Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Moose’s reading classes at Mechanicville Elementary School in Mechanicville, NY read Memoirs of a Goldfish and had the following questions for author Devin Scillian. Thank you to Mr. Scillian for the thoughtful answers!
1. Why did you make this a memoir? How did you come up with the title?
Oddly enough, each of my 13 books has started with a title. Once I get the right title in place, my imagination really seems to get into gear. And this title came courtesy of my 15-year old daughter Christian. It’s a nod to an adult novel called “Memoirs of a Geisha,” of course, but I also loved the idea of a goldfish keeping a diary.
2. Why did you write a book about fish?
It seems like just about everyone has had a fish in their house, or knew someone who did, or had one in their classroom at school. And most of us at one time or another have looked at the bowl and thought, “What is that fish THINKING?” It felt like a pretty good setting for a story.
3. Did you like what the illustrator did? Did you meet him? Did you work together?
I absolutely LOVE what Tim Bowers did. When his pictures showed up at my house I was just so tickled. I thought I had a good story on paper, but Tim turned it into something special. Tim and I emailed before he started working, but after that, he hunkered down and put his imagination and talent to work. I sure hope we can do something together in the future.
4. Where did you get the names for your characters? Why didn’t you name the 12 guppy babies?
The question I get most often about the names in the book is, “What is the name of the main character?” And I usually say, “Goldfish, of course!” But I actually think his name is Steve. Not sure where the name Mervin came from, but I really thought it was a good name for a snail. One of the guppies is named Clark and that was because my son Griffin had a stuffed snake named Clark when he was little. I didn’t think about naming the guppies I guess because that would have taken up a lot of space and time at the end of the story when I felt it was important to tidy everything up. But now you have me thinking that it could have been funny — like maybe 12 names that rhyme — like Bill, Jill, Lil, Phil… could’ve been very good!
5. Do fish ever really sleep?
Fish don’t quite sleep the way that people do — but yes, most fish enter a “resting” state that is basically a fish’s way of sleeping. But they don’t close their eyes, lay down and snore the way people do!
6. Did this ever happen to you? Do you have any fish? What do you feed them?
We have had a few fish from time to time in our house, though we don’t have any right now. We usually fed them fish food from the pet store depending on which type of fish we had.
7. Whose fish tank is this? Who is putting all of the things in the tank?
Hmm. This is a very interesting question. I guess you could say it was MY tank and that as the author, it was ME who kept adding things to the tank, just as I kept adding things to my story!
8. Why did the fish think that there was a mirror in the tank at first?
Because he had never seen another goldfish before. When he saw a fish that looked a lot like him, he thought he must be seeing himself.
9. Why did Mr. Bubbles go into the tank? Why does he move? Why did you name him Mr. Bubbles?
While fish don’t breathe the way that we do, they need oxygen to live — they breathe it through their gills. Putting something that bubbles air into a fish bowl or aquarium helps put air into the water making it healthier for the fish. The name Mr. Bubbles just seemed like a name my goldfish might come up with since that was all that the deep sea diver seemed to say.
10. Is there a lesson in the story?
I think sometimes we don’t appreciate the people around us who make our lives interesting. They often rely on us and we rely on them in ways we don’t always understand. And while it can be nice to be alone, we’re pretty social creatures and most people (not all, but most) thrive when they have friends and family around.
11. What is your favorite part of the story? Did you like writing this story?
My favorite part of the story is the very end when he realizes that there’s another goldfish in the tank — I really like it when he sees ”She’s the color of a fresh tangerine.” Yes, I loved writing this story. It made me laugh while I was writing it (which is always a good sign, I think!).
12. Have you written other books?
Yes, twelve others and more on the way. My other books include “A is for America,” “P is for Passport,” “Brewster the Rooster,” ”Cosmo’s Moon,” “Pappy’s Handkerchief” and “Fibblestax” which was my first book.
13. Have you ever gone diving? Have you ever been to a coral reef?
I haven’t been scuba diving, but I have been snorkling along a coral reef. In fact, I’ve done it several times and I think it’s absolutely magical. The reef, the fish, the plants, the water, the shells — it can be quite beautiful.
I hope this helps — I’ve so enjoyed answering your wonderful questions! And thank you so much for enjoying our book. Tim and I are deeply honored.
Your pal,
Devin
May 2011
We can’t wait to read more of your books!