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Envelope-to: [email protected]
Delivery-date: Sat, 05 Oct 2019 05:02:14 +0000
To: [email protected]
Subject: Eklavya: Picture Book Submission -- Questions for Dad
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2019 05:02:14 +0000
From: Eklavya Team <[email protected]>
Reply-To: Michael Cohen <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
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This is an enquiry email via https://www.eklavya.in/ from:
Michael Cohen <[email protected]>

Dear Eklavya,

I am a first-time author, and computer science DPhil candidate at Oxford, submitting the manuscript of a picture book: “Questions for Dad.”

The protagonist, Sara, age 6, asks her dad such questions as “Why are there capital letters and lower case letters?” and “Why do lots of girls like wearing dresses?” I considered, while writing it, Mr. Rogers’ claim: “We don’t have to bop somebody over the head to make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut.” This story is about the drama and the discovery that lie in a conversation between a parent and a child.

Much of Sara’s curiosity is about social conventions—“Why do you have to let other kids take your toys?” (she’s talking about sharing)—and she’s particularly interested in gendered conventions—“Why do you wear a ring, Dad? I thought only girls did.” Many of the questions, though, have no common theme except complete departure from the normal musings of grown-ups—“When you’re in a car, why do the close things go by faster than the far things?” Dad answers these questions as well as he can.

I hope this story inspires children to ask difficult questions of their parents, and I hope it inspires parents to struggle to answer them. I'm excited to work with a mission-driven publisher.

Cheers,
Michael

Questions for Dad
Michael Cohen

Dad poked his head in the door. “Do you want to have question time tonight, Sara?”
Sara smiled—of course she did!—and Dad sat down on the cushy chair.
“Hmmm…” Sara said, the way Mom and Dad did.

“Can Evan talk to other dogs?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “sort of. But not like you and me. When they wag their tails, that means ‘I’m happy,’ and when they bark, that means ‘go away.’ There are only a few things they know how to say to each other.”
“Do they know how to say ‘I love you’?” Sara asked.
“They do!” said Dad. “They lick you!”

“Why do you have so many different ties, Dad?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…,” Dad replied, “when I see a tie I like in a store, I think about how nice it would be to wear it around and show it to everyone.”

“Why can’t I go in the Blum’s backyard?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “well it’s theirs so it’s not up to us, and it would be rude for me to ask, but my guess is that they don’t want to have to keep an eye on you, or they don’t like the noise, or they’re worried you or your friends might break something.”
Sara frowned. “When I have a house I’m going to let kids play in the backyard.”
“Write that down so you don’t forget,” Dad suggested.

“What would happen if you just kept digging?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “eventually you’d hit rock, but that might be deep enough you’d need fancy equipment to get there. And if you broke the rock and kept going, depending on where you are, you might find water or oil or gas that you can burn, and if you went even farther, you’d get to lava, and then you couldn’t dig anymore.”

“Why do lots of girls like wearing dresses?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “I think most girls who wear dresses like the way they look in a dress. And I think in part that’s because most boys don’t wear dresses except when they’re playing dress-up, so it’s something girls can wear to feel more feminine.”
“I don’t like wearing dresses,” Sara said.
“That’s okay,” Dad replied. “Some people do, some people don’t.”

“Who invented drawers instead of shelves?” Sara asked.
Dad chuckled. “Hm! I don’t know. I’m not sure anybody knows. It would have been a very long time ago.”

“Where do Zoobrafoomer people come from?” Sara asked.
“Hm?” Dad said, “I’ve never heard of Zoobrafoomer people.” Sara grinned. “Did you make them up, Sara?” Sara giggled.
“What!?” Dad laughed. “Then how was I supposed to know where they came from!?” Dad kept laughing way too long.
“DADDY STOP,” Sara yelled. “DADDY STOP LAUGHING.” Sara meant it to be a joke just for her.

