The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/Jennifer E Smith, Brandon James Scott, Review of A Cure For the Hiccups

Jennifer E. Smith is the bestselling author of over a dozen books for all ages.

She earned a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. She lives in Los Angeles.

Jennifer's the author of the picture books The Creature of Habit and The Creature of Habit Tries His Best, both illustrated by Leo Espinosa. She also wrote The Unsinkable Greta James, Fun for the Whole Family, and the young adult novels The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, both of which have been adapted for film.

Brandon James Scott is an award-winning Canadian author and artist who makes books and works in animation. 

His author-illustrator debut, The Skeleton and the Cat, the first in a series of picture books based on his Dead Cat personal art project, arrives next year. During his two decades working in animation, Brandon also created his own award-winning Netflix series called Justin Time.

Brandon's the illustrator of more than ten picture books, including One Day at the Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea, A Bear, a Fish, and a Fishy Wish, and A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom, Metal Baby by Stephen W. Martin, I Live in a Tree Trunk and I Was Born a Baby by Meg Fleming, and Cow Says Meow by Kirsti Call.

Their newest picture book, A Cure for the Hiccups, was released on November 4.

Welcome, Jennifer and Brandon! Tell us about yourselves. (Where/when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing or illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to write or  illustrate?)

JENNIFER - Hi! I’m the writer half of this team—if I were the illustrator, this would have to be a book about pigs or penguins, since those are the only two things I can reliably draw. I feel like I left the harder part of this book up to Brandon, and he really delivered. But it was such a joy to come up with this story. I’ve been an author for a long time now—A Cure for the Hiccups is my fourteenth published book!—and I’ve written stories for all age ranges, from picture books to middle grade to young adult to adult. But there is truly nothing that brings me as much joy as writing picture books. To see my words come to life with such brilliant illustrations will never stop being cool, and getting to hear from kids about them is the absolute best. Plus, I have a three-year-old, so reading them to him is an incredibly special bonus!

BRANDON - Hello! Jennifer, if you do in fact write a book about pigs or penguins, I would like to offer my help once again, as I do love drawing animals. A Cure for the Hiccups did not have many animals in it, but I put some in there anyway. (You’ll find a cat, a squirrel, and some birds!) And that sort of thing is what I love about illustrating books—animals, sure, a guilty pleasure—but with book illustration, you get a wonderful story to work with (as Jennifer has written here) and you also get the opportunity to interpret that story and add to it in your own way. Jennifer’s story was special and had a unique challenge: How do you illustrate “waiting” or “calming your mind”? Well, I had no idea at first, but I wanted to find out. I like solving visual problems with my imagination. Illustrating books is just about the best way I can think of to spend my time as an artist. I have been drawing since I was a kid, and I also work in animation. I draw a lot!

It is wonderful to "meet" you both! What is one of the most fun or unusual places where you’ve written a manuscript or created an illustration?

JENNIFER - I’m always writing everywhere I go, or at least jotting down notes. I’ve written on trains and planes and even cruise ships, and in many, many countries around the world! But my favorite place to write is in my backyard in California, sitting on my patio with my laptop while the hummingbirds visit the purple morning glories that grow along my fence. To me, there’s nothing better.

BRANDON - Back when I was in art school, I worked in a coffee shop one summer. On my break at work one evening, I made a little watercolor painting using a stir stick and an espresso. It was mildly successful. I should have just packed my sketchbook and pencil, but, hey, you work with what you got.

Jennifer that does sound like heaven! That sounds like it was a fun challenge Brandon. I have met an illustrator who works solely with "coffee stains." Jennifer, what was your inspiration or spark of curiosity for A Cure for the Hiccups?

JENNIFER - Hiccups are a fact of life, and something we all have to deal with, but they’re also so silly! I’ve always been amused by the fact that when you wind up with the hiccups, every single person has a different solution to the problem, but they rarely seem to work. The only real cure, of course, is patience. You simply have to wait. Which is hard if—like me—you’re not a particularly patient person. Most kids aren’t either, so while the idea of having the hiccups is inherently funny, and I hope the book makes them laugh, it’s also sort of a sneaky guide to patience and mindfulness, which is something we could all probably use.

Sneaky indeed. Best way to learn something is with a dose of laughter. Brandon, what about the A Cure for the Hiccups manuscript that appealed to you as an illustrator?

