Laura Watkins on Illustrating Teeny and Tilly, Written by Beanie Feldstein

Teeny and Tilly is the gorgeous new picture book written by actor and author Beanie Feldstein, illustrated by Laura Watkins and published by Philomel (Penguin). To mark the occasion, we sat down (virtually) with Laura and her agent Alex Gehringer for a chat that covered everything from bathroom queues at the White House to axe throwing in New York.

Grab a coffee. This is a fun one.

Spread from Teeny and Tilly

From the White House to the Bookshop

Every picture book has an origin story, and this one is particularly exciting. As editor Talia revealed at the weekend’s launch event at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, she first met Beanie Feldstein at the White House. Specifically, in the queue for the bathroom, where the seeds of a picture book collaboration were planted. That was 2023.

By October 2024, the project had landed with Laura, who came to the brief with immense enthusiasm. Alex reached out with a character description and asked for something loose, just enough to show Beanie’s team how Laura approached character design. What came back was rather more than that.

“I sent you loads of options,” Laura recalled with a laugh. “We had the same hair but on different levels of characters. We changed the jackets and then we changed the shoes… and then we had all the different hairdos.”

By the end of the process, Laura had drawn around 10 finalised character options, each in multiple poses and settings. The Teeny you see in the finished book? Pretty much exactly what landed in that initial round of sketches.

Beanie Feldstein and Laura Watkins promoting the book on CBS Mornings

Publication Day, Whirlwind Edition

Laura flew in from London last minute, with the sole intention attending the Books Are Magic launch event.

The bookshop event was a huge success, kids wandered in from a street fair happening outside, Laura drew for them and Beanie signed books in a back room while Laura held pens, paintbrushes and (by her own description) the role of “emotional support agent.”

The morning TV appearance was the moment that really got to her. Arriving at the studio to find the book’s artwork blown up across every screen in the building, artwork she’d drawn alone in her studio in London, was unexpectedly moving.

“It was so surreal because obviously I drew this in my little place in London,” she said, “and then seeing it with the whole cast and crew walking around. . .everyone had the book. . .it was a very surreal experience but amazing.”

Book Launch! at Books Are Magic

What Goes Into a Picture Book Nobody Talks About

One of the most interesting threads in the conversation was the world-building that underpins every spread but that readers rarely consciously notice.

“A lot of this book is set in one room, it’s set in a classroom setting. . .so I wanted it to seem like it’s a real kind of space, at an angle that you’re at.” She sent Alex floor plans of the classroom, she built the world before she drew the story.

Alex pointed to something she felt was a real step forward for Laura: human characters. So much of Laura’s work and so many of her commissions centres on animals. Teeny and Tilly gave her a rare opportunity to lead with human personalities, to let expression and body language carry a story in a more direct way.

“The focus was really on who these two were,” Alex said, noting that the detailed brief from the Philomel team about Teeny and Tilly’s personalities gave Laura something specific to work with. “You were able to bring their personalities in in a way that I don’t think you’ve been given that opportunity quite at this level.”

Illustrations from Teeny and Tilly

Advice for Illustrators Just Starting Out

Both Laura and Alex had a lot to say to illustrators who are still working towards their first deal.

On finding your own visual voice, Laura was clear: draw the things you want to draw and find your references somewhere unexpected. “I think it’s really important to kind of source things in an unusual way, go to a class, go for a walk, look at older paintings. . . because otherwise you start to notice quite a distinct style that’s kind of coming from everybody looking in the same inspiration font.”

On rejection, Alex reframed the familiar “not a market fit” response in a way that’s genuinely useful: “Whoever’s telling you that — whether it’s a peer, a professor, an agent, a publisher — what market are they in? Because they are, generally speaking, from their pool of knowledge. It’s not a global thing.” A pass from one editor, one agent, one imprint tells you very little about whether your work has a place in the world. Bologna, she noted, is the best proof of that — a room full of books from every country, in every conceivable style, all finding their audience somewhere.

On timing: “So much of it is who you’re speaking to, when you’re speaking to them,” Alex said. “Something can be a great idea, it can be tonally right for the market, it can be everything — but if someone has just acquired a book that is substantially similar. . . those X factors can turn something into a no quickly.” The flip side of that is equally true. Books that couldn’t find a home one year can land perfectly two years later when the market shifts.

And on the general shape of a creative career: “Stay hungry, stay eager, and the next opportunity really is always going to be there for you.”

The Dedication (A Story in Six Words)

No account of this book would be complete without mentioning the dedication page. Beanie’s dedication is warm, generous and several sentences long — a tribute to the women whose friendships have shaped her life. Laura’s dedication to Alex, her agent, reads simply:

For Alex, my agent and friend.

Six words. And if you’re wondering whether that was intentional British understatement or the result of Laura being stuck without wifi at a Colombian airport and sending an email that Alex had to hastily explain was actually from her client and not a request to dedicate the book to herself, well. Now you know.

Teeny and Tilly tells the story of a girl starting at a new school who has been mocked for being short, and the unexpected friendship she finds with the tallest kid in class. Laura’s digitally painted illustrations have already drawn praise from Kirkus Reviews for beautifully capturing Teeny’s emotional journey.

Teeny and Tilly is out now, published by Philomel at Penguin. Written by Beanie Feldstein. Illustrated by Laura Watkins. Get your copy here.

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To work with Laura, get in touch with her agent Alex Gehringer here.