He Wrote a Story About Joy, Then Built a Tiny World to Match
Loren Long has illustrated books by Barack Obama, Madonna and Amanda Gorman. His No. 1 best seller, “The Yellow Bus,” took him in a different direction — one that required time, patience and toothpicks.
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![“This is the entire setting of the book. Nothing is in the book that isn’t here, with the exception of this makeshift overpass and a dam that I never got around to building.”](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/25/multimedia/25Long-03-chgv/25Long-03-chgv-thumbLarge.jpg?auto=webp)
![“This is the entire setting of the book. Nothing is in the book that isn’t here, with the exception of this makeshift overpass and a dam that I never got around to building.”](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/25/multimedia/25Long-03-chgv/25Long-03-chgv-threeByTwoMediumAt2X.jpg?auto=webp)