Q&A with Alicia D. Williams

  

 

 

 

Alicia D. Williams is the author of the new children's picture book Nani and the Lion. Her other books include Jump at the Sun.  

 

Q: What inspired you to write Nani and the Lion?

 

A: I love folktales! I really do. I love memorizing and retelling them. I love adding my own flavor to the tales as well. This love was introduced to me by Zora Neale Hurston, which led me to write Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston. There, I was able to experiment with the southern folklore voice and add snippets of folktales too.

 

Even so, it was after the pandemic when children were called back to the classroom, the school where I taught asked me to use my Teaching Artist skills for a segment called Wonder Time.

 

For the transitional kindergarten classes, I would use movement, dance, drumming, puppetry, and chanting, without ever reading the text to introduce picture books. By the time I would read the books, students recalled the stories and dialogue!

 

Folktales were always perfect stories for young learners. They enthusiastically connected with these wonderful read alouds as we dramatized them and moved about the classroom.

 

It is the same connection that I felt when I first read Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly. The same when I read Zora Neale Hurston’s folklore retellings too. And after learning the impact of oral storytelling, especially the literacy benefits, I thought, I wonder if I could write my own.

 

Q: What do you think Anna Cunha’s illustrations add to the story?

 

A: Anna captured a sweet stillness within my animated tale. I wrote the text to be lively read aloud, and now with Anna’s softness, it allows for readers to interpret the voice both ways.

 

That’s what is so brilliant about picture books; some people read them for the story and others for the illustrations. There are always two stories being told. Anna’s perfect blend of hues and her particular style lends to the feeling of a classic tale.

 

Q: The Horn Book review of the book says, “Williams’s...text has the cadence of a folktale, with ear-pleasing sound effects and patterns and featuring a satisfying resolution.” What do you think of that assessment?

 

A: Wow, wow, wow! I absolutely love this! I really do.

 

When I was little, my aunts and uncles would tell family stories every holiday. The stories were always the same, yet we would roll with laughter as if we never heard them.

 

As I grew older, I tried to retell those stories, but my presentation would always fall flat. You see, my aunts and uncles did something that came natural: they found the rhythm. Their voices climbed hills of vocal expression and tone and barreled through commas and periods as words bounced to their own cadence.

 

Even though I memorized every single story, mimicked their pauses, facial expressions, and emotions, I couldn’t master their styles. Oh, I yearned to tell stories like them.

 

So, it is extremely “satisfying” to learn that The Horn Book heard my own rhythm and cadence in the text. And that’s what is wonderful about folktales, many times the musicality leaps out of the reader’s mouth or is heard in their head just as the storyteller intended. Thank you, Horn Book!

 

Q: What do you hope kids (and adults) take away from the book?

 

A: Those stories that my family told were connections. As a little girl, in my imagination, I traveled to the South and watched in horror as my aunt and uncle, as little people, drank from the white-only water fountain. I trekked to North Carolina and pet my granny’s horse too.

 

Through Nani and the Lion, I want to do the same. I want my readers to travel across the ocean, to the village, and listen to Nani’s drumming. To walk alongside her through the grasslands and shimmy their shoulders too. I want children to be immersed in the story and fall in love with folktales.

 

For adults, I want us to embrace, once again, the power of storytelling. As we’ve leaned (too far) into technology and now allowing AI to sometimes write our stories, it is important that we don’t lose our own voices.

 

Storytelling, especially oral storytelling, offers language development, listening skills, cultural exchange, creativity and imagination, expression, and community, among a few of its benefits.

 

And with the wonderful layer of folklore, we enlarge our communities with talking animals, clever tricksters, and moral lessons. And in doing so, we not only make stronger bonds, but we also cultivate empathy.

 

I hope that all of my readers will pick up their metaphorical (and literal, if wanted) drums. I want them, like Nani, to find what brings them joy. And know that like the villagers, people might hush them out of fear or well-meaning protection.

 

Even so, I want them to be brave to drum and dance, to do what makes them happy. And when they radiate joy, even the lions can sense it . . . and perhaps dance.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on finding balance. I know that’s not a response regarding another project. But truly, it’s the truth. I am now a nomad, traveling the world and finding joy. In this new journey, I am redefining my writing process, listening, and journaling. I am working on being brave, just as I want for my readers. 

 

And oh, I can offer a tidbit . . . I have in edits for another Nani, Nani and the Monkey, which will also be illustrated by Anna.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Alicia D. Williams.