How Illustrator Reggie Brown Brings Big Feelings to Life in The Snowman Code

What happens when an illustrator channels courage, mental health, and a 600-year-old sarcastic snowman into a single powerful story? In this inspiring conversation, The Snowman Code illustrator Reggie Brown reveals how he transformed a charming seasonal narrative into a visually rich, emotionally resonant world—and how his own life experiences shaped every brushstroke.

If you’re an educator, caregiver, librarian, picture-book lover, or emerging illustrator, this episode offers a masterclass in storytelling through art, navigating big feelings with creativity, and following unexpected paths into meaningful work.

Episode Summary

In Episode 166, Dr. Diane sits down with illustrator Reggie Brown, whose artwork elevates The Snowman Code—a winter story that tackles seasonal depression, parentification, courage, and connection. Reggie shares how he intuitively designs characters like Blessing and Albert and how he transitioned from biotech to bestselling illustrator after a life-changing moment during the pandemic.

Listeners also get a sneak peek at Reggie’s upcoming 2026 projects, including Walk the Walk and Do You See Me?, plus a heartwarming story of hope, family, and the Star Wars–themed Christmas surprise that changed his life forever.

Chapters

00:27 – Designing a Story Beyond Snowflakes

03:41 – Illustrating Mental Health with Care

04:39 – From Biotech to Books: Reggie’s Unconventional Path

07:00 – Comics, Storytelling, and Illustration Craft

07:54 – A Lifelong Sci-Fi Fan

09:06 – Books You Should Know

11:15 – What’s Coming in 2026?

13:10 – What Makes a Manuscript Irresistible

13:47 – A New Source of Hope

Links 

Connect with Reggie Brown on Website, Instagram and LinkedIn

Check out Reggie's Books: The Snowman Code, Magnificent Makers, Santa and the City, Bros, Little Big Man, Who Are Your People?, Walk the Walk , Do You See Me?

Subscribe to the Daily Picture Book Read-Aloud Calendar (NEW!)

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Adventures in Learning podcast. If you've been listening this week, you've already heard Simon Stevenson, and you know that he and I launched our very own Reggie Brown fan club. We are both so enamored with the artwork that Reggie brought to the Snowman Code, and I am thrilled beyond belief to bring you a special edition episode this week featuring the one and only Illustrator Reggie Brown. Wonder, Curiosity, Connection. Where will your adventures take you? I'm Dr. Diane, and thank you for joining me on today's episode of Adventures in Learning. Reggie, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate all the kind words.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Oh, I am so thrilled to have you here. You know, as I said earlier in the week, I loved the Snowman Code. I think that it's a cozy story that is unexpected. Because usually when we think of books this time of year, we think of, you know, sweet Santa Claus, snow, snowflakes. And the snowman code is none of that. It deals with some pretty heavy issues. It deals with seasonal depression. It deals with children who are parentifying. And your artwork lifted this story from something that was good to something that's really great. And so I wanted to start by just asking you, how did you go about conceiving the artwork for Blessing and Albert and all of the characters within it? Because you really tell a whole different story through the art.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yeah. I guess my creative process is all over the place. It's not really anything I have like steps to, I guess. It's more of just like how the story makes me feel and just how it's speaking to me. You know, Simon's words are just so awesome. And just sometimes, you know, blessing just came up in my in my mind, and then just had to, you know, just put her on the page. And I think that's probably the easiest way I could explain it. I mean, it's it's just really kind of just in just intuiting it and just let's say from the story and the words of, you know, how Simon describes blessing and Albert and the rest of the family and the rest of the characters in the in the uh book.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

What were some of the qualities that immediately stuck out to you about the characters that you were like, oh yes, I have to make sure I get that in?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

For blessing, I just I just like her courage, I guess. Um say, yeah, she meets uh 600-year-old snowman. And so I that would take a lot of courage. Also just a kindness. And she's just she's just I someone I can relate to. Yeah. She has all these feelings and stuff, and and and there's big feelings about, you know, her situation. And it's just just I can just really relate to her and and I guess I really gravitated to towards her the most. And then Albert, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Keep going.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Albert, the snowman. I just like his his I haven't read it in a while, but his sarcasm, I think, or in jokes his his the way he speaks and the way he uh communicates information to blessing and to uh to other characters was just I just found that in endearing.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

