A Conversation with Annie Barrows
"In the tradition of Betsy and Tacy, Ginnie and Geneva comes two new friends, Ivy and Bean. The deliciousness is in the details here, with both girls drawn distinctly and with flair. . . . Will make readers giggle."
—
Booklist, starred review
Annie Barrows is making a splash with her new book for young readers, Ivy and Bean, featuring two mischievous, funny, and clever girls. Annie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.
Chronicle Books: Who were the inspirations for your two characters, the spunky second graders, Ivy and Bean?
Annie Barrows: I used to think that Ivy and Bean were inspired by my daughter Clio and her friend Claire, who certainly did some funny stuff when they were seven. Then, I began to think that Ivy and Bean were inspired by Clio and my other daughter, Esme. Then I thought that both of the characters were me, because I always have to return to my own memories to see if Ivy and Bean are being real. Currently, I think they're a big stew consisting of me, my best friend Babe Hill, my cousin Cary, Clio, Esme, Claire, all their friends, and random funny little kids I see in the store or on the playground.
Really, it's friendship that inspired Ivy and Bean. I see what it means to kids to have friends—or not have them—and I remember that longing for friends in myself, as well as the aimless, unexamined quality of friendship at that age.
CB: You have mentioned that each of your daughters feels she is like Ivy or Bean. Do you see similarities? Is their relationship with each other similar to Ivy and Bean's?
AB: Ha. Depends on the day. Sometimes one decides that SHE is the spitting image of Bean and the other one is identical to Nancy (Bean's older sister). Sometimes they both claim to be Ivy. The way in which they are most like Ivy and Bean is that their world-views are completely different. As to their relationship, they're sisters, not friends, so everything is more complex. I do see that Clio is a little like Ivy, with her enthusiasm for five million things (volcanoes, sunken ships, gold-panning, gymnastics, manufacturing teensy-weensy books, the secret lives of dolls, etc.). She creates worlds that they then both play in. Until Esme balks, anyway.
CB: Ivy and Bean is a terrific story about two girls with seemingly polar personalities who end up bonding to become best friends. Both as children and adults, many of us find ourselves to be best friends with someone who seems to be completely the opposite of us! Has this happened to you?
AB: Funny question. Now that I think about it, all my friends are enormous talkers—and I'm not. I'd rather write than talk, so I listen to other people's stories and then steal them for my books.
CB: We're excited that Ivy and Bean's adventures together will continue. What can we look forward to from you next?
AB: I've got lots of ideas for Ivy and Bean adventures. They're written down on bitty scraps of paper, which I find all over the house. Yesterday I found one that said, "Ivy-attic-pirate." What a great idea! The next installment, Ivy and Bean and the Ghost That Had to Go, published in the Fall of 2006, and Ivy and Bean Break the Fossil Record published Fall 2007. As for other projects, I've just finished writing a middle grade novel concerning magic of the non-medieval, non-fatal variety.
A Conversation with Annie Barrows and 2nd and 3rd Grade Students.
Student: How long did it take you to write Ivy and Bean? Annie: Which time? It didn’t take me very long to write the first version of Ivy and Bean, but then I had to rewrite it about six times.Student: Six times? Why?
Annie: Bunch of different reasons. The first time I wrote the book, Ivy and Bean made a voodoo doll of Nancy. My editor said I absolutely COULD NOT have voodoo dolls in a kids' book.
Student: What's a voodoo doll?
Annie: You make a little doll that looks like your enemy, you whisper the magic words, and then you stick pins in it. Then your enemy yells, "Ow, ow, ow!" My editor thought voodoo dolls were too scary for kids. Are you scared?
Students: [chorus] No. Voodoo dolls sound like fun.
Annie: That's what I think, too. But I have to do what my editor says.
Student: Why did you have to rewrite it the other times?
Annie: It was too short. I added all the stuff that happened in Ivy's house and Mrs. Trantz.
Student: Was your room like Ivy's room when you were a kid?
Annie: I wasn't allowed to draw on my floor with chalk, but I did divide my room up into little sections. I had a living room, a workroom, and a bedroom. My living room had pillows to sit on and a tiny coffee table that was really a picnic basket.
Student: Did you have lots of dolls like Ivy?
Annie: Nope. I had little animals, but not many dolls.
Student: How come you gave Ivy dolls and not animals, then?
Annie: Ivy seemed like someone who would like dolls more than animals.
Student: Are Ivy and Bean real?
Annie: No. I made them up. But they are like real people now—I know what they like and don't like, just the way you know what your friends think. They're fictional, but they're still my friends.
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