Mitten Discovers His Shadow follows a curious kitten on his first adventure out of the barn, who discovers his own shadow and thinks it is a monster. Did the story begin with the science concept or with Mitten as a character?

The concept for Mitten Discovers His Shadow came first, and the character showed up right after. I was driving home from work one evening and noticed my car’s shadow keeping pace beside me. I thought, what an interesting thing to explain to a child. At the time, my son was two years old, and we had cats at home. So, I had my audience and my main character living in the same house. Telling the story from a kitten’s point of view gave me the right eye level—down where the shadow is enormous, and the world hasn’t been explained yet.

Why was it important for Mitten to move from fear to curiosity rather than simply be told there was nothing to worry about?

Being told there’s nothing to worry about almost never works—for children or adults. We often fear what we can’t explain, or don’t understand, and reassurance doesn’t explain anything. Mitten’s mother doesn’t solve his “monster kitten” problem for him; she gives him a way to think about it. She calls his shadow his “sun picture,” and then he has to test that answer for himself. Cats are curious and like to investigate, so Mitten’s reactions to his shadow are natural responses. I wanted the relief at the end of the story to be something Mitten earned rather than something he was handed

Young children often become frightened by things adults consider ordinary. Why was it important to treat Mitten’s fear seriously rather than laugh at it?

A fear that gets laughed at doesn’t go away; it just gets buried deep down. When that happens, a child learns not to mention the next one to avoid being made fun of again. To young children, a dark shape that copies your every move and doesn’t leave when you try to get away from it is a perfectly reasonable thing to be afraid of. If the story had treated Mitten’s fear as silly, the comfort at the end wouldn’t have been worth anything. I wanted children to see that being scared of something is an okay place to start—it’s just not where you have to stop.

Do you imagine Mitten having more barnyard adventures?

Yes, absolutely! Mitten Discovers Snow is in development now, with Mitten Discovers Rain to follow. The pattern I’m building on is one small mystery per book—something ordinary that’s brand new to a young child—and a barnyard full of animals that have their own opinions about it. Mitten has a lot left to discover, and I don’t think he’s going to leave any of it alone.

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