Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Carrie Finison!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Carrie Finison
Carrie Finison writes poetry, stories, and books for kids, including the picture books Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It); Dozens of Doughnuts; Lulu & Zoey: A Sister Story; and Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time For School! She lives outside Boston with her husband, their son, and their daughter, and two cats who allow her to work in their attic office. Visit Carrie at CarrieFinison.com and follow her on Twitter @CarrieFinison.
About the Book: PIGS DIG A ROAD
Construction crew chief Rosie and her team are building a new road to the Hamshire County Fair. It’s time to put on hard hats and boots, grab their hammers and stakes, and, of course, bring out the big trucks: bulldozers, excavators, pavers, rollers, and more!
Unfortunately, work with Rosie’s crew doesn’t always go as planned, and Curly, Pinky, and Stinky end up making one huge mess. Rosie is there to save the day, but she can’t do such a big job all by herself. The county fair is starting soon, and there’s only one way to get the road done on time . . . teamwork!
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
CF: For me, inspiration isn’t usually as single moment, but a collection of thoughts and ideas. The first spark for the story that eventually became Pigs Dig a Road was the classic children’s song “Five Little Ducks.” I turned that into a story called “Five Little Trucks.” In the first drafts, it was unclear who was driving these trucks or what they would be doing. As the idea evolved, I drew additional inspiration from the Richard Scarry book, What Do People Do All Day, which I read frequently as a child. I loved his explanations of different jobs and how things work, the busy illustrations, animal characters, and the humorous mishaps that take place. All of that is reflected in the pages of Pigs Dig a Road.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
CF: I love Rosie. She’s a can-do pig with big plans, a mechanical mind, and lots of energy. But even Rosie has her limits. She puts so much effort into the project, and especially re-doing a lot of the work that the other pigs do incorrectly, that she exhausts herself and falls asleep. That’s when it’s time for the other pigs to step up – and they do! When Rosie wakes up, she’s full of praise for her crew and takes them to the fair as a reward for finishing the job. As a boss, she’s the best!
I also have quite a soft spot for Stinky, the mustachioed pig who falls into the wet asphalt, among other mishaps. We can all relate to him a little, I think.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
CF: Since the story was originally based on the song Five Little Ducks, at first I planned to call it Five Little Trucks. However, a few problems arose with that plan. First, I decided that the story should be about building a road, but there are more than five different trucks involved in a road project. Second, the title Five Little Trucks made it seem like the story was about anthropomorphic trucks – which it was in the early drafts, but then evolved. Once the pigs were part of the picture, I knew they needed to be in the tltle as active characters. And, as a sucker for rhyme, I love that PIGS and DIG rhyme. Little did I know that Brian BIGGS would come on board as the illustrator!
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
CF: I will take this moment to heap some praises on the book’s illustrator, Brian Biggs. I love the way he captured so much in each spread – the steps of building a road, the machinery involved, the humorous mistakes the pigs make, the growing frustration and fatigue of Rosie, their crew chief. There was a lot of action and emotion to reveal in a small space, and he balanced it all perfectly. I especially love the scene where the pigs are grading the road. There’s a lot going on in a time sequence. First, Rosie addresses the pigs in the first inset. Then we see all the pigs working hard on grading the road, while a bee approaches Curly. Then there’s a final inset where we see the bee landing on Curly’s nose, which leads her to swerve her truck. I also love the rhyme here:
Curly drives the big compactor,
but—oh, gee—a bee distracts her!
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
CF: I will say two things that will sound contradictory.
The first is STICK WITH IT. 90% of people start out to try to write a book but never finish it. Or they finish one, but never write the next one. Or they get some rejections, become discouraged, and give up. Or they stop for one of a million other reasons. If you can learn to love the process of writing, not just the outcomes (getting an agent, landing book deals, seeing your books on the shelf) then you can stick with it for the long haul.
The second, somewhat contradictory thing I’ve learned is KNOW WHEN TO MOVE ON. When I attended my first writing conference, I had exactly one picture book manuscript written. I had a critique with an editor, and at the end she asked me, “What else are you working on?” Um…nothing? I was so embarrassed not to have an answer. I was so focused on getting that one story absolutely perfect, and hadn’t even considered writing another one. Now I know that it’s OK, even desirable, to move on from manuscripts that just aren’t working and focus on something new. Maybe I’ll circle back to them some day, or maybe not, but the important thing is to keep moving forward.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
CF: I love that the cover conveys the action of the story, the enthusiasm of the pigs, including a little characterization of Rosie who, with her clipboard, looks a little worried. I also love that a big bulldozer is featured, and the orange and yellow color scheme fits the construction theme and makes it really pop off the shelf.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
CF: My foremost goal with all my books is simply to write something that kids will enjoy reading, and hopefully that they will ask to hear read aloud many times. I also hope my stories are entertaining enough that parents won’t mind reading them again and again! So I hope that kids have fun experiencing this world with the pigs and their big trucks for a little while.
The heart of the story is about teamwork and figuring out how to work together. The pig crew has enthusiasm, but perhaps not the attention or ability to do all their jobs correctly without Rosie constantly redirecting them and fixing their mistakes. When her direction is suddenly removed, it’s up to them to figure out how to work together to get a job done well. In the story, this is expressed in the pigs’ “Teamwork Plan”
- Divide the jobs
- Work hard
- Help each other
- Check our work
I hope that adult readers find something here that they can talk with kids about after they close the book. Working within a group is something that kids start learning at home, continue learning in school, and that is essential for adults.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
CF: I’m excited to have a couple more picture books in the works. The first is a sequel to my debut, Dozens of Doughnuts. It’s called Plenty of Pancakes and is about what happens when LouAnn the bear, the main character from the first book, wakes up from hibernation in the spring.
Another book on the way is a companion book to Don’t Hug Doug, called Even Steven. It’s about a little boy who likes everything to be even, but as he’s learning about sharing, he discovers that even isn’t always the same as fair.
And of course, I’m always writing new manuscripts. Writing picture books, especially, is a bit of a numbers game—the more you write and submit, the more chances you have that you’ll cross the right editor’s desk at the right time.
Title: PIGS DIG A ROAD
Author: Carrie Finison
Illustrator: Brian Biggs
Release Date: September 10, 2024
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers / Penguin Young Readers
ISBN-10: 1984816543
ISBN-13: 9781984816542
Genre: Picture Book – Transportation, Animals, Self-Esteem/Self-Reliance
Age Range: 3-7
~ Giveaway Details ~
One (1) winner will receive a copy of Pigs Dig A Road (Carrier Finison) ~US Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