BRANDON - When I read a manuscript, there are a few things that need to pop out to get me excited. A strong character is number one. What sort of emotional journey do they go through? I’ll be drawing this character a lot through the book, so I want there to be interesting things going on in their head and emotions I can illustrate. Well, Max has quite a journey here. There’s a LOT she goes through. It’s a real personal struggle and growth, even about something silly like hiccups. So, I loved that.

The other thing I look for when I read is does my imagination start working right away thinking how something might be visualized. This story had that too, because illustrating how a kid stops, and waits, and calms her mind is not something you typically have to draw. How could I make that look interesting? It was a fun challenge that I wanted to figure out.

Interesting. I can see where that would be a fun challenge. How many revisions did A Cure for the Hiccups take for the text or illustrations from your first draft to publication?

JENNIFER - People always laugh when I talk about working on edits for a picture book, because they’re so short compared to my novels. But it means that every single word is important and every single line counts. I’m grateful to have such a brilliant editor in Lee Wade, and she gave me so much valuable guidance in order to get to the best possible version of this book. The story started out leaning more toward the hijinks of someone trying to get rid of their hiccups, and all the ridiculous cures, but as we continued to work on it, the balance shifted to give space to the quieter aspects of the story, the parts where our hero Max realizes she needs to sit and breathe and clear her mind and just be. So, it was fun to uncover that as we worked through various drafts.

BRANDON - We actually went back and forth a bit on the middle section of the book when I was sketching it out and really opened up the pacing to allow for more time in Max’s “nightmare” of all the horrible things her future would look like with never-ending hiccups, as well as spending more time on the quiet moment when she pauses and waits and calms her mind. I loved this, as this was truly the meat of the book—the climax where she has to battle those inner demons and learn to be in the moment. I think where we arrived in this section is really great, but it took a bit of thinking and some amazing help from Lee (the editor) and Rachael (the art director) to get there.

Thank you for sharing this part of the book's journey with us. Jennifer, what was the toughest part of writing A Cure for the Hiccups? What was the most fun?

JENNIFER - The most fun part was definitely polling friends on how they get rid of their hiccups. I will just say that people have some pretty wild theories and techniques!

That is for sure! And I'd be willing to bet you didn't use all of them either. Brandon, what was the toughest part of illustrating A Cure for the Hiccups? What was the most fun?

BRANDON - As I’ve mentioned, illustrating your character stopping and waiting and calming her mind was a challenge. Since we have a fall-timed book, and I love fall (clearly the best season), I knew this was going to be an autumn sort of book with an earthy palette and fallen leaves. And I stumbled on using the falling leaves as a visual to get me (and Max!) through the climax of the book. Max notices a leaf falling, and fixes on it, and admires it, and it helps her calm down. And then on the following page, a big gust of wind and a whole bunch of leaves blow through and it feels like a nice mind cleanse, before she’s snapped back to reality, now hiccup free. This was a lot of fun to figure out, and I’m really happy with the result.

I love the spread of the leaves swirling around Max. Jennifer, did anything surprise or delight you when you first saw Brandon’s illustrations? Which is your favorite spread?

Text © Jennifer E. Smith, 2025. Image © Brandon James Scott, 2025.

JENNIFER - Oh gosh, it’s hard to pick—I love them all so much! I think my favorite is probably the page where everything goes still, and the world stops swirling around Max, and she finally figures out how to just be, but I equally love the more comedic moments, like when she’s the first to arrive at soccer practice in the dark, or all the details in the dream sequence where she worries she’ll have the hiccups forever, or the way her hat pops off her head each time she hiccups. I also love the very last page, where she and her brother are sitting under the tree, and she’s passing along some of her wisdom. Honestly, I just really love it all, and I feel extremely lucky that Brandon connected with the manuscript and was willing to illustrate it, because he did such an incredible job!

This illustration is stunning and I love Brandon's explanation of it above, too. Brandon, is there a spread that you are excited about or proud of? Which is your favorite spread?

Text © Jennifer E. Smith, 2025. Image © Brandon James Scott, 2025.

BRANDON -  I think the spread with Max dreaming of herself as president is a good one—her nightmare of standing at the podium in the press room of the White House, hiccupping, with her administration looking on embarrassed, holding glasses of water for her. Jennifer wrote a lot of fun gags like this, but this was one of my favorites!

