INTERVIEW

September 2009

Berkeley Breathed is the creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip “Bloom County”as well as the author of eight books for children, including MARS NEEDS MOMS!, GOODNIGHT OPUS and his first illustrated novel, FLAWED DOGS: The Shocking Raid on Westminster. In this interview with Kidsreads.com's Alexis Burling, Breathed discusses his inspiration for main character Sam the Lion and describes a surprising letter he received from a fan. He also shares his thoughts on the real Westminster Dog Show as well as the classic canine film Old Yeller, reveals his favorite music to listen to while working, and explains how his children have influenced his work.

Kidsreads.com: Is Sam the Lion modeled after any dog in particular?

Berkeley Breathed: The dog I wished I'd had when I was a little kid. The dachshund I did have bit me. Okay, I dropped blocks on its tail, but there it is.

KRC: “Bloom County” was loved by millions all over the country --- and the world. As its creator, do you happen to have a favorite letter from a fan that you’d like to share? Or, perhaps, a memorable moment involving a fan?

BB: Harper Lee (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) wrote last year when I announced the end of Opus's comic life and begged me not to do it. I should have begged her to bring Scout back.

KRC: Opus was (is!) a hoot to say the least. I take it you have a thing for dogs now. Why so?

BB: My favorite quote: All animals dream. Only dogs dream of us. That's why.

KRC: If Opus and Sam met one Sunday afternoon, how do you think they’d feel about each other? What if Cassius meandered into the dog park? What might the threesome’s dynamic be like?

BB: Sam would fight Cassius. Opus would call for his mommy.

KRC: I love the detail that the dogs at the National Last-Ditch Dog Depository watch Lassie over and over again. What’s your favorite dog movie?

BB: Oo, good question. I don't think a great one has been made since Old Yeller... which is exactly why I wrote FLAWED DOGS. It is time.

KRC: Any thoughts on Old Yeller?

BB: A brave movie that kills the dog off at the end. They wouldn't do it now. I come close in FLAWED DOGS. Sshh. Don't give away the ending.

KRC: What do you think about the real Westminster Dog Show? Love it or hate it?

BB: We put to death millions of unwanted dogs each year because people want physical perfection. Beauty pageants are unhelpful for any species, including our own. Dump 'em. Judge a dog like a person: by how loving they are.

KRC: Aside from comic strips, you’ve also written/illustrated picture books (PETE & PICKLES, MARS NEEDS MOMS!), and FLAWED DOGS is your first novel. Do you prefer one format to the other?

BB: Nope. I just have to tell stories like I breathe. Some can be done in a picture book. Some need a bit more leg room. I loved the latter for FLAWED DOGS.

KRC: You won the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1987. Congrats! Was that a goal you set yourself early on, or did it come as a big surprise?

BB: A surprise, to say the least. Especially to the political cartoonists who argued that it should be taken back from me.

KRC: Many aspiring artists look up to you, I’m sure. Who were your role models when you started out?

BB: Of course, Trudeau (“Doonesbury”) was everyone's template in 1979... and too much of mine for a while. Schulz (“Peanuts”) was more of an influence for me than people might expect.

KRC: I read somewhere that you have two children. Do they (or did they) have a role in your creative process? Do they offer feedback?

BB: Frighteningly so. Sophie, my nine-year-old, can stroll in and spot a half-dozen painting mistakes and then make an unsolicited suggestion that a paddle might be funnier if it was a broom in the pig's hands. And then I have to spend a day making all the changes because she's absolutely right. Milo and his temper, on the other hand, gave me the idea for MARS NEEDS MOMS!...hence the name of the lead character. He can work it out in therapy one day.

KRC: Do you listen to music when you draw? If so, what?

BB: All film scores to match the tone of the scene I'm painting. From Star Wars to Titanic to Gladiator.

KRC: How about snacking? Healthy or guilty pleasure?

BB: Never. A road that you don't return from easily. Maybe fruit. M&M's kill people like arsenic.

KRC: Do you prefer to read a specific genre of books? What are some of your favorite books that you’d recommend to your readers?

BB: I certainly wouldn't recommend mine: I study and continue to find fascinating World War II... and specifically the Third Reich: probably the most perfect Story (with a capital S) in the past 200 years...in three-act structure, characters and resolution. I read about it ceaselessly, to my wife's annoyance.

KRC: What are you working on now, and when might readers expect to see it?

BB: A new project for the movies, and possibly a book...which I can't name right now because someone will steal it, alas.

Back to top.