Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Happy Buck Moon, everyone!
As we sink into the summer heat, I'm thrilled to welcome Jon Klassen on 3 Books!
Jon is a Canadian born, LA living author and illustrator whose darkly humorous, minimalist storytelling has helped define contemporary children’s literature.
In 2016, Jon concluded his breakout book series ‘The Hat Trilogy’, which features ‘I Want My Hat Back’, ‘This Is Not My Hat’, and ‘We Found a Hat.’
‘This Is Not My Hat’ was the first book to ever win both the American Library Association's Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal.
Jon’s books have now sold over 12 million copies (!) and he might be the most decorated children’s book author alive.
About a month after we recorded this conversation, Jon won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award—a prestigious children’s and young adult book award that he accepted from Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at a ceremony in Stockholm.
Nobody deserves this award more than Jon.
He is a genius wordsmith, a remarkable illustrator, and a passionate father of two.
In this chapter, we talk about Jon’s writing routine, what makes a good illustration, the value of accepting fear when writing, how to draw a lying turtle, comfort with contradiction, men's fashion tips, what makes a good children’s book, the publishing industry, and of course… Jon’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page to chapter 163 now…
Show notes: 3books.co/chapters/163
-
0:00:00 - Welcome to Chapter 163 of 3 Books
08:51 – Who is Jon Klassen?
16:09 – Life as a children’s book author
18:48 – Book One: ‘The Little Trilogy’ by Anton Chekhov
27:34 – On writing nervously and kids lying
31:05 – How to draw a lying turtle
33:11 – Ideas from George Saunders and Leo Tolstoy apply to children’s books
34:58 – On writing like yourself (and not like the writers you love)
40:39 – Book Two: ‘Outer Dark’ by Cormac McCarthy
51:35 – On Jon’s writing routine
59:05 – On embracing fear when writing
1:05:34 – Thoughts on parting art from artists
1:15:04 – Book Three: ‘Dominic’ by William Steig
1:25:35 – How does one become a children’s book author?
1:37:45 – Where does Jon see his life going?
1:44:20 – Fast Money Round!
1:52:31 - Final Reflections
-
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
Happy Buck Moon, everyone!
As we sink into the summer heat, I'm thrilled to welcome Jon Klassen on 3 Books!
Jon is a Canadian born, LA living author and illustrator whose darkly humorous, minimalist storytelling has helped define contemporary children’s literature.
In 2016, Jon concluded his breakout book series ‘The Hat Trilogy’, which features ‘I Want My Hat Back’, ‘This Is Not My Hat’, and ‘We Found a Hat.’
‘This Is Not My Hat’ was the first book to ever win both the American Library Association's Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal.
Jon’s books have now sold over 12 million copies (!) and he might be the most decorated children’s book author alive.
About a month after we recorded this conversation, Jon won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award—a prestigious children’s and young adult book award that he accepted from Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden at a ceremony in Stockholm.
Nobody deserves this award more than Jon.
He is a genius wordsmith, a remarkable illustrator, and a passionate father of two.
In this chapter, we talk about Jon’s writing routine, what makes a good illustration, the value of accepting fear when writing, how to draw a lying turtle, comfort with contradiction, men's fashion tips, what makes a good children’s book, the publishing industry, and of course… Jon’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page to chapter 163 now…
Show notes: 3books.co/chapters/163
-
0:00:00 - Welcome to Chapter 163 of 3 Books
08:51 – Who is Jon Klassen?
16:09 – Life as a children’s book author
18:48 – Book One: ‘The Little Trilogy’ by Anton Chekhov
27:34 – On writing nervously and kids lying
31:05 – How to draw a lying turtle
33:11 – Ideas from George Saunders and Leo Tolstoy apply to children’s books
34:58 – On writing like yourself (and not like the writers you love)
40:39 – Book Two: ‘Outer Dark’ by Cormac McCarthy
51:35 – On Jon’s writing routine
59:05 – On embracing fear when writing
1:05:34 – Thoughts on parting art from artists
1:15:04 – Book Three: ‘Dominic’ by William Steig
1:25:35 – How does one become a children’s book author?
1:37:45 – Where does Jon see his life going?
1:44:20 – Fast Money Round!
1:52:31 - Final Reflections
-
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
