Welcome to Black Rabbit Books' Author Spotlight! This month, we're sharing an interview with Eric Braun. Eric has leant his humorous voice to Black Rabbit Books for several seasons, and we love working with him! Take a minute to learn more about Eric in this interview.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself!
A: I'm a writer, editor, reader, camper, and bike rider. I love listening to loud music and swimming in lakes, though not at the same time. My favorite sport to watch is baseball, and my favorite sports to play are ultimate frisbee and snow softball. I have a very sweet dog named Willis who is afraid of delivery vans (especially Amazon vans) and cardboard boxes. I believe in UFOs.
Q: You've written a variety of books for Black Rabbit! Do you have a favorite title or series?
A: I think my favorite series has to be the retelling of Aesop's Fables, especially the Tortoise and the Hare. I had a lot of fun writing all the hare's slowpoke jokes ("You're so slow, you get a parking ticket when you cross the street!"). It's very satisfying when that hare loses in the end J
Q: Do you have any advice for kids who say they don't like to read?
A: Well first of all, I would say, I totally get it. There's a lot of cool stuff you could be doing, and sitting down to read a book might feel more like work than fun. The thing to remember is that reading can be really rewarding—when you find a book you love, it fills you up in a way that nothing else can, not even YouTube. So my advice is to try lots of different books. There are books on just about any topic you can think of. What do you like? There are funny books, serious books, loud books, quiet books, and books that teach about things you're interested in. There are books about friendships, spaceships, hardships, and parsnips. There are books about war and peace. So check out 20 books from the library and look for the one that grabs you. Start with short reading sessions. Maybe you read for five or ten minutes a day. And if you don't like one book, put it down and try another. Keep at it, and pretty soon, you'll find one that you love, and you will get it: "Ah, so this is what people love about reading."
Q: What inspires you to write books for kids?
A: I love writing for kids because it lets me remember what it's like to be a kid. I think: "What would eight-year-old me want to happen next?" "What detail would appeal to fourth-grade me?" And I'm transported back to being that younger person who is stretching his imagination and curious about everything and more than anything just wants to have fun. I think every grownup secretly (or not-so-secretly) longs to be a kid again, at least in some ways, and I get to do it every day. Well, sort of.
