Amy Novesky not only has a fondness for honeybees, by was also inspired by Sylvia Plath and wrote "The Poet and the Bees."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
Honeybees. I keep bees and harvest honey. It is hard and heartbreaking work at times. Bees are amazing creatures, rich in metaphor. I am afraid of them. I am allergic to them. I am stung often. And I love them. I spend hours watching them. I’ve learned how to suit up. How to be calm within a swarm. And so while my book, "The Poet and the Bees," is inspired by Sylvia Plath, it’s also a story about life, the stings and the sweetness.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
Reading with love.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Books allow each of us to see and be seen. To see oneself in a book, to be seen, is essential to one’s humanity. As a brand-new middle school Language Arts teacher, I recently witnessed this firsthand: a soft-spoken student who has suffered more than his share of traumas and identity crises in his short life sharing in awe, “this character is like me.” As a book editor, author, and teacher of books for and about young people, it is my responsibility, my joy and privilege to witness the power of representation in books and to champion it as best I can.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
"The Poet and the Bees" is about poet Sylvia Plath and the seasons she kept bees and wrote poems about them. I wanted to write this story because, despite being a writer, one of the only things I knew about Sylvia Plath was how her life ended. And of course, she is so much more than her legendary death. I want young readers to know that. Sylvia felt things deeply. She didn’t shy away from the tough stuff. She had a sharp sense of humor. And those qualities show in her poems, many of which are honest and intense. This depth of feeling is also what allowed her to experience the world and to write about it.
What can fans expect from your book?
In keeping with my previous picture books about Frida Kahlo, Imogen Cunningham, Georgia O’Keeffe, Billie Holiday, Louise Bourgeois, Mary Blair, and Anne France Dautheville, to name a few, "The Poet and the Bees" is a poetic and compelling story about another extraordinary artist told in the style of her powerful poetry. It is illustrated by the incomparable Jessica Love ("Julian is a Mermaid") whose work evokes joy, humor, beauty, and humanity.
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I have a picture book called "To Wander" forthcoming from Viking Children’s Books, who published my book, "Girl on a Motorcycle," illustrated by Julie Morstad. Both books feature themes of travel. I wrote this story during the pandemic when, of course, none of us were able to travel. The book is an ode to travel of all kinds, mostly and especially, in one’s imagination, where we each are free to travel, and it’s a metaphor for how to travel through life.
