An Author Interview with Katherine Applegate

Go behind the scenes with Newbery Medal-winning author and literary superstar Katherine Applegate as she discusses her returns with two exciting new titles releasing in spring! First up is The Littlest Elephant, a picture book adaptation of the best-selling middle grade novel The One and Only Ruby, chronicling protagonist Ruby’s early life in Africa through her Tuskday celebration. The second is Wombat Waiting, a stunning new middle grade standalone about compassion, resilience, and surprising friendships, following a dog named Wombat in the aftermath of a catastrophic fire.

You’ve written about Ruby the elephant in the One and Only novels. How was it different to write her story for a younger audience for the picture book The Littlest Elephant?

I’ve discovered that collaborating with a talented illustrator makes all the difference when you’re sharing a story with a younger audience. So much information can be conveyed via the art. A classic example: Instead of my describing Ruby’s emotions, Lita Judge was able to eloquently show them with her beautiful illustrations. From a writer’s point of view, it makes everything so much easier!

You actually suggested the illustrator Lita Judge for this picture book. Have you worked with her before? Do you have a favorite scene from her illustrations?

I’d never worked with Lita before, but I’ve always loved the way she brings animals to life in her books. Their faces are so expressive and charming! 

We were both attending a wonderful book festival in Michigan a while back (Harbor Springs Festival of the Book), and on our way to the airport, we started hatching plans to work together on a project. We didn’t know it would be The Littlest Elephant at that point, but we both knew animals would figure prominently!

It’s truly hard to choose just one favorite scene in The Littlest Elephant – they’re all so gorgeous – but there’s a night scene I really cherish. We see Ruby as a baby in Africa, protected by her family. She’s surrounded by a forest of legs and gleaming tusks, and Ruby thinks: How beautiful we are. You can just feel her contentment and joy.

Your next novel is titled Wombat Waiting, but it’s not actually about a wombat. Instead, Wombat is the name of a dog. Have you ever met a wombat?

I have not. But it’s definitely on my to-do list! Wombat is a stray dog who’s rather round, with short legs, a stubby tail, and little ears. A boy named Henry, a booklover who’s been reading about Australia, notes that the homeless dog resembles a wombat, and before long, everyone is calling her that.

It turns out that Wombat is a “destiny dog”; a dog whose fate is to track down her person, the human with whom she’s meant to spend her life. Destiny dogs are the ones who show up on our doorsteps unannounced. The ones who seem to know us better than we know ourselves.

Wombat Waiting is a novel in verse – your One and Only novels are short prose chapters with big impact. Why did you decide to write Wombat in this format, and how was it different from writing in prose?

I think it’s important to remember that free verse doesn’t just mean random line breaks. You need to have a reason for choosing the format. Every word counts. Even the white space provides a kind of music.

I’ve written two other novels in verse: Home of the Brave and Odder. In the first, I wanted to convey the challenges that come with learning a new language. With Odder, I needed a way to express the exuberance and lyricism of a life lived in the ocean.

In Wombat Waiting, a lonely street dog is searching for her person – her destiny –guided by nothing more than a vague internal voice. She’s moving through a chaotic and devastated landscape: southern California during a terrible wildfire. 

Writing her story in free verse felt like the perfect way to capture her confusion, desperation, and longing.

Animals of all kinds play important roles in all of your books. Do you have a favorite animal in your life right now?

I’m owned by two rescue dogs, Astrid and Boss. Both were found on the streets of Los Angeles and taken in by kind humans. 

Poor Astrid, who looks a bit like a miniature golden retriever, had been beaten as a puppy. Her neck was broken, and she was almost put to sleep. But with lots of TLC, she survived. We were told she could never play with other dogs. But she was so miserable, we asked her surgeon if a small canine companion might be okay. 

That turned out to be Boss, a small pug with an outsize ego. We named her after a character in The One and Only Bob (Bob’s sister.) And we could not have chosen a more appropriate name! She definitely rules the roost. And she’s been the perfect therapy dog for Astrid.

Littlest Elephant: One and Only Ruby Story

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Wombat Waiting

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About the Author

Katherine Applegate is the Newbery Medal-winning and #1 New York Times best-selling author of numerous books for young readers, including the One and Only series, the Endling series, Crenshaw, Wishtree, the Roscoe Riley Rules chapter books series, and the Animorphs series. She lives with her family in Nevada.