Creator Corner: Author and Illustrator Amanda Baehr Fuller

Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent books. For this post, we interviewed Bunny Made Tea author and illustrator Amanda Baehr Fuller, whose book published February 18, 2025!

Owlkids Books: Amanda, why did you begin writing children’s books?

Amanda Baehr Fuller: I’ve worked in animation for many years (and still do!), and while it’s been gratifying, I wanted to draw my own characters and write my own stories. Giving myself the opportunity to do this has filled in what was missing in my life.

OKB: What themes or topics do you enjoy exploring in your illustrations?

ABF: So often we feel alone in our feelings. Or that our feelings are not okay. Maybe you have a visitor but you’re not in the mood for company. That’s what I like to explore. But I always draw animals because then it’s funnier, and I love to make people laugh.

OKB: What was the inspiration for writing this book?

ABF: One summer day, my daughter and her friend found some rainwater collected in a hollow fence post. They pretended it was a teacup, and proceeded to gather bits of grass and weeds to make “tea”. Then, in my writing class, the teacher put out a pile of tiny toys and said “choose two, then write a story”. I closed my eyes and chose a bunny and a teapot!

OKB: What was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life? What was the most challenging part of the process?

ABF: The most enjoyable part was drawing all the flowers and leaves. I could draw flowers and leaves all day long! The most challenging part was the spread where Bunny is sleeping. What would Bunny’s dream look like? It had to look different from the rest of the book, but not so different that readers would be confused.

OKB: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

ABF: I hope my readers will add in their own ideas and opinions to the story. Maybe they’ll invent a conversation between all the baby opossums, or they’ll wonder about the blue candle that gets shorter and shorter. I hope my readers will be my co-writers. And I hope they linger and find the sleepy bee in the endpapers!

OKB: What’s an interesting fact people may not know about you?

ABF: I became a certified yoga instructor during the making of this book! Yoga and meditation are crucial tools that fuel my writing and drawing, and so my two very different pursuits became closely linked.