SimonSays.com
May 1999
Q: For the last thirty-five years, only the original book, KAY THOMPSON'S ELOISE, has been available. Why did the sequels go out of print at all?
A: Kay felt the other books detracted from the original (a very few agreed with her). I am thrilled they are coming back into print. When I do signings, the most asked question (after "Do you get writer's cramp?" . . . I don't), is when will we get the other books back. Now you will--and ELOISE: THE ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL EDITION contains all sorts of additions, biographical notes, and unpublished photos and sketches.
Q: As an artist, who has had the greatest influence on your work?
A: I grew up in a great period, the '20s, '30s, and '40s. Commercial and decorative art were at their inventive height, and my parents [artists Katharine Sturges and Clayton Knight] being part of it helped me decide that was the direction I wanted. In their library and on my bookshelves were the books that inspired me--illustrations by Edmund Dulac and Ernest Shepard made me want to be an illustrator.
Q: How did you end up being the one to illustrate ELOISE?
A: It was Kay and me from the beginning. Our mutual friend (and my neighbor), a fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar, D.D. Dixon, got us together and we became an instant team. It was a thrilling part of my life.
Q: Eloise is the quintessential six-year-old. Is she modeled after a real little girl?
A: Eloise is the alter-ego of Kay Thompson, but was visually inspired by a painting my mother had done in the 1930s. "Quintessential" suggests that there are more like her out there--that's just not possible.
Q: Have you ever stayed at the Plaza Hotel?
A: I'm waiting for Eloise to ask me for a weekend.
Q: For ELOISE IN PARIS, you and Kay Thompson actually traveled to France together. Can you talk a little bit about that trip?
A: All of the Eloise books were done in close collaboration from the start. Kay and I worked night and day at the Plaza in New York, then in hotels in Paris and Moscow. If you love laughing a lot, eating delectable meals, and having the best time of your life, it was absolutely great--it certainly wasn't work.
Q: Did you have any pets when you were a child, such as a dog or a turtle like Eloise?
A: I cannot recall a moment in time when my family didn't have pets--dogs, cats, finches, gerbils, and turtles. I think they are a vital part of life, as Weenie and Skipperdee are to Eloise.