“Writing always allowed me the freedom to express worlds or ideas that I had created in my head.”
– Mar Andersons
For Mar Andersons, storytelling grew alongside a career in film and advertising, eventually leading to PABLO, a bilingual children’s book. The project has received recognition including a 2026 Christopher Award and a 2026 BREW Children’s Book Excellence Award. This interview explores his process, influences, collaboration, and approach to children’s storytelling.
Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee.
Mar, thank you for joining us. To begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers, tell us about your background, what you do today, and what first led you toward writing and other forms of creative expression?
Hi! I’m Mar and I’ve been working in the film industry, both in front of, and behind the camera and microphone for over thirty years. In the early 2000s I also started an ad agency that handled such clients as the biggest retailers of cell phones in Canada, EA & Red Bull to name a few. I have written, produced and/or directed thousands of TV, radio and web spots and other programming over the years. I’ve always been a writer! I first started writing when I was in high school (Secondary), where I wrote and published my own movie review magazine so I could see studio movies for free without having to pay for them! I’ve written hundreds of TV and radio commercials, and other projects, but never a book. Writing always allowed me the freedom to express worlds or ideas that I had created in my head, and allowed me to make them a reality, which to me was insanely exciting! I knew I always wanted to work in film, I never in my wildest dreams thought it could lead to me becoming a multi-award-winning children’s author. That was not on my bingo card. The PABLO journey we are on has definitely opened my eyes to more possibilities, in so many different avenues, and that is so exciting! It has been one of the most challenging, yet rewarding journeys of my career.
When you look back at the beginning of your creative journey, what experiences, interests, or influences helped shape your decision to become a storyteller?
Life. Travel. Relationships. Travel. People. Travel. Art. Travel. Books. Travel. History. Travel. Films. Travel. Friends. Travel. Languages, and travelling. There are so many experiences, interests and influences… My life path is one. Losing a number of people close to me influenced the Five Stages Of Grief in PABLO. I also think the fact that I have spent a lot of my life in Mexico, and have been fortunate to meet wonderful people, who have taught me so much about the culture and the beautiful country. Some of those people were actually kind enough to work with us on PABLO as Mexican Spanish Editors. One even played PABLO in PABLO The Video Game. The old saying “Art imitates life” suggests that creative works mirror the real world, human experiences, and nature. With PABLO, my travels and considerable time spent in Mexico, the wonderful friends and people I met there, and that crazy little idea I had in my head, all shaped my decision to tell PABLO’s story. That and a friend challenging me to write something! That really inspired me. I can’t thank him enough for inspiring me to write PABLO in the first place, but I will not stop thanking him!
Where do your story ideas usually begin? Is there a particular observation, character, setting, or question that tends to spark a new project for you?
Usually with my writing career, it has been on spec or as a gun for hire. The story idea for PABLO specifically, all happened because a very good friend challenged me to write something. I stewed, and thought, and simmered, thought again, and debated with myself for months over what I should write. What genre? What medium? What demo? What story did I want to tell? I had a number of ideas over about six months, but none hit me more powerfully than the idea I had for PABLO. It literally hit me like a lightning bolt of creativity, all at once. There it was, the whole story from concept, to characters, to the full journey, all in my brain in a flash of creative magic. It took me a year of research and writing to finish the text for the book. It was by far, the most challenging writing project I had ever undertaken.
Creating a memorable children’s character can involve developing personality, voice, appearance, and relationships. How do you approach building a character from the earliest idea through to the finished story?
