I recently got a chance to catch up with the very busy creator Josh Tuininga, the master mind behind the brilliant We Are Not Strangers.

Graphic Policy: What influence has growing up in the Northwest had on your work?

Josh Tuininga: Well when you grow up in an environment that is wet, cold and dark for the majority of the year, you better well find something fun to do indoors! I think living in the Pacific Northwest has had a very positive impact on my working habits. It’s made me come to really appreciate our long rainy days where I can build a fire, hunker down and just draw and write.

GP: Can you tell me about working with 4Culture?

JT: 4Culture is an Arts & culture organization with funding workshops and public art programs here in Washington State.  I had never applied for a grant before and they made it an amazing experience.  It helped me lay out a plan for my graphic novel project and get initial feedback and encouragement.

GP: Can you tell me about your time at The Medium?

JT: When I graduated from art school, I struggled to make a living selling my artwork and drawing comics. So, I decided to try something else that might help me pay the bills – Graphic Design. I learned as I went and my client base grew quickly so I enlisted my wife to join me and we formed our small little design company, The Medium. Now, we create designs for large corporations, non-profits, local mom & pop shops and everyone in between. This year marks our 20th year as an art + design agency.

GP: Can you tell me about your other career as a musician , especially the music you make with your wife?.

JT: A career? If only! I am a hobby musician. My band, To The River is a collaboration between my wife and I. We have an album on Spotify which we released during the Pandemic. Our music combines elements of analog instrumentation with electronic synths. If you like home grown experimental electronic music with vocals, you should definitely check us out!

GP: Tell me about your love of comics?

JT: I fell in love with comics as a young child, reading newspaper funnies, comic books and creating my own comic strips for my school newspapers. But my dad was a fine artist, and he emphasized the prestige of fine art over cartooning. Determined to be a “real artist,” I attended a fine arts college which was a great experience. I gained a ton of skills and learned about so many disciplines and conceptual ideas. But every once in a while I’d find myself rolling my eyes a little. There was a bit of an elite, pretentious vibe surrounding everything. It was like I was in a secret club for highly educated artsy people.

Slowly but surely, I began to make my way back to comics and I’m so happy I did. Comics are for the masses. Instead of artwork that is closed off in an exclusive art gallery, comics are for everyone. And on the flip side, everyone can make comics. With just a pen and paper, anyone can tap into the same creative potential that produced our most beloved masterpieces.

GP: What was your inspiration behind Why Blue?

JT: When I had kids, I found myself reading countless children’s books to them at bedtime. Some of the stories I read were amazing. Others weren’t so great. After a while I thought to myself – hey, maybe I should give this a shot! How hard could it be? Turns out it wasn’t so easy. Why Blue? is only about 30 pages and it took me years to finish it!

GP: What do you want readers to get from Why Blue?

JT: Why Blue? tells the story of a little girl who loves asking questions. She asks the classic question “Why is the sky blue?” And she isn’t quite convinced by any of the explanations that she’s getting. In the end she realizes it’s up to her to take all of these answers in, and determine her OWN path.

I wanted to write a book that encourages kids to question the world around us. To be creative, critical and independent thinkers. Which is no easy task raising kids in a world that is constantly telling us how and what to think!

GP: What kind of reception have you had with Why Blue?

JT: Why Blue? was picked up by Xist Publishing in 2012 and it’s still going strong! It’s been translated to Spanish (Por Que Azul?), and I still hear from parents who have discovered it and read it to their kids before bedtime which makes me very, very happy.

GP: What was your inspiration behind Dream On?

JT: When I was a kid, my house was filled with music. My parents didn’t just play the music they grew up with in the 60’s, they also introduced me to the music their parents grew up with. Listening to music from so many time periods not only brought us closer together but it also gave us a platform to talk about what the musicians were saying. I made Dream On because I like connecting through music and interpreting an artist’s message. Not to mention, it’s pretty freaking cool when your kids ask you to put on a Doors album and you get a break from bubblegum pop.

GP: What kind of reception have you had with Dream On?

JT: Dream On was my first attempt at a crowd funded project. I funded it through Indiegogo and it was an amazing experience to see my work get supported by my community like that. I will always be thankful to all of the backers who turned my idea for a children’s book that is written entirely with song titles, into a reality.

GP: What do you want readers to get from Dream On?

JT: First and foremost, Dream On is a tribute to Classic Rock and R&B music. I made this book because I want kids to grow up with a love for great music from the past. If you want to introduce your kids to the classics, or if you just want a fun anthology for your library, Dream On is the perfect book for you!

GP: Can you tell us the story about how did you come to find about your grandfather’s story, and how different it is from We Are Not Strangers?

JT: This project started with a story my Uncle told me about attending his Grandfather’s funeral. It was a typical Jewish event. Close family, friends, relatives he hadn’t seen in years. But there were some people he didn’t recognize at all. A handful of Japanese American guests began to arrive and no one knew who they were or why they came. What my Uncle found out is that his Grandfather had helped these families when they were forced out of the neighborhood and incarcerated during World War II.

His story only took a minute to tell but for the next few days I couldn’t stop thinking about it. How does a Jewish immigrant, with family still overseas threatened by the holocaust end up helping out his Japanese-American neighbors here at home? I had a ton of questions. So, I went back to interview my uncle and I started writing and putting some rough sketches together.

But as I started to research the details, the story quickly began to grow. I discovered other stories of people reaching out to help their neighbors during the war. And I started to learn about the environment that can create this type of remarkable relationship. Next thing I knew, I was interviewing Rabbis on the daily, meeting with Japanese woodblock print gallery owners, and sitting down for Poke bowls with local fishing merchants.

I ended up weaving together the oral histories of many people to create this book. We Are Not Strangers is a historical fiction story based on many true stories about allyship and unity amidst the turbulence of wartime.

GP: What do you feel “allies “ can do to help people of color, and even more so, Asian Americans, in a time where demagogues has made it unsavorily acceptable to attack minorities?.

JT: During my research, I kept asking myself – How is possible that people’s friends and neighbors in their own communities can so quickly change into becoming their enemies? From what I’ve learned, this doesn’t just happen out of the blue. We all know that – sensational news sells. The media and our politicians can promote this climate of fear and misinformation. And during times of conflict, the narrative of dehumanizing groups of people and making them seem dangerous can spread very quickly.

These messages can be so powerful that it makes it very hard for people to go against the grain. Which is why it is so rare that we hear stories of people reaching out to help. I find that one of the best ways to help the people in our communities who are being labeled or targeted, is to reach out and just simply ask how they are doing. A small gesture can create a strong connection and pave the way for other opportunities to offer support.

GP: Can you tell us the story of how you brought We Are Not Strangers to Abrams?

JT: Sure! Working with Abrams has been a dream come true. My agent presented this story to the Editors at Abrams and they were immediately interested in collaborating. It has been a wonderful experience from the get-go. My amazing editor, Charlotte Greenbaum, helped push this project further every step of the way. For instance, I had always envisioned this project in black and white, but when Charlotte suggested color and we started working with the amazing colorist Avery Bacon, there was no turning back. I am very thankful for the entire team at Abrams for their support and belief in this important story and I am so happy that its out in the world for other people to discover.

GP: What kind of reception have you had with We Are Not Strangers?

JT: The positive reception to this story has been a very humbling experience. It has been so amazing to see these true stories of allyship from the past connect with people today. The most rewarding part of this entire process has been at events and signings where I get to meet people who have similar family histories or are excited to tell me what they have learned or discovered by reading this book.

We are also seeing a very enthusiastic response from teachers which is very exciting. One of my dreams for this book is for it to be in an educational setting and I’m thrilled to see that it’s already happening. All of my research and notes are included in the back matter of the book and Abrams has released an accompanying educators guide for We Are Not Strangers which teachers are using in their curriculum.

GP: What do you want readers to get from We Are Not Strangers?

JT: Well, there is still a lot of ignorance and violence out there as we unfortunately see in the news all the time. Which affects our communities right in our own neighborhoods. And sometimes it feels like the cycle of conflict will just never end. I know I’m not the only that has felt pretty hopeless, especially over the course of the past few months with so much unrest in the world.

But true stories of real people from different backgrounds working together and helping each other during uncertain times… I think we can all agree that’s something we could use a lot more of these days. Sometimes it seems like we’re almost encouraged to look at each other as strangers. I really hope that the stories that I’ve highlighted in this book can act as reminder that it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.