I recently had a chance to interview author John Eaton about his series, Spid the Spider. The series is written for early elementary to provide exciting books that also have some humor and a moral lesson.
Why did you originally create this series?
Late last summer, I was thinking about visiting my sone and family in Dubai. His daughter Evaleigh was going to be six months old, and I( wanted to get her something that she could remember me with, as we would be a fleeting moment in her life at that time.
In 1977, I started painting a picture with a spider and a shell horn.
In 2019, I wrote a poem/.story about what I saw in the picture.
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SPID THE SPIDER
Spid the spider,
consummate food provider,
is waiting today,,
to catch his prey.
I cannot lie,
he desires a fly,
caught up in his web,
until it is dead.
Sad for the fly,
though no one can deny,
it's a delicious meal,
eaten by Spid with overzealous zeal.
Spid's hideaway is a horn,
the place he was born,
The horn of from the snout of a unicorn.
where he lives alone all forlorn.
Whilst waiting for his meal,
Spid has a swirl on a spinning wheel,
with a circular coil he reels,
spiralling around, like a drug crazed Griffin,
intermittently dreaming of his mid-morning tiffin.
Having no friends,
Spid's day never ends,
until he catches his delectable insect
which he doesn't need a knife and fork to dissect.
After his meal,
he is full to the feel,
his stomach is blown and distended.
Spid lies on his back,
with his head in the sack,
whilst contemplating his next meal-time snack.
So I already had a character, and a name ‘Spid the Spider’. Therefore, I thought I would write a children’s book for her, something I had never done before. I said to my wife, ‘remember August 16th ’2019, as that was the day I started writing about Spid. Six weeks later, I had written six books and Spid became part of my life.
When you started, did you intend to publish multiple volumes?
No I simply wanted to write a simple book for a six month old baby, but it took on a life of it’s own, now 18 books, a web-site, Facebook page and 24 songs about Spid’s adventures. https://spidthespider.com/
How do you come up with ideas for new books?
Some books were just chance ideas, some came from film ideas, like ‘EasySpider’ (EasyRider), some were topical such as the environment and the magic money tree books and some like
Spid the Spider Is going to the Moon and meets the Moonster, Mr Cheezy Feet and Spid the Spider is going back to School were requests from a Spid fan who was eight, and probably many more ideas will come from children themselves.
What is your favorite thing about writing children's books?
Its about starting with an idea, maybe inventing characters like Herman, who was not in my thoughts when I started writing and not knowing how it is going to end until I am at that point. I do not have a plan when I write, just an idea.It seems to work.
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