Too Fun to Be True?: The Amusing Side of Nonfiction Illustration

In the six or so years I’ve held NYPL’s Children’s Literary Salon (a monthly gathering of children’s book enthusiasts) I’ve seen it all. Epileptic fits. Audience members whose questions after a talk consisted entirely of just a series of insults aimed at my panelists. But the thing that gets under the skin the most is when I feel an attendee walked away with a mistaken impression.

For the record, this is something I have zippo control over. To give you a recent example, I spoke a week or two a...