Interview with FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW Author, Mei Matsuoka

KN: How did you come up with the idea for FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW?

MM: I really enjoy Philosophy and actually spent a short time studying it in London after University. “Sophie’s World” is one of my favorite books and the questions it poses about the existence of a certain reality really interests me. That was where the idea of a ‘Story-within-a-story’ came from. Footprints are also something that has always fascinated me. As a child, I would always instinctively want to follow them, to see where it might lead me, what I might find. It has that magical quality of something that is a subtle indication of what was there before, but is also ephemeral. It has layers of metaphorical meanings and was a great tool for telling my story about Mr. Wolf, common misconceptions (stereotypes) and how things may not always be so black and white in this world.

KN: How long did it take you to write the first draft?

MM: Writing the first draft was quite quick. Once I have a story I want to tell in my head, it is just a matter of getting it down on paper.

KN: Describe your revision process.

MM: The revision of the second, third and fourth drafts were a much longer process, which came about from getting too much feedback from outside parties. I think the problem was that once I changed a small detail, everything else had to be changed. There was a lot of re-adapting and the more I changed it, the less happy I was with the finished product. In the end, we went back to the original first draft. But I think the process of having gone through the changes was an important one and made me realize the strength of the original text.

KN: Why did you decide to feature an unreliable narrator?

MM: Is he an unreliable narrator? I had never thought of it that way… Maybe slightly confused, but then aren’t we all? We are forever changing our minds on the spot, not knowing who or what we really are, often getting guided by our impulses and instincts. I wanted to show that Wolf wasn’t necessarily in control of what was happening, even when he thought he was. Nothing is ever as straight forward as ‘This is this and that is that’ and I think that it’s good to show that in children’s books as well.

KN: Do people contact you to tell you what they think really happens when Mr. Wolf follows the footprints?

MM: I have heard various responses regarding what might happen to Wolf after he follows the footprints (I often like to ask!) Many children say that he’ll find the duck and eat him and just as many say that he will become friends with the duck after all. Some have said that he won’t find the duck, give up, go back home and have a cup of tea! I’m yet to hear a really unusual answer, but that is always the exciting thing about the story, to see what each person’s take on it is. I always hope that as many people as possible pick up on the subtle details. Such as the pens and paws that are ‘writing’ the ‘story’ pages and also the animal toys in the backgrounds of the ‘reality’ pages. Thank you for reading the book and this interview. Please contact me at www.meimatsuoka.com. I’d love to hear your take on what happens after Wolf follows the footprints!

KN: Thanks for the interview, Mei!

Interview with THE WORRY TREE Author, Marianne Musgrove

KN: Where did you come up with the idea for THE WORRY TREE?

MM: I had a whole cast of characters loosely based on my family (although my mum would like it known she never did the thing with the spaghetti Bolognese). Unfortunately, there was nothing holding the story together. Since the main character is a worrywart, I thought it would be great to give her a way of managing her worries. I was flicking through an interior design magazine one day and I saw a photo of a child's bedroom with a tree painted on the wall and animals in its branches, and so the Worry Tree was born.

KN: The vivid characters make this book a joy to read. What techniques did you use to make your characters jump off the page?

MM: I always choose a specific detail that I repeat throughout the story to remind people of who the character is, eg, Juliet has a nervous rash and a little anxious 'v' that appears between her eyebrows. This gives the reader a visual picture and also says something about the character (in this case, that she's a worrywart).

I make sure each character has a different sense of humour as this reflects the way they look at the world and distinguishes them from each other, eg, Oaf is mischievous, Nana is dry and Dad is outlandish.

KN: Above you say Juliet is a worrywart, yet she is a very attractive main character. What character traits did you include to make sure Juliet comes across as a fun person? One detail I love is the fact that she compares her initials JJJ to monkey tails, fish hooks, and umbrella handles.

MM: I spent a long time imagining I was Juliet, and then I put her in situations to see how she'd react. As she revealed herself to me, her quirky nature really stood out, eg, her obsession with her collection of used bus tickets, her book containing the number plates of anyone who'd parked in the street. She has a strong sense of justice, something children tend to relate to, and she is very caring, always worrying about other people and how she can help them. I tried to create a character readers would barrack for. Juliet finds herself in many an unjust situation but she always acts nobly and, in the end, her strength of character sees her through.


