Spotlight on Meghan McCarthy

Meghan McCarthy is the award-winning author and illustrator of many books for children, including Earmuffs for Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs; Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton; Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum; City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male; Seabiscuit the Wonder Horse; All That Trash; and Action! A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Q: You’ve written a lot of nonfiction books like Seabiscuit the Wonder Horse, All That Trash, and now Action!. How do you find and decide which stories to highlight?

I naturally gravitate toward the more unique stories—the ones that haven’t been told and retold in picture book form countless times. Nonfiction is so popular right now that my task is becoming increasingly difficult. Every odd and quirky idea I come up with seems to have been done already. I don’t have one method of finding a new book topic. My ideas have come from old news articles, books, history shows, YouTube, my dad’s long historical-facts-ramblings, or a question I’d like answered. I lucked out with Action!. It’s so obvious to write a book about how film came to be but I think it’s such a daunting task that no one dared tackle it. Believe me, I had many regrets during the early stages because the process of what to include and what not was quite difficult. I really didn’t know if I could pull it off but I’m glad I stuck with it.

Q: What was your inspiration for writing Action!? Why did you feel it was important to share the history of Hollywood’s evolution?

Movies are universal. There’s a genre for every kind of taste so it’s one of those things that we all enjoy but probably don’t know much about how they came to be…including myself. I learn just as much as the reader does when I make a book and that’s part of the fun. So, I’d say it was my curiosity that started this book.

Q: What do you think the biggest theme is in the new book, and what do you hope readers take from the story?

Almost nothing we use or enjoy today came to us in its current form. Inventions are usually an evolution—one person tweaking this and another tweaking that. So that’s the obvious takeaway. What’s most important for me to convey, however, is that we have a history. Those people who made things that we use today aren’t just some “old dead people.” They were unique, ambitious, and shouldn’t be forgotten. Buster Keaton will always be one of my favorites. Just watch some clips of him doing stunts. They are amazing. What’s interesting about Keaton is that he was a small guy with a really deep voice. No one heard this unique voice during his heyday because his films were silent! Just like many of those actors, it’s fun to hear him speak. He’s an entertaining character who lived a full life.

Q: You are great at communicating complex ideas easily to readers. How do you know what to include about complex topics in a picture book in a way that’s understandable for young readers?

I don’t think any of my books would work without the art. Because I am also the book’s illustrator, I have an advantage that writers may not have. If I’m having trouble explaining something simply via text, then I can use the art to help convey what I’m trying to say. I had no idea how to explain what a Kinetoscope was or how it worked, so for the Kinetoscope page I included an illustration of the inside, with its inner workings on full display. Why did I do this? Because it’s not really important to know how the Kinetoscope works, just as long as the reader knows what it does and that it was innovative for its time. I then made a page of film stills from some of Edison’s films, to illustrate what people saw when they looked through the device.

For spreads such as the “roll dance,” or the clock scenes, I wanted as little words as possible. You don’t need them when the pictures explain it all. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Q: In addition to writing your own books, you also illustrate them as well. Do you have any tips for budding artists about finding their style?

I love getting asked art questions and I rarely get them! The art in Action! is definitely causing me to get some art questions thrown my way and I love it. My tip for young artists is to look at lots of different art styles, done in different historical periods, and copy them all. It’s also very important to be a good drafts person. Before artists develop a style, they should be able to draw accurately. Many will be surprised to learn that Picasso’s early work is realistic. Reproducing something realistically takes a unique skill that can be frustrating to develop. One must draw what one sees, not what one thinks he or she sees. That’s a difficult hurdle to get over when starting out but it’s a necessary one.

My other tip is to not be afraid to erase and start over. I use acrylic because they fit my way of working, which is to make a lot of mistakes and repaint over and over again until I get it right. Other people enjoy watercolors, which requires no mistakes and to plan out everything ahead of time (true watercolorists don’t use the color white—they leave parts of the paper blank to show the white values). I know I don’t like working that way. So, one must find his/her go-to material at the same time a style is developing.

Lastly, I don’t think artists should develop a true “style” until they’re adults. My first stab at a unique style was while I was a sophomore or junior in college. And even when I did have a cartoon style nailed down, I continued trying other styles—one of them being realism. Once artists do get an art style, they will still most likely evolve. I actually cringe when I look at my first published book, which I created in my early 20s. My art has most definitely evolved into hopefully something more sophisticated.