Laurie Keller is the author-illustrator of whimsical books for young readers including Potato Pants!, Do Unto Otters, and The Scrambled States of America. Christy Ottaviano is the VP and publisher of Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. We invited the duo to discuss the joy behind their longtime collaboration, and Keller’s latest picture book, Clem Clam the Class Clown (Oct. 6), which marks their 20th book together.

Christy Ottaviano: Hi, Kells. I think we might start this conversation with the fact that we haven’t called each other by our real names in over 25 years. Do you remember how our nicknames came to be?

Laurie Keller: You mean, everyone doesn’t call you Otie? I’m not sure how it started but it didn’t take long. I don’t even remember your real name.

Ottaviano: I have so many terrific memories of our early days working together. You made me a cake in the shape of a giant tooth on pub day for Open Wide, Tooth School Inside. That book remains my favorite of the many we’ve published together. The fact that you turned a line from a Jack Nicholson film into a punny homage still makes me laugh—“You can’t handle the tooth!”

Do you have a favorite book we worked on together?

Keller: I don’t really have a favorite book, but with Arnie the Doughnut, I got a kick out of having serious discussions with you about the things a talking doughnut might or might not say.

Ottaviano: We have always found humor in similar places, and I think this has served our collaboration well. Do you remember when we went to see Xanadu on Broadway as well as The Flying Karamozov Brothers? Good times! What do you think is the most important aspect of humor and how do you tap into that when conceiving book ideas? With Do Unto Otters you wanted to write about manners and then came up with the clever play on the Golden Rule. How did the idea for Clem Clam the Class Clown take shape?

Keller: I’ve always loved that you’re this highly educated editor who also has a wacky sense of humor and will send me silly jokes and video clips. With humor writing, I aim for that term Oscar Wilde coined: “earnest absurdity.” Sometimes I know what I want to write about before I start. Other times, I’m inspired by a sketch, or something crosses my path that I get excited about, or my favorite—a story idea pops into my head completely out of the blue. Clem Clam the Class Clown started with a doodle of a goofy clam as a stand-up comic telling clam jokes.

Ottaviano: You have been ordained by friends the Patron Saint of Inanimate Objects and will go to great lengths to help objects that are “in distress,” like a shirt falling off its hanger. How do you see this role finding its way into your story ideas, and more often, into the emotional depth of your characters?

Keller: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been convinced that inanimate objects have feelings. I figured I’d grow out of it, but the situation has only gotten worse. For instance, I can’t go into a store and buy a bottle of dish soap if I see only one bottle (its friend!) left standing on the shelf alone—so, I buy both. I spend so much time (and money!) thinking about inanimate objects and making sure they’re happy that I guess that’s why I end up writing about them.

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Ottaviano: Clem Clam the Class Clown marks our 20th book together! Clem is curious, kind, and hopeful, and he is also competitive, envious, and eager to be loved. In many ways, he’s a stand-in for most kids, and that’s what makes your books universal in appeal.

Usually, when you’re drafting your stories, you don’t yet have all the little jokes that you include. Can you talk about that process and how those funny bits emerge?

Keller: Almost all of the little jokes and asides aren’t in my manuscripts—they happen when I’m creating the art. Sometimes I try to come up with them, but I love when they unexpectedly pop into my thoughts and catch me by surprise. And the more tired and punchy I am, the better!

Okay, for the last question, I’m going to turn the tables on you. I’ve always been amazed at how patient you are with the many hundreds of changes I make to my manuscripts, right up to the 11th hour. You seem to understand the ups and downs of the creative process and how every author and illustrator has a different way of working. Can you talk a little about how you deal with that?

Ottaviano: I really love the different ways in which authors and illustrators work, and I have always enjoyed adapting to their specific processes as the books we are working on take shape. It’s also what makes the work so interesting!

Thank you so much for chatting, Kells!

Keller: Thanks, Otie!