Jack White has worn many hats, and his latest is writing a new children’s book called “We’re Going to Be Friends,” based on the White Stripes song of the same name.
Elinor Blake, who has worked on “The Ren and Stimpy Show” and “Pee Wee’s Playhouse,” illustrated the book.
Call it, perhaps, ‘Ren and Stimpy’-meets-the White Stripes.
“Jack (gave me) very, very little direction,” Blake said in an interview with Billboard of the initial process to create the book. “Just black, white and red and not necessarily human characters.”
Blake and White have a few things in common. At one point, they were both signed to the garage-punk record label Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Blake says the two “came from the same scene.”
The two reconnected years later, when Blake sent a drawing she did to White, which eventually resulted in White bringing her on to illustrate this book. The two actually didn’t meet in person until they did a book signing for “We’re Going to Be Friends” in Los Angeles this month.
“It was really great to spend time with him and see how much of an overlap (creatively) there was, which I already felt,” Blake said. “He didn’t really need to explain much to me, and I didn’t really need to explain much to him. It’s hard to get something so pure.”
“We’re Going to Be Friends” is available at book outlets now. In other news, White has been writing and recording his upcoming solo album, which is expected to arrive next year.