I put people I know in almost all my books. The family in Dinosaur Bob is mine when I was little. My dad, sister, nephews, wife and a guy named Cade Herzog posed for all the people in A Day With Wilbur Robinson. When my wife was pregnant, she posed for the egg in Bently & egg.

What do you use to make your pictures?

I use acrylic paints, pen and ink, oil paints, watercolors, colored pencils, and really fancy paintbrushes. I have some dinosaur models that I use when I'm drawing dinosaurs. I also have tons of books that I use. Books about trains and animals and whatever I might need to help me draw. For Bently & egg I got a frog and some goldfish at the pet store to use as models. The frog hopped away and I guess he took the fish with him, because I couldn't find them anywhere. But my cat looked like he gained weight while I was working on that book ... Hmmmm.

How did you get to do your first book?

It was in the second grade. We had a contest at my school to see who could write the best kids' book. Mine was called Billy's Booger. I did not win. I was sent to the principal's office.

When I was almost grown-up and out of college I went to New York, where most of the publishers are, and showed them my stuff. I even showed them Billy's Booger and they still gave me a job. My First Published Book was called Tammy and the Gigantic Fish written by James and Catherine Gray. It's a little bitty black-and-white book and it's actually OK.