Two Little Scientists Interview Ada Twist, Scientist Author Andrea Beaty

What started as a strong liking for design after reading Iggy Peck, Architect, led to a deep affection for analyzing structures after Rosie Revere, Engineer, and now has blown up to a full love for math and reason after completing Ada Twist, Scientist, Beaty’s latest picture book that tells the heartwarming and hilarious story of a young, curious girl who doesn’t speak for years until she finally asks, “Why?”—a question she, of course, can’t stop asking.
So you can imagine my daughter’s off-the-wall excitement when I told her that she and her four-year-old brother, Cooper, would get an opportunity to interview Andrea Beaty. There was jumping, there was screaming and there were even questions like, “Do you think she’d want to come over for a play date?” (Don’t worry, Ms. Beaty, I told her you were busy writing. No grown adult needs to be subjected to Barbies.)
But there was no greater joy than to hear the answers to all their very inquisitive and slightly off-kilter questions. So many thanks to Ms. Beaty for your time, and especially your books that bring not only my children, but all children, happiness, hope, and the desire to be anything they set their minds to.
Here are her very awesome answers to their hard-hitting questions…
Addison: Ada Twist doesn’t speak until she is three then she can’t stop asking why. Did you talk a lot as a child? What were you like as a kid?  

I don’t remember what I was like when I was three but I suspect I talked all the time. I know that I was very curious as an older kid and I still am. I ask lots and lots of questions and read lots of books, too. I always want to know what other people do and where they come from and how things work. I think that’s a good thing. I always like meeting other curious people because they have great adventures and interesting stories to tell and I always learn something.
Cooper: Do you have a cat? Have you ever put him in the dryer like Ada tried?
I do not have a cat now, but when I was a kid, we had a cat that looked just like Iggy Peck’s cat. It had two different colored eyes and was white. Our cat, Snowball, was also deaf, was missing a toe and the tip of his tail, and he liked to bite people. He was a great cat. But I never tried to put him in the dryer. That would be a terrible thing to do. Ada found that out and got in big trouble for thinking about it. However, I did give the cat a haircut one time and clipped his whiskers. That was a terrible thing to do and I got in lots of trouble too. I still regret doing that. It’s best to just pet cats when they want to be petted and give them good cat food the rest of the time. Don’t you agree?
By the way, If you look very carefully in the illustrations of Ada Twist, Scientist, you can find Iggy Peck’s cat hiding!  See if you can find him.
Addison: Does Ada live in Egypt? My favorite picture was where she was experimenting in the park and there’s a sphinx in the background. Have you ever been to Egypt? 
I also love that picture. But Ada does not live in Egypt. How can that be since Sphinx is in Egypt? Here’s the answer. Ada Twist is neighbors with Iggy Peck and Rosie Revere. In the book, Iggy Peck, Architect, Iggy builds a gigantic Sphinx in his back yard! Rosie Revere invents a helio-cheese copter which flies over the Sphinx in the picture you love. David Roberts put all kinds of secret details and clues in these books so kids can have fun finding them! He even stuck a few connections to Rosie and Iggy in our other book, Happy Birthday, Madam Chapeau! In fact, David and I are in that book and I am wearing Rosie Revere’s cheese hat!
Cooper: Did you ever invent anything? If you could invent something, what would it be? I’d invent a toothbrush that would come down from the ceiling and brush your teeth for you so you don’t have to hold it up.
I like that invention and it has inspired me. Maybe I could invent a toothpaste dispenser that put toothpaste on your brush before it came down from the ceiling. That would save you some time. Those inventions might be very useful on the International Space Station. What do you think?

I like inventing things. When I was a kid, my sister and I used our tricycles to invent a spinning wheel. (We turned the trike upside down and moved the pedals with our hands.)  Once, we invented a palm tree made from metal pipes, fabric, and rolls of toilet paper. It was really cool. I think it is an exciting time to be an inventor. I am very excited about many amazing new inventions that are helping people around the world have better access to clean water and energy and medicine. I think kids who learn about science and engineering can make a big, BIG difference in the world!
Addison: We would get in so much trouble for writing on the walls! What did you get in trouble for as a kid? 
I would also have gotten into BIG  trouble for writing on the walls. I think I was a well-behaved kid most of the time, but I got into trouble sometimes, too. One time, I drew thought bubbles with funny comments  all over my dad’s magazines and newspapers. I thought they were hilarious. He didn’t. 🙁
Cooper: Why do you like science so much? I like it because we blow stuff up during experiments. Like when we put rubber bands on a watermelon to see how many it took because the watermelon blew up and splattered everywhere.
I love science because it’s like taking an adventure! I find enormous beauty in science and lots of surprises.  There are beautiful patterns to find in nature and crazy wild creatures that look like they are from space. And sometimes things get really messy and I think that’s fun.  I have never done that experiment with a watermelon, but I’m going to now!
Doing science is like making art. It takes creativity and curiosity and it’s always surprising. I love scientists because they are in love with questions. I believe that the smartest people are always the ones with the questions. They are also the most fun.
Addison: You had a grown up job as a computer person, where did you get the idea to write books? And do you know how to fix broken computers?
I do know how to fix some broken computers. Is yours broken? I now write books because I was curious what that would be like and so I tried it! I wrote one book and I really liked it and then I wrote another one and I liked that even more. The more I wrote, the more I enjoyed it and the better I got at it. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I still do, but that is just part of learning how to be better at it. That’s true for everything. One of my favorite things about scientists is that they know that failing is part of learning. And sometimes, it leads to surprising new discoveries!
Cooper: I really like the rhyming in the book. Is that hard to do? What if you can’t come up with a rhyme?
Thank you! I like writing in rhyme because it reminds me of singing songs. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is very hard. When I get stuck—which happens a lot—I change my sentence around so that I say the same thing but with a different word at the end. That usually helps.
For example, if I wrote: The cat was quite fat and orange.
I don’t know what I would do next. Not much rhymes with orange. But, if I turned it around, I could make a rhyme:
The cat was orange and quite fat and I loved her just like that.
That worked!!! Another secret that I use is changing a word that is hard to rhyme. Instead of Cat, I could try a different animal and get a new rhyme. That can lead to surprises.
Addison: Do you read other picture books? What are your favorites?
YES! I love picture books and I read lots of them. I have many, many favorites, but I will list a few that are about science and could help you learn more about science or to think like a scientist.

Ada’s Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World’s First Computer Programmer, by Fiona Robinson
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein, by Jennifer Berne
The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires
The Boy Who Loved Math, by Deborah Heiligman
Infinity and Me, by Kate Hosford
Oh, there are too many to list them all. These are just a few of my favorites!
Cooper: Back to that cat, does it have a name?
I do not know! I think that David Roberts who drew the illustration might know the cat’s name, but I don’t. I love its question mark tail. What would you name it?
Thank you both for your wonderful questions. Keep being curious!
And thank you to Ms. Beaty. For the record, Cooper said he would name the cat “Mommy”—I’m not sure how to take that one.
Come find the cat yourself! Ada Twist, Scientist is out now!