His certainty in all of the facts that he presents, which may or may not actually be facts.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Well, and I see you've got Jeremiah behind you with his signature pipe and hat. I assume you use Sherlock Holmes as an inspiration for the hat.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Yeah, yeah. Um, that was like one one of the things in our meeting was that's a type of hat Jeremiah wears. And so I definitely had to like put that in for him.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

So you're in California. I'm living through my first bout of real winter this year. I just moved to New Hampshire and it's December, and I'm already done with it. Blessings, mom and I, I've decided I relate to her in ways I didn't expect to relate. You know, the idea of a never-ending winter is a real challenge. How did you tap into sort of that mental health component of the book? Because that comes through too in the relationships of the characters and sort of as the stakes raise, your art helps to gently raise the stakes as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Yeah. I mean, it was pretty easy. I I got through my own struggles with mental health. And so that was a very easy part to get in touch with, I guess. I'm just drawing it from my own experiences and uh experiences from other people that I've met and uh that are close to me. So it wasn't too hard.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

So, Reggie, let's talk just a little bit about you because you're a very interesting guy. So you've done a lot of beautiful books. You know, this is not your first book. You've done picture books. Um, you did bros with Carol Boston Weatherford, who I adore. You know, you've done just so many gorgeous picture books as well as the novels. Did you always want to be an illustrator? Like how did you get into this? What was your pathway?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

My pathway is pretty interesting. I was working in biotech for most of my adult life, I guess. I guess in 20 right before the pandemic, I got laid off from my biotech job. And and I was figuring out what to do. And decided I've always drawn, you know, ever since I could just uh pick up a pencil. So I've been drawing for I'm 47 now, so at least 45 of those years I've been drawing. And so I just wanted to do something different than what I was doing. You know, I could getting another desk job wasn't really appealing to me at that time, especially with the pandemic going on. And I just started posting my art online, and my agent, uh Christy, found me on there, and she just kind of just sent me a message saying, hey, I've never thought about illustrating. I've never really thought about it, you know. I understood what illustrators did, and I I, you know, you know the big ones, like Sue's, I guess Snowy Day. I forget his name.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Oh, as with Jack Keats, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Yeah. So those, you know, you kind of hear about those, you you understand what they do. And I just decided to like, hey, you know, I'll just hear Chrissy out. And, you know, we just started talking and thought it would be an interesting change from what I was doing. And so I just gave it a shot, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

So how did you teach yourself to become an illustrator? Because that is different than doing individual art, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

It it's it's a lot different. I was I'm a big comic book fan, and so telling a story is always is like the the most important thing in comic book art. And so I I kind of understood how to tell a story with the art. So that that became pretty, it wasn't easy, but it it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. And so I just kind of just, you know, just from years of drawing and spent just years of telling my own stories, you know, just like my own private art. I was just able to put that into my professional work, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

So preparation met opportunity. You had been doing this all of your life in one form or another. And when the opportunity came, you were ready to take advantage of it.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

So I understand that you're also a big fan of science fiction. Favorite multiverse?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

I guess the Marvel multiverse would be, I guess, but I I'm a really big fan of Star Wars.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

All right. What favorite characters or favorite movie?

SPEAKER_00 8:11

I would say my favorite character probably would be Ahsoka Tanno from a Clone Wars. Uh, my favorite movie would be, of course, Empire. My favorite movie, uh I guess Andor, the series, the the new one that just dropped. I really like that one also in The Mandalorian.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

So if Lucasfilms called up and said we need an illustrator, would you be there? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Yeah. I tell my agent if there's anything with Star Wars, just say yes automatically and I'll figure it, figure out my schedule.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

I love that. Tell us a little bit about some of the other books that you've illustrated, just so people get a sense of the range and breadth of what you've done so far.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I guess my first professional job I ever got was for this series called The Magnificent Makers. Um, it was a middle grade by uh middle grade chapter chapter book by Cien Griffith. And it's just about these kids in STEM, you know, it's uh and they go on these adventures with Dr.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Chris, and they just learned different things about like the brain, the it's kind of kind of like Magic School Bus adventures that they're those are charming books, and a lot of our audience are folks who teach science or work with kids in a library setting. So if you don't know this series, you definitely need to check it out because it definitely it's in the same vein as like the Vivi Love Science chapter books, but there's a real charm to it. And again, your illustrations sort of lift that. So you've done those, and then you've done what else?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

