Q&A with Kaz Windness

  

 

 

Kaz Windness is the author and illustrator of two new children's books--Bitsy Bat, Snow Star (the third in her Bitsy Bat series) and Time-Traveling Chickens: Bawk to the Future (the first in a new series). She lives in Denver, Colorado. 

 

Q: What inspired this new Bitsy Bat book, and why did you decide to focus on snow?

 

A: Years ago, I painted a little watercolor picture of Bitsy hanging from a snowy branch wearing a scarf and mittens on her feet. I gave the painting to my editor, Catherine Laudone. When Bitsy Bat, School Star and Bitsy Bat, Team Star were so warmly received, Catherine reached out to me and asked if I could come up with a winter story for Bitsy.

 

“But I don’t like winter,” I said.

 

“Great!” she said. “Write about that.”

 

And so I did.

 

Because bats aren’t cold-weather animals, it was the perfect opportunity to explore the sensory issues many autistics, myself included, experience. It was also fun to paint cozy outfits and shimmery, magical environments.

 

Each Bitsy Bat book explores a different aspect of autism. Besides the sensory aspects, Bitsy Bat, Snow Star shows Bitsy masking her true feelings as a way of trying to be liked. It also shows her experiencing selective mutism, where she can’t express her feelings or needs.

 

With some support from Mr. Nibbles and her classmates, eventually Bitsy can communicate her needs and tell her friends what brings her joy. There are lots of ways to experience the magic of winter.  

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Bitsy and her classmates?

 

A: Benjamin Berry is a sweet mouse who loves making snow angels in the soft snowbank.

 

Winnie Whiskers is a strong-willed bunny and thinks winter is all about wearing the cutest outfits and building the best snowman.

 

Gilbert Mole loves fast sleds and steep hills and catching some air on an icy jump.

 

Enzo Owl and Mo Porcupine like reading books in a cozy nook and sipping hot chocolate. Enjoying the pretty snow from inside is what they love best.

 

While Bitsy admires all her friends and they do their best to include Bitsy in their activities, it’s Enzo and Mo’s example that helps Bitsy realize she can love the snow without being out in the snow. I am with her on this.

 

Q: You also have another new book out...Time-Traveling Chickens: Bawk to the Future. How did you come up with the idea for this new series, and how did you create your characters Nugget and Tenders?

 

A: My kids and I would often come up with funny characters and zany ideas during lunchtime. One day they were eating chicken nuggets, and we came up with Nugget and Tenders and decided the wildest, weirdest thing they could do would be to time travel in a fried chicken bucket.

 

From there, we would imagine where the chickens would go. To dinosaur times? To Washington crossing the Delaware? To the moon landing?

 

When my Worm and Caterpillar are Friends publisher, Siobhan Ciminera, asked me if I had any ideas for a fun and fast-paced graphic novel with a lot of humor and compelling characters, I immediately thought of Nugget and Tenders.

 

The Star Chapter Book series are designed to capture the interest of older elementary readers who have been left behind in the literacy crisis. The books have short chapters and lots of exciting art to support the text, plus topics that this age group will enjoy.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently working on a new five-book series for Tux Guy, Cat Spy. These will be both picture books and early readers and follow a young tuxedo cat as he trains to be a spy and goes on his first missions to capture bad guys with the help of his gadget bowtie and the underground cat spy network.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Yes! I have lots of activities and educator lesson plans for the Bitsy Bat series at BitsyBat.com. Also, feel free to follow me on all your favorite social media using the handle @kazwindness or visit me on my website, WindnessBooks.com. Happy reading, everyone!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Kaz Windness. 

Q&A with Molly Harris

  

Photo by Saol Nua Photography

 

 

Molly Harris is the author of the new children's picture book I Need Space. Her other books include The Big Squeeze. She lives in Ireland. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write I Need Space, and how did you create your character Rocco?

