Q&A with Maya Myers

  

 

 

Maya Myers is the author of the new children's picture book Good Morning, Morning!. Her other books include Not Little. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Good Morning, Morning!?

 

A: I grew up in rural Maine, playing in the woods, and I still return there every summer. I love to get up early to walk to the ocean, and there’s an island at the end of our point that you can get to only at low tide.

 

One morning, maybe 10 years ago, the fog closed in all around me on the island, and it was so hauntingly beautiful that I wrote a poem when I got home from my walk, just for me, to remember that feeling.

 

Years later, I was reading an artist’s memoir, and she talked about going to an island to paint, and how the trees would greet her when she arrived, and I remembered my poem.

 

I wondered, could I turn that into a picture book? Turns out I could. It’s different from anything I’ve written before, but it’s very much from my heart, and based on a lifetime of feeling at one with nature.

 

Q: What do you think Jennifer K. Mann’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: I feel so fortunate to once again have been paired with an illustrator who not only got what I was bringing to the story but truly added new layers of story and meaning to it.

 

And of course, the illustrations are just gorgeous. The magnified dewdrops on the tall grass, the glowing green of moss on the forest floor, the welcoming dark of the forest, all the birds and flowers, the evolving light of day—glorious.

 

And the fairies! I missed them on my very first glance through the pages; I was so eager to take it all in. And I hope that kids will find new things each time they read the book, just as they will each time they slow down to explore nature.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, “Myers’ pacing is superb; her use of language veers expertly from playful to meditative and back again.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I’m deeply flattered, and thrilled that my intent carried beyond my own brain (never a guarantee!). That’s exactly how I wanted the book to feel, because I think that’s just how kids are in the world when left to their own devices: sometimes drawn to what they observe, sometimes propelled by what they imagine, sometimes both at once. To feel playful and meditative at the same time is a beautiful way to be present in a moment.

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

 

A: I hope it inspires them to explore the world outside, to find friends and playthings in their natural surroundings. I want them to feel encouraged to appreciate quiet moments, to observe, and to feel like they are part of nature, same as the trees, the birds, the rocks, the sun.

 

And I hope it inspires parents to give young kids space and time alone outside, to guide their own explorations.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on a companion book to this one—once I saw the world Jen created, I didn’t want to leave it! It’s set as night falls (can you guess the title?) and in winter, which creates a whole new sensory palette—also inspired by my childhood in Maine.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I hope this book serves as a reminder to kids and adults that there’s a deep kind of peace to be found in the exercise of connecting with nature.

 

I live in a city now, but I still love being up as the sun is rising, when the world is quiet. I walk and listen to the birds and look up at the trees and chase the sunrise. It feels like I’m getting a VIP backstage pass to the day.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Maya Myers.