Oliver Jeffers Writes New Children’s Book, ‘What We’ll Build,’ Dedicated To Daughter

Oliver Jeffers is a brilliant creator of children’s picture books, with many awards to his credit.

“City Lights” host Lois Reitzes spoke with him in 2017 after the release of “Here We Are.” The book was written as a gift to his son. Now, Jeffers has another child and a new book called “What We’ll Build,” dedicated to his daughter. Jeffers joined Reitzes via Zoom to talk about his newest children’s book.

“Being a parent, I knew I was making ‘Here We Are’ before I told really the general public that it was happening, and after my son was born, a question that was quite common was ‘Is this going to change the way in which you make books?’ And the answer was quite obviously yes, but not in the obvious way that people expect it. And that’s because the book that followed ‘Here We Are,’ was my first ever nonfiction book. It was not a story at all. And with ‘What We’ll Build,’ it’s my second sort of straightforward narrative book. It’s a poem really, not a story. So quite directly, the answer is that having these kids have massively changed the way in which I made books,” said Jeffers.