Pop!: The Invention of Bubble GumBy Meghan McCarthy

BOOK OF THE MONTHAPRIL 2016

40 million pieces of bubble gum are sold daily.American kids spend about half a billion dollars each year on gum.

While people have been chewing different kinds of gum for centuries, how was the pink bubble gum that we know invented?

Read this book to find out.

Pop!The Invention of Bubble Gum

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW A BOOK COMES TOGETHER FOR YOU?

The first thing I do is a lot of research. Then I write a rough draft. I’ll polish that enough to submit it. Once it’s accepted, I start doing rewrites, and once it gets to a certain point where the text is acceptable, I do the sketches and then the art. All the while I am still doing research. I’m always trying to find as much as possible about my subject. Doing the art also requires a lot of research to make sure that I paint my characters and items accurately. When I start doing the art, I also pare down the text. That's the advantage to being an illustrator, because I can change the text and still keep working on the art. It may drive the designer crazy, but it’s important because it makes the book better.

YOUR NONFICTION BOOKS COVER A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR TOPICS?

There are a lot of ways that I choose my subjects, but most often they choose me. I’ll stumble upon something interesting on the Internet, or I’ll watch an interesting program on public television. That’s usually the way things happen. Sometimes, though, I deliberately look for subject matter, and one search will lead to another and to another. That’s how I arrived at the idea to write Strong Man, about Charles Atlas. I was doing a search about circuses, which led to information about sideshows, and that’s how I found Atlas. He was in a sideshow when he was young.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUNG READERS TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS? WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH AS A WRITER?

I want kids to get excited about history, science, and the world around them. There are so many interesting things to learn. It’s all in how it’s taught.

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY

Meghan McCarthy

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY

Meghan McCarthy

MEGHAN MCCARTHY IS VISITING CHURCH STREET SCHOOL ON THURSDAY, APRIL 28!

QUOTES AND PICTURES FROM THESE SOURCES:http://www.booklistonline.com/Books-and-Authors-Talking-with-Meghan-McCarthy-Monika-Schroder/pid=4915378

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/65162-q-a-with-meghan-mccarthy.html

http://authorof.blogspot.com/2013/09/meghan-mccarthys-daredevil-spotlights.html

http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/