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Interview with Mem Fox, author of Hunwick's Egg |
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| Mem Fox is the author of many acclaimed books, including Where Is the Green Sheep?, The Magic Hat, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia. |
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Synopsis |
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When a mysterious egg appears outside Hunwick's burrow after a terrible storm, no one knows what to do with it. And when it doesn't hatch right away, everyone
is even more bewildered. Everyone, that is, but Hunwick. For Hunwick understands the egg. It is his friend. And he is the only one who knows its secret.
From the author and illustrator of the modern classic Koala Lou, here is a moving tale of loneliness, friendship, and most of all, the power the imagination has to change the way we see the world. |
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Interview |
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Q: In Hunwick's Egg, Hunwick befriends an egg, spending his time talking to it and taking care of it. While he and his neighbors patiently wait for it to hatch, Hunwick realizes that the egg is in fact a stone. But he loves it just the same. What can children learn from Hunwick's relationship with the egg?
A: Nothing. The beauty of this story is that children will take from it, uniquely, whatever they need regarding the relationships that are—or are not—working
in their own lives.
Q: On your Web site, www.MemFox.net, you tell the stories behind your books. What's the story behind Hunwick's Egg?
A: I was asked to write an Easter book for the Australian market, but as usual in the writing of any story, where I start is totally different from where I end up. I used
to work with a man called John Hunwick, who was dedicated to saving the bilby, so that’s how I chose the name.
Q: Hunwick is a rabbit-eared bandicoot, or a bilby, a creature that lives in the Australian desert and is on the endangered species list. How do you choose which animals to use for your stories?
A: They have to be emotionally right for the story. This story could not have been about a pig or an elephant, for instance. It had to have a very sensitive, adorable little creature as its main character.
Q: Hunwick's Egg is your second collaboration with illustrator Pamela Lofts, your first being Koala Lou (Harcourt, 1989). In your opinion, why do you two work together so well?
A: Her genius matches mine! (Joke!) Who knows?
Q: You've been a published author since 1983, and since then, you've been named the 2003 Australian of the Year for South Australia and you were a finalist for the 2004 Australian of the Year. Your picture book Time for Bed (Harcourt, 1993) has sold more than a million copies in the United States, and it was on Oprah's Kid's Reading List for 2000. Possum Magic (Harcourt, 1990)—first published in 1983 by another publisher—has sold more than two million copies, it won the Best Children's Book in the 1984 N.S.W. Premier's Literary Awards, and it's the bestselling picture book in Australian history. What moment best defines your writing career?
A: The huge nationwide twenty-first birthday celebrations for Possum Magic when it "came of age" last year (2004) were the most amazing and heartwarming literary affirmation I have ever had.
Q: For Harcourt you've written about twenty books, including the adult titles Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever (Harcourt, 2001) and Radical Reflections: Passionate Opinions on Teaching, Learning, and Living (Harcourt, 1993). If you had just one thing to say about the importance of reading to young children, what would it be?
A: Parents who read aloud to their children are giving them a colossal investment in happiness and a huge educational advantage that will last them for a lifetime.
Q: You say that teaching is your first love and writing is your second. You taught literacy studies for twenty-four years at Flinders University in Adelaide—your current residence in Australia—and now you're an international literacy consultant. With such a busy schedule, why do you continue to write children's books?
A: I happen to be able to write children's books that children love, which is a talent not given to many writers, so I feel it's my duty, really, a biblical duty even, to write the books I write, even though I detest the actual writing of them! It's the hardest job in the world.
Q: What's the most common question your fans ask you?
A: Where do you get your ideas from?
Q: Can you let your Harcourt readers know what picture books you have simmering?
A: Keep an eye out for [the Harcourt titles] Fairy, Fairy, Quite Contrary and A Particular Cow, coming to good bookshops near you in the next year or two.
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