This made me chuckle when I first read the book and then smile that her "biggest" fear was having hiccups WHEN she became President - not if she became President! Brandon, many illustrators leave treasures or Easter eggs in the illustrations. Did you do this in A Cure for the Hiccups? If so, can you share one or more with us?

BRANDON - There is a little red bird that appears on a few pages in the tree in Max’s yard. This little red bird appears in all of my books, in fact. Maybe one day I should make a book about this red bird! He’s been around and would have a lot of stories to tell . . .

I hope he gets the chance to tell his stories. I do see below that the red bird and two friends appear on your next book's cover! Jennifer, having written two other picture books, do you have a procedure or method you find helpful? Did you do that for A Cure for the Hiccups? Do you find picture books to be easier or harder than your novels?

JENNIFER - Picture books might seem easy, but they’re actually quite difficult to pull off, and I have endless respect for the authors working in this genre. Especially now that I have a toddler and am reading these books all the time. They’re obviously not as much of a marathon to write as novels, which is part of what makes those really hard, but the economy of picture books is tricky in its own way, and so is finding the right voice. So, I guess what I’m saying is: I find all writing to be hard! (But in the best possible way.)

Great answer! Is there something you want your readers to know about or discover in A Cure for the Hiccups?

JENNIFER - Aside from getting rid of their hiccups, I hope the book feels fun and humorous and enjoyable, and that it brings readers a quiet moment at bedtime, and perhaps a little oasis of peace at the end of a busy day. We could all use that, whether you’re 4 or 44 or 84!

BRANDON -  I think we could all use a reminder that sometimes calming down and spending time in the moment is the best solution. Also, the reminder that there is, in fact, a cure for the hiccups, which for some reason they never teach you in school.

Ha! I agree with you both. Hiccups can be funny, but they can also be very annoying if you have they for a full day (or two). Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share with us?

JENNIFER - At the moment, I’m mostly working on my next novel, but I also have another picture book coming the summer after next called Tate Dived, which is quite different in tone from this one, but also very special to me. It’s about a misunderstanding over the fate of a beloved dog, which leads to a child’s joyful reimagining of what it means to say goodbye—which is a long way of saying that it’s about the imaginary underwater adventures of a scuba-diving beagle. I’m very, very excited for that one to be out in the world.

BRANDON - I’m very excited about the first book in a new series I’m making called The Skeleton and the Cat. This will be my author-illustrator debut and my first time making an original story and illustrating it, so it’s big! It’s based on two characters I’ve been drawing already for several years as a personal illustration project, so it’s very special to me. I can’t wait until the world sees it next year.

Both of these sound intriguing! I can't wait to read them. Last question: What is your favorite national park or forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world), or the one you’re longing to visit? Why?

© 2024 SeeNewYork.NYC

JENNIFER - Ooh, I love this question! When I was a kid, our family vacations almost always revolved around national parks, so I’ve been to a lot of them, and have so many favorites that it’s impossible to pick. Glacier Bay is absolutely staggering. Yosemite is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are spectacular. Joshua Tree and the Badlands are otherworldly. I could go on and on.

But my favorite park ever is more modest than all of those—for almost a decade, I lived across the street from Riverside Park, a narrow band of grass and trees that snakes up the very edge of Manhattan, and it was a true joy to look out my window and see the autumn leaves or the snowy branches, to throw the ball for my dog there every morning and get to enjoy that kind of rare green space in the city. So even though I now live on the opposite coast, I will always be grateful for the many, many hours I spent gazing out at Riverside Park.

© MarkZelinski.com

BRANDON - We have a place here in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, where I now live with my family, called the Royal Botanical Gardens. It’s a bit more than a typical park, as it’s a large nature reserve with multiple sites, trails, cultivated gardens, research facilities, and environmentally protected areas. It’s a great place to visit any time of year, and they even have a children’s book festival in the fall! I feel lucky to have it so close and would recommend that anyone in the Toronto-Hamilton area check it out.

Thank you so much, Jennifer and Brandon, for stopping by and sharing with us. It was a pleasure chatting with both of you.