 

A: This story popped into my head one night when I was talking to my preschooler just before bed. He was having anxiety over a friend of his, who played a lot more in-your-face than my son was used to. He was getting overwhelmed and uncomfortable and starting to dread school.

 

My advice that night was to just tell the friend, “Hey, I like playing together, but right now I need space.” As I said it, I realized we were looking up at his star projector, laying on his rocket-shaped pillow… his whole bedroom was space themed! How had someone not written a book about personal space set in space?

 

For the story, a rocket ship seemed a perfect character to display a huge range of emotions: from thrusters blazing with frustration to jets cooling with calm. Thus Rocco was born!

 

Q: What do you think Jon Corby’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Not only do Jon’s illustrations bring life and luster to the deep, dark corners of space, but they also aid in the telling of the story, which is what every author hopes for. You really want the text and the illustrations to play well together.

 

So I don’t have to say, “Rocco experienced a range of emotions on the playground.” A child can tell just from the colors alone: dark green shadows of the formidable meteors, bright red frustration bursting out of the rocket, calming dark purple for the outer edges of space.

 

Not to mention, he’s captured the excitement and mysteries of the universe in such a child-friendly way!

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything especially surprising?

 

A: Some parts of this story I knew instantly. I knew I wanted the story to be about a rocket ship playing in space, and I had a few ideas for some good playground parallels: Mars dust as a sandbox, Saturn’s rings as a slide, gravity assist as a merry-go-round. I knew that a meteor shower would be our rocket’s foil.

 

I knew that I wanted the “dazzling” side of space to resemble the stunning photos that had just been released by the James Webb Space Telescope.

 

But I needed more! So as all professional writers do, I Googled “stuff in space” (embarrassing, but true) and went down many a Wikipedia rabbit hole, gathering ideas for other ways Rocco could play with the environment.

 

A couple things I learned in the process: “Spaghettification” is a real word describing how you’d get stretched into a black hole. My nightmare. I knew Jupiter’s Great Red Spot was a big storm, but I had no idea it had been raging for almost 200 years! Staring at the James Webb photos for too long will result in an existential crisis.

 

Q: The Booklist review of the book says, “The story offers a gentle, relatable introduction to managing big emotions and recognizing when it is time to step away and re-center.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: That lovely review sums it up very nicely. The universe (like life on earth) is vast and chaotic and scary at times. I wanted to create a book that acknowledges all of that, and acknowledges that with all that tumult comes big feelings too.

 

And while no one can control the universe (nor can you control anyone else’s behavior), you can control some things. You can take space. You can take deep breaths. You can shift your mindset.

 

These are really heady concepts, but kids do grapple with them, and my hope is that a book like this helps with conversations about getting through tough moments. When life gets crazy, when the playground gets hectic, when things seem unfair, these are some of the things you can control.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have so many picture books I’d love to get into the hands of young readers! I can’t talk about anything specific yet, but I will say that while I’m known for my inanimate object characters with big feelings, I’m veering into the lands of monsters and beasts a lot more!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Oct. 26

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 26, 1880: Andrei Bely born.

Q&A with Elle Marr

  

Photo by Kitta Bodmer

 

 

Elle Marr is the author of the new novel She Dies in the End. Her other books include The Lie She Wears. She lives in Oregon.

 

Q: You’ve said the inspiration for She Dies in the End came from an article about a body broker. Can you say more about that, and about how you created your character Penny?

 

A: Yes, it's actually all thanks to doom-scrolling, believe it or not. Several years ago, while I was awake with my then-infant at 3 a.m., I was scrolling on my phone when I read an article detailing the profession of body brokerage that shocked me wide awake.

 

The actions of a body broker in Las Vegas, and the egregious ways with which he handled cadavers donated to science, got me thinking: If the industry is as poorly regulated at the federal level of the country, as the article suggests, is there any actual oversight at the local level? Could an additional, unknown cadaver be slipped into a container by someone desiring to hide a body?

 

The whole idea smacked of an incredible premise for a thriller, but it was missing a heroine. Cue my body broker with a heart of gold, Penny Lin.

