Creator Corner: Author and Illustrator Bambi Edlund
Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent books. For this post, we interviewed Squirrel-ish author and illustrator Bambi Edlund, whose book published September 15, 2024!
Owlkids Books: Bambi, what was the inspiration for writing this book?
Bambi Edlund: The idea for the book came to me many years ago, when I saw a rat stuck inside a shopping mall. It was near the doors, where people were lined up at a Starbucks, and when they saw the rat scurrying around they started screaming and running out of the way. Not me though! I herded it along and kept opening doors until it was able to escape. Everyone was laughing afterwards about how much they had panicked, and I realized that if it had been a squirrel, I think most people would have been much more likely to feel sorry for it and help it get out safely. It struck me as so unfair to the poor little rat that if it had a fluffy tail, people would have thought it was cute!
OKB: What was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life? What was the most challenging part of the process?
BE: The most enjoyable part was coming up with clever solutions to the problem. I wanted the character of Rat to be a creative problem solver, and figuring out the ways Rat would attempt to become more squirrel-ish was so much fun. The most challenging part was making sure Rat didn’t seem jaded, or angry at the squirrels themselves. I didn’t want there to be a major conflict between the two species, but I liked the grass-is-always-greener aspect of each species believing that the other has it easy compared to them.
OKB: Which spread did you most enjoy illustrating?
BE: I loved drawing Rat after putting the paper clips on his ears, he looks so proud! It always makes me chuckle. And I had so much fun making the Rat and Squirrel diagrams.
OKB: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
BE: I hope they will learn that many of life’s problems can be solved with a good stash of craft supplies!
OKB: What’s a fun fact people may not know about you?
BE: That I am a champion rat-wrangler! I had a cat named Millie who insisted on catching rats and bringing them into the house, but not actually hurting them. I bought a live trap and the two of us (the cat and I) became experts at herding the rats into it. The rats would always end up hiding under a piece of furniture, so I would put the trap against the wall on one side, and Millie knew to wait on the other side while I pulled the chair or sofa out, then she would chase the rat into the live trap and I would walk it a few blocks down to a ravine and set it free (with a stern warning to not come back to our yard or they would have to go through the whole rigamarole again!).
