me, the main difference in producing illustrations for a newspaper versus a book is in how the art will reproduce. Newspaper reproduction is less precise due mostly to the quality of the paper; therefore, I choose to work with bolder lines and less detail.
Q. What do you see as the role of the illustrator in relation to the story? Is one limited by the text-illustrating only the written word-or can an illustrator add something extra?
A. There are as many ways to illustrate as there are illustrators. Every story needs a different treatment. Some stories are poetic and need atmospheric images. Others, on the other hand, may require very descriptive illustrations. Illustrations are a reflection of the text. An illustrator is an interpreter of the story. However, some things can be better expressed visually than in words. An illustrator sometimes strives to express the content and soul of the story, rather than follow the written word exactly. Each story is a new challenge, and illustrating it is an adventure.
Q. What might be your advice to a young person interested in becoming an illustrator?
A. Read many books, and listen to stories. Draw and paint the images that those stories create in your mind. Trust your own images. Learn from them, and speak the language of your heart. And love what you’re doing!