From Eames to I Dream of Jeannie: A Brian Won Interview About Horizontal Crocodile

So I’m sitting at a Simon & Schuster luncheon at the last American Library Association Conference in Chicago, this past June. Not just any luncheon either. The ART luncheon. The one where they show you a bunch of books that are particularly, extraordinarily, incredibly toothsome, and even a sad sack sardonic sucker like me has to admit to their power. Everything from the Caldecott-worthy The Ribbon to a picture book so full of lightning and power and sizzle that it’s amazing the pages don’t catch on fire, Here Comes the Band.

I am sitting here, happily munching on a sandwich, when they introduce Brian Won. I do not know Brian Won. Certainly he has worked on books I remember like Spunky Little Monkey and such, but I still wasn’t hugely familiar with his work. Then as he speaks, Travis Jonker leans over and whispers, “Have you seen his Instagram page?” Were any words more enticing than that?

As it happens, Brian’s Instagram page is a marvelous cacophony of delights. The perfect combination of personal insights and humor. Though the style (for whatever reason) reminds me of Barry Blitt at times, the contents are more like something you’d see from Pedro Martin.

And then I saw his latest book. And it got even better.

Written by Scott Rothmann, Horizontal Crocodile (out September 22nd) sounds oddly simple on the page. Long croc shops for long couch. But there’s something about Won’s accompanying art (to say nothing of Rothmann’s well-placed twist at the end) that elevates this from being merely good to downright impressive. This is the kind of book that people are going to remember for a long time. As such, I wanted to talk to Brian about it. I had questions. The man had answers.

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Betsy Bird: Brian! Such a delight to get a chance to talk to you about Horizontal Crocodile. I don’t think I’m saying anything particularly controversial that when the right manuscript hits the right artist, you can end up with something particularly intriguing. On that note, tell us what it was about Scott Rothmann’s book that appealed to you when you first saw it.

Brian Won: Yes! I’m so excited to chat about Horizontal Crocodile.

The thing that got me was how committed Scott was to the premise. It’s about a very horizontal crocodile, and from page one he never wavers. Crocodile is really, really long.

This is the kind of humor I love. Scott never stops to explain why Crocodile is so long. He just lets the story be exactly what it is.

What surprised me was how much heart was tucked inside this nutty idea. Our crocodile spends so much time trying to make the world fit him. In the end, the story isn’t about changing who he is. It’s about making room for something new. That’s what made me fall in love with it.

BB: You allow yourself to really play with the concept of a long crocodile in every way. There’s the shape of the book itself (low and long) as well as look of the hero. I’ve seen you talk about the kind of ribbon effect of his body, but was that an instant idea from the start or did you play with other concepts first?

Brian: Pretty much immediately I realized Crocodile’s body wasn’t just some character. It was going to be a visual design tool.

Muscle memory may have taken over because one of my first art lessons came from my older sister, Sharon. She taught me how to draw banners and ribbons. I became obsessed. I drew them everywhere. Book reports, lunch bags, notebooks, backpacks. I would add the shadows, curve the text. Everything had a Medieval Times flair to it. So when I looked at this super long crocodile, I didn’t really see anatomy. I saw a ribbon.

Once I started thinking of Crocodile as a design element, the book really opened up. His body could lead your eye across the page, weave through a scene, or frame a composition. I tried a bunch of thumbnails, but I kept coming back to this idea.

BB: For that matter (and I’m sorry, people, but spoiler alert here) I’m thinking about the shape of this book and the reveal of the twist at the end. Without giving too much away, it required you to go vertical and that’s a tricky thing to accomplish in a physical object like a book. Some folks bemoan gatefolds that needn’t be there, but if ever a book justified its use, it is this one. Again, at what point in the process was the gatefold an obvious solution? 

Brian: I always feel a little guilty asking for special production because I know someone has to pay for it. If we’re going to do something like a gatefold, I want it to really matter.

The ending hinged on revealing something that literally couldn’t fit on a normal page. I tried a couple of different ideas, but every version fell short. When my art director, Chloe Foglia, and editor, Celia Lee, suggested a gatefold, I immediately thought, “That’s it.” Opening the page became part of the surprise.

BB: I have you to thank for the fact that as I sat and stared at Horizontal Crocodile in his chair, I was able to dredge up the term “barcalounger” from the inner recesses of my cranium. And not only that, but a mid-century Eames walnut lounge chair with ottoman at that! This begs an obvious question about aesthetic. You coulda kept the design elements of this book all kinds of dull, but instead there’s this delightful mid-century vibe to the whole thing (that limo ain’t exactly this year’s model). I have no idea how your process works when you get a manuscript like this, so at what point did you come up with the look of this book?  

