We’re excited to continue our new Q&A author series this week with one of our very favorites, Shannon Hale! We know you love her too. Her Princess in Black series have delighted our daughters (and sons, TBH) for years, so we’re thrilled to chat with her about her newest book coming out just in time for Halloween and to ask her about a few of her favorite things as well.
For more than ten years, we’ve been reading Shannon’s books to our kids and writing about them here at Cool Mom Picks. We love, love, love the way she merges the girly-princessy side of young girls with the action-adventure-seeking-heroine side in her Princess in Black Series. And, of course, her teacher-favorite Friends series is great for teens. But she’s also written one of my own favorite books ever, Austenland. This gal can do everything!
Buy Princess in Black and the Trick or Treating Trouble
Shannon’s newest book with LeUyen Pham is The Princess in Black and the Trick or Treating Trouble, so we chatted with her about where her inspiration for this series came from.
Shannon tells us, “The Princess in Black was inspired by my then-four-year-old Maggie. She was pointing to different colors on her skirt and said, ‘Mama, pink is a girl color and purple is a girl color but not black.’ I had no idea where she got this idea from, so I said, ‘Of course girls can wear black too.’ Then she said, ‘But princesses don’t wear black.’ She had noticed that in shows, she’d never seen a princess in black. Since she associated being a princess with being a girl, if there was something a princess couldn’t do then meant she couldn’t do it either. So with my husband, Dean, we decided to write about a princess who does wear black…and does so many other things too. This series has been such a delight for me personally. I’m so honored how many kids count a book in this series as the first chapter book they’d ever read. This twelfth book is about Halloween, and LeUyen Pham once again delivered on funny and whimsical illustrations.”
If you haven’t already treated your kids or grandkids to these stories, stop what you’re doing and grab a copy right now. They are so delightful.
So we had a chance to ask Shannon a few questions about her favorite things, and we’re delighted to share her answers with you!
CMP: What book have you given as a gift more than once, and why?
Shannon: I’ve gifted Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection many times. She is a researcher and so gives us the why behind her wisdom, but she’s also just such a beautiful human that you can’t help but feel total compassion from her as you read. I also highly recommend listening to her lecture series. Hearing it all in her own voice feels like having real talk with a close friend.
CMP: What place do you most want to visit again?
SHANNON: Just about every place I’ve ever been, I’ve thought, I could live here. I tend to be very quickly enchanted with people and places. Recently I visited Bainbridge Island for the first time—in the middle of a hail storm no less, and I was very tempted to immediately start looking at real estate. I visited Eagle Harbor Books , an adorable indie bookstore, and ate wonderful food. I love the Puget Sound and the old growth trees. The peace of the pine trees is palpable.
CMP: What is something that has brought your family closer together lately?
SHANNON: We have started to do PowerPoint parties at our house. Everyone makes a presentation on any topic they want and then we have a party where everyone presents. It is so fun to hear what my kids are thinking about. There are no rules. You can teach others about something you’re passionate about, or explore something you wanted to know more about, or just make it silly. Recent titles my kids have done: "Every Mainline Mario Game,” “Guessing What Music Artists Different Doctor Who and Star Trek Creatures Would Listen to (based purely off vibes),” and "Inedible Things That I Kind of Want to Eat (but they get progressively worse)."
CMP: What is something totally ordinary that has brought you a lot of joy lately?
SHANNON: Fresh tomatoes from my garden. Right now my plants are all heavy with bright red fruit, and it is such a luxury to cut one up and eat it with salt and pepper that I do it every lunch and dinner. I’m also up to my eyeballs in cucumber and zucchini, but they taste like the kinds I could buy in the grocery store, while there is no substitute for homegrown tomatoes.
CMP: Time for the Favorites Speed Round!
SHANNON: Okay but I don’t have favorites of anything. It’s one reason I write for every age group in just about every genre. I don’t like to have to choose!
Favorite drink: I was recently in New Zealand, and when you order a chai latte , they ask, “sweet or spicy?” What a marvelous question! I chose spicy.
Favorite writing tool: I love having a manual typewriter . There is a visceral joy in typing a note and watching each letter appear on the paper one by one.
Favorite children's book: This is a cruel question for a children’s book author with many children’s book writer friends! I think Sandra Boynton absolutely nails toddler humor in Blue Hat, Green Hat . The picture book I probably read the most to my kids was Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are . My oldest is named Max.
We want to thank Shannon so much for her time, and readers, if you haven’t already ordered the new The Princess in Black and the Trick-or-Treating Trouble for your kids this Halloween, do it now!
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