Welcome to #TheQuickSixInterview with Jennifer Bain and Scott Stuart!
What an honour to welcome two impressive creators to share their new picture book title – author Jennifer Bain and author-illustrator Scott Stuart are here to discuss their insightful journey into creating Don’t Fall For The Trick. Both creators, like many of us, have seen first-hand how society’s pressures to follow patriarchal gender norms can affect and impact our children’s views on themselves and others. Scott Stuart has been a beacon of light and empowerment for many parents and children alike across his social media platforms and through his books on gender diversity. The collaboration here, of author and illustrator, couldn’t be more perfect; both advocates for gender equality, and both blending words and illustrations with bright colour, fun, inclusivity, care, and love. This simple, playful guide is structured in a way that provides varied examples of biases, which are often unconsciously made, to open our eyes and spark valuable discussions around rejecting stereotypical views. ‘Girls wear pink’, ‘Big boys don’t cry’, ‘Women are no good at fixing things’, ‘Men are no good in the kitchen‘ are just a few ‘tricks’ we don’t need to fall for. Groundbreaking, affirming and charming (but not in a beguiling sort of way!).
Thanks for the privilege, Jennifer and Scott! 🙂
About the Author
Jennifer Bain has been writing stories since she was very small. She has always wanted to write picture books to help children feel comfortable in the world, but she got distracted by becoming an accountant, a mum, and then a primary school teacher.
She now lives on the Central Coast NSW and finally has the time to follow her dream of creating positive stories to help children navigate the world.
Find Jennifer Bain’s profile at Affirm Press.
About the Illustrator
Scott Stuart is a bestselling children’s book creator who is committed to making content that empowers kids. His books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, as well as being shortlisted for ABIA and CBCA awards. His empowering messages around acceptance and diversity have been seen over 100 million times on his highly-engaged social media communities.
Scott lives in Melbourne with his wife and son and loves to write stories that empower kids.
Find Scott Stuart at his website: About Scott – Scott Stuart and on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
Don’t Fall For the Trick is available for purchase through Affirm Press.
WHO wrote, illustrated and published this book?
Written by Jennifer Bain, illustrated by Scott Stuart, published by Affirm Press.
WHAT is it about?
JB: It’s a simple introduction to the concept of the patriarchy, recognising gender stereotypes, and identifying ways to stand up to these. It describes common examples of gender stereotyping that children would encounter in their daily lives.
What is your favourite part of this book?
JB: My favourite part is when Ava tells Pa about The Trick, after he declares that men are no good in the kitchen. Pa then bakes cookies and he looks so surprised and proud, and then he goes on to tell Gran about the Trick. He learned from his granddaughter and starts passing on the message.
SS: There is a page where a teacher is holding up a pink sock and asking all the girls whose sock it is – such a simple assumption that it must belong to a girl – but in the background we see some boys playing, and one of them is wearing only 1 pink sock. I love that part of the book because it so clearly demonstrates really simple biases and stereotypes that we hold (it was also my favourite page to illustrate).
What media did you use to illustrate it?
SS: The illustrations were initially sketched out with pencil in a sketchbook, and then I moved to my drawing tablet to draw directly into the computer. I really wanted to bring in a lot of texture into this book, so most bits of colour that you see in the book is made up of lots of layered textures.
WHEN is its release / launch date?
25th February 2025.
WHERE did the inspiration for this book come from?
JB: For years now I’ve wanted to write a book describing the effects of the patriarchy in a way that children would understand. When I heard about someone’s young daughter pronounce patriarchy as a “trick”, I thought that was a brilliant way to explain it to young children, as something that can trick them into acting a certain way, instead of being free to be themselves.
WHY is this book meaningful to you?
JB: I tried to raise my children to be comfortable being completely themselves, to play with whatever toys they wanted, dress however they wanted, and express themselves however they wanted. And while we instilled these values at home, when the kids started school I noticed that they very quickly picked up on society’s views of gender norms.
SS: As a Dad who is raising a son who breaks gender stereotypes, it’s really important to me to have books like this exist – we need to show kids that they can like the things they like, regardless of their gender. It’s also especially meaningful because it manages to give really simple language to the entire concept of stereotypes – it’s all a “trick!”
Why would its message resonate with readers?
JB: I tried to choose examples of incidents that most children would have personal experiences with, so that they could relate and realise that these expectations were a “trick” and that they didn’t have to conform. Using the simple language of “That’s a Trick,” will give children an easy way to call out what they see and remember that they don’t have to fall for the trick.
HOW long did it take to write?
JB: The first draft took a couple of months but it was much too long, as I had tried to include too many different aspects of gender stereotyping. After Affirm Press showed interest in the manuscript it took almost another 12 months trying out different perspectives and rewrites until we felt the book was conveying the message clearly, and in a way that was fun to read.
How long did it take to illustrate?
SS: I tend not to track how long a book takes to illustrate, but this book had many, many sketches over a few months – trying to convey the themes on each page was a real challenge! Then, once I had the sketches and roughs getting the message across in a simple and effective way, the final illustrations came together quite quickly.
How do you feel about the text / illustrations? Do they convey the feeling or mood you envisioned?
JB: I absolutely love what Scott has done with the illustrations. I’m a huge fan of Scott’s work so I was thrilled when he agreed to work on the book. He really brought the characters to life and added so many wonderful details to the examples spelled out by the text.
SS: The illustrations really do convey what I envisioned – I wanted this book to be a really inclusive, diverse and colourful celebration of breaking gender stereotypes and I think we managed to achieve that. I also got to hide a little character who appears on every page – see if you can spot them!
OTHER information or experiences you’d like to share?
JB: I see this as a book parents, caregivers and teachers will read to children, and then follow up with many conversations. It’s a great starting point to introduce the negative effects of the patriarchy on both girls and boys, and I like to imagine daily dinner time conversations resulting from it: “What examples of the trick did you see out in the world today?” And I would love if children recognise the ideas in the book and start pointing out unconscious biases that their parents may have. My adult children still love to do this to me today!
Please share your some of your favourite promotional ideas for this book.
JB: Scott and I have done a few interviews together about the book, we have appeared on the Reading with a Chance of Tacos podcast which was a lot of fun, and we will be out and about in bookshops promoting the book.
Thanks so much and congratulations on such an important and thought-provoking book, Jennifer and Scott! 🙂
#thequicksixinterview #dontfallforthetrick #genderstereotypes #inclusiveness #picturebook #justkidslit
