 Today we celebrate the book birthday of The Littlest Food Critic, by Debbie Rigaud, illustrated by Rachel Más Davidson. We sat down with Rachel to learn more about the inspiration behind this book. Little Sebastian has a lot of opinions when it comes to food, so his parents call him their own baby food critic! He even has a personal rating system, from one to five binkies, and he’s prepared to knock off a binky or two if his food is too gooey, doesn’t smell quite right, or is touching other food. When a restaurant outing throws him for a loop, a one-binky review seems inevitable . . . but then his parents save the day and Sebastian realizes the special ingredient they’ve been adding to every meal—one that definitely deserves five binkies! Are you agented? If so, can you share how you got one? Yes, I am currently represented by Christa Cifelli Heschke at McIntosh & Otis. Once I had my illustration portfolio in a place where I felt confident querying agents, I started researching agents through SCBWI. They provide a list of agents to their members. I queried any agent that was taking on new clients. In retrospect, I was incredibly lucky to get Christa. I only did minimal research before querying, and that could’ve been disastrous for my career because picking an agent is so important. I was super lucky that it worked out so well for me, but I know others that were not so fortunate. What was your favorite part of the publication process with this story? This was the first time I worked with a manuscript that was not written by my husband or myself. When I work with my husband, I am there for the creation of the entire manuscript and we bounce lots of ideas off one another. It was fun and interesting creating characters for a book that I had no prior knowledge of before reading the manuscript. Creating an entire world for someone else’s story is a huge honor. It's so fun but it can be hard hoping you don't mess it up. Sebastian was the first baby character I've drawn for a book.
What 3 recommendations would you give writers who are starting out? I have lots of recommendations for this one, but I will narrow it down to the three that have been the most beneficial to me as a creative. First and foremost, create a log of ideas that’s always accessible. Good ideas come at random times like when you’re at the grocery store or in the bathroom, and you will forget them if you don't write them down. I keep a log on my phone and on a Google Doc. Some of my ideas sit in that log for years before I do anything with them. Some ideas I write or draw that day. Either way, I have the ideas written down so that I can come back to them when I am ready. Second, I like to draw a lot. This helps me come up with new characters I like. These characters can inspire me to write a story about them. My book The Helping Sweater (Out in November with Little Brown) came from a doodle of a little girl in a very large sweater. I liked the drawing so much that it inspired an entire book about her. Last, I read a lot. Reading is so inspiring to me. I especially love memoirs because I find peoples stories to be the most inspiring. I also read tons of picture books. I like to go to the library and read my way through each shelf in the picture book section.
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