Creator Corner: Author Anna Humphrey and Illustrator Mike Deas

Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent books. For this post, we interviewed Bee & Flea and the Fall Fiasco author Anna Humphrey and illustrator Mike Deas, whose book published September 15, 2024!

This is the third and final book featuring crime-solving pair Bee and Flea. Check out the full series here!

Owlkids Books: Anna, how did writing the third book in the series differ from writing the first two books?

Anna Humphrey: Writing a book is never easy, but I will say that writing the third book in a series is a little less hard. By book three, I had a level comfort with the characters, so it was easier to spot (and correct) when Flea said something that wasn’t quite Flea-like, or Bee lost her cool too quickly, even for her.

Owlkids Books: Mike, what (or who) inspired the Bee and Flea characters?

Mike Deas: When working on the designs for Bee and Flea, I spent a lot of time looking at pictures of actual Bees and Fleas. I really wanted to play with Bee’s big round shape to help distinguish her as a honey bee. While working on Flea. I wanted her mouth to be a large part of her design, to match hear boisterous personality.

OKB: Anna and Mike, what was the most enjoyable part of the research process for this book? Did you find any interesting facts that stuck out to you?

AH: Before writing this book, I didn’t know anything about woolly bear caterpillars—a super-fuzzy caterpillar with special anti-freeze blood—and now they’re my second favorite kind of caterpillar. My first favorite is the Uraba Lugens (also known as the mad hatterpillar). It’s an Australian caterpillar that melts the skin on its head off up to 13 times and uses those old heads to make itself a very fancy hat.

MD: I have always thought woolly bear caterpillars are really cool because of their fuzziness and I really love classic cars. So I thought it was really neat when I learned they have anti-freeze blood! Which reminds me I should go check mine!

OKB: Mike, what was the most enjoyable part of illustrating this book? What was the most challenging part?

MD: The most enjoyable part was the initial sketches, Anna’s stories are so full of life, and it makes it so exciting to sit down and see it come together. The most challenging part for me is usually consistency: making sure the characters are wearing the correct things and holding the right objects at the right time in order to match the writing and story.

OKB: Anna, what was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life?

AH: I knew right from the start that this would be the last book in the series. It was a challenge to wrap up the story in a way that felt final without feeling sad.

OKB: Mike, did you have a favorite spread?

MD: My favorite illustration is on page 31. Bee finds a furry scarf and snugs in and leans up against a chrysanthemum stem for a snooze. She doesn’t realize it yet but her scarf is Fuzz, a woolly bear caterpillar.

OKB: Anna and Mike, what do you hope readers will take away from this book?

AH: I hope readers will laugh and enjoy the story… and while they’re at it, I hope they’ll learn a few cool science-y facts about the things going on in their very own backyards.

MD: I hope readers take away the general feeling of kindness and lightheartedness that Anna’s writing has to it. Working on the Bee and Flea books always leaves me with warm feelings.

OKB: Anna and Mike, what’s a fact people may not know about you?

AH: I don’t solve crimes in my backyard, like Bee and Flea, but I do work there! I have a little wooden cabin for writing at the end of the yard. It’s just big enough for a desk and a reading chair. It’s also got a ladder that leads to a cozy loft for napping and daydreaming. I have a cat named Squishy who is really good at climbing ladders, so she and I spend a lot of time taking loft naps together.

MD: When I was young I sometimes struggled with reading so I feel fortunate to be able to contribute to books and stories that will hopefully help others overcome the speed-bumps of learning to read.