24/03/2016 Meet the Author

author MG Leonard about her book Beetle Boy.

When a boy 's father disappears he has to try to find him. The

youngster sets out to solve the mystery and to bring him back with

the help of unexpected insect helpers led by a beetle the size of

a hamster. In Beetle Boy, he discovers a world of adventure.

It's more exciting and dangerous than anything he's already imagined.

It is a story in classic mould a disappearance, a mystery, and

unexpected friend in time of need. In this case a beetle who doesn't

speak. What do you think it is that grips us in stories of this kind? I

think there's something in all of us that wants to identify with strong

characters that are guided by positive and moral principles. It's

the question of doing the right thing, being brave, being valiant,

struggling with your fears that I think so fascinating. We do it as

adults but we often disguise the fact we do it. I think stories like

who have a child confronting those decisions for the first time are

universal. Like all stories there is a moral, he wants to find out what

happened to his dad, it is a dark mystery. He confronts an evil woman

who at the end of the book escapes. He also discovers that the beetle

the size of a hamster which comes along and helps him with an army of

other Beatles, turns out to be a better friend than almost anyone he

has ever known. He has a couple of friends who will help them but the

beetle is better than most of us. I think quite often our closest

companions can be an animal. It is rare they are an insect but I became

fascinated with Japanese culture. Like we would have a pet hamster or

guinea pig, in Japan they actually have pet beetles which was a novel

thing to discover. There's something very alien about insects because

their skeletons are on the outside which means you can't read their

breath. It's harder to empathise with a creature that has an

exoskeleton. I saw the challenge of replicating the kind of love you can

have for a mammal. The beetle turned out to be a great friend and

companion in the hour of danger. It all works out OK with the one

exception I mention. You obviously made a decision that the Beatles

shouldn't speak, why? I did experiment with speech in the

beginning but it seemed rather cute. This isn't acute story. It didn't

work. I work at the National Theatre and we have had a very successful

production of War horse. It is a beautiful and moving production. At

the heart of that show is a horse and a boy who have this relationship

and there's no speech. They communicate through gesture which

gave me the idea. It struck me that the whole thing could have been a

dream. If you said at the end he thought about this and woke up, his

father was safe and it was OK. There's a interesting point there,

which is that for children crossing that line, to a beetle that comes

along and joins in the hunt, there's nothing strange about that. If it

wants to help that's fine. Then he sees the pile of beetles and he says

it was the most alien and beautiful thing he had ever seen. Just because

it's alien doesn't mean it isn't beautiful or friendly. Yes, and I

think I should say, I'm not a scientist or an entomologist. When I

started writing the book I had an acute fear of insects. I think when

you are really terrified of something, when you're really

genuinely frightened, you observe it acutely. You're not saying this as a

psychological exercise to get over your fear? That wasn't the aim. It

was a by-product. Now I'm not frightened of insects but I would

love gardening but I'd put on Wellington boots and gloves in case

one got on me. Then I realised it was my ignorance that had led to

that fear and through doing the research for this book and learning

a lot about them, that fear melted away. We shouldn't make it sound as

if you've written a moral treat is. You've written an old-fashioned kids

adventure story. We've talked about how elemental these stories are and

how attractive they are. I know you've got two children of your own.

I wonder how you feel about the way that book shops particularly now try

to fit books two age groups. You've got a shelf for eight-year-olds and

a shelf for ten-year-olds. I think a lot of authors find that a bit

silly. What do you think? It's not something that occurs to you when

you start writing a book, that there is a limited age. It is for

everyone. It's written in my narrative voice. The protagonists

are children but it never occurred to me until I ventured into the

world of publishing that it was going to be recommended to a

specific age group. When it was and it was 8-14, I was quite surprised.

For me some of it is quite dark. It is also quite limited. I mentioned

the ending where things turn all right for Darkus the boy but the

nasty person disappears. It is very difficult to read this book, and

this is a compliment, without thinking that you must have been

influenced by Roald Dahl. The grease and the grotesque. The evil

character in a sense could have stepped out of the Witches. Quite a

lot of the secondary felons could have come out of Roald Dahl. I read

him a lot when I was young and I was struck by how brutal he could be

about how nasty adults are capable of being. I think he was honest. You

have a ten-year-old and a younger child, did you read test this? I

have a ten-year-old who doesn't love to read. You read this book two

weeks ago and I had to bribe him with time on the computer. What was

his reaction? He was surprised, he was gripped by the story. At the end

he said, actually that's quite good. It's the first book he's read that

isn't highly illustrated. He reads a lot of Tom Gates and things with

pictures. This is the first book read without and I was impressed he

got to the end. Talking about your first book, MG Leonard, thank you.

Good evening. The Easter break upon us the weather has turn to an

non-settled team. Things turning wet and windy for many of us during the

day on