Laura Vaccaro Seeger on 'Dog and Bear: Two Friends · Three Stories'

Is Dog and Bear autobiographical?

Yeah. I'm dog. And Neal Porter, my editor, is Bear.

You're the spontaneous and impulsive one, and he's deliberate and reflective?

Definitely. It all started because he was at my house one day, and I was distracted with children and house stuff. So he went into the living room, and I had this multicolored stuffed bear on this high, tall chair. I came in looking for Neal, and he said, "What's the story of this bear?" There really wasn't one, so he said, "Write a story about it." Originally the dog was based on Copper, my dog, and the bear was this real stuffed bear. But once I wrote the first story, Neal said, "You know, these two characters are awfully familiar.

What did you do before you started doing picture books for kids?

I did the animated openings to TV shows, mostly for the networks in New York—NBC, ABC, and FOX. Almost all of the ones that are on NBC—the animated peacock, you know when it opens up? And then ABC; I did a bunch of stuff for 20/20, and some of their specials.

How has that influenced the way you do children's books?

I approach picture books the way I did animation in that I'd make a storyboard for each animation, which is isolated frames. To me, that's what a picture book is—it's an animation with fewer frames. And then all the graphic design that was involved in my work in television—90 percent of the art was graphic design—I definitely use that.

Your husband, Chris, works as a sound guy for NBC, primarily with Saturday Night Live. Do you ever show him your work to see if he thinks it's funny?

I do show it to him, but he's so funny. He always says that he needs to see it finished before he can tell. It kind of makes me nuts. But my younger son, actually, is really good at zeroing in on what I'm trying to say. My older son, too.

What were you like as a kid?

I was very much the same as I am now, much to the bane of people's existence around me. I was obsessively into art. As far back as I can remember I was always drawing. And I was very playful and enthusiastic.

Did your parents encourage you to become an artist?

They didn't discourage it at all. I just drove them crazy sometimes, because I would do things. Like one time I made this collage. I stayed up all night making it, and I thought it was really nice. But it needed one more thing. I got this light bulb [inspiration] and figured out what it needed. I went into my mom's jewelry box, and I cut up all her gold chains. I made 14-karat gold glitter.

Did she go nuts?

Well, then I proudly held it up to her, and her eyes bulged out of her head—because she didn't realize immediately. It took her a second. But the funny thing is I don't remember getting in trouble.

The first children's book you worked on was I Had a Rooster, which you illustrated for your husband's uncle, Pete Seeger. What's he like?

Pete Seeger is the most down-to-earth person I've ever met. He looks at the big picture. He's just so kind and good. He's amazing.

How did you find out that Dog and Bear had won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award?

Neal Porter called me, and he said, "Are you sitting down?" I said, "No," and then he told me. I thought he was kidding. I just kept going, "Shut up! Get out!" He wasn't kidding.