“Where do Foobrazoomer people come from?” Sara giggled.
“Hmm…” Dad stroked his chin as if he had a beard. “I think they come from Australia.” Sara laughed. “Why are you laughing, Sara? They come from Australia. Sara, stop laughing.” For a moment, Sara worried Dad was serious, but then he smiled.

“Why do you wear a ring, Dad? I thought only girls did.” Sara asked.
“Well,” Dad replied, “It’s more common for women to wear rings, but men do too, especially when they get married. It makes me think about how happy I am to be married to Mommy. And women who are looking for a husband can see it and know that they don’t have to waste their time with me.”

“When you’re in a car, why do the close things move faster than the far things?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “what do you mean?”
“Well, signs go by really fast, but mountains don’t look like they’re moving at all.”
“Let’s draw a picture!” Dad replied, and he drew this picture. “Here you are now, and here’s where you were 5 seconds ago. The direction to the sign changed a lot, but the direction to the mountain hardly changed at all.”

“What happens to fish when lakes freeze,” Sara asked.
“Only the top of the lake freezes,” Dad replied, “so the fish are still swimming underneath. The better question is: what happens to ducks?”
“What happens to ducks?” Sara asked.
“I don’t know,” said Dad. Sara wondered why he brought it up in the first place.

“Why do we have to include everyone at school? What if I don’t like someone?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “I think Kindergarten teachers have figured out that kids are happier when they have that rule. Sometimes, kids become friends with kids they wouldn’t have played with otherwise. Not all the time, but sometimes. Is there someone you don’t like?”
“Yeah Avis. He has boogers on his fingers, and he’s grumpy.”
“I don’t much like grumpy people either,” Dad admitted, “but I try to be nice to everyone anyway.”

“Why do you have to let other kids take your toys?” Sara asked.
“What do you mean?” Dad replied.
“Well,” Sara answered, “Ms. Natalie says if someone asks to play with your toy you have to share with them.”
“Hmm…” Dad thought for a while, “there are all sorts of systems that grown-ups have for dealing with things like this. If someone has a fishing pole, and I want to use it, I ask if I can borrow it, and they’re supposed to let me (unless there’s some really good reason). But because I’ve put them in that position, where they either have to lend me their fishing pole or seem unfriendly, I’m only supposed to ask for it if I’m a good friend to them, and I don’t have my own, and I know they won’t mind. And I’m supposed to feel a little uncomfortable if I ask for things too often. So that’s the system grown-ups have worked out to keep everybody as happy as possible. And Ms. Natalie has the Herculean task (that means really hard)—she has the Herculean task of getting Kindergarteners to learn those sorts of habits. So the first thing she teaches you is you have to share, and the next thing is that you shouldn’t always make someone share.”

“Daddy,” Sara asked, “am I fat?”
“No, why do you ask?” Dad replied, as if it were a perfectly ordinary question.
“Well,” Sara answered, “Amy said she’ll never be fat because she eats healthy.”
“Hmm…” Dad replied, “a lot of kids (and grown-ups) are scared of being fat because they don’t like how it looks. And because it makes you get tired easier. But being fat doesn’t make someone any less great, and what really scares me is that a lot of girls are made to feel ugly when they’re really healthy and beautiful.” Dad hesitated for a moment. “It might be that Amy eats healthy, but she might not be an expert. Sometimes people try to eat healthy, but they mess up and just eat too little, which can actually be dangerous. In any case, you’re definitely not fat. Thanks for telling me you were thinking about it, but it’s not anything to worry about.”
Sara was glad about that.

“Why are there capital letters and lower case letters?” Sara asked.
“Hm!” Dad replied, “I don’t know. I can’t see why we need both. There was a poet named e e cummings who only used lower case letters.”

“Why does nothing else pop like popcorn?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Dad replied. “I have no idea! Maybe tomorrow we can go online and search: ‘Why does popcorn pop?’”
“Okay,” said Sara, even though she wanted to know now.
“Don’t forget!” said Dad.
“I won’t!” said Sara.
“I love you,” said Dad.
“I love you too,” said Sara.
“Goodnight,” said Dad, and he kissed Sara’s ear.
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