Mighty Media Kids will have their Meet The Author series this week, and I had the good fortune to pick the brain of children’s book author Paul Czajak. He has so far written five books for children including Seaver The Weaver, and the Monster & Me⢠Series, with more forthcoming.
You are best known for your monster books, and now youâve chosen to work with spiders. Is humanizing typically âscaryâ characters important to you?
No not really, I didn’t go into writing these stories in an attempt to humanize “scary” things. The idea for Monster came from something my daughter said, “My Monster Needs a Haircut”. I thought it was a great line and the whole idea for the story wrote itself. As for Seaver the Weaver my original goal was to infuse geometry into the story. But as the story grew it became much more then just a spider making geometrical shapes.
Can you speak a little bit about âmonstrous words?â
I love big interesting words! Especially if I can incorporate them into the rhyme, it makes the story so much more interesting. I think kids are much smarter then we give them credit for, so introducing more complicated words at a young age gets their minds working. People have to remember, picture books are read alouds and not necessarily meant to be read by the child. So if a book has a word in it they can’t understand, the book has the benefit of the illustration to help define the word, which gives them the chance to figure it out for themselves something a chapter book can’t do.
STEM books for kids have risen in popularity, which is great. What inspired you to integrate geometric shapes into the Seaver the Weaver narrative?
I’m a science geek and I wanted to incorporate something sciencey (is that a word?) into one of my stories. Seaver the Weaver is by no means non-fiction but a little geometry adds another level to the book.
What do you think that younger children, infants and toddlers specifically, will take away from Seaver the Weaver?
I hope they take away that thinking a bit differently and being true to yourself is a good thing. Though I’m sure an infant will only take away that the cover is smooth and doesn’t taste very good.
Who do you write for? Who is your intended audience?
Specifically, Tom Brady. I know it’s a narrow market but he’s a really good quarter back. Though he hasn’t gotten back to me yet if he’s read them.
Kidding!
I think first and second grade is the prime target. But honestly it’s for anyone who likes the book!
Honestly Tom, what do you think?
The Brothers Hilts have done a beautiful job with Seaver. After youâve written the book, what is it like to see your story illustrated?
It’s incredible! I love seeing someone else’s interpretation to my story. It’s scary and exhilarating all at the same time. It’s an outside of the box style of art for an outside of the box thinking spider.
Anything else we should know about you and your work?
Yes there are several hidden “Easter Eggs” through out every Monster&Me story that Wendy Grieb, the illustrator, has hidden. I didn’t know she actually did it until someone mentioned a particular image in one of the books that looked like something from a popular English science fiction T.V. show. Personally I think it’s awesome, especially since I asked her to put one in as a nod to my favorite band, They Might Be Giants, in Monster Needs His Sleep. I’m not going to tell you what any of them are so it’s up to you and the readers to find them!
More About Paul Czajak:
Czajak got an F on his first college writing paper and after that never thought he’d become a writer. But after spending 20 years as a chemist, he knew his creativity could no longer be contained. He resides in Tinton Falls with his wife and two daughters. He is glad he re-discovered his passion for writing and looks forward to sharing stories for years to come.
For More information about Czajak’s titles, visit Mighty Media Press
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