Tundra Book Group

Kids say the darndest things! So we asked our creators to tell us their favorite questions they’ve been asked by young readers.

Paulette Bourgeois
Author of Professor Goose Debunks The Three Little Pigs
“The most curious question I was ever asked was . . . “Do you wear clothes when you write?” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that one, wondering if some authors write in the nude but when I asked the young student what she meant, she responded, “The last author we had always wrote in her bed in her pyjamas.”

Kern Carter
Author of And Then There Was Us
“So many funny stories. The one that comes to mind first is when I spoke to a grade nine class and one of the boys asked me “If writers don’t make any money, how did you buy those nice shoes you have on?” LOL!”

Vikki VanSickle
Author of The Lightning Circle
“I haven’t had a lot of laugh-out-loud funny questions that I can recall, but this one really struck me as clever. At the end of If I Had a Gryphon, when *spoiler alert* the hamster is revealed to have secret antlers and wings, I ask the kids “Have you ever seen a hamster with antlers and wings?” and “Do you think Sam knows about the wings and antlers?” and we talk about how it was a magical creature the whole time. But at one school, a kid insisted the hamster was not a secret magical creature with antlers and wings but was wearing a Halloween costume to appeal to the narrator, Sam, which I thought was a really clever take on the last page.”

Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Author of Emily Posts
“Kids ask great questions, always, but my favorite question came from a grown-up. I was presenting to a writer’s group at a seniors’ activity center. I’d talked about my writing process and the way I try to combine serious issues with some silliness and humor. One of the women put up her hand and said, “I just don’t understand why you write about such terrible things. They can learn about climate change and censorship later. Let the kids be kids.” Before I could answer, one of the other women rolled her eyes. “Gladys, that philosophy would work fine, if it weren’t for this thing called the internet. Kids already know about these things. She’s making it easier for them to understand.” I had nothing to add to that answer, so I moved on with my presentation!”

Richard Scrimger
Author of Your Story Matters
“At the Q & A following my very first presentation of one of my books, a smiling 13-year-old goofball asked, “When did you realize that you yourself were clearly neurodivergent?” I laughed out loud and replied, “Way later than you did.” I’ve been asked if a book (can’t remember which one) was good for anything except reading. I apologized for it not being thick enough for a doorstop. I suggested fly swatting, or maybe as a shim for an uneven table. Someone at the back of the room asked if I had fun giving talks. “You bet. I’m having fun right now,” I said, and the look on their face – the slack-jawed gawp of disbelief – made me burst out laughing.”

David A. Robertson
Author of The Misewa Saga
“I get asked a lot of questions and my favorite of them, and there are so many good ones, is “What is your favorite book that you have written?” I like the question because I get to talk about my dad. My favorite book is On the Trapline because I get to talk about the trip I took with my dad to his trapline and the things that he taught me. But I also get to remember my dad and think about how On the Trapline was the last book of mine that he read. I love the book but I think I love more that it has an emotional connection to me more than any other book I’ve ever written.”

Ann Sei Lin
Author of Rebel Skies
“A student once asked me “Can you include a chunky rhino in your next book?” Why a rhino, and why it had to be chunky, I don’t know. Perhaps the student was an avid rhino fan. I said I would consider it!”