Joan Holub: Be Versatile
In this interview, New York Times-bestselling children’s author Joan Holub discusses the everlasting humor at the heart of her new graphic novel, Fart Boy And Reeky Dog.
Joan Holub is the New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of more than 140 children’s books, including Breakout at the Bug Lab, Who Was Babe Ruth?, and the Goddess Girls series. Prior to publishing her first title in 1992, she was an associate art director at Scholastic. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
In this interview, Joan discusses the everlasting humor at the heart of her new graphic novel, Fart Boy And Reeky Dog, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Joan Holub
Literary agent: Eden Street Literary
Book title: Fart Boy And Reeky Dog
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Release date: April 8, 2025
Genre/category: Graphic Novel
Illustrator: Rafael Rosado
Previous titles: Joan Holub has written 200+ books for kids ages two to 13, including: picture books: I Am The Shark, Bears Are Best, Zero The Hero, Little Red Writing; middle-grade series: Goddess Girls (31 books); chapter book series: Heroes In Training (18 books); board book series: This Little Artist, This Little Trailblazer (10 books); biographies: Who Was Babe Ruth? (10 books); and more!
Elevator pitch: Get ready for a new kind superhero—a smelly one! A 10-year-old boy with the power of super stinktastic farts, and his new Reeky dog sidekick, team up to defeat an evil alien scientist who’s trying to take over the world! From Joan Holub, New York Times bestselling author of Mighty Dads.
What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to write a graphic novel (my first) and was trying to think of a good topic when my brother suggested: “Write a book about farts. I’d read it!” Hmm. I did a lot of babysitting in my tween years, and recalled that my girl and boy charges thought farts were hilarious. In fact, many were seasoned, proud fartmakers. They’d fart bubbles in the bathtub or in their blow-up pools. They’d giggle wildly when friends or pets farted. And I won’t name names, but I know plenty of grown-ups who still think farts are funny! I decided maybe my brother was onto something, so I began exploring the idea.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
Fart Boy and Reeky Dog is one of those book ideas that flowed from brain-to-page without me having to overthink its trajectory. I came up with the bones of the storyline quickly and finalized a first draft in about four months. The Liz character is loosely based on me. We both like science and had a mild boy crush in elementary school. Carl is Fart Boy’s goofy sidekick. Professor Groovypants (aka Gravypants or Perfume Lady) is the oddball evil villain. Bully is, well, a bully. Reeky Dog is smart. Fart Boy was created in the Professor’s underground lab (beans were involved) and is the star of the book. He can be clueless, but his heart’s in the right place. And, c’mon, he’s trying to save the world!
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The first manuscript I gave my editor was 100 pages long, and full of both words and drawings. Yes, you heard right. I drew rough sketches for my entire book. No, I didn’t plan to illustrate it, so you might think these sketches were a waste of time. But combining the art and text was a big help in making my manuscript understandable to me and to others right away. Still, after my editor reviewed that first draft, she returned it to me with many queries. When…? Why…? How…? By the time I’d addressed all of her questions…surprise! Fart Boy and Reeky Dog had expanded to 150 pages—about the right length for the book’s intended age group.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
One thing I learned is that graphic novel artists are in high demand. We were super lucky that Rafael Rosado agreed to come on board as illustrator of the Fart Boy and Reeky Dog book (2025) and a second Fart Boy book (to pub in 2026 as part of a two-book deal).
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope this quirky, action-packed, awesomely illustrated graphic novel will appeal to both avid and reluctant readers. And that kids will rush to tell their friends, “You should read Joan Holub’s book. It’s sooo funny!” I hope this is a story kids will want to read more than once and that they’ll long for the sequel and for the two books to become movies! I hope they cheer our fresh, believable characters along on their mission to save the world. And that they’ll enjoy the moments of hilarity, trouble, and friendship, as the characters work together to defeat evil!
If you could share one piece of advice with other children’s book writers, what would it be?
Be versatile. If your picture book manuscript isn’t working well, maybe put it aside and try starting a middle-grade novel and a board book. If you have several manuscripts in the works and one of them stumps you, you’ll still have those two other story ideas to explore. Your writing and creativity is less likely to grind to a halt. As the saying goes, love what you do and do what you love. I wish you the very best in your writing endeavors!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
