When I first got to NYC, I remember a friend getting me a book entitled, Bitter with Baggage and Seeks the Same. I had no idea what I was getting but Sloane Tanen has an amazing ability to take common situations and make them funny. They're funny as the situations are something that we are familiar with as well as putting cute little chicks in the story and creating elaborate scenes. If you have yet to see these books, you must visit the site and fortunately, I have an exclusive interview from the amazing Sloane Tanen who is the creator of this series which include books for adults and also for children!

Where did the idea of using the chicks come from?

I’m a painter. I was doing a series of paintings based on interior spaces that change as the light changes. I was building small models or maquettes of rooms and lighting them artificially to capture different times of day. The rooms were always devoid of human beings and quite pretentious: an empty wheelchair at a window, a chair in front of a mirror with hair all over the floor, etc…

I had those little Easter chicks lying around my studio in NY and one day I popped one into the wheelchair. The whole set really lit up and it was a bit of a Eureka moment. Suddenly the models were funny and more interesting than that series of paintings was ever going to be. Friends kept coming into the studio and playing with the furniture and moving the chicks around and asking if they could have them. I started photographing them and writing captions for particular people and sending them out as cards. Soon after, an editor friend saw them and suggested I do a book. It hadn’t even occurred to me. I was blessed to be working next door to a brilliant still life photographer, Stefan Hagen, who was able to really make the 3-d scenes come alive in a 2-d format. Once I saw what he was able to do I knew we could do a book.

Are there any stories that came from personal experience that found their way within these images?

Most of the stories are personal or are pieces of stories from friends and family. I would say the tone of various situations is what I tried to capture more than the specific events. I think I was surprised by the success of the book because I felt shocked that other people were relating to things that seemed so specific to me or my circle of friends. That was comforting and quite nice really.

Why did you create the children's books?

I created the children’s books because the character of Coco from Bitter with Baggage and Going for The Bronze proved to be popular so my publisher asked if I wanted to give it a try. I didn’t have kids until 2005 so I feel like the last two kids books, Coco Counts and C is for Coco are the strongest.

Where else have the chicks appeared?

In addition to the eight books we’ve done, most notably Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same, Going for The Bronze and Hatched: The Big Push From Pregnancy to Motherhood, the chicks have appeared in a national ad campaign for The Sak handbags and on many of the NYC subway cars in a poster celebrating the centennial of the subway system. They’ve also been in the New York Times and serialized in a few magazines.

Do you expect to see them beyond books?

The ad campaign was successful so I had hoped there might be more ad work as I think the chicks could really lend themselves to a funny, animated campaign of some sort. We’ve gotten very close to “breaking out” a few times but it never really happened. There was lots of talk of a TV show—either for adults or children, but at this point I think they may be relegated to the pages of the books. I still receive lovely emails and letters from people who have never seen the books and seem to enjoy them. So, I say anything is possible for the future but I’m certainly not counting on anything.

Did you expect the chicks to be embraced as they have been?

Not really. I was surprised by the success of the book. It’s rare to have so much fun doing something so silly and have people respond to it in such a positive way. I spent my early life in academia so the chicks were really a welcome diversion from lectures, theses, etc.

Are there more chick books coming?

I don’t think so.

How do you come up with the situations?

Usually a prop or a conversation would inspire an idea that I would then play around with until the right harmony of visual and emotional humor clicked. You know, some are definitely better than others.

Can people submit ideas to you?

I’ve had people suggest ideas but unless it’s my sister, it doesn’t necessarily resonate. I would say about six or seven from all the books were outside suggestions.