Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Ellen Lawrence!
Read on to learn more about the author, the books, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Ellen Lawrence
Ellen Lawrence has written books for children on many subjects including science, animals, and conservation. Ellen lives in the UK with her husband and three cats, just minutes from the ocean and is passionate about protecting wildlife and wild places.
About the Book: Welcome to My World series
Welcome to My World series will have young readers meet children from around the world and discover the many different foods they eat, religious festivals they celebrate, go to school with them, and how they find, collect, and use water. Filled with beautiful, detailed photos of children experiencing these aspects of life. Each book includes a world map that pinpoints where every story comes from.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this series?
From Ellen: Children are children. Wherever they live, whatever they have or don’t have, whatever their culture or ethnicity, they are joyful, curious, and playful. I wanted to create a series of books that allowed children to see into the lives of children who are just like them—even though their clothes, homes, toys, celebrations, and even supper may be completely alien. Today, it feels more important than ever that we understand the lives of people who may live in a very different way to us—understand AND celebrate! As a young child I chose to do a school project on Iceland. This was way back in the early 1970s! I have no idea why Iceland appealed to me or how I even knew about this faraway country at the age of 7—when I was growing up in London. But the facts I learned about the place, the food, and everyday life were so fascinating. I think a little of that fascination was still inside me when I embarked on writing “Welcome to My World”, wanting to give kids a glimpse into the lives of children—just like them—around the world.
YABC: What research did you find most helpful?
From Ellen: The internet is of course a wonderful resource, but also a minefield of misinformation! I usually “race around” tracking down intriguing ideas and then dig much deeper, contacting NGOs, cultural organisations, individual people—the best and closest source I can find to a fact—to be sure that what’s in the book is accurate but also as interesting as possible. I also love the chance to do “original research.” I love the challenge of tracking down a piece of information that doesn’t appear “everywhere”!
YABC: Which facts did you find most interesting to learn?
From Ellen: There’s a huge amount to choose from in this series. My favourite section appears in Welcome to My World: Schools Around the World. Many children in Kenya live a nomadic lifestyle. But just like kids everywhere, they love to read! A school library on the backs of camels visits the traveling villages, or camps, where the children live, allowing the children to choose books to read. I still LOVE the smell of a library when you walk in and it was one of my favourite treats as a child to visit the library. I can imagine the excitement the children must feel when they see the camel library approaching, loaded with new books!
YABC: How did you ensure that these books are engaging to your audience?
From Ellen: The key to this series was finding beautiful, detailed photographs that allow the reader to properly see inside the lives of other children. Each photograph tells a story and has lots of wonderful content to spark a classroom discussion. Facts are super important, but so are the images in books. A photograph of something you’ve never seen before can stay with you for the rest of your life.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
From Ellen: I loved working on this series, but if it was one subject forever, it would have to be science. I’m fascinated by trees, insects, spiders, birds, rocks, tide pools—I love that these simple and beautiful things are packed with science. There’s a million worlds going on around us, and without them, our world just wouldn’t “work”! Helping young kids understand the importance of a seed or a bumblebee is very special. Ruby Tuesday Books has a real passion for science, the natural world, and conservation, so I love working on their books!
YABC: How do you keep your ‘voice’ true to the age category you are writing within?
From Ellen: I think I still have a child’s wonder at so many things. I try hard to think about what they may have already experienced in their world to ensure I’m explaining things in a way that will make sense. But I also want to challenge readers. If the vocabulary is familiar and you work hard to describe things in a way that relates to a child’s world, you can explain the most complicated concepts. So much non-fiction out there leaves me asking: Why? How? I don’t know what you mean! I work VERY hard to make sure that never happens for my readers.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
From Ellen: Carefully crafted non-fiction text that properly explains a topic AND beautiful photographic imagery. That’s why I love Ruby Tuesday Books! There’s been a huge trend in recent years for illustrated non-fiction. Why would you illustrate a honeybee drinking nectar or the gaping jaws of a great white shark, when you can look at the real thing in dramatic, close-up photographs? The team at Ruby Tuesday always goes the extra mile to find the most amazing photographs to connect with the text in their books.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
From Ellen: I like some noise and “hub-bub” around me when I’m writing, so I’ll often escape from my office and visit a coffee shop to write. So my snack will always be one (or two) cappuccinos and some cake!
YABC: If you were able to travel into one of your books, which book would you choose?
From Ellen: It changes from book to book, series to series, but right now I’d like to jump into the pages of “Welcome to My World”. My first two choices would be a park in Japan to celebrate cherry-blossom time with a picnic (Celebrations Around the World). Or returning to my childhood fascination with cold, northern places (!!!) I would love to visit the island of Kulusuk (Greenland) to see the beautiful, colorful wooden houses nestled in the snow (Homes Around the World).
YABC: What’s your least favorite word or expression and why?
From Ellen: That’s a tricky one! But I think based on everything I’ve said above, right now it would have to be: I don’t like spiders! I am a huge fan of and advocate for spiders. Without these tiny, eight-legged animals the natural world couldn’t function. They play a crucial role on our planet both as a food source for other animals and in maintaining the insect population at just the right level in many ecosystems. I would love all kids to be entranced by spiders and have a respect for them. I’m not unsympathetic to spider phobics, in fact, I come from a parent who is terrified of spiders! But most spiders do us no harm and they get such a bad deal. Ruby Tuesday has a fantastic book called “Spiders: We’re Not Scary, We’re Amazing!” It tells kids all about the complicated lives of spiders, why they are so important to our world, why scientists think some people are afraid of spiders, and what we can do to overcome our fears, and become champions for this amazing group of animals.
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
From Ellen: Ha ha! I wish I had some wise and wonderful tip or piece of advice. When I procrastinate, I procrastinate some more, and then some more, and. . . . you get the idea! It’s SO frustrating, but I think as a writer, procrastination always creeps up on you. And every time you do it, you tell yourself: I will learn from this and recognise it next time. But I never do! Often all it takes is a quick break—make a cup of tea, fill up the birdbath with water, look out of a window. . . and you’re up and running again. But triggering that break before the procrastination wastes too much time, is the tricky part that I’ve yet to master.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
From Ellen: Lots of science. Hurrah! And I’m playing around with some ideas for a children’s book about how our brains work. Such an exciting topic to make accessible for young readers.
YABC: What is your favorite holiday or tradition and why?
From Ellen: 100% Christmas. If I could re-live any day in my life, I would go back and re-live Christmas day when I was around 7 or 8 years old. Waking up with it just growing light outside and knowing that Christmas Day had finally arrived. I would love to experience that feeling again. I still love Christmas now—everyday life just stopping for a few days for celebrations. Once October arrives, I’m definitely in Christmas-mode and the countdown is on in our house to the big day.
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
From Ellen: This has been great fun. It’s always interesting to be asked to think about your work and what it means to you. And it’s great to have a chance to talk about non-fiction. So many kids prefer factual books to fiction (I certainly did as a child) and I feel non-fiction books don’t always get the attention and respect they deserve, so it’s been wonderful to have a chance to talk about this. A big thank you!