KN: How long did it take you to write the first draft of THE WORRY TREE?

MM: About a year. I had no experience of writing a novel (apart from the romantic thriller I penned, age eleven). I wrote the entire thing long hand with random scenes spread all over my bedroom floor. Over time, I shuffled them into some kind of order.

KN: Please describe your revision process for THE WORRY TREE.

MM: Ah, revision, how I loathe it, and yet it's so necessary. I wrote nineteen drafts of "The Worry Tree". I like to put my manuscript in the drawer for a couple of months. It's loosens my emotional attachment to the words so I can edit more dispassionately. Then I do a series of very specific edits, eg, I read through, paying attention to the arc of a particular character's journey or I read through only looking for typos or to make sure the continuity of the story holds true.

KN: What other books have you written that WORRY TREE readers might enjoy?

"Don't Breathe a Word" (Random House Australia) has just come out. It's a funny, realistic story about two sisters who live with their grandpa who's been acting rather strangely (he has dementia). They're afraid they'll be split up if anyone finds out so they have to keep it a secret.

"Lucy the Good" (Random House Australia) is the first in a series of books about a girl who spends an awful lot of time in the Time Out chair, though she's always surprised when it happens. Each Lucy book explores an ethical issue with much humour. The first is about what it means to be good. Next year's "Lucy the Lie Detector" will explore truth, lies, rules and the law (according to Lucy).

KN: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

MM: To download a free copy of the Worry Tree poster, you can check out my website at www.mariannemusgrove.com.au

KN: Thank you for joining us.

Interview with WHY ARE ANIMALS BLUE author, Melissa Stewart

KN: How did you come up with the idea for the series RAINBOW OF ANIMALS?

MS: This series started with a question from my editor: Did I think we could do an interesting group of books about animal colors? I did some research and discovered that an animal’s color is often critical to its survival.

Golden monkeys live in dense mountain forests. If they didn’t have blue faces, they’d have trouble spotting one another. A monarch butterfly’s bright orange wings warn enemies that they are poisonous. I couldn’t believe all the interesting color-related stories I found. I knew we could create some great books for kids.

At first, we were calling the series Colors in Nature. I was researching all kinds of colors, including black, white, pink, and brown. Then, during a brainstorming phone call, either my editor or I (we can’t remember who) blurted out “Animals of the Rainbow.” We both liked it, but the idea of writing a whole book about purple animals made me nervous. Were there enough good examples? Could we find photos? I did some research and found out that there are more purple animals than you might think—especially in the ocean. So we settled on six books, one for each color of the rainbow. Over time, the series name switched to Rainbow of Animals.

I was originally thinking of writing books for grades 2-4, but my editor wanted to go younger. So we did. To make books that would appeal to early readers, I knew the text would need to be simple and fascinating.

I decided to start off by inviting readers to look at the colors of animals in their immediate surroundings. Then I shared fascinating animal stories from around the world. The book ends with a game in which children use what they have just learned to guess how two animals depend on their coloring. Finally, a page maps of shows where each of the animals discussed in the book lives. This structure took a while to work out and involved a lot of collaborative discussions with my editor.

Once we both felt great about the concept, she took my proposal to the acquisitions committee, and it was approved. Then it was time to really get to work.

KN: Describe your research process for this set of books.

MS: For most of the books I write, I submit the text and the publisher takes care of the photos. But for this series, the photos had to be the starting point. So I did the photo research myself, looking for images that were beautiful, fit the books’ format, and showed animals with interesting color-related stories.

I did the photo research and the informational research simultaneously, back and forth, back and forth. I gathered some great stories. Then I looked for images. Sometimes I found great images, and then looked to see how the animal depended on its coloring. I needed both—a great image and a great story. Sometimes I found matches, and sometimes I didn’t. I kept up this process until I had enough examples for each book.

KN: Which book in the series did you write first, and how long did it take you to write it? After completing the first book, was it easier to write the rest of the book in the series?

MS: I may sound crazy, but I wrote all the books at the same time. I often write several books simultaneously when I’m trying to maintain a particular voice and style and reading level. Around this time, I was also working on a series called Gross & Goofy Body. It has a very different voice and it’s for older kids, so I had to immerse myself in one project or the other for chunks of time.

Because I’m usually working on several projects at once and I have to juggle writing and researching with things like marketing and preparing for school visits and developing new ideas, I can never really say how long it takes to write a particular book. (People ask me that question all the time.) I work on things a little at a time over a period of months or even years.

