By Ingrid Christina Lombardo McCoy, “Ms. Christina”
In March 2022, we featured Eoin McLaughlin’s book, THE HUG, in our blog post on how to do a Saint Patrick’s Day storytime without resorting to stereotypes.
Spoiler: We recommended using books by Irish authors and illustrators rather than books about Saint Patrick’s Day or Irish culture by non-Irish authors.
The post was so well received, we just had to reach out to Eoin and let him know. Imagine our delight when he responded — and also agreed to an interview with us!
And so, with great joy we give you the following eight Q’s and A’s with Eoin McLaughlin, author of THE HUG, WHILE WE CAN’T HUG, and — upcoming — THE ROAR.
At first, THE HUG doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Ireland. But when I showed the book to my Irish cousin-in-law, he immediately identified the animal characters — the hedgehog, tortoise, fox, owl, etc. — as being common, even important, animals in Ireland. This observation was so interesting to me, because where I live in the United States, we don’t have hedgehogs in nature!
Were you intending to represent a part of life in Ireland with these characters?
I suppose most good stories involve some kind of tension. In the case of this one, I thought it was funny that something so unbearably cute, and apparently huggable, was also covered in thousands of very sharp spikes. Rendering it hard to touch.
Too sad.
I don’t actually remember seeing too many hedgehogs when I was growing up. They’re very shy and quite small, so it would have been an exciting event to spot one snuffling around. I saw a porcupine when I was living in New York. Those fellows are enormous.
I’ve been warned off featuring certain animals in books because they only live in Ireland or the UK, but I think kids are always interested in learning about new animals.
And there’s usually something kind of similar in the place they live.
I’m living in Mauritius at the moment. Here they have tenrecs, which look a bit like small hedgehogs.
It’s funny how there are fads for different animals in picture books. Feels like we’re in the age of the narwhal. What’s next?
Editor’s Aside: When I shared Eoin’s book, THIS BOOK IS not A BEDTIME STORY, with my preschool kids, they had no trouble connecting with Fluffy “Terror” McFluff — despite never having seen such a creature in person.
I think your choice of animals for characters is an excellent example of how people from a culture or place can best represent it just by telling the stories they care about from their perspective.
What do you think the books about Saint Patrick’s Day and Ireland by non-Irish authors often miss about the culture and place?
Representation is really important, across the board, and has been sadly lacking in children’s books. Which isn’t good enough. Authenticity is really important too, whatever story you’re telling. That said, I don’t want to come across as a fascist who says you can’t write about anything you haven’t directly experienced. That seems to be a leap some people are making at the moment, and that’s not really helpful either.
Hold on. Just got distracted by a massive, and coincidental, rainbow out of the window.
Funny as we’re discussing Irish stereotypes.
Back to the question. What do I think? I don’t know. In my experience, Irish people are often very good storytellers. As evidenced by the chat at dinner tables up and down the country, as well as all the Nobel Prizes. So if you’re going to write an ‘Irish’ story, I suppose you just need to make sure it’s good. That’s probably the easiest solution.
As part of our Saint Patrick’s Day article, we called on libraries to add more books and materials by Irish authors and illustrators to their collections throughout the year.
Who are your favorite Irish authors and illustrators, for the storytime set — ages 0-5 — and also for older audiences?
I love Flan O’Brien. I love Colm Tóibín. And for children, of course, my name sake, Eoin Colfer. There’s a great Irish illustrator at the moment called Barry Falls.
Your book, WHILE WE CAN’T HUG, is being used in a program in California to help incarcerated parents read to their children.
We recently interviewed author/illustrator Kate Yamasaki about her book, DAD BAKES, that deals with a reintegrating parent connecting with his daughter. You mentioned you care more and more about this issue the more you learn about it.
What can you tell us about the California project and any other work you’re doing on the issue of incarcerated parents?
I’m working with a charity in the UK called Children Heard and Seen who support children, young people and their families who are impacted by parental imprisonment. They’ve been using WHILE WE CAN’T HUG to talk about the ways you can show someone you love them, even if you can’t physically be with them.
Every year, it is estimated that 312,000 children are separated from a parent by a prison sentence in the UK. These kids haven’t done anything wrong and they deserve more support. First, because it’s the morally right, compassionate thing to do. And second, because they are statistically more likely to end up in prison themselves if nobody helps — 65% of boys with a convicted parent go on to offend themselves.
On every level it’s a no brainer, yet very little support is offered in the UK. There isn’t even a database of all the kids affected, nevermind a support system. I’m sure it’s probably a big issue in the US too.
I don’t know a huge amount about the project in California. But the prison service used WHILE WE CAN’T HUG to allow inmates to read to their kids, when they couldn’t see them in-person due to Covid restrictions.
Visit Children Heard and Seen
We really enjoyed watching your book readings on YouTube, in particular this one with you, illustrator Polly Dunbar, and puppets.
Your approach is so fun and it was great to see you reaching out to children who were cooped up the last couple of years.
Will we see more videos from you in the future?
Good question! I’m glad you enjoyed the films. We did a bunch during lockdown, but I’m not sure how much that will continue. I enjoy them but I get a sense that people are suffering a bit of Zoom fatigue. Polly and I have done quite a few live events, and they’ve been a real highlight of the whole author thing for me. It’s kind of magical reading to children, especially when they already know the stories.
That said, Polly and I are both living in different countries at the moment, so maybe another video is the way to go!
Polly Dunbar’s illustrations are so charming. You literally want to hug the creatures right off the page.
How much input or collaboration did you have with Polly in the process of making the book?
Polly and I work very collaboratively. I went around to her house before we started work on the first book and we have kept up a close relationship throughout the others. She’s written bits of text across all the books and I’ve suggested visual ideas. Finding the right endings is always a very back and forth process between us. Luckily we both make each other laugh, that’s probably the important thing. She’s very clever and funny and thoughtful.
It also helps that Polly and I share the same agent, James Catchpole. And along with our editor at Faber, Alice Swan, we’re all very collaborative. It’s been terrific fun.
Social distancing has had a negative effect on many children and their mental health. Some children have become anxious about physical touch in fear of getting sick.
Have you considered addressing these fears in future books?
My son is four, so most of his life has been spent living with different restrictions. It will definitely impact that generation of kids. He used to automatically freeze and hide when he saw another human on the street. That shouldn’t be normal!
Our next Hedgehog and Tortoise book is about anxiety, but it’s not to do with Covid.
But wait! I’m getting ahead of myself. Next question…
Speaking of future books, what’s next for you — and where should we look to keep up to date on your work?
THE ROAR comes out this summer, it’s a new Hedgehog and Tortoise book. It’s about anxiety and anger and meltdowns, but more than that it’s about empathy. And how we relate to each other when there’s a problem.
Spoiler: It doesn’t offer a neat solution. Because there isn’t one. But hopefully it opens some useful conversations.
Keep up with Eoin!
