Q&A with Joy Jones

 

 

 

Joy Jones is the author of the new children's picture book The Sky Is Not Blue. Her other books include Jayla Jumps In. She is based in Washington, D.C.

 

Q: What inspired you to write The Sky Is Not Blue, and how did you create your character Robert?

 

A: I attended an artists' colony at Millay Arts some years ago in upstate NY during November. It was in a remote, wooded area. Each day during the month-long retreat I took walks. I was moved by the changing skyscape. Every day the sky was different, dramatic, majestic.

 

The sky is so many more things than simply blue even during late fall, a season when you'd think everything is dormant if not flat out dull. But every day the sky put on a show. It was there that The Sky Is Not Blue was conceived and written.

 

I named the character Robert after my nephew. At the time, he was still in elementary school and did not know what he wanted to be when he grew up. I find it interesting that he now studies the sky as an adult. He's a researcher for NASA. I tease him by saying it must be nice to get paid just to stare into space.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Robert and his teacher, Mrs. Murphy?

 

A: In earlier drafts, Mrs. Murphy was more curmudgeonly. Both my agent and my editor said I needed to make her more likable.

 

But the dynamic between her and Robert was never confrontational. I wanted my protagonist to be a respectful kid and I wanted her to be won over by his creative spirit and enthusiasm for color.

 

Q: What do you think Sawyer Cloud’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: The panel I love best is actually the inner front page! I love the gentle gradation of color which reminds me of a sunset.

 

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

 

A: I hope kids appreciate creativity - and go outside and actually pay attention to the sky! Look at a sunset! Breathe fresh air! Put down the phone! Play outdoors!

 

Yes, I know video games are quite entertaining and I sound as outdated as a rotary phone - but young people today are really missing out on boatloads of fun by not playing outside or making up their own games.

 

I'm the founder of a double Dutch squad, DC Retro Jumpers. When we do community events, kids (and grownups, too) absolutely fall in love with jumping rope and can't get enough of it.

 

The physical challenge of it all, the endorphins kicking in to give you a natural high, the collaboration and cheering of the crowd - all of that joy can't be replicated on a screen or generated by AI. You have to be around real people in the real world to fully experience that kind of bliss and satisfaction.

 

I tried to convey a bit of that in my last book, Jayla Jumps In, about a girl who forms a double Dutch team.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: My next book is for adults. I'm the co-author with Tom Adams of The Marriage That Changed the World; Lois and Bill Wilson and the Addiction Recovery Movement. It's about the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon, the family support group.

 

Too often when we think of a leader of a movement, we think of one inspired man doing all the work. But in reality, there are many others doing key things that make the leader's work possible.

 

Without his wife - and countless others - Bill Wilson would not have been able to bring recovery from addiction to millions of people. Their joint work really is legendary.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Persistence pays! It took years before I found a publisher. But I always believed this was an inspired story that was destined to be published. I just kept repeating the process of submission-rejection-submission until the yes happened.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Joy Jones.