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you? 

 

A: I dug into the recent history of body brokerage, and learned the industry only developed in the last 10 years or so. Traditionally, hospitals managed the donors' remains and ensured they were shipped to medical teaching programs, surgeon schools, and research institutes, all with the altrusitic goal of furthering medical research.

 

However, body brokers eventually began to fill that role by leasing cadavers from the hospitals or buying them out right, then shipping them to said teaching programs.

 

I'd venture many act in legal and ethical ways; but a few other body brokers, whose actions made national headlines, surprised me by the carelessness they displayed in shipping human remains in cardboard, Saran wrap, and other highly questionable containers. 

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: I came up with this title because it grabbed my attention, simply put. It echoes the story's premise that centers around body brokerage; the awareness that my main character, Penny, has for death as the end for us all; and the way in which death is a literal part of her daily routine. 

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the novel? 

 

A: A sense of hope, always. That although we might carry baggage with us from one location to the next, we're never locked into wearing that burden indefinitely. 

 

Q: What are you working on now? 

 

A: I'm deep in the manuscript on my next thriller, and I'm so excited by how it's turning out. I can't say much yet, as a lot of the story line can change while I'm still drafting, but I think it might be my most ambitious yet. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know? 

 

A: Recently, I launched my Substack and have been so thrilled to connect with readers there, in addition to the usual places on social media. 

 

I'm also grateful for the chance to talk all things She Dies in the End with you, here. This was a book that had many iterations, but which, I think, has the strongest ending of any that I've written. I hope readers love exploring the twisty, secretive world of this book!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Elle Marr. 

Q&A with Kyle Harper

  

 

Kyle Harper is the author of the new book The Last Animal: Human History and the Fate of Life on Earth from the Ice Age to the Sixth Extinction. His other books include The Fate of Rome. He is a professor at the University of Oklahoma.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Last Animal?

 

A: An alignment of personal and intellectual motivations. I live in the same place I grew up (the great state of Oklahoma), and the natural world I knew as a kid is radically different than the ones that my own children are experiencing. As a historian, I want to know where things come from, and I felt like there wasn’t a good history of the biodiversity crisis. 

 

I am an environmental historian and love writing big, global histories that try to capture the place of humans in nature. Our relationship with animals is integral to our story, and I was inspired to try to write a book that might help us see that.

 

Q: The book covers so much history--how did you research it, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: There are five primary drivers of biodiversity loss today: hunting or direct harvesting; land-use change; invasive species; pollution/biocides; climate change. The first three of these have been influential for thousands of years. So one strategy was to think about the origins of each of these drivers of biodiversity change. 

 

I found many surprises along the way! How systemically humans have eliminated big animals. How long we have persecuted predators. How sweeping global land-use change is (such that we have an almost deluded account of what the Earth would look like without us). 

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Well, I confess I like the title before I knew exactly what it meant. I wrestle throughout the book with the idea of the Sixth Extinction - the claim that humans are on pace to, or could, cause a mass extinction event on par with the worst catastrophes in the last 541 million years of life on our planet.

 

It is a contested claim, and I have mixed feelings about it personally, because we have driven nowhere near that many species to extinction.

 

In the end, though, I think it’s a powerful and valuable idea, because it forces us to ask what our legacy will be in the history of evolution, in the long-term fossil record. And there is no doubt that the human moment will register as a consequential turning point in evolutionary history - even if it is still up to us to decide exactly what our legacy is.

 

But someday, there will be a last animal on Earth, and we can be certain that our legacy will endure for that long, the choices that we make today will echo for eons. So, the “last animal” is a way of thinking about humanity’s place in evolutionary history and Earth history.

 

Q: The author Sean B. Carroll said of the book, “This is a history that we desperately need to grasp and begin to change.” What do you think of that assessment, and what do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: On the one hand, it’s worse than we think. Ecologists use the term “shifting baseline syndrome” to describe our tendency to underestimate the changes that transpired in the deeper past.