To find out more about Jennifer Smith, or contact her:

Website: https://www.jenniferesmith.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferesmith/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jensmithwrites/

To find out more about Brandon James Scott, or contact him:

Website: https://www.brandonjamesscott.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonjamesscott/?hl=en

Review of A Cure for the Hiccups

There's no denying it. . .hiccups are funny (especially if you aren't the one afflicted). But have you ever had them longer enough to worry that they will never go away? That your whole life will be defined by the hiccups. While this is a humorous premise, I do know that having hiccups for a whole day or even a number of days in a row is no laughing matter. And sometimes, as young Max discovers, hiccups have their own timetables and won't be rushed.

A Cure for the Hiccups

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Illustrator: Brandon James Scott

Publisher: Random House Studio ( November 4, 2025)

Ages: 4-8

Themes:

Humor, hiccups, emotions, imagination, calming, and slowing down.

Synopsis:

Is it possible to have the hiccups forever? In this delightfully fun picture book, a determined kid who’s good at everything discovers that being patient and taking a deep breath may be the perfect place to start.

When Max gets a persistent case of the hiccups, she tries everything to make them go away. She tries holding her breath. She tries drinking water upside down. She tries standing on her head and doing a somersault, but nothing works. “The only way to get rid of the hiccups is to wait,” says her grandmother. But Max doesn’t have time to wait!

Soon, her imagination runs wild. What if she sets a record for the longest case of hiccups? Will doctors study her? Will babies stare at her? And what if, when she becomes president, the entire world hears her hiccup? But then, she starts to listen to the leaves rustling in the wind and feels the sun on her face. She takes a breath, she pauses, she waits…and the unexpected occurs.

Jennifer E. Smith’s imaginative and funny picture book, with bright illustrations by Brandon James Scott, reminds children—and adults—that discovering the solution to a problem sometimes requires taking a few breaths and slowing down.

Opening Lines:

Max has the hiccups. A very, very, very bad case.

What I LOVED about this book:

I love Brandon James Scott's depiction of Max as a fiery red-haired, energetic character and his addition of Max's adorable grey cat, a busy squirrel, and a cute little red bird. The cheekiness of Max and the obvious affection of her cat is wonderful in this opening spread.

Text © Jennifer E. Smith, 2025. Image © Brandon James Scott, 2025.

Max is a kid who loves being first - at soccer practice (even beating the sun), at puzzles, and even brushing her teeth. Much to the consternation of her family, and even the cat. She enjoys being good at things. But, when a major case of the hiccups defeats all of her best efforts at a cure . . .

Text © Jennifer E. Smith, 2025. Image © Brandon James Scott, 2025.

Grandma's suggestion to be patient and wait falls on deaf ears as "Max never has time for any of that." The soft digital illustrations offer a gorgeous fall setting, with falling leaves and "HIC!"s following Max across the pages. When she begins to worry that she'll be rid of them, her wild imagination takes over - what if she has the hiccups forever and becomes known as the "Hiccup Girl." She imagines being stared about, studied, kicked out of theaters, and more. So much more. I adore Brandon James Scott's shift to a black, blue, and white palette and a swirling galaxy-like cloud of imagination - full of explosive HICs - which weaves over the pages. I also love that Jennifer E. Smith's worse imagined scenario of how the hiccups will ruin Max's life involves Max's fear of having hiccups WHEN she becomes President and "her hiccups will be heard around the world"!

Text © Jennifer E. Smith, 2025. Image © Brandon James Scott, 2025.

What does Max do when her imagination goes out of control and her hiccups refuse to leave? She tries to distract herself by focusing on other things - the swirling, twisting journey of a falling leaf, the warmth of the sun, and the swirling brush of the wind. Gorgeous spot illustrations of Max lead to the stunning spread, which Jennifer E. Smith chose, in the interview above, as one of her favorites.

While you might be able to guess what might happen for Max, the hiccups continue to rule the roost with a funny and tender twist. Lyrical and playful, this is a fun book to read aloud! It's a humorous book highlighting funny ways to "cure" hiccups, a gentle guide to slowing down, and a tender book on family relationships.

Resources:

• what cure have you tried for hiccups? Did it work?

• what is the funniest cure for hiccups that you have heard or read about? What made it so funny? Do you think it worked?

  
  

• write a description, or draw a picture, of the worst thing you could imagine happening if someone had hiccups forever.