Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Lauren Emmons (No Cats in the Library)!
Meet the Author: Lauren Emmons
Lauren Emmons is an award-winning illustrator who currently lives in North Dakota with their partner, dog, and two rambunctious cats. She earned a master’s degree in children’s book illustration at The Cambridge School of Art and now spends their days illustrating for children’s books, magazines, and galleries. No Cats in the Library is their debut author-illustrated picture book. Lauren has loved libraries since she was a child, and still regularly walks out with their arms full of books. Visit them at LaurenEmmons.com.
About the Book: No Cats in the Library
A stray cat follows her love of books all the way to a new library home in this charming debut picture book that’s “catnip for librarians and young book lovers alike” (School Library Journal, starred review).
Clarisse is a clever cat who loves books. She may not understand the dark, squiggly lines, but she can’t get enough of the pictures. One day, she stumbles upon a magical building where people walk in empty-handed and come out with an armload of books. She has to find a way inside!
There’s just one problem: NO CATS are allowed in the library! That’s not going to stop clever Clarisse, though. Once she sneaks in, she stumbles upon exciting new stories and even helps a little girl practice reading aloud. But when the librarian comes looking, will Clarisse be allowed to stay?
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Back in 2019 I had just moved to the UK to pursue my Masters Degree, but I had to leave my cat with my spouse in the US and I missed her desperately. At the same time I saw a news article from my home town about a cat who wanted to enter a library, I then did some research on different library cats around the world and fell in love with the idea. After that the story became a bit of a love letter to libraries through the eyes of a sweet, stubborn, and precocious cat.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
My favorite character is definitely Clarisse, the cat. I am extremely biased because she is based after my own cat, Joline, but I loved writing and drawing her. It was so fun to play into a cat’s perspective and how she would see and perceive the world.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The story definitely came first! I’m honestly not the best at book titles, and initially just called the project “The Library Cat” for the longest time while I was developing it. I finally landed on the name and decided to call it “No Cats In The Library” quite a few drafts in and it has been that way ever since!
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I am the most proud of the scene near the end of the book where Clarisse believes that the Keeper of the Books has found her. It was so fun to create a tense and dramatic scene, and tap into how Clarisse was feeling. It was also such a fun challenge to draw because of all of the book spines, creating all of the book titles and designs was so much fun!
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
That I am going to get it wrong, and that’s okay. When I first started this process I was the furthest from considering myself a writer as you could be. While I had studied art history in college, I had never done any creative writing and considered myself to be a pretty poor writer. While I am still very much at the begging of my journey with writing, I have rather stubbornly decided that this is something I want to do more of and have been practicing crafting stories. I learned so much through working on this manuscript with my incredible editor, Catherine, and I’ll always be grateful for this opportunity to work with her.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
In terms of the illustration, I loved playing with the emotions of the characters inside of the library whom Clarisse is looking at. But honestly my favorite thing about the cover is how it feels! I had no idea that my wonderful team at Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster was going to add some extra effects to the cover and when I received my first proof I was absolutely giddy. When you run your hand down the cover you can feel the texture of the glass and the ground, and it was such a wonderful sensory surprise.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2024?
The Picture Book I’m most excited to read in 2024 is A Song For Nolan, written by Rushie Ellenwood and illustrated by Sally Chen! It looks like such a wonderful book, and I cannot wait to check it out!
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
I recently read Juniper Mae Knight Of Tykotech City by Sarah Soh and really loved it. The characters were so sweet and endearing, and the art was incredible.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I am working on writing and developing more stories! I am playing with more author-illustrated picture book ideas, and toying with some longer form stories as well. Who knows if any of these ideas will make it to the page, but it has been so fun to play with these stories.
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
The most difficult scene to narrate was definitely when Clarisse is read to for the first time by a child in the library, and she experiences how wonderful stories can be. While Clarisse’s experience of loving the pictures in books but being unable to read the words is inspired by my own struggles with dyslexia and reading, I wasn’t sure how to write this scene effectively. I wanted to make sure that I found the right balance of sincerity and didn’t over explain it or fall into saccharine prose. Luckily I have the best editor in the entire world who really helped me craft this scene into what I hoped it to be in my head but didn’t know how to bring it to life.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
While this is not necessarily writing per-say, as this was an author-illustrated book drawing all of the visitors to the library and people of this city was the most challenging part. I love drawing people, it’s one of my favorite things to do, so I wanted to make sure that this world felt as real as I could make it and as inclusive as possible. Inclusive storytelling is incredibly important to me, and something I’m always trying to work on and strive for. So making sure that I was empathetic and intentional about my background and supplemental characters was of utmost importance to me. I hope I did an okay job, our world is beautifully diverse and I was only able to show a tiny portion of it.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
I would like my readers to take away the importance of a found family and belonging, and how magical stories are.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
Ooo, I don’t know! I don’t know if I have any specific superpower, but I’m pretty good at making soup? (Ha! Souperpower. Get it? Sorry, I’ll see myself out.) I feel like the parts of my life I am okay at are things I work on constantly, so saying I’m innately good at something feels sort of disingenuous. I feel like the thing I’m most proud of myself for is striving to be as kind and empathetic to people as I can. Our world can often feel terrible, complicated, and hard, so being as kind as I am able is very important to me.
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
I have so many, but I feel like as my book is about the wonder of books and libraries it would be especially prudent to mention the dangers of book banning and censorship, and the anti-education views being forced upon schools and libraries right now in the United States. The American Library Association has reported that 2022 marked the highest number of attempted book bans since data around censorship in libraries began being compiled 20 years ago, up a staggering 38%. These bans are disproportionately targeted towards members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color, and deal with incredibly important topics like sexuality, gender, police brutality, the history of slavery, and racism in the US. The implications of these bans are horrifying, and have drastic and long lasting consequences. Books encourage empathy and understanding, and to be able to see yourself represented in what you read is an incredibly vital and important thing for children and adults alike. As a nonbinary person, books have been one of the places that I have found understanding and joy in who I am, and to strip that away from children who are just learning who they are and replace it with fear mongering is a horrific thing to do. If you hear about book banning happening in your community, please speak out and help support our local libraries and schools.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
Be kind and gentle with yourself. Getting started with writing (or any creative field, really) can be very daunting and scary. When you feel like you have an idea in your head but you don’t know how to get it onto the page, it can can feel quite demoralizing. But the only way to get better and more confident is to practice, and to try. So my advice is to do just that. Even if you don’t feel like you’re ready or that the work is good enough; just get you ideas down anyway, you can always edit it or come back to it later. Be gentle with yourself, and know that failing or stumbling is okay too. When you knit your first sweater you might drop a couple of stitches, and when you’re writing your first story you might not get it right the first time either. I believe in you, you got this!
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about my book and some of the things I love, I am so honored to be here. I hope that you at home reading this will consider checking out No Cats In The Library, it would mean the world to me. Finally, please support your local libraries. They are such incredible and integral parts of our communities, and do so, so much more than just stock the shelves with wonderful stories. Thank you so much to all of the educators and librarians who are trying to navigate the quagmire that has been the last couple of years, we really appreciate you and all that you do. With all of that said, thank you so much again for being here and I hope that you have a marvelous rest of your day!
Title: No Cats in the Library
Author: Lauren Emmons
Publisher: Paula Wiseman Books