As I was writing PABLO, my main focus was heart. I feel that today, there is not enough heart in all forms of entertainment. The business has been so hyper focused on the deal, that the creative does not have time to fully develop in my opinion. I had a note in front of me the whole time I was writing this book with three key notes. First, advance the story with heart. Second, make the reader, no matter the age, want to turn the page. Lastly, give Irvin (Our wonderful artist) endless visual possibilities to work with. There was a team of four people that would meet weekly to work on the art once the written word was completed. Jason (Publisher), Rob (Designer), Irvin and myself. I always knew I wanted the art’s look and feel to be an homage to wonderful children’s books I love from the seventies and eighties, but with a new Spiderverse-like twist. We spent three years on the art alone. Irvin hand drew boards for every panel in the book, then refined the board and painted each all by hand. If we didn’t like something, Irvin would start the panel from scratch to get it just right. We have thousands of versions of the forty-ish pieces Irvin created because the character consistency wasn’t perfect, or the BG needed tweaking, or the art wasn’t allowing room for some of our written word creative design to breathe. It was very challenging. Especially because none of us had ever done this before. We were learning as we were doing. I feel like it took us three times longer to learn about doing the thing, than actually executing it. PABLO’s personality, voice and appearance came from all the street dogs I have seen and played with in Mexico in my life. “Perro Caramelo” (or Perrito Amarillo) are the iconic, medium-sized tan or caramel-colored street dogs seen on nearly every street corner. Mexico officially highlighted these dogs as a cultural symbol of resilience and national identity. Incorporating the written word, and basing the art on the existing “Perro Caramelos” made it easy to create his personality. A street dog who just gets to play with his friends all day and work tourists for scraps. That creative allowed me to create a free and fun character, not only in the written word, but in the art.
What have you learned about writing for children that you did not necessarily understand when you first began creating stories for younger readers?
Wow… So much! I had never written anything for children. Ever. Luckily, I am basically five in spirit, so that really helped. Joking. (Not joking – Just ask my fiancé.). I learned that you have to captivate a child’s mind immediately. You have to create a character that they will not only care about, but will love, not only visually, but emotionally. The story needs to captivate children from start to finish due to short attention spans. Competing with an iPad is hard! The journey needs to be a rollercoaster of ups and downs to keep the reader interested, no matter the age of the reader.
We were fortunate that our art took as long as it did, so we had the time to test the book on children in focus groups from 5-14 years of age. Those kids were absolutely instrumental in helping with all of the above and more. One seven-year-old girl named Rowan helped me with feedback from beginning to end. I would send the latest draft to her father, they would read it together, and her father would send me very detailed, blunt, honest feedback from Rowan. That insight allowed me to ask very detailed questions every step of the way and really try to get in the mind of a seven-year-old. It was amazing, as were the countless other children that helped along the way!
But most importantly, do the work. Test with children. Talk to children about what you are creating. Get their thoughts. You’ll also find that kids have no filter. They give it to you straight! I loved that.
A children’s picture book brings together words and visual storytelling. How do you think about the relationship between the written narrative and the illustrations when developing a project?
I was always writing with the visuals and the art in mind as one of the most important aspects of the entire project. To me, coming from a film background, I have always prioritized sound to be just as important as picture. With a children’s book, the art needed to be just as strong as the written word, Irvin accomplished that and so much more.
I knew I wanted the art to start off very bright and cheerful, get darker as PABLO gets dognapped, become more grey and moody in the Pacific Northwest, lighten through Oregon and California, and then become super vibrant and alive towards the end. So the golds and pinks and light blues at the beginning, the blacks and greys and darker feels in the middle, gradually getting lighter towards the ending, which is vibrant and alive.
One of our Mexican Spanish editors has a grandmother that cannot speak English at all. When she tried to read the book, she completely understood the entire story due to the art and Spanish sprinkled throughout. When I was told this, I knew we were in a really great position. The art told the story just as much as the written word with someone who could not read what was written. That’s what we all set out to accomplish in the first place. That meant everything to us!
I also have to mention that never having published a book before meant leaning on others for input and guidance. One of the most important people to help me with this process was actually our printer’s representative Elana. She fielded hundreds of calls from me over the years with some really dim-witted questions about the printing process in general. Having her advising us every step of the way on PABLO was a godsend. The book would not be what it is without her and our late friend Tad. Both were so kind and giving with their expertise and time and we cannot thank them enough.
Looking across your creative journey so far, what awards, recognitions, accomplishments, or other milestones would you like to share with readers? Which moments have been particularly significant to you, and what did they mean at the time?