Brian: I have a graphic design background, so I probably think about the design elements as much as I think about the characters.

When I first started as a designer in my early twenties, my creative director, Jens Gelhaar, had this beautiful Eames lounge chair in his office. He was this tall German feller with cool old-school two-tone glasses. I’d walk by and find him sitting in that chair pontificating about kerning. He also drove a vintage Volvo station wagon that, looking back, has some of the same lines as the limousine in the book.

Funny enough, I don’t remember consciously deciding to make the book feel mid-century. I think all those little influences just found their way in.

I’m pretty unrefined. McDonald’s coffee tastes fantastic to me. I’ve mostly learned by paying attention to people with impeccable taste.

BB: Can you talk a little bit about the medium and the color scheme you went with on this title? I’m not even entirely certain how to typify the cover’s colors (coral and gray/green?). Tell us a bit about coming to these decisions.

Brian: I  knew I wanted to keep the palette pretty limited. Corals, muted greens, creams, and dark charcoals all felt timeless to me.

I also suspect that I Dream of Jeannie had something to do with it. The earth tones and pinks from the opening animation have been stuck in my head since I was a kid. Growing up in an immigrant household, television taught me so much about American culture. I think those old TV shows shaped the way I see things just as much as picture books did.

BB: That’s Generation X stuff as well. We all got raised on the previous generation’s media. So I’m sitting in the audience the last ALA Conference’s Simon & Schuster Art Lunch, and as you speak a colleague of mine leans over and whispers, “His Instagram account is really good.” Which can mean any number of things, but in your case it means that you’ve put some serious time, effort, and headspace into your memories there. It reminds me not a little of the work of Pedro Martin (Mexikid) and how his Instagram stories sometimes made it into his books. Any chance that we can see (adult or child, I’m not picky) these tales on the pages of a book someday? 

Brian: Thanks so much for noticing the Instagram comics. They’ve come at an interesting time in my life. I’m turning fifty, and my mother, who has dementia, recently moved in with us. It’s made me think a lot more about memory and how limited our time really is.

I’ve felt this strong pull to create and tell stories. Comics were such a huge part of my childhood. TV and comics. Gilligan and Garfield. Somehow it never occurred to me to start making comics until now.

I started posting them on Instagram just to see if they worked. It turns out the most personal stories were the ones people connected with the most. Pedro Martin is so good at that. Reading his comics feels less like reading a book and more like getting to know him. Thanks to your recommendation, I’ve been able to peek into his world, and that’s been really inspiring. Someday I’d love to make a book that leaves readers with that same feeling.

BB: We’ll hold you to that, sir. Finally, what’s next from you? What else can we look forward to?

Brian: That’s a really good question. I don’t know yet, but I do know I have a lot of stories I want to tell.

Recently, the agave in front of our place shot up this incredible ten-foot flower stalk almost overnight. I started reading about agaves and learned this is their one and only bloom. During that short season, the agave pours all of its energy into producing flowers, pollen, and nectar. It becomes covered with bees, feeding everything around it while making sure the next generation has a chance to grow.  After that, the main plant dies.

I don’t mean to be overly dramatic, but that image has really stuck with me. Between turning fifty and watching my mom’s memory fade, I’ve become much more aware of time. It’s made me realize how many stories I still want to tell. Picture books. Comics. Whatever form they take, I hope I can make as many of them as possible.

Fortunately I’m not an actual agave. And bees scare me.

BB: They scare us all, man. They scare us all.

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Okay, that’s Brian Won and I hope that somewhere between the agave, the Gilligan’s Island, the comics, and the lengthy crocs you got a sense of how truly fun and cool this picture book really is. Horizontal Crocodile is, as I mentioned before, out September 22nd. It’ll be worth the wait, my friends. You’re just going to love this book so much. Scout’s honor. Oh! And if you want a spot of fun, check out this video game he created based on the book. Mind-blowing, except that I can’t seem to get over 210 points. I bet you can do better. And if you do then check this out:

The top 2 scores on 9/22 each win a copy of the book!

The top 10 scores on 9/22 each win a hand drawn crocodile!

Special thanks too to Lindsey Ferris and the team at Simon & Schuster for helping to put this all together!

Filed under: Best Books, Best Books of 2026, Interviews