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