'We believe that the book itself should be what paints the picture of this captivating character and so we approached the Wonder jacket in more abstract terms. With Auggie’s appearance being such an integral part of the Wonder story, our choice was to abstract the character as to not influence the readers’ perception of who Auggie is, while also creating a metaphor for his facial abnormality'. - Ted Carpenter
what inspired the story in wonder?
I was with my two sons one day in front of an ice cream store, and we found ourselves in close proximity to a child with a severe facial difference. My younger son started to cry because he was scared, and I was nervous that his tears might hurt the child's feelings, so I left the scene very quickly and rather abruptly. I realized afterward that I had handled the situation terribly. What I wished I had done was to turn that encounter into a teaching moment for my kids. I wished I had stopped to talk to the child, and shown my own kids there was nothing to be afraid of. It made me wonder what it must be like for that child, facing a world every day that doesn't know how to face you back.
I wanted a very iconic cover, and I knew Tad could deliver something bold and graphic. I had thought he would go with the theme of the astronaut helmet, but it was actually the Knopf art director who suggested the face, and then Tad did various versions of it.
Is there any theme or message that you wanted to give to your readers?
I hope that kids will come away with the idea that they are noticed: their actions are noted. Maybe not immediately or directly or even in a way that seems obvious, but if they’re mean, someone suffers. If they’re kind, someone benefits. And the choice is theirs: whether to be noticed for being kind or for being mean. They get to choose who they want to be in this world. And it’s not their friends and not their parents who make those choices: it’s them.I also hope parents are gently reminded of the enormous influence they have over their children at that age, and that it’s okay to interfere in their kids’ lives. Their kids may act like they’re not listening, act like they’re big and know all the answers, but they’re still listening. You’ve still got them. Use the time and remind them about the things that are essential. Remind them to be kind to their old friends. Remind them to be polite, to write those thank you notes, to go out of their way to help their friends, to connect to the kids who are struggling socially or academically. I’ve heard parents say it’s hard to ask their kids to reach out or stand up against bullies because of social repercussions, but that’s all nonsense. It’s never okay to not to the right thing.
why did you go into different points of view?
I didn’t know I was going to go into multiple points of view at the beginning of the book. I thought I would stay with Auggie for the whole story. But then I started getting very curious about Via and what she was going through in her life, and I wanted to get behind the motivation behind Summer’s bravely sitting down with Auggie at lunchtime, or Jack’s betrayal, and I knew that to do that, to really explore Auggie’s complete story, I would have to leave his head for a while. Auggie’s a smart kid, and he notices a lot of things, but he doesn’t ever really know the full extent of the impact he has on people.
If you could meet Auggie in person, what do you think you would say or talk about?
I think we'd start by talking about Star Wars stuff. He'd ask me if I was really into Star Wars myself or if I knew so much about it because my sons were into it, and I'd tell him that I'm the one that got my kids into Star Wars in the first place! And then we'd talk about our dogs. We both happen to have black dogs named Bear, which is such a coincidence ;)
whats your favourite colour?
PMS 485 (Red). And PMS 2985 (Wonder blue). Hey, I'm a graphic designer at heart, of course I'm going to get specific when it comes to color! :)
I wanted a very iconic cover, and I knew Tad could deliver something bold and graphic. I had thought he would go with the theme of the astronaut helmet, but it was actually the Knopf art director who suggested the face, and then Tad did various versions of it.
Is there any theme or message that you wanted to give to your readers?
I hope that kids will come away with the idea that they are noticed: their actions are noted. Maybe not immediately or directly or even in a way that seems obvious, but if they’re mean, someone suffers. If they’re kind, someone benefits. And the choice is theirs: whether to be noticed for being kind or for being mean. They get to choose who they want to be in this world. And it’s not their friends and not their parents who make those choices: it’s them.I also hope parents are gently reminded of the enormous influence they have over their children at that age, and that it’s okay to interfere in their kids’ lives. Their kids may act like they’re not listening, act like they’re big and know all the answers, but they’re still listening. You’ve still got them. Use the time and remind them about the things that are essential. Remind them to be kind to their old friends. Remind them to be polite, to write those thank you notes, to go out of their way to help their friends, to connect to the kids who are struggling socially or academically. I’ve heard parents say it’s hard to ask their kids to reach out or stand up against bullies because of social repercussions, but that’s all nonsense. It’s never okay to not to the right thing.
why did you go into different points of view?
I didn’t know I was going to go into multiple points of view at the beginning of the book. I thought I would stay with Auggie for the whole story. But then I started getting very curious about Via and what she was going through in her life, and I wanted to get behind the motivation behind Summer’s bravely sitting down with Auggie at lunchtime, or Jack’s betrayal, and I knew that to do that, to really explore Auggie’s complete story, I would have to leave his head for a while. Auggie’s a smart kid, and he notices a lot of things, but he doesn’t ever really know the full extent of the impact he has on people.
If you could meet Auggie in person, what do you think you would say or talk about?
I think we'd start by talking about Star Wars stuff. He'd ask me if I was really into Star Wars myself or if I knew so much about it because my sons were into it, and I'd tell him that I'm the one that got my kids into Star Wars in the first place! And then we'd talk about our dogs. We both happen to have black dogs named Bear, which is such a coincidence ;)
whats your favourite colour?
PMS 485 (Red). And PMS 2985 (Wonder blue). Hey, I'm a graphic designer at heart, of course I'm going to get specific when it comes to color! :)
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