Author Peter van Wermeskerken is a most interesting character. His first book, Double Agent, is a memoir of his time in the Secret Service. If another writer could make a more profound transition in his second book, you’d have to show me. That’s because van Wermekerken’s next venture is the delightfully entertaining and educational Mike & Alex series for children ages six and up — including the characters’ biggest adventure yet, World Cruise by Whale.
Children’s books, first and foremost, says van Wermeskerken, should be fun. Listen to some of the author’s other thoughts on writing, on children and assorted themes in our world.
Q: In World Cruise by Whale, what inspired you to create Mike and Alex as the main characters, a gigantic rabbit and a wild boar? How do these animals reflect the themes of your stories?
A: The basic idea for Mike and Alex came about during car rides for the marketing of Double Agent, my first book, an autobiography about my life as, well, a double agent. My wife Marga suggested ideas, and I filled in. Mike was quickly found. Children and rabbits fit together in a story.
The second animal should be a manageable size. Because I am Dutch, the animals were “born” in the Netherlands. Quite a few pigs also live in our only forest, so the choice was easy. Then, the difference in size had to be bridged. Then, they had to grow bigger than usual. That is where my past on the farm came in handy. Pigs get a floor to grow well. So Mike and Alex had to get that, too (leftovers from the sow who wants to remain a slim lady).
Q: The book combines education with entertainment, especially around environmental problems. How do you balance teaching children about important topics such as pollution and keeping the story fun for young readers?
A: Writing a children’s book should, first and foremost, be fun for the children in your target group. I am aiming for the age group from 6 years old. They are already learning or can read. The book’s layout is tailored to them, including font and line spacing.
A child should also learn something from it “playfully.” That is why you describe the behavior of the animals; that is why the animals whisper to the oldest or the chairman. The animals in my books have good manners.
Also deliberate is that the chairman of the whales has a speech impediment: he cannot pronounce the “O.” That is why there is a dash or an asterisk everywhere where an “o” should be in his quotes. That is to learn to read what should be there and look beyond your nose when reading. So you must pay attention when reading, not quickly reading what you think is there. That is why this is used at two schools in the Netherlands when reading aloud in class. In this way, you mix all kinds of functions of a book, and an excellent and exciting story is paramount.
When it comes to the environment or climate, I am not a fanatic. On Saturdays, I used to have to rake the yard on the farm. When I see how people treat their environment and leave all kinds of rubbish lying around, I see that with dismay.
Q: In the story, Mike and Alex confront whalers and ocean pollution. What message do you hope young readers will take away about their role in protecting the environment?
A: Mike and Alex are in Whale Wally’s “swimming hotel” when they hear that the whalers have come to the South Pole to kill whales. They have just saved their host, so they will plan to do something about the whalers. Then you have to think about how giant the biggest whales are. So then you think about how to get those ships away. You combine that with the cold and the icebergs, the fjords. You look where the southernmost, coldest spot is where there is water. Well, that is where the whales push the ships. That can all be explained.
The story gets a bit harsh when the whales get very angry (very human) when a dead whale falls from a ship into the sea. In this story, I want children to realize that animals have feelings. They react just like people “with the same human wishes and the same human tricks.” Most people prefer to live in a neat environment. Well, that also applies to the animals. That is why Mike and Alex clean the stomachs of the whales and dump the waste on their island, MandA, neatly in one place.
Q: Wally the Whale offers a luxury world cruise out of gratitude. Can you tell us more about how you use this trip to introduce different global locations and animal behaviors in a way that engages young readers?
A: This is one of the most fun things in the story series. Book 1 deals with the Netherlands. In book 2, which has yet to be written, the two great gossips in the series, Loui Fox and Matt Dol-Phin, meet on the southern pier of the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. There, they meet every third full moon and sometimes elsewhere.
If something happens somewhere in the world in the stories, I bring out a map so readers can see where it is. That is why I have been using a globe since book four, and there are maps of the South Pole, the Arabian Sea, the China Sea, and the area around San Francisco.
In the next book, Alaska will be the central focus because the polar bears ask for more snow and ice. Then, you will see that area and its surroundings on maps. In East Africa, the animals suffer from a Great Drought. Somewhere, I am still determining where that will be. There will be a major forest fire, a significant oil accident somewhere else and, somewhere else again, the fish will suddenly disappear from the sea.
Guess what’s causing that? The limitation is that Wally has to be able to get there to put Mike and Alex on land. The animals on land make their needs known to dolphins, and father Matt Dol-Phin and his family are there surprisingly often. Through the gossip among dolphins, Matt almost always knows where Wally is. In this way, I can let Wally swim in all corners of the oceans and seas.
Q: What role does children’s literature play in shaping the next generation’s understanding of environmental responsibility and animal empathy?
A: I want to make a small contribution so that new generations will show more responsibility for our earth and living environment.
World Cruise by Whale is available for purchase here.
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