Author Interview with Aaron Reynolds

KATE: Our Mixed-Up-Files readers would love the inside scoop on your latest book, Troubling Tonsils! Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for this story came from?

AARON: I’ve had some newer, weirder, creepier stories brewing for quite a while, slowly taking shape in the recesses of my imagination. A story about tonsils was percolating, but I didn’t really know what it would consist of until I sat down to begin the writing process. The story slowly revealed itself to me in all its strange glory.

KATE: Troubling Tonsils! is book 4 in your Jasper Rabbit’s Creepy Tales! series. And I have soooo many questions about this! I am a HUGE fan of Creepy Carrots. Creepy Crayon on the other hand, lol, might hit too close to home for me since I like to write. And Creepy Underwear is purely fun to read. All three of these are, 1) picture books, and 2) feature Jasper Rabbit. So obviously I’m curious about:

1. How the decision came about to move mid-series from picture book to chapter book?
2. How Charlie Marmot landed the starring role?

AARON:

• Kids (and librarians!) are consistently asking for more CREEPY stories. While I may do more Jasper picture books, part of me wondered how much more can I continue to put that poor bunny through? I thought, What if Jasper, as the expert in all things creepy, brought readers some new older stand-alone stories? This opens the lid on endless possibilities of creepy tales, while at the same time letting Jasper in on the storytelling. That idea excited me a ton.

• Whatever the new stories, I knew they had to be set in Jasper’s world and mirror some elements from the picture books. They needed to be stories about animals, they needed to be creepy but also funny, and they needed to have the possibility of great twists. Charlie Marmot’s story began to take shape. Each new book will have a brand new fuzzy protagonist and a brand new set of creepiness. But Jasper will be the touchstone and narrate us through all the weirdness.

KATE: In Troubling Tonsils! We meet Charlie Marmot for the first time. He’s highly imaginative and one might even say has his hand in creating the creepy story he gets involved in. What was your inspiration for choosing Charlie to be a marmot?

AARON: A big part of writing for me is the playfulness of language and sound. Jasper’s name and species sound really good together. JAAAAsper RAAAAbbit. I wanted to stay away from alliterative names like Bucky Beaver and the like, but the assonance of vowel sounds can be just as fantastic, if not more so. As I thought about the series, I spent a good bit of time brainstorming good character names but also species possibilities that would mirror the great soundplay of Jasper Rabbit. I also loved a slightly unexpected species of fuzzy creature. Charlie Marmot ticked a lot of boxes for me.

KATE: Kids are sure to relate to poor Charlie needing to get his tonsils removed. I feel I need to ask if this was a terrifying experience from your own childhood which you’ve brought to page.

AARON: No, I never had my own tonsils removed, but I do vividly recall having my wisdom teeth taken out. I was konked out for the experience itself, but I clearly remember waking up and being covered in blood! Actually it was just the bib that was bloody, but it was very dramatic in my seven-year-old mind. It never occurred to me that there would be blood. And so much of it! I was horrified by the thought of whatever had taken place while I had been asleep and thankful I had been unconscious for it.

KATE: The voice of your stories is always so playful. Characters have over-the-top ideas and the consequences of said ideas have great twists. Talk to us about how you tap into the innocence of youth which makes your books page-turners even when they are creepy.

AARON: I appreciate that! Beyond anything else, I want my books to be FUN to read. I want kids to return to them time and again because they view it as a fantastic way to spend time. I think we’ve lost sight of that as adults…the power of JOYFUL reading for its own sake. The benefits are wide-reaching, but beyond any tangible educational benefit, reading is and should be an amazing way to spend time. I NEVER regret time spent reading. I want kids to feel that when they pick up my books. 

It also helps that I’m still 100% a fifth-grade kid. I remember those years deeply and feel like they are core to my mindset and outlook, both in life and in writing.

KATE: Let’s talk creepy. One doesn’t typically think of a classroom’s Show and Tell project as being creepy. And yet, that’s the fun of your books – there’s always something unexpected. Were there other ideas and mashups you thought up which didn’t land? Or was bringing tonsils to school always the story?

AARON: I’m sure there were other ideas that got noodled around as I logged hours in front of the keyboard. I don’t remember what they were. For me, writing is a very organic LIVING thing. I don’t outline anything. I usually have a nugget of an idea, but I don’t always know where it’s going to go. The act of creation happens best for me when I’m sitting at the keyboard, spinning what-ifs as I throw words and ideas messily around on the page. Stuff gets sifted and sorted in those hours until (hopefully) the best stuff rises up.

KATE: When writing creepy stories for children, what’s your best tip for not getting too dark or gruesome for young audiences?

AARON: I think it depends on the type of story you are writing. There are some authors (R.L. Stine, Mary Downing Hahn, for example) who do go full tilt scary. I think dark and gruesome can work with kidlit, depending on the story. But, for me, the best of it happens in the context of weird and wonderful strangeness and silliness. I think the best example of this is Roald Dahl. His stories are WEIRD. And dark. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, you never 100% know if Willy Wonka is just going to let those five kids DIE. Ms. Trunchbull in Matilda actually flings kids across the yard by their hair. WHAT??? But there is no doubt that these stories are absolutely written for kids. The kind of story and voice of the story has a lot to do with how far you can push it.

KATE: Thank you for taking the time to share the inside scoop on Troubling Tonsils! You have two more stories in the Creepy Tales series coming out soon. Can you tell readers briefly about these new stories?

AARON:  Two more SO FAR. As I said, the possibilities for this series are endless and I am very excited about those  possibilities. I’m also thrilled that Simon & Schuster chose to release the first three all in this school year, rather than spacing them out one story per year. The momentum and excitement possible in that is very exhilarating to me.

 This year, in addition to TROUBLING TONSILS, there will also be UNSETTLING SALAD in which Thaddeus Badger has a monstrous encounter of the vegetative kind. That will be followed in the spring by YARN IS EVERYTHING, a story about Winona Mole and her obsession with all things crochet.

It’s going to be the creepiest year ever!

KATE: Where can readers best find you if they want to reach out?

AARON: They can find me on my website at www.aaron-reynolds.com!