I did another Christmas book called Santa and the City with Tiffany Jackson. It's just a cute, cute story. I really love, I really love working on that book. Um, I've also done picks with Van Garrett. I've done bros with Boston, Carol, Boston Weatherford. I've done Little Big Man with Baron and oh Who Are Your People with Bakari Sellers? That was on the New York Times best list.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

So a number of the books that you've done already, I'm actually including in a picture book, read aloud app that I'm releasing for teachers and educators this year. It's a calendar app where they can subscribe and basically they get a free recommendation every day with a prompt and an experience suggestion. And it's based around empathy and engagement. And what you've done so far fits so beautifully into that. What I'm wondering is what special surprises do we have coming up in 2026? Are there books that are in your immediate future that are coming out that we should be looking for?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Yes. There is, I think I have two, two new books coming out next year. What the first one is called Walk the Walk. It's about the Montgomery, Alabama Spoycott.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Um, and so it's this uh father and son, or not father and son, grandfather and son or grandson, and they are just here from home to the grandson's piano lesson, and it's just third day and just the the the grandfather is talking about, you know, why they're walking, you know, and what they're doing this for and why they should keep going, you know, even though they're tired. Tired.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

That sounds really interesting. What a gentle way to teach kids about an important part of our history.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah. And then the next one is uh DC Me. It's just a mother and daughter having a quiet moment on the beach as they as they walk, they do a little walk from uh their home through town and out along the beach, and it's just the daughter contemplating her you know, herself, you know, her her self the view of herself and how her mother views her. And so, and just the mother expressing joy and in in her daughter.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

It sounds lovely. What draws you to a manuscript, like when your agent or editors present you with something and you decide, yes, I want to do this, or no, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

I would say story number one, and then characters number two. I guess just like if the story really has heart, it could, you know, it could be like a really funny, silly story, or it could be like a very serious story. As long as it, you know, just has heart and has something to say, you know, other than just being funny or something, you know, as long as there's the there's like a a message in in the story that's trying to get across.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

That makes a lot of sense. So, Reggie, what currently brings you hope?

SPEAKER_00 13:06

What currently brings me out, well, I guess my daughter brings me home. Well, we just had a baby uh three months ago.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

I'm amazed you're awake.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's about uh since two o'clock with her, 2 a.m. But yeah, we just had a a little girl, it was our first one, and you know, it's just we had a hard time conceiving. And so she was just, we just actually gave up. And then and then last year around this Christmas Eve, my wife, my wife Demi, came to me and she just said, like, hey, do you want your present now? And I was like, no, I could wait. You know, I could wait until later. And she's like, no, I'm gonna give it to you now. And then she just gave me this star, uh, it's the little onesie, which is uh has the Star Wars uh fine says that I am your father on there. Oh yeah, and she sold me the pregnancy test, and it just it, you know, in the video she took of me, and I'll just try. Oh, that's beautiful. Oh man. Yeah, and then we just had our daughter, Zoe, and uh she is just amazing. And so that gives me a lot of hope.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

That is truly something that is incredibly hopeful. And then as we're rounding out 2025 and looking to 2026, anything that you're wishing for in the new year?

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Anything I'm wishing for? Well, for myself or for like the You know what?

SPEAKER_01 14:42

It can be for yourself, it can be for the greater good. You get to decide. I don't know for myself.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

I I just wish for I guess peace and happiness, I guess. You know, I just I just want my daughter to be healthy and just and for myself, you know, just getting to do this more, you know, just getting to do this, you know, for as long as I possibly can, you know, as long as the you know, people find my artwork interesting. Um and I guess, you know, the you know, the world, I guess, you know, just kindness. I wish you just be a little bit kinder to everyone else.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Wouldn't that be nice? We need a lot more kindness and empathy in the world, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Well, Reggie, thank you so much for joining us on the Adventures in Learning Podcast today. Congratulations on your daughter and congratulations on the Snowman Code. It's a beautiful book, and I wish you great joy and success with it.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

You've been listening to the Adventures in Learning Podcast with your host, Dr. Diane. If you like what you're hearing, please subscribe, download, and let us know what you think, and please tell a friend. If you want the full show notes and the pictures, please go to drdianeadventures.com. We look forward to you joining us on our next adventure.