In each installment of "Three Questions With" we ask a different PJ Library author or illustrator questions about their work, their process, and interests. This time we chatted with Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, author of several children's books including PJ Library selection Can You Hear a Coo Coo?
Did you really train with a ninja?
Indeed, I have trained with a ninja. It was only for a day, but I think the most important part was that it was a female ninja. I was running a daily email for women called Vital Juice, and it was all about fitness and health and wellness, and I was always looking for different things that I could do that were kind of offbeat ways to stay healthy and fit.
I got the chance to spend a few hours holding staffs and holding poses, doing ninja moves. What does that have to do with children’s books? I think it has to do with imagination. So often as adults we lose sight of the fact that amazing things-- weird, offbeat, crazy things--are possible in the world. To children, everything is possible because they’ve never been shown that it’s not. And in truth, most things are possible. You imagine them, and you do them. Training with a ninja - you can do that. And when you read a book about ninjas, to a child that’s not just make believe, it’s real. And what we write about as children’s authors is real for kids too.
I always say that even if something seems unbelievable, the emotions are real. So I like to do things that are offbeat and that are sparking my imagination because the more we dive into things that seem imaginative or unusual, the more our creative brain kicks into gear and brings out more realities from our creative subconscious.
One thing you play with in your books is sound. How did you decide to focus on that, and how do you see that helping children learn about their world?
When I write, I’m always thinking, "what else can I do with this book? What does reading lend itself to?" I have a daughter who has special needs, and she goes to a speech therapist. And one thing I realized in these speech therapy sessions is that repetition, rhythm, things that have a beat seem to be the things that speak to the brain clearly. They’re the things that are easiest to repeat and are most memorable to kids. And they make them laugh. The more I thought about that, the more I tried to put them into books.
All the books that I’ve written are written with kids of all abilities in mind. If you have a different way of learning language or different way of communicating, these books should be possible to understand for all types of learners. They have different kinds of sounds, they have different kinds of very accessible visuals, and I’m always thinking of different kinds of listeners when I’m writing, so I hope that all different kinds of audiences will enjoy.
Aside from your own books, what’s a favorite book you like to read to others?
Right now my favorite is Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, which is Mac Barnett’s book. Mac Barnett has described it as “experimental literature for the very young,” which is just what it is. It’s a book that you must read several times to understand where it’s going. It’s good for kids. It’s good for adults as well, and I think that’s what the ultimate picture book should be.
It tells the story of two boys who dig, and they keep digging, and they keep missing these giant diamonds in the ground. At the end, they actually go through the earth, come out on the other side, and wind up in an alternate universe. It’s not clear until you read it a few times, so it’s really a look and look again and look again kind of book. And that’s what I love. I love when a book has many different possibilities for the reader in the pictures, in the sound, words. It also has very simple prose, but beautifully chosen and sparse language.
Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh is the author of Can You Hear a Coo, Coo? and the upcoming titles A Hoopoe Says “Oop!”, Listen! Israel’s All Around (recipient of PJ Library’s Author Incentive Award), and The Biggest of All. Jamie’s current feature-writing “home” is National Geographic KIDS. As a lyricist, Jamie writes for ad campaigns and films.
May 30, 2018