Chuck: Mr. Kirk, we are very pleased to be here today to talk with you, and ask you a very important question, because everyone is waiting to hear your answer! What we want to know is this--what is your favorite kind of bone?

T-Bone: That’s not a good question, Chuck. People don’t eat bones. Ask him a people question!

Chuck: Sorry! The first question is, uh…what is your favorite color?

Daniel Kirk: My favorite color? Well, guys, I guess it’s either orange, or maybe green. But wouldn’t you rather ask me questions about my picture books for children?

Chuck: Yes, we’ll be getting to that, but we want to talk about the really important things first! Mr. Danny, what do you really think about cats?

T-Bone: Chuck, why don’t you ask Mr. Kirk what he was like when he was a kid. People always want to know stuff like that.

Chuck: They do? Why?

T-Bone: Now, Mr. Kirk, you used to be a little boy, right?

Daniel Kirk: Yes, that’s right, T-Bone.

T-Bone: Well I’m sure everybody wants to know what life was like when you were just a pup. Er, I mean, little kid! Where did you grow up? What kinds of things did you like to do?

Daniel Kirk: I grew up in the Midwest, in the 1950’s and 60’s. Even when I was very young I loved to draw, paint, and play with modeling clay. When my mother would call from the kitchen to ask me what I was doing so quietly in the living room, I wouldn’t say I was playing-- I’d tell her I was "claying." I would sit on the rug, sketching and sculpting as I listened to my favorite TV shows. I didn’t really feel complete without a pencil in my hand, and a piece of paper to draw on.

Chuck: I know what you mean. I don’t feel complete unless I have a bone to gnaw on!

Daniel Kirk: When I was little, I scribbled and sketched on everything I could find. Looking back, I feel sorry for the teachers who had to read around all the doodles I left on my school papers!

T-Bone: I’ll bet they liked your doodles! What kinds of things did you like to draw?

Chuck: You were probably really good at dogs, right?

Daniel Kirk: You know, animals are pretty hard to draw! When I was a little boy I liked to draw things from my imagination. I had a very active fantasy life. My mind was filled with pirates, clowns, dinosaurs, cowboys, aliens from space, and monsters. So those are the things I loved to draw. I built plastic monster models, and made shoe box dioramas with clay figures in them. I constructed cardboard sets for home movies I wanted to make, based on my stories about giant hamsters and vampires.

Chuck: I met a vampire once.

T-Bone: No, you didn’t!

Chuck: Yes I did! Would you like me to tell you all about it?

T-Bone: No. I want to ask Mr. Kirk another question.

Chuck: I’ll do it. OK, Mr. Daniel, here is my question. Do you know how to read?

T-Bone: That’s not a very good question. Of course he knows how to read!

Chuck: Well, I wanted to make some of the questions easy. Okay, then. Here’s a tougher question. What books did you like when you were little?

Daniel Kirk: Before I went to school and learned how to read, my father read stories to me every night. We had a lot of Golden Books with pictures by Tibor Gergley, Gustav Tenngren, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams and others. Often the pictures made more or an impression on me than the words. Mr. Bear Builds a House was one of my all-time favorites. I loved books with photographs of dogs and skunks dressed up in clothes. I loved Dr. Seuss, because his stories were funny and outrageous, and his pictures described a made-up world that didn’t look like anything that I’d ever seen before. The illustrations in these books were completely unique!

T-Bone: I’m not that crazy about Dr. Suess.

Chuck: No, me neither. Didn’t he write that book about a cat?

T-Bone: In a hat?

Daniel Kirk: I’m afraid you’re right about that.

T-Bone: Well, not everyone likes cats, I must say. Please, Mr. Kirk, go on!

Daniel Kirk: I began writing and drawing my own comic books, I made scary monster cards and painted pictures with tempera paint. I wanted to make my creations seem as real as possible. I became "the artist" in my school. I felt like somebody special because of my interests and abilities, and the passion that I had for art.

T-Bone: Okay, Chuck, now it’s your turn to ask a question.

Chuck: It is? Oh, let me look at my list.

T-Bone: You have a list?

Chuck: Well, no, not really. But if I did, it would have really good questions on it! Ah, let me think. Hey, I’ve got one. Did you have an artistic family? Tell us about your parents!

T-Bone: That’s a pretty good question.

Chuck: Isn’t it? I’m really good at this interview business, aren’t I?

Daniel Kirk: Yes, you are! My dad used to be a radio announcer, and my mom was a singer. Later on they became puppeteers, and they wrote and performed their own versions of Mother Goose, Aesop and Grimm’s fairy tales. My dad wrote the scripts, made the puppet heads and painted expressions on them. My mom designed and sewed the costumes. In later years I would help with the painting and prop-making, adding voices to some of the characters in taped performances. Hey, this might interest you. My mom and dad’s favorite puppet is a character called Old Rug--he’s a big brown dog who tells knock-knock jokes!

Chuck: I know a joke. Where does a five-hundred pound gorilla sit?

Daniel Kirk: He sits anywhere he wants!

Chuck: Somebody told you the answer.

T-Bone: Nobody told him the answer, Chuck, he’s just smart. He even went to school!

Chuck: I went to obedience school once.

T-Bone: Why am I not surprised? Let’s ask Mr. Daniel about his education.

Chuck: I’m sorry.

T-Bone: You should be.

Daniel Kirk: I went to the Shady Lane Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio. My favorite subjects were art, music, and English. I wasn’t too good at math, but I was always good at art. I was proud when my pictures made it into the hall showcase. That was quite an honor!

Later I went to Walnut Ridge High School. I was a very good student, and I liked school; but I was happiest when I was hard at work in the art room. That was my place. Everybody knew that I had a gift for painting, and throughout my high school years I always won prizes and ribbons in the art shows.

Chuck: I won a blue ribbon once.

T-Bone: That wasn’t a ribbon, it was a string. And it was green. You got it for being the most slobbery dog in town.

Chuck: Hey, this interview isn’t about me. Why don’t you direct your remarks to Mr. Krik?

T-Bone: That’s Kirk, you bone head. Please go on!

Daniel Kirk: I used to go to the library and look at art books, because I knew that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I wanted to make huge paintings that would hang in museums. I thought really good paintings had to be really big, so in high school I began stretching canvasses that were too large to fit in my house. I was forced to paint out on the front porch where there was enough room for my enormous aspirations!

Chuck: I had an enormous bone, once, but somebody stole it from me.

T-Bone: What’s an aspiration? Is that something you take when you get a headache?

Daniel Kirk: No, I’m sorry. What I mean to say is that I had big dreams for myself. I went to college at the Ohio State University, where I studied fine art and education. When I wasn’t studying I was painting, and I entered my pictures in exhibits everywhere I could find. I graduated in 1974, with distinction in art education. I taught art and photography for a few years, but my heart was set on going to New York and becoming an artist. So that’s what I did!

Chuck: Say, do you have anything to drink around here? All those dog bones are making me thirsty.

Daniel Kirk: Would you like water, milk, juice, tea?

Chuck: Yes.

Daniel Kirk: Which one?

Chuck: Just mix them all together in one big bowl. That would be fine!

Daniel Kirk: (sighs) Whatever you say.

(At this point, a snack break was followed by a short nap for all)