I knew I wanted to interview Thea Lu the moment I discovered her debut picture book,

Here & There

(Eerdmans Books for Young Readers) 

Friends, this is the book I almost missed, and I am honored to share it on the blog, so you won’t have missed it either. Plus, it struck me that this book about reflections, friendship, and connections, gives so many of the feels of Thanksgiving. But don’t take my word for it.

2024 New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book
2024 Bologna Illustrators’ Exhibition Winner

About the author/illustrator:

Thea Lu is an illustrator, designer, and picture book maker. She earned an MA in design strategy from China’s Tsinghua University and an MA in children’s book illustration from the Cambridge School of Art. Thea’s work has won the Sebastian Walker Award in the UK and has also been honored in Italy, Poland, and China. Here and There, which released in English last year, was her debut picture book–the first of five! Thea currently divides her time between Augsburg, Germany (mostly) and Shanghai. 

Let’s ask some questions:

Q 1. We noticed your book’s acknowledgement is a thank you to “the dive guide and the owner of the no-name café in Cambridge.” Were they the inspiration for Here & There, or were they part of your research?

Thea Lu: They are the real-life inspirations behind Here & There. I met the two of them in different places, at different times, yet somehow their stories have always appeared together in my mind.

When I met my dive guide, he was living a life constantly on the move—from one place to another, from one boat to the next. In a way, he is “There.” In contrast, the life of the unnamed café owner is much more “still.” He can’t travel far because of his café—he is “Here.” But people are always coming and going, bringing their stories and small glimpses of the world into his tiny café room.

Here & There, as a book, is of course fictional. I added many details and, inevitably, some exaggeration. I don’t want readers to think it’s literally about the dive guide or the café owner’s real lives. But they are, indeed, the true inspirations behind this book. I’m very grateful that they once shared a piece of their life stories with me.

Q 2. In addition to Here & There being your debut as an author/illustrator, is this your first picture book translated in to other languages?

Thea Lu: Yes, Here & There is my debut as both author and illustrator, and it’s also the first of my books to be translated into other languages. But it’s not the first book I created. I actually wrote and illustrated two other books earlier, though they were released after Here & There.

Process

Q 3. Since you are the author/illustrator of Here & There, and everyone’s creative process is different, which came first—the story or the illustrations?

Thea Lu: For Here & There, I have to say the concept came first, not the text or the image. Once I decided to make a book about these two characters, a parallel format intuitively came to me— placing two of them side by side, using mirrored compositions and parallel sentences. I felt there was something truly similar in the essence of their lives, though at the beginning I couldn’t quite tell what it was.

Later, a rough sketch appeared in my sketchbook: one man standing on the edge of a boat, another standing in front of a table. The boat and the table were both simplified into white shapes, and the café floor connected to the surface of the sea. That first mirrored composition gave me the confidence that I could build the entire book in this way.

Q 4. How did you choose the color palette for this beautiful book?

Thea Lu: Since the story itself is already quite complex, I didn’t want readers to feel further distracted or confused by the colors. So I thought the book should have a limited and clean color palette rather than a colorful one. I chose to paint the café owner’s world in warm, brownish tones, and the sailor’s storyline in blues—a pair of complementary colors that indicates how different their lives are.

This color “rule” continues up to the “frames & photos” spread, where a glimpse of blue from the sailor’s bracelet slips into one frame on the café wall, while the warm light from a group photo brightens the sailor’s notebook. That’s where two complementary colors start to integrate. Finally, at the end, the two color worlds blend into each other as everyone sits around the table—at that moment, the two characters share the same feeling: the people they meet complete their worlds.

Surprises and Favorites

Q 5. What was one of the most surprising discoveries you made in creating Here & There?

Thea Lu: The book was originally created at the beginning of the pandemic. However, as the book developed, my dive guide—who inspired the “There” part of the story—had to quit traveling and return to his hometown because of the lockdown. When the book was published, he told me that he had decided to settle down at his home place. He has become “Here.”

Q 6. We absolutely LOVE the double gatefold spread of everyone at the table. Do you have a favorite spread –or one that was most challenging?

Thea Lu: My favorite spread is the town view versus the ocean view—the second spread in the book. It’s stylized and decorative. It took me quite some time to piece together those little houses into the shape of a “root” path, which symbolizes the idea of being “rooted in the town.” I really enjoyed that process. It was like a puzzle game.

Challenges

The most challenging part, though it might not seem so, was the series of vignettes showing the sailor interacting with different people. Because of the “color rule” I set, the sailor’s scenes had to be drawn in bluish tones. Figuring out how to depict warm, joyful scenarios with such a cold color palette was quite a challenge. I had to carefully balance every color and texture choice. I hope I achieved that in the results.

Dan or Aki?

Q 7. They say each of our books are a bit autobiographical. Would you say you are more like Dan or Aki?

Thea Lu: I feel more connected to Aki. I grew up in a small seaside city in China and left home for the first time when I went to university. Since then, I’ve moved from one city to another and later found a job in Shanghai.

After a few years, I traveled again—this time to the UK to study picture books. Then I returned to Shanghai and moved again to Germany, where I’m living for now. Recently, I’ve often found myself thinking a lot about my old friends and my parents back in my seaside hometown. Sometimes, I can echo Aki’s feeling, to feel distanced.

When I was young, I admired the life of “There,” and I wished to live that way for my whole life. I thought that is what means a “good” life. But now, I’m gradually beginning to understand the value of a “Here” life. I think this is why I had the impulsiveness to create Here & There: we will experience loss and happiness either way.

Building a solid concept.

Q 8. We see that you also design playful products for children. (See more here.) How is this path like creating a picture book? How is it different? 

Thea Lu: For me, designing products and making picture books are both about building a solid concept. The concept always comes first, then I gradually break it down—into text and images, or into form and shape. People are drawn to strong concepts. Besides, an intriguing way of storytelling is essential in both children’s design and picture books.

However, a design project requires more consideration of its commercial impact—I have to make sure it’s fun and interactive. But when it comes to making a book, it doesn’t have to be “fun.” It can be sentimental; it can be serious. I can express more of my personal thoughts and emotions in a book.

Takeaways

Q 9. What do you hope readers will take away from Here & There?

Thea Lu: Hmm… some people told me their children see it as a two-careers book, while some adult readers find a kind of life philosophy in it. I don’t think there has to be a one-sentence takeaway, but that would be comforting for me if readers can feel a gentle sense of bittersweetness when they finish the book. For me, personally, it’s a story that ends quietly, not happily and brightly.

In the works…

Q 10. Please tell us about your other projects, to be released or in the works.

Thea Lu: A book about hairstyles will be published soon in Chinese. In it, I explore playful associations such as “job vs. hairstyle,” “mood vs. hairstyle,” and “dream vs. hairstyle,” and illustrate them in a humorous, light-hearted way.

Another project I’m currently working on is about a little island. One day, the island can move—it can sail freely across the sea. It will be an imaginative and funny adventure story, carrying a subtle idea of cosmopolitanism underneath.

Congratulations on such unique projects!

And thank you so much for sharing the creative process of Here & There.

To learn more about Thea Lu and her work,

check out her website www.thealu.net

(especially this section  /   Behind the Stage  /  https://thealu.net/Picturebook_Here-There )

her substack newsletter

and follow her on Instagram: lu_thea

Happy BooksGiving!

Read and share this book, friends.

Up next on the blog:

We chat with Jenna Elyse Johnson about her new book, Everybody Move!

Illus. Ananya Rao-Middleton (Barefoot Books)