My Interview with Arree Chung: Author of NINJA!

Today I am happy to celebrate a book birthday! (I really do LOVE book birthdays!) Happy Book Release Day to Arree Chung, author of NINJA!, a sweet picture book about a boy with a great imagination! 

I asked Mr. Chung several questions, and here are his replies! 

Me: Librarians and teachers love to give book talks! When others ask you to tell about NINJA!, what do you tell them about it? 
 

Mr. Chung: I tell them about Maxwell, a 6 yr old boy who dresses up as a Ninja and causes havoc in his house by living out his Ninja fantasy.  It’s a perfect jumping in point for readers to get exposure to comics with panels, word bubbles and sequential story telling.  There are lots of places to talk about irony and how words and pictures work together.  For instance “...to defeat angry beasts” and “…a ninja goes unseen.”

Most of all, I tell them how fun the book is and how it can capture kid’s imaginations to go on their own ninja adventures.

Me: What did you enjoy about writing this picture book? 

There was so many things that I loved in making this book.   For the writing, I really enjoyed pairing down the words and trying to find the voice that would go along with the adventure.  Earlier drafts had many more words and it really was a reductive process to get it just right.  For instance, I toyed with changing the words “sacred cup” to “sippy cup” thinking it could be funnier. My editor, Kate was so helpful in pointing out that sacred cup worked much better.  Sometimes you’re so into the work that it’s helpful to have a guide to get you back on track.

Me: How did the idea for NINJA! come about? 
 

The original idea for Ninja came about randomly when I was in art school.  I scribbled out the idea: A boy dresses up as a Ninja and goes sneaking around the house.  It was just an idea and I never thought it would my break out story.

When I signed up for the SCBWI 2012 summer conference, I also enrolled into the illustration intensive workshop.  The assignment was to submit a manuscript along with thumbnails, character sketch and a full illustration for a story.  I had been working on a few stories for years but was stuck on most of them.  I decided to start anew so I flipped through my sketchbooks and found Ninja.

I was super busy wrapping up a few other projects that I didn’t work on Ninja for a couple of weeks.  I did think about it a lot and wrote little scribbles and doodles down.  All of a sudden, I realized the deadline for the assignment was due in two days, so I one night, I stayed up and frantically worked through 14 versions of the story.  In the morning, I had a story I liked.  It wasn’t perfect but it was solid.  I think having to simplify and get the story done for the deadline really helped me.  I haven’t been able to write another story in a few days since.  Sigh!

You can read the details of my path to publishing on my blog:

http://arreechung.blogspot.com

Because my blog name is Librarian in Cute Shoes, I loved the part in NINJA! where Arree Chung mentions that all ninjas needs "silent ninja footwear".

In fact, here is one of his sketches about how to make your own costume. I love it!

 

Me: What are the challenges in both writing and illustrating your own picture book?  

The hardest part is coming up with a great concept and the story.  As an author/illustrator, writing and drawing go hand in hand.  It actually makes the process easier.  There are times in the process where it’s helpful to put the sketchbook away and only focus on the words.  For this, I like to use flash cards to emulate page turns.  I can also get a sense of pacing and how it reads out loud.

Most of the time, I am working on the words and pictures together.  That’s one of the things I love most about picture books.  The words and pictures play together to tell the whole story.

Me: Tell us about the role libraries have played in your life. 

I LOVE libraries.  When I was a kid, it was my home.  I went there to day dream, to do homework and to draw anything I wanted.  Books opened new worlds up for me.  I loved reading adventure stories like James and the Giant Peach, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Rikki Tikki Tavi.

It’s funny because, thirty years later, I find myself doing a lot the same things I did as a kid.  I go to libraries and coffee shops.  I get lost in stories and I dream on paper.  I feel so lucky that I get to make books now and the thought of my book showing up in libraries gives me goose bumps!

Me:  I especially loved the ninja stars on the endpapers of NINJA! How did you decide on that? 

I couldn’t count the amount of ninja stars I made as a kid.  Probably at least 1,000.  When I was collecting patterns for possible end papers, it struck me.  I had to have paper ninja stars!  It was one of those, “duh” moments. 

I made several versions of the end papers.  Here’s a red one that I liked a lot. 

For a long time, I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, the red or green one.  In the end I’m happy with the choice we made.

Thank you, Arree Chung, for being a guest on my blog today and for sharing your art with us here!

Now, enjoy the book trailer for Ninja! (It's so clever!)