RECAPTURING CHILDHOOD
Writer looks for universal themes that connect parents and their kids
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors Drew Daywalt Illustrated by Adam Rex HarperCollins
Drew Daywalt is busy. As the author of the bestselling picture books The Day the Crayons Quit (soon to be a major motion picture) and The Day the Crayons Came Home, he is currently supporting his latest hit book, The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors.
Daywalt’s success may lie in his ability to find smart stories that connect parents and children through shared experiences of their respective childhoods. Despite his hectic schedule, he aims to squeeze in every possible moment of family time.
Q You are best known for books about crayons. Why did you decide to take on a new set of characters with The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors?
A I try to take on things that are universal to kids and adults alike. I’ve been rock-paper-scissoring since the dawn of time — I think we all have — it’s like a 5,000-year-old game played all over the world. When I looked it up, I couldn’t find a definitive origin that everyone agreed on. It was my chance to create a myth, a legend, that would appeal to kids.
Q How did the elements progress into the characters we meet in the book?
A First, I like to anthropomorphize objects, because it’s funny to me. I started really simple with the characters: strength, skill and speed. The thing with my other books is that most kids, in many countries, have access to some sort of crayon. I like that those characters have a sort of universality to them. In the new book, I wanted to go one step forward with something even more kids are able to play with, and that’s their hands. Then I started thinking about the teaching points, and how teachers could explain, “This is how a myth is made, a legend.”
Q Are you saying that during the writing process you are considering the audience beyond children, more specifically, teachers in a classroom setting? A Teachers, kids and parents. Where grown-ups really come into play for me is they have to read books a thousand times to their kids at bedtime. I’m super sympathetic to that. Those books that they bring over and you’re thinking, “Oh, if I have to read that again …” I wanted to give something that parents wouldn’t get sick of, so I made sure to put layers of humour in the book. When I worked at Disney, they really drilled it into our heads that we were writing for the whole family. Disney movies, Pixar movies, all of that dialogue is multitiered for everybody, and I made sure to write Legend for kids and adults.
Q Perhaps the biggest question of our time is how does paper beat rock? And you have answered it. How does it feel to be the one who solves playground arguments everywhere? A I would love to take credit for it, but as a little girl asked me last week, “Is this fiction or non-fiction?” I asked her, “Well, do you believe in Santa Claus and Easter bunny?” She said, “Of course.” Then I said, “This is non-fiction.” I’m merely a reporter, having been lucky enough to see Paper beat Rock with nothing but spirit and guile.
Q Crayons, then rock-paper-scissors, it seems like you are writing your way through childhood. What comes next? A What’s next is Star Wars. I signed a contract to work with Disney Hyperion Books last year, and then Lucasfilm contacted me through them and asked if I would like to do a book about BB-8, and I said, “Absolutely.” The concept behind the book, it is the 20 minutes of The Force Awakens during which BB-8 is missing — between leaving Poe and being saved by Rey — it’s called BB-8 on the Run.