Children's author and illustrator takes time to make sure her stories are . . . Rich in detail

In her new picture book, "Home for Christmas," artist and author Jan Brett tells the tale of Rollo, a naughty Swedish troll who runs away from home.

It may sound fantastical but the details on each carefully illustrated page are true to life, from the polka-dotted, red-capped mushrooms on the forest floor to the little farm shed set high upon ancient tree trunks.

Brett travels the world for her stories for children, returning home to Massachusetts with items to spur her imagination - snags of green lichen, a shank of moose hair, a carved-wood dipping spoon with a deer skin-wrapped handle.

"It's like a treasure hunt," Brett says in a phone interview before a national book tour of 21 cities. "Some things I go on purpose to find, and some, they find me."

Brett will give a presentation and signing at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hastings in Lewiston for "Home for Christmas," and a deluxe book and DVD edition of her version of "The Night Before Christmas." They are two of several Christmas books she has written.

"There's about a million things I like about Christmas. I'm a little embarrassed about it," she says with a laugh.

With more than 37 million books in print, Brett's drawings are some of the best-recognized in children's literature. One of her hallmarks is a detailed illustrated border on each page that tells a story separate from the words. Her books like "The Mitten" and "Gingerbread Baby" have won numerous awards from parents and teachers' associations and the publishing industry.

"If I have a gift it's that I can remember about being little," says Brett, 61. "I think when I was little I used to feel a little bit trapped as a child. You have this great intelligence, it's just the experience and the way of sorting it that you're missing. I used to love it when there was something for me to dig into mentally. I loved that the pictures could tell you more."

Whether it's Africa, China or Texas, Brett stays true to details of a land and its culture. Her vast library includes nature books in dozens of languages so she can check what time of year a certain flower blooms, what color the tree leaves turn, or what kind of bird one would find among them.

Brett starts a book by sketching, writing, water coloring and stitching a 32-page draft. When the book is done she goes on a trip to fill in the details. For "Home for Christmas," she flew to Sweden where, in the middle of Stockholm, she discovered an open-air museum of ancient buildings brought in from around the country for repair. One was a small house on tree trunks with roots still intact. When she got home, it was added to her story.

She rarely draws on trips but works from memory later.

"It makes it more real in the world I'm creating if I use my memory."

It's true, she says, that she always knew she wanted to grow up and make picture books for children.

Her mother, a nursery school teacher, made sure crayons and art supplies were always at hand. Her father worked for a computer company and brought home used paper. They did not watch much television.

"My parents believed children should be children as long as they could," Brett says.

Brett says she was very shy, but when she discovered that other children admired her drawings, life got easier. When children bring her their drawings she says she always tries to admire what they've done.

"It's not all about having people admire you, but I think it's a big part of it. It's so hard to live in this big, grown-up world."

That belief is the reason elves and trolls appear in many of her books.

"I kind of think they are a stand-in for the way you feel as a kid, the energy and curiosity that gets in the way of the way life is lived by the adults," she says.

A chicken Cinderella is the star of the book she is now working on.

The tale is set in winter in Russia where she will soon travel to see castles and traditional costumes from old Russian courts. Brett loves animals and she and her husband, Joseph Hearne, a bassist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, own some 60 exotic chickens. She's known to give them kisses and foot massages. Sometimes one sits on her shoulder at night while she paints.

"I've already picked out who is Cinderella and who is going to be her husband," she says.

As a girl, Brett loved drawing horses. They appeared in her first book, "Fritz And The Beautiful Horses." When she proposed the book to publisher Houghton-Mifflin she was told it would be easier to publish if she could write her own story, so she did. However, legendary children's book editor Walter Lorraine rejected her idea for illustrated borders.

"We're not into p.l.b. - pretty little books. They're not supposed to be greeting cards. It's children's literature," Lorraine told her.

For her second book, "Annie and the Wild Animals," Brett explained to Lorraine that the borders weren't just decoration but were part of the story, a way to look ahead or see what was happening off stage. He liked it and they've provided countless hours of enjoyment for thousands of young readers in the 30 years since then.

---

Bauer may be contacted at jkbauer@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2263.