
Below is the first half of Erin Dealey's gracious interview with us, in which she addresses the origin of Babies Come From Airports, her own writing process, and more. You can find part two here!
How did the idea for Babies Come From Airports manifest?
Several of my closest friends have children who were born in other countries so the idea for Babies Come From Airports evolved as our kids grew up together. As with most of my books, the title popped into my head first. I knew it was a story I wanted to write.
What was your favorite part about writing Babies Come From Airports?
Hands down, my absolute favorite part of writing Babies Come From Airports was seeing the incredible illustrations that Luciana Navarro Powell created for our book. Her love for these characters and her attention to every detail created such a special world. I am in awe. I could not have asked for a better vision of this story.
I won’t lie--Babies Come From Airports brought me to tears. I always find it remarkable when books are able to make a powerful impact in a format that requires few words. How do you negotiate the balance between delivering the message that you want and still keeping inside the bounds of a picture book?
Thank you so much! I'm not sure I deserve such high praise. Yes, there were multiple revisions, but really at the beginning I just try to get the story out. I don't try to rhyme. It just happens. I do try to keep the words to a minimum, partly because as a parent I remember (True confession.) story time during my child's bedtime when I was so sleepy myself, if a book was too text-heavy, I'd turn several pages at once and summarize them. (Sincere apologies to those authors...) As for your kind words about Babies Come From Airports, I will be thrilled beyond words if readers have the same laugh-out-loud / tears-of-joy reactions.
Find Erin Dealey online at erindealey.com.
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