When BookTrib created its Author Spotlight feature, the hope was to ask authors probing questions that would take us deeper into their personality, their work and the thinking behind it.
Sometimes they prompt stories that could themselves be a book. That’s what we found when we asked questions of Janice Dixon, author of the delightful children’s book Adam Names the Insects, in which Adam— along with his partner in crime Eve — questions why insects have the names they do and suggests some potentially more appropriate monikers.
We asked Dixon the source of her idea for the book. What we got was an answer that took us back 30 years, and which indeed provided plenty of insights into the author. We could have edited down her response, but we think you’ll agree — it was more fun to just let her talk.
A DATE FOR THE BOOKS
“On my first date with Willard Dixion, we drove to Provo Canyon, UT, to Heber to attend a wedding reception of one of his friends. As we drove up the winding road, Willard recited the phylum of insects. It took the entire 45-minute drive. After the reception, we left following a different route and ended up in Salt Lake City, where we went to a black and white, subtitled French foreign movie and then to a Chinese restaurant. On our way home, a snowstorm hit and we drove slowly and carefully until we were almost back to where I lived.”
“As we reached the crest of the hill, we encountered a car accident. The police stopped us and asked if we would turn our car around and act as a beacon to prevent other accidents, which we did. Then the car that had been in the accident exploded and started to burn.”
“As we waited in the dark car, our headlights on, Willard kissed me, a nice satisfying kiss. At that point, the police knocked on our window and told us we could go on and thanked us for our help.”
“I thought then, ‘If I marry Willard, my children would be good-looking, intelligent and compassionate.’ We married six months later, but never had a date that matched our first one.”
A WORLD OF MISNOMERS
“Thirty years later I sat on my front porch, and a butterfly landed on my arm. It fluttered about, landing on my hair, my leg, my lap. ‘You have the wrong name,’ I told it. ‘You should have been named Flutter By. Who named you, anyway?’ That was when I had the idea for the story. I called it Adam Names the Insects because it was only logical that Adam would be the one to name everything.”
“After contemplating the butterfly, I wondered if Adam had misnamed other insects. As I explored the ideas, I invited Eve into the book to act as secretary. When she took over, advised, suggested and teased Adam, I added the second part of the title, “With a little help from Eve.”
“As I wrote, using all the senses such as sound, sight, touch, smell and taste, I asked myself, ‘What would Willard say?’ And remembering our first date and Willard’s phylum recitation, I knew exactly what to write.”
Sometimes, an author injects something into a story and doesn’t even know she’s done it.
Dixon continues, “I didn’t realize then that I was becoming Eve, a character in my own story. My beautiful and intelligent children pointed out to me what had happened. What a surprise for me! I was reliving my own marriage.”
THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT
When we asked the author heady questions about how she used humor as a device to encourage curiosity and learning in children, she didn’t quite know what to say.
“Being Eve, there is no way I can analyze, dissect and discuss my book. It is impossible for me to analyze humor, especially my own. When it comes, it comes. I don’t usually see it coming, and I certainly can’t force it.”
As for the main theme of the book, she encourages children to play along and join in. “When the book was published, I sent a copy to my sister Joyce, who phoned me with the ultimate compliment: ‘I’ve written another insect into your book.’”
“And this is what I want for anyone who reads it, child or adult. I want them to have so much fun with my story that they want to be part of it too. Maybe find another insect to name, or at least look at the insects, study them or think about their phylum. We are all Adams or Eves, creative or analytical, maybe a bit of both. That’s the fun of life.”
Learn more about Adam Names the Insects in our review of the book.
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Janice_Dixon-300×300.jpg
About Janice Dixon:
