Q&A with Felicita Sala, Author of January/February Kids’ Indie Next List Top Pick “Bored”

Bookselling This Week: This is an excellent reminder of the importance of boredom, especially in a world that is so busy that it’s harder for kids (or anyone) to feel truly bored. What prompted you to create this book?

Felicita Sala: The first half of the book was written on impulse as a reaction to a feeling of boredom and frustration I was experiencing while working on something else that I didn’t want to be working on. I thought, “How boooooring!” and then the image of a little girl popped into my head, draped across some furniture, almost melting. I opened a file and started writing, “Rita was so bored that…” and explored all these physical manifestations of boredom: yawning, stretching, attention-seeking, stomping, the body getting wobbly.

It was an antidote to my own boredom — looking to see how far I could push the character and how funny she could be while being bored. It wasn’t planned as a book, but immediately I realized it could become one, because of how relatable that feeling is.

I think kids feel less bored these days, but boredom is still there, just different from how it was for my generation. It’s no longer about long stretches of time with nothing to do, but is connected with the feeling of emptiness some kids feel when the TV or tablet or phone gets turned off or taken away, that’s often when you’ll hear them say: I’m bored. I thought it would be great for kids to look boredom in the face through Rita, and not fear it. 

BTW: I’d love to hear a little about the process for illustrating this book. Rita’s facial expressions and postures are absolutely amazing — silly but perfectly capturing that feeling of complete boredom.

FS: It was so much fun to create Rita.

I tried many different sketches of her before finding just the right way to show her: the big hair, the void in the eyes, the little body that can stretch and become malleable. I would often giggle while drawing her. There was a lot of experimenting there, especially with color and expression and postures, and finding the freedom of playing with the character in a way I haven’t done in previous books. But the character was basically born to physically express boredom.

Once the character was created, the rest of the book was formed around her: the people waiting for the bus drooping and melting came as a result of her having already broken that physical barrier. And then why not have them yawn themselves to become balloons? Anything was possible at that point. 

BTW: You’ve been illustrating books (and writing your own!) for about ten years now. What’s your favorite thing you’ve learned along the way?

FS: Well, to pick up from the last point, it’s that anything is possible.

I never thought I could make art for a living, and then I thought there was no way I could write my own stories. There always comes a moment, and it comes more than once, where an illustrator or author (or any creator for that matter) thinks that everything’s already been done, that their ideas are banal, that there’s no point in trying. But I am constantly discovering new and old picture books that surprise me. And sometimes I will have an idea that surprises me, that I didn’t think I could have.

So, the best thing I’ve learnt is that there is no limit to human imagination and that we must be open to being surprised, just like children are open to that just by virtue of their being children. 

BTW: Can you share anything that you’ll be working on next?

FS: I’m working on multiple projects — a story about a sandwich by Adam Rubin, a longer story about a worm and a carcass I’ve been working on for the last 3 years, and a new story involving Rita, which delves into another familiar emotion. But that’s all I’ll say, to keep some suspense.

BTW: Could you talk a little bit about the role of books and indie bookstores in your life?

FS: What a great question. I love talking about books! Indie bookstores, particularly children’s bookstores, have played a fundamental role in my becoming an illustrator (and also libraries).

When I was starting out, I spent a long time looking at, reading, and buying picture books in order to study the form, but also to familiarize myself with certain publishers and how they chose their stories. What worked and didn’t work? Who were the publishers I could possibly contact and work with that had an affinity with what I was doing?

Bookstores are a great way to study the picture book form, the market, and current trends. Libraries and second-hand stores are great to form a historical knowledge of picture books. Novels have [also] been a great resource for me.

In the last 10 years, as we have all become addicted to living online, reading has become a necessity, a cure for the fragmentation that I experience by spending too much time on my phone. There is much to be said about great literature and the way it informs our being human, our capacity for empathy and moral development, and many other skills and abilities. But I do not read for these reasons, they are secondary.

I read for pleasure, because it is wonderful. And I am a firm believer in children reading for pleasure, not duty or edification. That’s why it’s so important that books are made from an honest place, that they are not trying to trick children in some way (like vegetables badly hidden in meatballs that don’t taste any good).