:00:00. > :00:08.author MG Leonard about her book Beetle Boy.
:00:09. > :00:14.When a boy 's father disappears he has to try to find him. The
:00:15. > :00:21.youngster sets out to solve the mystery and to bring him back with
:00:22. > :00:28.the help of unexpected insect helpers led by a beetle the size of
:00:29. > :00:31.a hamster. In Beetle Boy, he discovers a world of adventure.
:00:32. > :00:56.It's more exciting and dangerous than anything he's already imagined.
:00:57. > :01:04.It is a story in classic mould a disappearance, a mystery, and
:01:05. > :01:11.unexpected friend in time of need. In this case a beetle who doesn't
:01:12. > :01:17.speak. What do you think it is that grips us in stories of this kind? I
:01:18. > :01:24.think there's something in all of us that wants to identify with strong
:01:25. > :01:28.characters that are guided by positive and moral principles. It's
:01:29. > :01:33.the question of doing the right thing, being brave, being valiant,
:01:34. > :01:36.struggling with your fears that I think so fascinating. We do it as
:01:37. > :01:41.adults but we often disguise the fact we do it. I think stories like
:01:42. > :01:47.who have a child confronting those decisions for the first time are
:01:48. > :01:53.universal. Like all stories there is a moral, he wants to find out what
:01:54. > :02:00.happened to his dad, it is a dark mystery. He confronts an evil woman
:02:01. > :02:06.who at the end of the book escapes. He also discovers that the beetle
:02:07. > :02:11.the size of a hamster which comes along and helps him with an army of
:02:12. > :02:15.other Beatles, turns out to be a better friend than almost anyone he
:02:16. > :02:21.has ever known. He has a couple of friends who will help them but the
:02:22. > :02:26.beetle is better than most of us. I think quite often our closest
:02:27. > :02:31.companions can be an animal. It is rare they are an insect but I became
:02:32. > :02:36.fascinated with Japanese culture. Like we would have a pet hamster or
:02:37. > :02:42.guinea pig, in Japan they actually have pet beetles which was a novel
:02:43. > :02:45.thing to discover. There's something very alien about insects because
:02:46. > :02:51.their skeletons are on the outside which means you can't read their
:02:52. > :02:59.breath. It's harder to empathise with a creature that has an
:03:00. > :03:03.exoskeleton. I saw the challenge of replicating the kind of love you can
:03:04. > :03:07.have for a mammal. The beetle turned out to be a great friend and
:03:08. > :03:12.companion in the hour of danger. It all works out OK with the one
:03:13. > :03:19.exception I mention. You obviously made a decision that the Beatles
:03:20. > :03:23.shouldn't speak, why? I did experiment with speech in the
:03:24. > :03:30.beginning but it seemed rather cute. This isn't acute story. It didn't
:03:31. > :03:37.work. I work at the National Theatre and we have had a very successful
:03:38. > :03:40.production of War horse. It is a beautiful and moving production. At
:03:41. > :03:47.the heart of that show is a horse and a boy who have this relationship
:03:48. > :03:51.and there's no speech. They communicate through gesture which
:03:52. > :03:55.gave me the idea. It struck me that the whole thing could have been a
:03:56. > :04:00.dream. If you said at the end he thought about this and woke up, his
:04:01. > :04:04.father was safe and it was OK. There's a interesting point there,
:04:05. > :04:12.which is that for children crossing that line, to a beetle that comes
:04:13. > :04:16.along and joins in the hunt, there's nothing strange about that. If it
:04:17. > :04:23.wants to help that's fine. Then he sees the pile of beetles and he says
:04:24. > :04:28.it was the most alien and beautiful thing he had ever seen. Just because
:04:29. > :04:35.it's alien doesn't mean it isn't beautiful or friendly. Yes, and I
:04:36. > :04:39.think I should say, I'm not a scientist or an entomologist. When I
:04:40. > :04:43.started writing the book I had an acute fear of insects. I think when
:04:44. > :04:48.you are really terrified of something, when you're really
:04:49. > :04:52.genuinely frightened, you observe it acutely. You're not saying this as a
:04:53. > :05:00.psychological exercise to get over your fear? That wasn't the aim. It
:05:01. > :05:04.was a by-product. Now I'm not frightened of insects but I would
:05:05. > :05:10.love gardening but I'd put on Wellington boots and gloves in case
:05:11. > :05:14.one got on me. Then I realised it was my ignorance that had led to
:05:15. > :05:17.that fear and through doing the research for this book and learning
:05:18. > :05:24.a lot about them, that fear melted away. We shouldn't make it sound as
:05:25. > :05:29.if you've written a moral treat is. You've written an old-fashioned kids
:05:30. > :05:32.adventure story. We've talked about how elemental these stories are and
:05:33. > :05:38.how attractive they are. I know you've got two children of your own.
:05:39. > :05:45.I wonder how you feel about the way that book shops particularly now try
:05:46. > :05:49.to fit books two age groups. You've got a shelf for eight-year-olds and
:05:50. > :05:54.a shelf for ten-year-olds. I think a lot of authors find that a bit
:05:55. > :05:57.silly. What do you think? It's not something that occurs to you when
:05:58. > :06:02.you start writing a book, that there is a limited age. It is for
:06:03. > :06:07.everyone. It's written in my narrative voice. The protagonists
:06:08. > :06:11.are children but it never occurred to me until I ventured into the
:06:12. > :06:16.world of publishing that it was going to be recommended to a
:06:17. > :06:23.specific age group. When it was and it was 8-14, I was quite surprised.
:06:24. > :06:30.For me some of it is quite dark. It is also quite limited. I mentioned
:06:31. > :06:34.the ending where things turn all right for Darkus the boy but the
:06:35. > :06:39.nasty person disappears. It is very difficult to read this book, and
:06:40. > :06:46.this is a compliment, without thinking that you must have been
:06:47. > :06:48.influenced by Roald Dahl. The grease and the grotesque. The evil
:06:49. > :06:56.character in a sense could have stepped out of the Witches. Quite a
:06:57. > :07:01.lot of the secondary felons could have come out of Roald Dahl. I read
:07:02. > :07:06.him a lot when I was young and I was struck by how brutal he could be
:07:07. > :07:11.about how nasty adults are capable of being. I think he was honest. You
:07:12. > :07:17.have a ten-year-old and a younger child, did you read test this? I
:07:18. > :07:21.have a ten-year-old who doesn't love to read. You read this book two
:07:22. > :07:27.weeks ago and I had to bribe him with time on the computer. What was
:07:28. > :07:32.his reaction? He was surprised, he was gripped by the story. At the end
:07:33. > :07:37.he said, actually that's quite good. It's the first book he's read that
:07:38. > :07:41.isn't highly illustrated. He reads a lot of Tom Gates and things with
:07:42. > :07:47.pictures. This is the first book read without and I was impressed he
:07:48. > :08:00.got to the end. Talking about your first book, MG Leonard, thank you.
:08:01. > :08:08.Good evening. The Easter break upon us the weather has turn to an
:08:09. > :08:10.non-settled team. Things turning wet and windy for many of us during the
:08:11. > :08:12.day on