Questions & Answers
with Renato Moriconi

For the upcoming release of The Little Barbarian in Greece, Zoe Koskinidou, journalist for Kokkini Alepou, interviewed Renato Moriconi. Here is a shortened version of the interview; for the full article check the link to their website.

ZK: The Little Barbarian is a book with no text and very powerful imagery. What inspired the creation of this wordless narrative? What was the first idea that created the need the story to be told through the medium of a wordless picture book?

RM: The choices that I make when I create a book don't depend solely on my will. The story itself has a fundamental role. The book "The Little Barbarian" showed me right from the start that it should be a book with no words. It is a story that holds a secret, and this secret could only be kept by the visual language. Any word other than the title could ruin its mystery.
Without the text, the reader doesn't have my voice telling them who are the characters and where they are. The story unfolds before their eyes, without my interpretation. The reader is an eyewitness and can interpret what they see by themselves.

The humour and unexpected ending of The Little Barbarian are key elements to the success of the story. How important is playfulness and surprise in your storytelling in general?

I think both, playfulness and surprise, have a fundamental role in my books. I like the idea of breaking the certainties and expectations of the reader/viewer. Breaking with certainties is also part of my creative process. Sometimes I have an idea for a story, but when I put it on paper, it shows me other paths and the story turns into something different form the original idea.  

What kind of stories do you think captures the interest of young readers and how much do we as adults pay attention to what kids want to read nowadays?

In my opinion, what captures the reader's attention is not the subject matter, but the way it is told—that is, the author's narrative skill, his eloquence.
It's important to separate eloquence from popularity. An eloquent book can be completely unpopular.
The author must be concerned with his work, his characters…. If this happens, the book has a good chance of capturing the reader's attention.

Do you think children "read" images differently than adults? How do you keep the child's perspective in your work?

It seems to me that children are better image readers than adults. And this has a logical explanation: images play an important role in our lives before we learn to read and to write. When we become literate, is very common stop paying attention to the images.
Wordless picture books are a type of art that is associated to children, but it shouldn’t.  The main difference between a wordless picture book and the traditional book is that the last one belongs to the world of visual arts - as painting, engraving, cinema. The reader of this type of book has to pay attention to images. When we, adults, go to a museum or gallery, do we think the paintings there are for children simply because there's no text? Off course not. I should have the same attitude with books with no text.

I believe that most children are better image readers simply because they pay more attention to it. Those who fail doing it, miss an important part of human communication, not only in books, but in our world – the world is full of images.

Everything I create arises from my perception of the images that the world presents to me. I believe my work is essentially reading. An idea for a book and its development is an exercise of reading objects, places, symbols, words, sounds, gestures, faces, behaviors... My job is to be curious and attentive like a child.

Having already been acquainted with your work through Barbaro and The very hungry plant I can tell that you have a very distinctive style, bold and expressive. What is your creative process like, from idea to final image and then book?

The first part of my creative process is almost unconscious, at least I have no control over it, over how and when it will occur. It's the trigger for a story. It can come from anywhere and at any time. And when it happens, I have to write it down, otherwise, I might forget it.
The idea for the book The Very Hungry Plant, for example, came to me in a vegan restaurant, while I was looking at the menu. I remember thinking, "If I owned a vegan restaurant, I'd serve a salad made with carnivorous plant leaves", an idea so silly and absurd that captivated me. I wrote it down in my notebook—I always carry one in my pocket—and from there, I set to work, writing and drawing, reading and rereading, rewriting and redrawing, until I feel the work is fine. That's more or less a resume of how I work.

Apart from creating your own books, you have collaborated with many other writers on their texts. Which do you find more challenging: working on your own or with a collaborator? And how much does your art is being influenced by the other persons wants?

I started writing books in partnership with writers. Nowadays, I've been writing and drawing books almost exclusively on my own.
I find it interesting to write books with partners because they bring up topics I probably would not consider without their impulse. But by dedicating more time to solo books, I've delved deeper into themes that matter to me. This has allowed me to emphasize certain characteristics of my style and my voice, not only to the readers but to myself as well.

Are there new projects you're working on that you can share with us?

I just launched in Brazil a book called The World is an Egg, a nonsense book that plays with the shape of egg.

What does it mean to you to be working as a children's book creator?

It’s a privilege.