Well the first award we won is called The Christopher Award. When we got the news, I was moved to tears. I got emotional because for almost four years, we worked tirelessly to make PABLO something different and special. We had no feedback from industry insiders, no mentors. None of us had ever written, designed or published a children’s book before. We all were learning as we were doing. I think I was emotional because it validated all of the hard work everyone from all over the world put into PABLO. It was a moment I will never forget! Why The Christopher Award was so meaningful was because the award has been around since 1949. It awards and celebrates writers, producers, directors, authors, and illustrators whose work “Affirms the highest values of the human spirit”, and “Projects that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively.” Most of the other books awarded with PABLO were from large established publishers. It was complete validation for all of us.
PABLO then went on to win two International Book Awards! It was the winner in the “Children’s Picture Book: Hardcover” and “Best Cover Design: Fiction” categories. It was also named “Finalist” in the “Illustration & Design”, and “Animals / Pets” categories. We also won a Literary Titan Golden Book Award after receiving a five-star Editorial review from them, A Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, and three different “Honorable Mention” distinctions including “New Author: Fiction”, “Picture Book” and “Animals / Pets” at the Purple Dragonfly Awards.
Pablo was recognised as a winner of the 2026 BREW Children’s Book Excellence Awards from The Chrysalis BREW Project. What did this recognition mean to you, and did receiving it change the way you viewed the book or your development as an author?
We were awarded the “Brew Children’s Book Excellence Award” for Bilingual Storytelling. This was especially meaningful as the award was given to outstanding children’s books that spark imagination, encourage curiosity and offer young readers meaningful and engaging experiences. Only four books won that represent four distinctive approaches to children’s storytelling, from cultural discovery and fantasy adventure to social-emotional learning and bilingual storytelling. We won for our Bilingual storytelling. It was especially meaningful. Pablo, Javi & Juan Pablo, the Mexican Spanish editors of PABLO deserve this award just as much as we do! Working with them to make sure the Spanish used throughout the book was actually spoken in every region of Mexico was a priority and very important. Our lead character is Mexican, and he had to be true to the language, culture and natural slang of today.
Receiving this award, not unlike the first award we won, reaffirmed that all of the hard work we did was worth it. Not cutting corners to save time, actually working our tails off to make sure every last detail was just right… Especially with the two languages, and making them rhyme, time and feel just right. I am thankful and humbled. I appreciate those editors so much. ¡Gracias Hermanos!
I do not see receiving the award changing my development as an author at all. I feel the only way to change your development as an author, is to write outside of your comfort zone, travel, learn and grow as a human being. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be in the position I am in now. I truly believe I cannot change as an author until I decide what my next book will be, and I begin to type the first word of that book… Only then will my development as an author change.
Every finished book reflects numerous creative decisions that may not be visible to readers. Was there a particular decision, revision, or unexpected development during the creation of Pablo that taught you something important about your craft?
For over two years, we tried to get the background and colours and the cover of our book to be perfect. I would go into bookstores weekly looking at all the books to see what books just popped off the wall. I spent days of my life in those stores researching book covers, and talking to employees about their favourite book covers, I researched children’s book covers from the 1970s to present day, trying to figure out what would differentiate our book from everything else in the market. We knew we wanted a sunset with beautiful clouds, light pinks and blues, palm trees, and something that would just pop off the shelf! We also knew that the cover art for PABLO had to be the absolute best version of himself. The happiest, most engaging PABLO in the whole book! Getting to where we wanted to land was a completely different story of luck.
Irvin did at least 25 different renditions of what the cover art should look like, but none of it felt right to any of us. One day we were getting some revisions on the back cover art, and Irv sent us an image he had come up with on his own for the back of the book
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Do the work. Do not stop doing the work.”
– Mar Andersons
Links
- Know more about the BREW Book, Blog, and Poetry Awards here
Share Your Insights
What part of Mar Andersons’ creative journey stood out to you?
- What inspires your own creative ideas?
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Alignment with the UN SDGs
- SDG 4: Supports children’s literacy and learning.
- SDG 10: Promotes bilingual and cross-cultural storytelling.
- SDG 16: Encourages empathy, connection, and understanding.
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