Interview with Erica S. Perl, Author of “A Whale of a Tea Party”

You’ve written many books - picture books, early readers/chapter books, and novels. How did you start writing - did you start with one age range first and then branch out into the others, or did the ideas come to you regardless of the type of book?

I usually start with the idea, and then as I work on it I figure out how to best tell the story. This can take a circuitous path – one of my middle grade novels, When Life Gives You O.J., began as a picture book, and I have a short chapter book series (the Arnold and Louise books) that I tried to write several different ways before arriving at the right format.

What do you like best about writing for each age range? What do you find most challenging about writing for each age range?

I like thinking about my readers and pushing myself to figure out what they’ll find funniest and most interesting. This is both the best and the hardest part of my job as a writer, regardless of the intended age range for any particular book or project.

You speak and present to schools. What do you enjoy most about presenting and working with young children?

I love spending time with kids, and I love how they always surprise me. When I visit schools, I often share stories that I think I know well (because I wrote them), and the students always end up teaching and showing me new things. In fact, if I share books that haven’t been published yet, I usually go home afterwards and do one more edit based on their feedback!

What was the inspiration for A Whale of a Tea Party? How did you come up with the idea?

I wanted to write an origin story for Whale, Quail, and Snail’s friendship. And when my own kids were little, they loved to throw tea parties with stuffed animals and dolls as party guests. So, I liked the idea of starting with just poor Whale, entertaining a bunch of inanimate rocks and wishing for a real friend. And then Quail and Snail entered the story in ways that showed their personalities to the fullest… while also showing Whale the benefits of expanding her social circle in a generous and inclusive way.

Snail’s pronouns are an accepted part of the story - Snail’s gender and pronouns just are rather than being a focus of the story. Why did you choose to write it this way?

When I initially wrote A Whale of a Tea Party, I used she/her pronouns for all three characters. But while I was revising, I thought “wait a second… aren’t snails intersex?” And once I did a little research, I reached out to my editor and explained why we needed to give Snail they/them pronouns. And Sam Ailey, the illustrator, then added the lovely detail of Snail’s card, which includes their pronouns. Another reason I did this is because I’ve known several young children who have sought to use pronouns that differ from their assigned gender. And I liked the idea of introducing a non-binary character to very young readers, because I think casual representation matters. I’ve been very happy to hear from families who say they feel seen because of the Whale, Quail, Snail books. And I am very honored by the series’ inclusion on this year’s PLP list!