The tenth anniversary edition of Peter Brown’s middle grade novel The Wild Robot is available now from Little Brown Book for Young Readers, so we asked him a few questions about reading aloud, feedback from young readers, and reasons to be hopeful.
Literary Hub: What do you think has changed the most about being a children’s author and illustrator in the ten years since you published The Wild Robot?
Peter Brown: As more magazines and newspapers and animation studios have gone out of business, more artists have turned to children’s publishing for work. Now, with the rise of A.I. generated art, that trend will only accelerate. The result is a flood of new talented artists into children’s publishing. In a sea of beautiful children’s books, it can be really hard to stand out, and for many of us, this new reality makes our business a little more stressful than before. Luckily for readers, it means there’s a constant supply of really incredible new books.
LH: Your books are so much fun to read aloud, which I know as a reader to children isn’t easy to achieve. Is that something you think about as you’re writing? What goes into writing a great read-aloud book?
PB: The best read-aloud books are poetry. There’s a rhythm to the language, and an attention to every syllable and sound that makes the text a joy to say and to hear. That’s what I strive for, whether it’s a picture book or a novel. I read my own text aloud to myself, countless times, and the text isn’t finished until I can read the entire thing smoothly from start to finish. But it’s worth noting that reading books aloud is its own special skill, and an experienced storyteller can breathe life into almost any text. When a great reader, like a children’s librarian, reads a beautifully written text, it can be magical.
LH: In The Wild Robot, we see Roz adapting to life on the island, and entering a state of becoming closer to nature, rather than, as so many of us (kids in particular) are, becoming more estranged from nature. Ultimately, the book feels so beautifully hopeful. How do you maintain hope right now?
PB: Honestly, being hopeful is harder than ever. Thankfully, I make children’s books. It sounds cliche, but writing stories is an act of hope. Every time I sit down to work, it’s with the hope that someday a reader (or many readers) will connect with the story I’m developing. Every time I doodle a new character it’s with the hope that it’ll blossom into a story that I can share with others. For children’s book authors and illustrators, hope is woven through every phase of our creative process. I feel very lucky that I get to do something hopeful for a living, especially in these challenging times.
LH: As both a writer and an illustrator, how do those two practices inform each other while you’re working on a book, if at all? (Does illustrating your own characters influence the way you write them?)
PB: Being both an author and illustrator absolutely changes how I work. A drawing in my sketchbook could end up changing the direction of a story I’m writing. What a character says, and the specific words I choose for them, can influence how I pose them in an illustration, and that pose can then alter the tone of that scene, which might make me reconsider the wording. The most exciting moments in my work are when I’m bouncing back and forth between writing and illustrating, and the words and pictures are continually getting tighter and more interesting.
LH: What books did you love as a kid?
PB: The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel are just kind of floating in the background throughout my childhood memories. Those stories are so gentle and yet so compelling, and the artwork is so beautiful and inviting. Children’s books don’t get any better.
LH: Is there a particular book you like to give as a gift to children?
PB: Sorry to plug my own books, but the book I’ve probably given away the most is my own picture book Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. That’s due in part to the fact that I’ve got so many boxes of my own books lying around, and I’m eager to get rid of them! But that particular story is a crowd pleaser because of its themes of wildness and acceptance…and because it involves a naked tiger.
LH: What’s the best feedback you’ve ever received from a young reader?
PB: A number of adoptive kids and parents have told me that they’ve really bonded with each other while reading about Roz and Brightbill, the two main characters who form their own little adoptive family in the Wild Robot books. I never could have dreamed that one of my stories would help families connect with each other like that. I’m getting a little emotional just thinking about it.
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The Wild Robot: Collector’s Edition by Peter Brown is available via Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.