Two Young Fans Interview Dragons Love Tacos Author Adam Rubin About His Newest Book, High Five

Cooper: How did you and Daniel Salmieri meet?  And do you two always give each other a high five when you see each other?

Adam Rubin: Hi Cooper. Well, Dan and I met through our mutual friend Corey. I lived in Chicago at the time and Dan lived in Brooklyn so we talked on the phone and exchanged a bunch of emails but we didn’t meet in person until years later. We really hit it off though and we decided to make a book together called Those Darn Squirrels. When the book got nominated for a Children’s Choice Award, I flew to New York City for the ceremony and that was the first time Dan and I ever high fived each other. We also rented matching tuxedos for the awards ceremony which we lost.

Addi: Cooper, let’s ask him something a little more important.  Like, what inspired you to write a book about high fives?

Dragons Love Tacos

Hardcover $18.99

Dragons Love Tacos

By Adam Rubin
Illustrator Daniel Salmieri

Hardcover $18.99

Adam Rubin: Hi Addi. Don’t worry, unimportant questions are my favorite kind of questions. Deep, thoughtful queries are fine too, of course. I was inspired to write a book about high fives after seeing some videos of teachers who had choreographed original high fives with each of their students. I had seen a lot of athletes do things like that but I had never really thought much about it. As more and more of my friends had kids, I noticed that one of the first “tricks” a kid learns is how to high five. I figured I might as well try and help teach them professional technique…

Adam Rubin: Hi Addi. Don’t worry, unimportant questions are my favorite kind of questions. Deep, thoughtful queries are fine too, of course. I was inspired to write a book about high fives after seeing some videos of teachers who had choreographed original high fives with each of their students. I had seen a lot of athletes do things like that but I had never really thought much about it. As more and more of my friends had kids, I noticed that one of the first “tricks” a kid learns is how to high five. I figured I might as well try and help teach them professional technique…

Cooper: Have you ever high-fived any of those animals?  My favorite animal is a giraffe. What’s your favorite animal?

Adam Rubin: My favorite animal is either a bear or an otter. I go back and forth. Sadly, I’ve never high fived either one of them but I have high fived several dogs. The best was Dan’s dog Ronni. She’s very athletic and great at high fives. You can see her in action in the video trailer for the book.

Addi: Did you go to school to study writing? What was your very first story about?

Adam Rubin: I always liked to write, even before I knew how to spell. The first story I remember writing was about an old wizard who collected too many books. I really liked magic and reading when I was little. I still do, actually. In college, I studied creative writing but I majored in advertising design. So I guess I didn’t go to school to study writing specifically but I did do a lot of writing while I was there. Shout out to Washington University in St. Louis!

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Hardcover $19.99

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

By Jon Scieszka
Illustrator Lane Smith

In Stock Online

Hardcover $19.99

Cooper: Ooooh! Oooh! (excitedly) Have you ever had anyone not want to give you a high five when you put up your hand? I hate when that happens. Those people are rude.

Cooper: Ooooh! Oooh! (excitedly) Have you ever had anyone not want to give you a high five when you put up your hand? I hate when that happens. Those people are rude.

Adam Rubin: Sure, yeah. I consider it an occupational hazard.

Addi: Is there an author that you really like?  Did you ever get to meet them in real life?

Adam Rubin: There are so many authors I really like but the best one I ever got to meet was Jon Scieszka. He wrote The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales which is the book that inspired me to try writing picture books.

Cooper: I’ve got a good question. Is it hard to come up with rhymes?  We had to do that for a poem in school and I couldn’t come up with a rhyme for “orange”?

Adam Rubin: Well, Eminem would beg to differ. Rhyming is hard, no question. It’s especially hard in a picture book because you don’t know exactly how people will read the words out loud. Musicians can play with rhythm and pronunciation which is difficult to do with written words.

Addi: What’s a day in your life like? Do you write every day? Or do you have to be in a certain mood. I love to write stories but sometimes I can’t think of anything.

Those Darn Squirrels!

Paperback $7.99

Those Darn Squirrels!

By Adam Rubin
Illustrator Daniel Salmieri

In Stock Online

Paperback $7.99

Adam Rubin: What a good and serious question! I feel like I’m on Meet the Press. When I’m in the middle of a project, I wake up early and start writing right away. I sit in a little room without distractions and I don’t get up from the desk until lunch time. Sometimes, I really don’t feel like writing but since it’s my job, I’ve got to do it anyway. If I need inspiration, I like to take a walk in the woods. Trees are good for creativity.

Adam Rubin: What a good and serious question! I feel like I’m on Meet the Press. When I’m in the middle of a project, I wake up early and start writing right away. I sit in a little room without distractions and I don’t get up from the desk until lunch time. Sometimes, I really don’t feel like writing but since it’s my job, I’ve got to do it anyway. If I need inspiration, I like to take a walk in the woods. Trees are good for creativity.

Cooper: My favorite part of the book is when the octopus gives high-fives. It would be cool to have eight hands. I could put a different piece of candy in each of my hands.  Do you have a favorite character from the book?

Adam Rubin: I think my favorite character is Glen. He’s just such a good guy; humble, tenacious and gracious in defeat. What more could you want from a competitor?

Addi: I’m curious why you picked animals instead of people to give high-fives.  Do you only write about animals?

Adam Rubin: Hahaha. I write about people sometimes. I just find animals more interesting. Especially in books with illustrations.

Cooper: Your books are super funny.  Are you funny in person as well? What kind of things make you laugh?

Adam Rubin: Thanks Cooper! I’m glad you like the books. I’d like to think that I’m equally funny in person but I rarely carry Daniel’s hilarious illustrations around with me so, probably not. The things that make me laugh most are animal blooper videos on YouTube. The sillier, the better. I cackle like a hyena.

Addi: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually agree with Cooper.  We laugh a lot at your books.  Thanks so much for that.

Cooper: Wow Addi, you never agree with me.  Cool.

Adam Rubin: I feel honored to be a part of this momentous occasion.

I decided as their mom, to stop right there and end it on a high note.  Of course, two minutes later they were arguing about who left the milk on the counter, but we won’t get poor Adam Rubin involved in that one.

Many thanks to Mr. Rubin for his answers and incredible level of patience to humor a ten and seven year old! I swear, they are truly some of his biggest fans.

High Five is on B&N bookshelves April 16th.