Inclusion, Integrity, Fairness and Friendship. What inspired you to create a series based on these words? How valuable are they to you?
My Human Handbook series is all about human connectedness. When thinking about survival tools for humans, I go back to the basics. What bonds us as humans? How can we work better together, as a society?
Inclusion is all about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to participate. It’s important to nut this out for kids, because everyone’s needs are different, and sometimes, in the heat of a game, we can forget to include others.
Integrity was a hard theme to unpack. I know, in theory, it’s important. But how does having integrity make us a better human? I realised it was about consistency. It’s also about identifying your personal, core values and living by them.
Fairness and Friendship are interrelated. Understanding how to play fairly is important for our friendships. Inclusion is also an important part of friendship. And friendship is important for our wellbeing and social cohesiveness. The fun thing about this series is that the topics continually cross-over and converse with one another. Kids will find lots of consistency and parallels between the books.
Q. Why is it so important that children learn to apply these four words for their life?
Whether kids are starting pre-school, school, or joining a team, it’s important to understand how to include others, how to play fairly, build trust and develop their relationships. Fairness and Inclusion aren’t always a person’s first instinct, not because someone is a bad person, but because they might be wrapped up in their activity. So, highlighting these words for kids, unpacking them with examples, and offering an opportunity to discuss and apply them to real life scenarios equips kids with the tools they need to develop their relationships and thrive in a social context.
Q. You chose an approach that is conversational and engaging. What do you hope for on top of awakening children's ability to put these values into practise?
I want the books to be friendly and fun for kids. There are a lot of earnest, worthy books in the world, but I figure injecting a little humour and colour helps to make the themes in this series more engaging. I personally tend to connect more with a conversation when it’s enjoyable. While the first read through might be with a grownup, I hope kids come back to these books in their own space and time.
Q. You call them guides; a guide being defined as a person who shows the way to others. Is this what you worked towards?
In a sense. I hope I am a friendly, approachable guide - someone kids want to sit down with and have a chat to. When I develop these books, I visit classrooms to have discussions like those in the book. I guess the Handbooks are a physical artefact of these conversations, and inspire new conversations. I want to make sure kids know, though, that adults aren’t experts at this stuff, either. We’re all learning together. These handbooks are just as useful for me as they are for any kid.
Q. This series reaches out to adults as well as children. It this intentional or accidental?
I think it’s fairly instinctual, based on my work as a children’s author. You’re always in conversations with adult book people, like librarians and parents, as much as you’re speaking with kids. The nice thing about kids’ books is that they’re a bridge between kids and grownups. They provide a map for a conversation. I do think it’s important that kids engage big humans in their lives when topics are especially tricky. But all engagement counts. In my personal and professional experience, the more connected and engaged with kids I am, the more use I am to the kids in my life when things get more complicated.
Q. 'Have you ever asked to hear someone else’s story?' is a powerful question with an underlying message. Have you considered how life-changing this series could be?
It’s every author’s hope, I’m sure, that our books create some impact. With everything happening in the world, I feel like now, more than ever, we need strategies to deepen our humanity and our connectedness. Let’s equip the little humans in our lives with effective tools that support them as they navigate this complex planet of ours. So, yes, I hope that these books have a far-reaching and positive impact. Listening to other people’s stories is a great place to start.
Q. The presentation and design are eye-catching. Did you play a role in the design?
My main instruction was 'fun and friendly'. Affirm Press worked closely with the illustrators and designers to achieve this. I’ve been involved every step of the way but my input is only ever functional, like suggesting a slight illustration tweak here and there. Really, though, the beauty of these books is with the artists and the designer, Andy Warren,
Q. The illustrations are stunning. How did you choose illustrator Jingting Wang and what medium did she use for her whimsical images?
Affirm Press found Jingting and I couldn’t be happier with her adorable work. In fact, her work will be included in the Society of Illustrator’s 68th Annual Show in NYC, which is very exciting! I love that the three illustrators who have worked on this series: Kim Drane, Jinting Wang and Maja Veselinovic, all have such a distinctive style, yet so perfectly capture the tone of the series.
Q. You cover a great range of emotions in these books. How long did you work to create this series and was there any specific research needed?
The series was a long time in development. I had the idea at the end of 2023, and grew the concept from there. Each book takes months to write, as there’s so much to get my head around and understand. I find resources fairly scant which is exactly why I'm writing these books.
Information about Integrity and Inclusion in particular is often confusing, impenetrable and not that relevant to kids. So my goal was to make the topics as accessible as possible. The first stage to this is understanding the topics as best I can, and applying them to my own life, rather than just regurgitating information that already exists. I also had conversations with kids, teachers, librarians, parents and disability advocates along the way. Many of the examples have been drawn from real life scenarios.
Q. Juxtaposing this series with the ten books in the Human Kind series, how do they differ, or are they linked?
I would say Handbooks for Little Humans sits nicely beside Human-Kind. Both series set out to interrogate and make relevant important themes for kids. Handbooks for Little Humans does so in a more fun, direct way, by speaking directly to kids. The illustration and design style is quite different in Handbooks, as they’re modelled on a survival guidebook style. Rather than telling you how to build a fire, though, you’re learning how to be a better human.
Q. How many books are planned for this series?
There are 6 books in the series so far. I hope there will be more! There are so many more themes I’d like to explore.
See more of Zanni's work at www.zannilouise.com.
