There’s a New Ivy and Bean Coming! Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall Talk Book 11

BFFs Ivy and Bean are back in a big way with the 11th book in the beloved chapter book series. Ivy and Bean: One Big Happy Family, by author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie Blackall finds the titular duo on the search for a baby sister for only-child Ivy, who is suddenly worried about ending up spoiled rotten from not having siblings.

For One Big Happy Family, did you draw on any of your own experiences growing up?
AB: I didn’t use my own experiences—I was on the I-already-have-one-sister-why-would-I-want-another side of the equation—but I did steal a few ideas from my daughter’s best friend, an only child, who drafted my daughter to help with a ceremony begging the gods for a baby sister. This same kid also tried to steal a baby, but I figured I’d get in trouble if I put that in a book.

SB: One drawing that definitely channeled from my own experience is the scene where Ivy directs a mortified Bean to dance, while she implores the gods to deliver a baby. I could never “dance like nobody is watching”—even now I dance with excruciating awkwardness, like the meanest kids in the world are pointing and laughing.

Do you consider yourself more of an Ivy or a Bean?
AB: I am under the impression that I am sweet and gentle and quiet, which would put me in the Ivy camp. But whenever I mention this to anyone I know, they laugh and laugh and laugh. Once I asked my mom whether I was more like Ivy or more like Bean as a child. She said, “You didn’t say much, but you did some terrible things.” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

For kids who love Ivy and Bean, what other books would you recommend?
AB: I like the Lulu books by Hilary McKay. Actually, I like everything by Hilary McKay.

SB: It’s cheating to recommend books I helped make, but Ivy and Bean fans should try The Witches of Benevento, written by John Bemelmans Marciano, in which five kids in a small town in Italy try to outsmart many different witches, who turn out to be less annoying than parents or bossy older sisters.

What advice would you offer to budding young authors and illustrators?
AB: I feel bad for kids; everyone’s always telling them what to do or what not to do. So here’s my advice for kids who want to be authors or illustrators: There’s no special right way to do it. I mean, if you want to be an author, it might be good if you read a few books, but I know plenty of authors who didn’t read when they were kids. So go! Be free! Make your own rules!

After a five-year hiatus, why did now seem like the right time to revisit Ivy and Bean?
AB: I missed hanging out with kids. There are a lot of things I can only talk about with kids—meerkats, for instance, and mongooses. Most grown-ups don’t care about meerkats or mongooses. You know what grown-ups like to talk about? Traffic! Real estate! Health insurance! Yikes! After five years of that nonsense, I needed to get back to seven-year-olds on the double.

SB: Annie told me if I didn’t illustrate another Ivy and Bean she would cast a spell to make me dance for the rest of my life.

What’s up next for Ivy and Bean? Any plans in the works for book 12?
AB: The answer to this question will be revealed to the first person who gives me a platypus.

SB: A few years ago Annie and I received a seven-page letter from a child called Audrey, beseeching us to make another Ivy and Bean book. It was a stupendous letter. I was ready to write a polite response explaining that we were too busy with real estate and health insurance to write and draw another Ivy and Bean, when I realized I had accidentally thrown away the envelope with Audrey’s return address. I lie awake at night worrying about Audrey. If someone gives Annie a platypus and we do a book 12, it will be dedicated to Audrey.

What’s next for you both as an author and illustrator?
AB: I’ve got a bunch of fun stuff coming up. My first picture book (pictures not by me) will be coming out next year. The year after that, there will be the first book in a new series about a kid named Iggy who does a lot of bad things. Then there’s another picture book. And somewhere in there is a novel for adult people, all about traffic, real estate, and health insurance (just kidding!).

SB: I am working on an epic, 80-page picture book called If You Come to Earth, in which a child writes a letter to a visitor from another planet, explaining our world. I have been spending a lot of time with second and third graders, picking their brains and finding out what makes them laugh and what they think is unfair and what they would say to an alien, should they meet one.

Ivy and Bean: One Big Happy Family hits B&N bookshelves August 28.