You completely understand why I had to read this book AND talk about it. Don’t you?
Alex Willan has visited my blog a few times before. Alex is the author-illustrator of the Worst! picture book series and the Jasper & Ollie series, as well as the illustrator of Got Your Nose, written by Alan Katz. Alex lives in Chicago with his dog, Harley, who is the absolute best. You can learn more about him at his website.
MERMAIDS ARE THE WORST is the latest in Gilbert the Goblin’s “worst” series. This time Gilbert is on vacation and of course, mermaids are ruining every single thing he’s enjoying. It’s another hilarious addition to the series and one I was VERY eager to get my hands on (and boy was it worth it!).
Welcome back Alex!
Me: I adore mermaids and when I saw that you were adding them to your “worst” picture books series, I couldn’t wait to read it. What gave you the idea to include mermaids in this series?
Alex: One of the best things about working on these books has been sharing them with kiddos at school visits and book events. I will often end an event asking the kids what they think the next book should be about and Mermaids was by far the most requested. So that has been really rewarding to have this series become even more of a conversation with the readers.
Me: This is the fifth book in the series. Yay! Congratulations! Do you think there’s room for more with this grumpy goblin? Do you already have ideas for other potential books in the series?
Alex: Thank you so much! I’m actually just finishing up the artwork for the sixth book which will be VALENTINES ARE THE WORST! Being such a grump, I figured OF COURSE Gilbert would take issue with a holiday that is all about spreading love. I love every time I get to dive back into Gilbert’s world and find new adventures for him to go on, so while I am so grateful to have gotten so far along in the series, I selfishly hope to keep making more and more of them.
Me: Yes! That sounds fantastic! And I selfishly agree with you too about making more! I adore the diversity of mermaids you created for this book, as well as the variety of competitions they had for their annual tournament. Did you have a lot of rough drafts of characters before you settled on this bunch? What choices did you think through in designing these characters?
Alex: The trickiest part was actually figuring out if we wanted to include a gender diverse population of Merfolk. I always strive to be as inclusive as possible with the characters in my books, but in the end the kids requesting this book were asking for a book specially about Mermaids, so that seemed like the best way to go. As always, I am so grateful for the wonderful team that I work with at Simon & Schuster for their incredibly thoughtful approach when in comes to any decision surrounding inclusivity and representation.
Me: The chubby mermaid is hands-down my absolute favorite inclusion here. Is there one that is your favorite, or one that you are drawn to more than the rest?
Alex: I think that my favorite changed throughout the process of making the book. I had so much fun designing each of them, figuring out ways to give them each a unique personality.
One thing that always makes me laugh is that several of them are wearing sweatbands (on their head, wrists or forearms) because they are, of course, elite athletes. But in actuality those sweatbands would be constantly soaked through with sea water, thus defeating their entire purpose.
Me: Ha! I love that. I spotted character references to your previous books in the stands, and I also love that you keep including the sock slug and the chicken in every story. Yet I must admit that it’s the newest side character in this story that stole the show! What in the world gave you the idea for a taco crab? It’s such a fun addition to the book!
Alex: The Taco Crab always makes me laugh. We established in the first book, UNICORNS ARE THE WORST!, that Gilbert can use goblin magic to turn socks into sock slugs, and so it’s always fun to reiterate that while Gilbert does know magic, it’s never particularly useful magic. I will add that I’ve had a few school visits recently where I taught the kids how to draw the Taco Crab, and that has been a lot of fun.
Me: That’s awesome! What is one thing that surprised you in creating this story?
Alex: I’m sure this is just the paranoid side of my brain, but I am always worried that one day I will wake up and the creative well will have run dry. That I will start looking for the next story idea only to come up empty handed. Especially when it comes to new story lines for a series that has been going on for a while. So I think what surprises me most is that the ideas do eventually come. Sometimes not right away, but if I keep putting the new elements through the tumble cycle in my head, I will come out at the other end with not only a new story idea, but an approach to the new story that makes me excited.
Me: You have been on such a roll the last few years, producing around eight picture books so far. Are there any future books we can look forward to reading? Any projects you can tell us a little bit about?
Alex: It has really been such an incredible few years and I am so very grateful to be able to keep making books! I have another picture book coming out a couple of months after MERMAIDS called PIECE OUT. It follows a board game pawn that finds himself left out of the box and must make his way through the treacherous wilds (i.e., the rest of the house) in an attempt to get back to the safety of the game closet.
That sounds like another fun book Alex. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
Dear readers, this book is published next week. Keep an eye out for those “pesky” mermaids. You won’t want to miss them.