The Pink Hat
An Interview with children’s book author and illustrator Andrew Joyner
MARCHROOTS spoke with children’s book author Andrew Joyner about his new children’s book, The Pink Hat. It captures the joyful optimism of the Women’s March for young readers (ages 4–8), and celebrates the defiant, radical color that is pink.
Can you tell us a little bit about your latest children’s book, The Pink Hat?
Inspired by the Women’s March, we follow the journey of a pink hat as it goes from the knitting bag of an older woman onto the head of a young girl marching for women’s rights and equality. But it takes a very roundabout route to get there, traveling via a teapot, some chilly feet, a cat, a tree, a baby and a dog. The book is very light and playful, because I want children to easily connect with the story. And then, hopefully, it can help a child feel a connection with the Women’s March, and the feminism that lies behind it. The Women’s March made me feel so hopeful and optimistic, at a time when things had seemed the exact opposite. I hope I captured some of that joyful optimism in The Pink Hat, and that through the illustrations and story a child can sense the March and feminism as something welcoming and nurturing, even if they are too young to fully understand it.
As a big fan of illustration in general and old children’s books specifically, your illustration style feels very classic to me. Are you inspired by some of the illustrators and/or children’s books from the ’50s and ’60s (or other eras)?
Definitely! I was born in 1969, so my childhood library was filled with books from the ’60s and ’70s, and quite a few from the ’50s too. I sometimes wonder if, through my illustrations, I’m trying to replicate the happy contentment I felt as a child when reading these books. One of my favorite artists is Margaret Bloy Graham — illustrator of Harry the Dirty Dog among others — and I think her influence shows in the art for The Pink Hat. Perhaps it’s how that dog found its way into the story!
The way pink pops throughout the pages that are otherwise black and white and gray is really fun. Was this your approach from the beginning?
Yes it was. My very first sketches for this book were all black and white with spots of pink. It just seemed like the logical approach. I knew that the color pink would carry a lot of the story — from the spots dotting the pages at the beginning to the sea of pink crowding the end — so I didn’t want anything else to overwhelm that.
I like pink, but it’s a very loaded color, especially when it comes to children’s books. One of the many things I loved about the Women’s March, and especially the pussyhats, was how it took the simple cliché of “pink is for girls” and transformed it into something defiant, radical and empowering.
You’ve mentioned that the book was inspired by a talk with your son — and that you initially were going to have a boy as the main character. Did you start illustrating using a boy as the main character or what changed your mind?
A month or two after the Women’s March, my 14-year-old son Will was talking to me about the role models presented to boys at school and in the media. His complaint was that they are so often traditionally masculine, or at least obviously masculine — sports stars and so on. That sparked an idea. Maybe I could do a picture book about a boy who finds a sense of power and identity by connecting with something nominally feminine. I just wasn’t sure what that “feminine” thing could be. And then it popped into my head — a pussyhat, perfect! So my first idea for The Pink Hat was to follow the adventures of a boy who finds a pussyhat which has been lost after the march. Somehow — although I never worked this bit out — this hat would help the boy find his identity and individuality. But I only did a few drawings before I realized that a girl clearly needed to be at the center of the story and that the climax of the book should be the March itself. In retrospect, this seems obvious, but I’m a very slow thinker when I draw. Once I drew that girl in her hat, holding a placard, I felt like I really had something that could become a book.
What do you think the role of boys and men are when it comes to women-led activism?
Basically, following their lead! That can mean many things, but I think it comes down to support and empathy and engagement — and recognizing that the rights of women are not secondary to the lives of men and boys but central to them. Sometimes that may mean simply staying quiet and listening. So if I was going to suggest something specific that men can do, I would say become an audience for women — read their books, watch their movies, listen to their speeches, hear their stories. And vote for them too!
This is such a light and joyful book, were you worried about balancing the often serious nature of activism with a children’s book?
I didn’t really worry about it while I was making the book — I tend to save my worrying until the book is finished and it’s much too late to do anything about it. Still, I did like the idea of taking an unexpected approach to the March. Also, while activism is certainly serious — and the impetus for the March was a host of awfulness — I think if anything shows that you can be light and playful and funny while still making a powerful and eloquent statement, it would be the Women’s March. I tried to reflect that playful spirit in the story and art of The Pink Hat. Plus it just felt natural to see the Women’s March as joyful. That sense of joy helped me draw the Women’s March as a welcoming space for all children, and thus the happy conclusion to the travels of a pink hat.
You can buy a copy of The Pink Hat here.
Kimberly Harrington is a copywriter and creative director, a contributor to The New Yorker and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and author of AMATEUR HOUR: MOTHERHOOD IN ESSAYS AND SWEAR WORDS out May 1st from Harper Perennial. She is a part of the resistance because come ON.
MARCHROOTS is a project of MARCH ON. We’re working at the national, state, and local levels to harness the power of those who marched on January 21, 2017 and take that passion straight to the polls in 2018 and beyond. We’re not afraid to resist, question everything, reach across the aisle, show up for what we believe in, and laugh to keep from utterly losing it.
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