Six Questions with Sylvia Chen

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Sylvia Chen has also lived and worked in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Paris, and Tokyo, and now resides in Essex County, New Jersey. As the author of picture books TRICKY CHOPSTICKS (illus. Fanny Liem; Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) and SPARKLES FOR SUNNY: A Lunar New Year Story (illus. Thai My Phuong; Flamingo Books/Penguin Random House), Sylvia loves crafting picture books that spark kids’ interest in STEAM and creative thinking. She is also the creator of #PBStudyBuddy, which features amazing picture books on social media for fellow creators, teachers, and librarians. To connect more, visit her at sylviaichen.com or follow her @SylviaiChen.

1. What do you feel you’ve gained from being a part of the children’s writing community?

I think I could go on and on about all the amazing ways I’ve benefitted from being part of our #Kidlit world. From feeling like I’ve “found my people,” to experiencing comfort and excitement in all the different ways we’re navigating our publishing journeys, to finding inexplicable joy in giving back and helping to support fellow creators however I best can… being connected with you all means so much to me—more than I can ever explain!

2. Did you have a favorite teacher when you were a child? What made them so special?

For my elementary school years at P.S. 191 in Queens, NY, there were two teachers in particular who especially made a lifelong impression. One was my kindergarten teacher, Ms. Samuels. She had a very vibrant, warm, and welcoming personality which made me feel extremely loved, excited to be at school, and valued for who I was. The other was the music teacher, Mr. T (short for Tornatore) who also had a very engaging style with students. My strongest memory of Mr. T was how he advocated to my mom that she should let me have more fun, including allowing me to go to the school’s mixer. His concern and care to speak up for me for something like this became one of my core childhood memories from school. Rolling forward multiple decades, I’ve reconnected with them both via Facebook where they actively support my picture book news—Ms. Samuels even came to my first NYC storytime for Tricky Chopsticks at The Strand!

3. To what extent is your writing inspired by your own experience, or by watching your children’s experiences?

It’s so interesting to answer a question like this because I don’t necessarily feel like I set out to write based on myself or my family, but inevitably I admit it’s very much the case. For Tricky Chopsticks, I had already written the first rough draft when I realized it would be good to encourage my younger son to resume his chopsticks practice to master them. As I revised and as he fumbled, I aimed to capture more of his frustrated emotions in my writing. I also set up chopstick challenges for him (albeit a bit differently from those presented in the story), so not only did the main character Jenny Chow ultimately master her chopsticks, but my younger son did too! For Sparkles for Sunny, I originally wrote 4 daughters in the story. But the pacing felt too long story-wise, so I decided to change the characters to 3 daughters instead. I had originally resisted doing this since I’m the youngest of 3 daughters and didn’t want to feel like I was writing about myself. Having hand-me-downs as a kid was simply how our family life was so I didn’t mind it, but similar to what happens to Sunny in the story, my parents would sometimes call me by my sisters’ names by mistake. These are just some examples of how my life intertwines with my writing. It’s pretty neat to think about this, so thank you for such a great question!

4. Was this always the title for this project. If not, what other titles did you consider and how did you land on this one?

For a much earlier draft of this story with a very different arc, a starting title was “SPARKLY MIX-UPS: A Qípáo Surprise.” As the arc shifted closer to the published version, the title became “SUPER SPARKLY: A Qípáo Story,” then “SUNNY’S SPARKLY SURPRISE FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR: A Qípáo Story,” then “SPARKLES FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR: A Qípáo Story,” then “SPARKLES FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR,” then “SPARKLES FOR SUNNY: A Lunar New Year Story” for the version that went out on submission. Originally, I wanted to include “qípáo” in the title. As the arc transformed over time, I thought it would be good to add Lunar New Year to the title. Given the strength and appeal of the main character Sunny, though, it seemed the best balance would be to lead with “SPARKLES FOR SUNNY,” especially since sparkles are a great hook for kids, followed by “A Lunar New Year Story” which captured the cultural tie-in well.

5. What’s a particularly striking or memorable reaction someone has had to this book?

At the recent NCTE conference in Denver, I met fellow #Kidlit creator Stan Yan in person. As we chatted about Sparkles for Sunny coming out soon after the conference, he shared a childhood anecdote with me. He said he really related to Sunny’s situation because he had an older sister as well as her hand-me-downs, which some kids ended up pointing out as “problematic” for expected (or unexpected-for-them) styling. What struck me for what he shared was how Sparkles for Sunny truly has the ability to resonate with anyone who’s experienced the trusted tradition of clothes passed down from older siblings, no matter if they’re all daughters or all sons or a mix thereof.

6. If you could tell readers one secret about this book, what would it be?

One secret is that there are multiple secrets in this book! Heh heh. 😊 Besides the hidden Chinese-based meanings behind the character names, there is a surprise pop culture reference that I think some readers will enjoy, which has to do with The Mandalorian. Fans of The Mandalorian will know about the meaningful Mandalorian mantra, “This is the way,” which has to do with rules and traditions. As I wrote Sparkles for Sunny, I decided to also include a saying full of similarly-minded pride and purpose for Sunny’s family. If you read or reread the story, I think you’ll see what I mean!