What if you're a ninja who craves attention? You're not unskilled--you can catch an arrow in flight and vanish and the like--but you're mad for acclaim and praise. That's the predicament found in Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to Be Noticed, the debut book of Julie Phillipps, a West Hartford, CT, artist and mom. In addition to that instantly relatable story, Wink features engaging illustrations that mix collage with Japanese-style backgrounds and posters.
Phillipps made an appearance at my 5-yr-old's kindergarten last week, and was kind enough to answer a few questions afterward:
__GD: How did you come up with the idea of a "ninja who wants to be noticed"? __
JCP: Several years ago, my husband, Mike, and I were taking our son trick-o-treating. Our neighbor, who was about 7 years old was out front in his ninja costume, clearly visible. The boy was trying to go unseen, however, so Mike and I decided to ignore him and let him feel confident about his stealth skills. Eventually the boy got bored and started jumping up and down, waving his arms. Mike said, “Look, it's the ninja who wants to be noticed.” And I thought that was hilarious. So I basically stole the idea from my husband.
__GD: This book manages to have a main character who doesn't fit in, and ultimately can't pursue the career he wants, and yet who is pretty enthusiastic all the way through. That seems like a tricky balancing act. __
JCP: I wanted the story to be fun and have a lot of energy so that had to come from Wink. He can certainly get frustrated with situations, but he's basically a happy kid and he's always eager to do his best and try again.
He's a lot like my son, Cameron.
Last summer, when Cam was five, he had popped a bunch of markers together and called it his ninja staff. He was bouncing all over the yard with it. Some kids came over and Cam showed them his creation.
“It's a ninja stick,” he said.
“No it's not. It's a bunch of markers,” the other kids said.
But Cam didn't care. He just kept playing with it and eventually the other kids put some markers together and started playing ninja with him. I saw how my son didn't let the negativity in. He was confident in what he was doing and that radiated out. And I thought, that's awesome.
I wanted to make Wink awesome.
GD: You have a boy -- were you looking about for a story that would appeal to boys (ninjas!) without pandering too directly?
JCP: I can't really write with that line of thinking. The story idea always comes first. There's never an objective - well – I should say there's rarely an objective like “creating literature for boys.”
Ideas pop into my head and they simmer and cook there. Some die off and others grow. And when I think I might actually have a good story – be it with a boy or a girl character – then I write it. I think I may naturally write “boy” stories because I am surrounded by males. My house is filled with Legos, Star Wars, and Pokemon. There aren't a lot of fairy wings or unicorns around here.
__GD: Your background is more in the visual arts--what parts of Wink were most interesting to you? __
JCP: Illustrating was definitely easier than writing. Writing, to me, is like exercise. It's hard to get motivated but you feel so good after an hour of work. Illustration is like dance. It's fun and free and beautiful.
I loved working on Master Zutsu's kimonos. I need to write a book called One Hundred Kimonos so I can make paper kimonos all day long.
And I loved working on the little posters that cover the stone walls. I made ones for Sumo wresting, Kabuki theater, and a noodle shop. They were so much fun!
__GD: Are the Japanese-style paintings in the book something kids can try? Can you recommend a craft-y version that works well? __
JCP: I love Japanese brush painting. It's so simple and elegant!
I recently taught Kindergartners how to do lovely cherry blossom branches with painting brushes and straws. The key is having a dark, fluid ink/paint to use. We used a watered down tempera paint in the classroom but the consistency had to be just right. Too thick and you can't blow the branches out with a straw. Too loose and the color is diluted and nothing sticks to the paper.
Here's what you do: cut a long rectangle on white paper. Let the child paint a line with the black. Have them angle their straws to “blow” branches from the thick line. The branches will be nice and thin, and have a natural line to them.
Then you dot pink paint at the tips of the branches.
The finishing touch for the Kindergartners was choosing a red seal to stamp on their artwork. I brought three with me. One was a tiger, one was the character for 'good luck,' and one was the character for 'joy.' The tiger was very popular.
__GD: What are you currently working on? __
JCP: It's not under contract, but I just completed a follow-up to Wink. It's about what happens now that he gets noticed everywhere he goes. Fingers crossed on that one.
I'm also working on a Young Adult novel (also not under contract.) It's nice to be able to tell a different kind of story and let some of my dark humor out. But editing a 6oo word document is a heck of a lot different from editing a 65,000 word document. Keeping details consistent is a challenge!
Julie Phillipps's blog is The Ninja Woman; she also has a website about her art. Previous GeekDad ninja content: The MythBusters take on ninja myths, and how to make a Naruto headband.
