Interview with Jarrett Dapier, Author of “Mr. Watson's Chickens”

What was the inspiration behind Mr. Watson’s Chickens?

Mr. Watson’s Chickens was born when I dreamed one night that I read it aloud to a class of 1st graders. In the dream, I read aloud the part of the book in which Mr. Watson and Mr. Nelson lose all his chickens (in the dream, he lost them in a busy city, not at a fair; also, Mr. Nelson didn’t have a name in the dream – he was a man there with Mr. Watson, but I had to discover who he was later). In the dream, as in the final book, the people that find the chickens bellow, “WHOSE CHICKENS ARE THESE?” and Mr. Watson responded, “That’ll be me!” And, then there was the refrain, which remains in the book, too: “Said Mr. Watson with a 1-2-3!” In the dream, the children enjoyed the book and I loved reading it to them. And then the dream was cut short. I startled awake as though someone had shaken me by the shoulders. It was about 3am and I thought to myself, “I really liked that book!” So, I stood up in the dark and wrote down all that I could remember of the story. I stood there at my dresser in the dark scribbling on a random scrap of paper and my wife woke up and asked, “Are you OK?” I said, “I’m great, I just had a dream about chickens.” I remain a little just…stunned at how it felt as though someone had shook me awake as though to say, “Get up and write this down.”

Out of those notes grew Mr. Watson’s Chickens. Eventually, I told a version of the story to my son on one of our walks to school when he was in 1st grade. At the end of that walk, he said, “Can you get me that book out of the library while I’m at school?” I said, “No, because it doesn’t exist. I have to write it first.” As he walked into school, he turned around and said, “go home and write right now!” I followed his advice.

The manuscript took me about three months to write, but Mr. Watson and Mr. Nelson’s love for one another presented itself very early in the process.

What do you hope readers take away from Mr. Watson’s Chickens (besides joy)?

Laughter. Definitely laughter. But also I hope that kids with LGBTQ parents, family, friends, and neighbors see them reflected a little bit in Mr. Watson and Mr. Nelson because LGBTQ folks and their stories are just as valid and important as anyone's. I hope that those kids who might not know yet that they have LGBTQ parents, friends, family, classmates or neighbors see in the book that a same sex couple is as regular and normal a thing as keeping chickens.

I also hope that caregivers and kids talk about how loving relationships take work to sustain, that compromises, listening to one another, and respecting boundaries are incredibly important to healthy relationships. Mr. Watson loves his chickens and at first Mr. Nelson does, too, but when they become too much for him to bear, Mr. Watson realizes that he has to change - and Mr. Nelson tells him he will help him. That's a very important lesson to me.

You are a drummer in addition to a writer. How does your experience in music impact your writing?

I've been drumming since I was 9 years old and I hear rhythm in everything I do. How the words flow and sound are central to how I write - I want the picture books to be first and foremost fun to read aloud and finding the different rhythms and beats to the stories are key to making that happen (for me). I'm starting to think that music, songs, and rhythm are going to either be themes or determine how I style everything I write for children. That's fine with me. To me, music is one of the main reasons to be alive.

You have a YA graphic novel coming out in 2023. How would you describe the process of writing for older children as compared to writing for younger children?

I'm a teen librarian and have worked with teens in libraries since 2009, so I have spent a lot of time with teens of all backgrounds and experiences for a long time. I've also mentored teens in Chicago theater where I used to work as a drummer and director. I also remember my own teen years like they were yesterday - the mundane moments, conversations, heartaches, joys - they're all there. I'm naturally empathic and curious about teens and their experiences of the world and I can hear teen voices very quickly when I sit down to write for them. Writing the graphic novel was very freeing because I think it gave me a chance to express complex thoughts and ambiguous feelings and create characters and write in intense voices I've been thinking about for years and years that I just could not explore when writing for young children.