 

My book argues that we vastly underestimate them. Many of these changes are irreversible. But we need to be honest about things - about how we got here - to know where we want to go.

 

I like to say there is plenty of gloom but not doom in the book. I hope it inspires a sense of wonder for the diversity of animal life that is gone forever but also for the diversity that is still all around us. 

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I have a couple of projects. One returns to my long interest in the history of health and disease, but with a new challenge: I’m writing a history of dementia. It’s a tragic and complicated and prevalent condition that is linked to aging, which is also fascinating and complex. 

 

I also have a book project on the long-term history of humans and plants. It will complete a kind of trilogy on microbes, animals, and plants, all with Princeton University Press, that tries to give a historical perspective on how humans fit into the story of life. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Thank you!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Adam Jay Epstein

  

Photo by Elizabeth Yarwood

 

 

Adam Jay Epstein is the author of the new children's picture book Have You Seen Axel?. His other books include Have You Seen Gordon?. He lives in Los Angeles. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Have You Seen Axel?

 

A: Thanks, Deborah! So nice to meet you. Have You Seen Axel? and the prior book in the series, Have You Seen Gordon?, were a direct result of my daughters’ love of look-and-find books. Every night when they were little, I would read them three or four picture books.

 

One was often a look-and-find book. They would spend a half hour scanning the page for every last fairy or shell or ladybug. And that was such a special time with them… but I found that none of the ones we owned had a story. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to create a look-and-find that goes spectacularly wrong!”

 

In the first book, Have You Seen Gordon?, I wanted to ask the question, “What if the protagonist of a look-and-find book decides that they are proud of their identity and don’t want to hide anymore?” And, in addition, in that book, I placed a secret message from an overeager axolotl wishing that they could be the star of their own book.

 

So, for the second book, Have You Seen Axel?, I wondered what would happen if Axel the Axolotl got her wish to be the star of her own book. I felt like she would want to “win” by hiding so well that no one would be able to find her.

 

Which in hide-and-seek is the objective… but less so in a look-and-find book. You can’t hide too well, or no kid will find you! Both my daughters are very competitive and I think there is a lot of them in the character of Axel.  

 

Q: Why did you choose an axolotl as your protagonist?

 

A: After Ruth drew the initial illustrations for the first book, I scanned the sketches to see who I thought looked like they should be the one with the secret message wishing for their own book.

 

The adorable axolotl immediately jumped off the page. And this was before she was even colored. There was also a photo of an axolotl on the cover of a nature book that I read when I was little that had this big smile that always resonated with me.

 

And then, for whatever cosmic reason, axolotls took off in the public consciousness. They were the animal of the year for the Girl Scouts. They were huge on social media. Having Axel as the star of this book when axolotls are so popular is a happy coincidence!

 

Q: What do you think Ruth Chan’s illustrations add to the book?

 

A: Ruth has an absolutely incredible talent for drawing busy scenes full of life and humor. We both wanted to make sure that there was always something fun to look at no matter where your eyes drifted on the page. She and I worked together on coming up with background stories to fill each page with.

 

But then Ruth took it to a wonderful next level! Whether it was a hippo chef or a shark with a fishbowl on its head, she found so many ways to make me smile and laugh. I am in awe of her talent and even I find something new every time I read the book!

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, “Waldo, Schmaldo. This hilarious book takes the seek-and-find someplace new.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo? (Where’s Wally?) books are absolutely the visual benchmark for all other look-and-find books. That said, I am certainly proud of what we are doing with the Have You Seen series! Adding story, lots of humor and meaningful lessons was the intent from the beginning.

 

I truly hope that caregivers, teachers, librarians, and all other readers will have fun reading the books over and over because, as we all know, children’s books are meant to be revisited countless times. And I hope kids will have a lot of laughs as they discover all the hidden details on the 100th read! 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Oct. 25

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 25, 1941: Anne Tyler born.