Welcome back, friends! Yesterday, I shared about the Dinos That Read campaign — a joyful, imaginative collection of picture books for ages 3–5. Today, I’m thrilled to follow that up with something extra special: a conversation with the brilliant Linda Bailey, author of four of the five books.
Linda’s stories are funny, warm, and wildly inventive, and they capture exactly the kind of playful energy that makes kids fall in love with reading. I had such a lovely time chatting with her about her process, her favorite read-aloud moments, those unforgettable chicken sounds, and what inspires her to bring dinosaurs (and other unexpected characters!) to life on the page.
Let’s dive in!
Get to know the author: Linda Bailey
Hi Linda! It’s such a pleasure to have you on Armed with A Book. To start us off, can you tell my readers a little about yourself?
Thank you for inviting me, Kriti! Here goes . . .
I love reading. I love it so much that some days I hardly get off the couch. But I love writing too and have now written almost forty books for kids, including middle-grade novels, graphic novels and biographies. Dearest to my heart, though, are the picture books for the little guys. That’s because for many kids, a picture book is the doorway to “forever” reading — and what could be better than that?
Your recent books — Lena the Chicken, The Great Dinosaur Sleepover, If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur, and Princesses Versus Dinosaurs — feature dinosaurs and their descendants. What are your earliest memories of dinosaurs? Were you fascinated by them as a kid?
Oddly enough, no. Dinosaurs never came up much in my school or reading life as a kid. It wasn’t until the Jurassic Park movies came along that I had my first “WOW!” reaction. That’s when I started reading non-fiction books about dinosaurs — and“WOW!” again. I began to follow the stunning paleontological discoveries that have happened around the world in recent decades. And now I’m so hooked that I visit dinosaur museums and fossil sites on my holidays.
Lena the Chicken is such a charming exploration of self-belief and bravery. What inspired Lena’s fierce dinosaur identity?
I have always loved reading about feisty female characters in literature — Jo March, Harriet the Spy, Pippi Longstocking. Perhaps because I wasn’t very feisty myself as a kid? In any case, I do believe that authors sometimes create characters as a kind of a personal wish fulfillment, and maybe that what’s going on here. Maybe brave Lena is the chicken I would like to be — if I were a chicken.
The Great Dinosaur Sleepover takes a moment of disappointment and turns it into magic. Do you often start with real-life emotions or events when writing picture books?
Short answer is “yes.” As a writer, my goal is always to capture my reader’s attention quickly — and then hold it. A great way to do this with kids is to give my character a problem that kids can relate to. So I started with Jake’s dinosaur birthday party being abruptly cancelled when his guests all get the flu. And then I asked myself — how can this deeply disappointing situation be resolved in a way that will make Jake (and the reader) happy?
If you could invite one dinosaur to your own birthday party, who would they be and why?
I would love to meet a really HUGE dinosaur — an Argentinosaurus or a Supersaurus or the Apatosaurus in The Great Dinosaur Sleepover. Why? Because if I can have any dinosaur that ever existed, why not choose a jaw-droppingly BIG one that fills up my whole street? Now that would be a birthday to remember!
T. Rex often gets a “scary” reputation — but in your books, there’s always warmth and humor. What draws you to rewriting that narrative?
When I was considering which dinosaurs to bring to a child’s birthday party, an immediate problem came up. How could I invite the carnivores? Carnivores might EAT the other guests, right? Not to mention the birthday boy himself! So I decided to stick to the plant-eating dinos. But at the same time, I loved the idea of having a T. Rex. Final solution? I included just one T. Rex (a female) — and only on the condition that she promise not to eat anyone.
Do you usually work closely with illustrators, or do you prefer to give them creative freedom to interpret your stories visually?
Actually, authors don’t usually work with illustrators directly. What happens is this — the author sends her manuscript to a publisher, and if they decide to publish it, it’s the editor and art director who find and work with an illustrator. The author does see the evolving art and gets to offer feedback, but she doesn’t usually get directly involved. (This is pretty standard practice in children’s publishing.)
What was your first reaction to seeing one of your characters brought to life in illustration form?
ENORMOUS EXCITEMENT! Note that I do always have pictures in my head as I write. I “see” the characters. But they’re ghost-like, and usually they vanish in an instant when I see the rough art from the illustrator — it’s amazing how that happens! I’m lucky to have been paired with some incredibly talented illustrators, and usually I’m delighted with what I see. But if something feels wrong or missing, I can and do talk about it with my editor.
Many of your stories capture the energy and imagination of childhood so well. What helps you stay in tune with that childlike wonder?
Thank you for those kind words. Childhood memories and my (young) grandkids help. But I have also done LOTS of visits to schools over the years and have read my books aloud to young audiences. It’s been incredibly helpful to see what made the kids laugh or gasp or . . . (oh dear) yawn! I still picture those kids in my head when I’m writing.
As someone who’s lived in many countries and now calls Vancouver home, have your travels influenced your creative process or the way you see stories?
The countries I have lived in are Canada, England and Australia. But I did travel around the world for several years and visited many other countries. It was a fantastic eye-opener. People say travel is “broadening,” and I think that for me, it did “stretch” my mind. It helped me to see a lot more possibilities in life — and probably also in fiction.
You’ve said that writers are always looking for ideas. What’s one of the most unexpected sources of inspiration you’ve ever found?
That’s easy. A flock of chickens! My newest book is Lena the Chicken (But Really a Dinosaur!), and I don’t think I could have written it if I hadn’t spent a month acting as a “chicken-sitter” for my pal, Margriet Ruurs (also a children’s writer). When Margriet and her husband went on holiday, I volunteered to house-sit in their lovely Salt Spring Island home — and that included a coop full of chickens. Those chickens were waaaay more interesting than I ever expected. They gave me a book!
Do you have a favorite book to read aloud to young readers?
Right now, I love reading Lena the Chicken. It’s especially fun to read the chicken sounds aloud. To me, the “cluck-cluck” in most chicken books just sounded wrong. So in Lena, the chickens say “Pdockk-dock-dock!” instead because that’s what Margriet’s chickens said to me when I looked after them. They called it out every time they saw me coming with the scraps. “Pdock-dock-dock-dock!”
If you could step into the world of one of your books for a day, which one would it be — and what would you do there?
Oh wow! I would DEFINITELLY step into The Great Dinosaur Sleepover. A chance to hang out with real dinosaurs in the middle of the night? Eat cake and ice cream with them? Wander the night-time streets and play soccer in the moonlight? What could be better?
Finally, what are you working on next? Can readers expect more dinosaurs in your future stories, or are you exploring something new?
There might be more dinosaurs in my books down the road — I like them a lot! But in the meantime, I’ve been having fun with other critter-characters. One of them is a goofy, well-meaning wolf. Another is oddball family of rabbits. I really enjoy creating animal characters, and I’m lucky that kids love animals too.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you, no, except that I really enjoyed answering your questions. They were thoughtful and well-considered, and they made me think. Thank you!
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, Linda. I can’t wait to read your books with my daughter.
A huge thank you to Linda for taking the time to chat with me and for creating stories that spark so much imagination and joy — for little readers and for the grown-ups reading alongside them. Find all books by Linda on her website.
If you missed yesterday’s post, be sure to check out my feature on the Dinos That Read, where I share thoughts on several of the books Linda has written. And if you’re exploring gift ideas for the young readers in your life this season, these titles are a wonderful place to start.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more children’s book discoveries and parent-friendly reviews in the weeks ahead!
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