I think I finished Why Are Animals Red? first. Thanks to Kodachrome 64 film (a popular professional-quality film that tends to bring out reds), there were lots of great images to choose from. I know I finished Why Are Animals Purple? last because I really wanted to include the purple heron, but I just couldn’t find a good image in a horizontal format. In the end, the clever designer saved the day. He found a way to make a vertical image work in the layout. Making books really is a very collaborative process.

KN: You've spent lots of time outside, and you've traveled to many different places. Have you seen any of the animals in these books in person? If so, please tell us about your encounters.

MS: Wow, that’s a great question. I knew before I even started Why Are Animals Blue? that I wanted to include the blue darner dragonfly, an insect that’s very common in New England and that fascinated me when I was a child. My grandfather told me s story about it sewing together the mouths of children who talked too much or told lies. Of course, I knew the story wasn’t true, but their long, needle-like abdomens intrigued me nonetheless.

I also knew I had to include the blue-footed boobie, an adorable bird I saw when I was in the Galapagos Islands. At mating time, the males woo the ladies with their fancy footwork. Imagine two bright blue feet as they strut, stomp, shuffle, and slide over the rocky ground. Those birds really put on quite a show!

KN: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

MS: If anyone would like to learn more about me or my books, I hope they will take a look at my website: www.melissa-stewart.com. I also started a blog recently. Celebrate Science http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/ includes all kinds of fun activities that you can do with kids as well as tips for writing nonfiction.

Thanks so much for interviewing me, Kate. It’s been a lot of fun.

You’re welcome, Melissa. It’s been fun for me, too.

Interview with WHEELS Author, April Jones Prince

Q: Many teachers do Writers Workshop with their students and ask students to pre-plan their writing. What did you do to plan WHEELS before you started writing?

AJP: A lot of brainstorming! I’m a history lover, so my first instinct was to write a book about the evolution of wheels, which some have called Man’s greatest invention. But I also knew I wanted to write for a young age group, and I wanted the book to be upbeat and fun. The more research I did about the history of wheels, the more I realized it was going to be difficult to roll all those things into one. I began to brainstorm lists and lists of wheel-related things: types of wheels, what sound they make, what purpose they serve, what would life be like without them, etc. I really tried to let my brain go wild; I tried not to censor any ideas, knowing I could go back later and filter out the less promising ones. When I was done, I knew I wanted to celebrate the many types of wheels young readers see every day—and in the process, help readers see wheels in a fun, new way.

Q: Describe how you wrote WHEELS. How long did it take you to write the first draft?

AJP: Using the lists I had brainstormed, I began to play with sounds and phrases, turning them around in my mind and moving them around on paper. I didn’t intend for the book to rhyme, but in hindsight, perhaps it was inevitable. A few unrelated rhymes popped up in my wordplay, and after that I couldn’t go back—the sound and rhythm of those phrases seemed to mimic the rhythm and movement of the vehicles I was describing. From there it became a sort of puzzle, to see how I could say the things I wanted to say within a compelling rhyme scheme. I also tried to think visually about what images might appear on each page or spread.

Q: After you wrote the first draft, how did you revise the manuscript?

AJP: The first draft had 2-3 times as many words as the final draft, and as a result it lollygagged instead of clipping along. I pruned, shorted, and, most importantly, focused on the verbs. I replaced the weak verbs with stronger ones, and was especially drawn to those with onomatopoeia, and those with plenty of visual opportunities for the illustrator. Indeed, Giles Laroche’s amazing paper relief artwork brings so much depth and interest to the book—it’s the star of the show!

Q: Tell us about other books that you have written that readers of WHEELS might enjoy.

AJP: One is VALENTINE FRIENDS, which has a short, rhyming text that focuses on alliteration. Teachers might also find MEET OUR FLAG, OLD GLORY helpful in the classroom. OLD GLORY celebrates our flag with a young, accessible text and images, and includes informational backmatter about the flag for teachers and parents.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to tell the teachers and students about yourself or your writing?

AJP: When I visit schools, the students love to see copies of my lists and brainstorming notes (some of which are written on napkins and scraps of paper), and the many drafts of my manuscripts. I like to tell the students that even though I’m a professional and writing is my job, I still need to work hard to get a story just right. Writing is rewriting!