Interview with Kaz Windness, Author of “Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends”

Worm and Caterpillar is a wonderful story in and of itself, and it is also allegorical; it seems to parallel the ideas of coming out of the closet, being true to oneself, and of accepting and including friends who may be “different” in some way. Can you tell us why you chose to create it as an allegory?

I wrote “Worm and Caterpillar are Friends” as a love letter to resilient friendships. Going through big changes as you grow and discover who you are is part of life. Having people who accept and love you exactly for who you really are, no matter what, even through uncomfortable and difficult times, that’s a gift. A gift I want everyone to have.

When Caterpillar has to tell Worm they are not who Worm thinks they are, Caterpillar worries that their truth will end the friendship. And at first, it is difficult for Worm to accept Butterfly. The story acknowledges changes are hard on both sides of a relationship, and reminds us to give each other grace.

And, yes. It can be read as a “coming out” story. I’ve come out of a high-control religion. I’ve come out as autistic. I’ve come out as queer. I’ve experienced prejudice, judgment, misunderstandings, and exclusion every time I’ve come out, and lost close relationships every time, too. But what I gained was me. My truth. And eventually, the kind of friendships that hold up through hard life change stuff. I’ve learned to give love more unconditionally, too.

One of the things we love most about Worm and Caterpillar is, simply put, that it’s fun! The illustrations are so expressive and that helps bring joy as we read. Did you have fun creating it? What was a particularly joyful moment for you as you wrote, illustrated, and published the book?

If you can’t laugh at your own jokes, how will anyone else find them funny? Worm grossing out Caterpillar by assuming they eat dirt is probably my favorite page for laughs. A graphic novel is comics, so incorporating jokes and visual gags comes naturally to the format. The humor tempers the more emotional parts of the story. And yes, it’s so fun to write! Using a comics art style was really fun, too.

The most joyful moment to date was receiving the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. It’s a huge honor and means lots of kids will get to read the book, too.

Writing early reader books can be a challenge, in that children at this stage of reading often have comprehension skills that are stronger than their reading skills. How did you find the balance between the two?

Because the graphic novel format is so much about reading the pictures, it does a good job of supporting reading comprehension with visual cues. A speech bubble naturally constrains how much space there is for type, too. Worm and Caterpillar showed up speaking in a simple and immediate voice right from the start.

I honestly didn’t know it was an early reader until my “Bitsy Bat, School Star” picture book editor, Catherine Laudone, sent it along to Siobhan Ciminera at Simon Spotlight. Siobhan, along with my Simon Spotlight editor and art director, Lisa Rao and Laura Roode, respectively, asked me to expand the book from 32 to 64-pages, adding in more artwork and including some backmatter about the worm and butterfly lifecycle as well as a drawing activity. Editing the text to fit the level 1 early reader criteria mostly involved removing contractions. It was already an early reader; Catherine was right.

I love books like the “Elephant and Piggie” series and “Frog and Toad,” and had those in mind as I wrote “Worm and Caterpillar are Friends,” so it’s really no surprise that their voices fell into the early reader category.

You are often in schools, talking with educators and children. What do you enjoy most about these interactions?

The kids! Oh my gosh, they make my heart sing. Writing and illustrating is largely a solitary activity, and a single book can take two to three years to go from acquired manuscript to publication, so having the opportunity to finally connect the “what” to the “why”—that is immensely rewarding. Inspiring kids to tell their own stories, helping them feel seen, letting them know that there are real people that care about them behind the words and pictures in a book? It’s massive. I’m also a big hugger, and so are a lot of the kids I meet. (My two teen children are a bit less affectionate these days.) When I’m offered a hug, it’s such an honor. Kid hugs are THE BEST!

And on the topic of “real people,” I am strongly against Ai being used in the writing and illustrating of children’s books. Kids deserve books made by real people who care about them. People who have been kids themselves and remember what that is like. Kids deserve our best and most original works, not regurgitated garbage made from unethically sourced intellectual property. No AI.

You have written and illustrated many books! Do you tend to write first and then illustrate, create illustrations first and then add writing, or some combination of the two? Do you always follow the same process or does it depend on the book?

Ideas are never my problem. I’ve written and illustrated a lot more things than show up on my publication list, for sure!

A book idea almost always starts with a drawing in my sketchbook. Usually, it’s a one-panel gag, which was true for “Worm and Caterpillar are Friends.” I drew a worm and caterpillar in love, with the worm saying “You’re perfect. Never change!” and the caterpillar saying “Grow with me!” It was clear that the relationship was in for a bumpy ride, and it made me ask what might happen to a friendship in this circumstance.

I’m always doodling as I write, especially if I get stuck. Drawing helps my brain consider things in new ways and solve story problems. I go back and forth between sketching and writing, yes. Usually, it takes months to hammer out the first draft of a story, but “Worm and Caterpillar are Friends” materialized in a few days. The characters showed up fully formed and had something to say, so I did my job and wrote it down.

Thank you so much for the opportunity and for the awesome interview questions! Your readers can find me at WindnessBooks.com or on their favorite social media sites found here: https://linktr.ee/KazWindness