BIO

Philip Kerr was born and educated in Edinburgh and now lives in Wimbledon, London with his journalist wife and three young children.

Philip initially trained at University of Birmingham as a lawyer. Realising law wasn't for him, he pursued a career in advertising before finally becoming a journalist and novelist. He has now written over a hundred thrillers for adults, including the acclaimed Berlin Noir trilogy. CHILDREN OF THE LAMP is his first children's book.

Despite always wanting to write for children, Philip regarded the process as much more challenging than writing for adults. He was finally spurred in to writing CHILDREN OF THE LAMP, when his eldest son, William, shunned reading for video games and the television. In order to wean William off Playstation 2, Philip decided to write a book specifically for his children.

Hence when he first started working on CHILDREN OF THE LAMP, he thought he was only writing for an audience of three. By the time he had finished the book, it was still his intention to have it privately printed and commissioned an illustrator to brighten up the pages for his children.

In passing, he mentioned the book to his agent in Los Angeles who also had a son the same age as William. Before he knew it, DreamWorks had bought the film rights and Scholastic were not only publishing CHILDREN OF THE LAMP but had commissioned two more.

In his spare time, Philip enjoys reading Graham Swift, listening to Led Zeppelin, eating violet creams and watching Arsenal.

CHILDREN OF THE LAMP: THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE tells the story of twins, John and Philippa Gaunt, who live in New York. The early arrival of their wisdom teeth, aged 12, heralds strange dreams and a trip to London. There they meet their eccentric Uncle Nimrod. He tells them the truth about their background -- they are born of a Djinn mother and as a result, they have extraordinary powers. Nimrod turns out to be a very important figure in the Djinn world and the children find themselves in the midst of a titanic battle of good and evil set across three continents.

Back to top.   

INTERVIEW

October 2004

Kidsreads.com Founder Carol Fitzgerald and her nine-year-old son Cory interviewed P.B. Kerr, author of the CHILDREN OF THE LAMP trilogy. The first book in the series, THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE, introduces readers to brother and sister John and Philippa Gaunt, who possess magical powers. Kerr explains why he decided to make his two young characters twins, how his older son's dislike of reading influenced him to write his first book for children, and what readers can look forward to in the next two installments of the series.

Kidsreads.com: What was your inspiration for the CHILDREN OF THE LAMP series?

P.B. Kerr: Inspiration is a word I try to avoid. I never really feel inspired. When people talk about inspiration, I think of it as a little creature in the garden I go to see and grab to try to get it. Instead, I am a compulsive writer. I write every day.

I think of myself as Rembrandt when he painted "The Feast of Belshazzar." In this painting there is a hand with nothing attached to it that is writing on the wall. I think of myself as that writing. I handwrite everything the first time. I do not type or work on a computer. The most portable writing system is a pencil and paper.

KRC: Why did you make John and Philippa twins instead of just brother and sister?

PBK: Well, I think there is something special about twins, something magical. In fact, ancient tribes used to think twins had power over the weather.

My sister is very close to me in age; we are only 14 months apart. She was a bit of a tomboy and we went everywhere together. She was very tough, but as close as we were, we did not have that magic that twins possess.

My stepfather was an identical twin and he told me stories about him and his brother being very in tune with each other regardless of where they were. Their names were George and Bob. Riding cattle was something they did. Bob broke his arm; George knew something was wrong as he had pain in his arm, and they traced it back to the exact moment when Bob was hurt. One day they both bought the same suit in the same color at the same time, though they were in different places.

Twins also are good since the minute you decide there is a boy in the book, girls may not like it. Same with boys not liking a story about girls. This way, everyone is happy.

KRC: Why are there no magic flying carpets?

PBK: That is a good question. The djinn used to travel by whirlwind. The magic carpet is more symbolic in literature. Carpet was your fate. You would weave your story on a loom and create your story. Your carpet would show where your life was taking you. The djinn instead travel by whirlwind as they are powered by the elements.

In the second book in the series, THE BLUE DJINN OF BABYLON, the Guggenheim Museum fits into part of the story. It's shaped like a tornado or a whirlwind and thus is the perfect shape for the djinn.

KRC: What would YOUR focus word be? Have children shared what theirs would be?

PBK: I have not thought of my own focus word. I think it would have to be a German word as they are incredibly long. It would be hard for someone English to use that word easily. Hamburger, for example, is not a good word. The key is to keep it very secret. Humans have overheard focus words and done dangerous things because they had this power.

KRC: Is there some social commentary with your talking about the word "wish" since children often wish for so many things that are frivolous?

PBK: I think so. It's an interesting philosophical concept. There are proverbs around the idea of wishing.

I often think about what my own three wishes could be. I know one. I wish I spoke every language on the planet. I wish I could, for example, speak Chiricahua Apache with the Indians. I could speak to every person everywhere. Think how wonderful that would be! And it is an example of a wish that is not silly.

KRC: You mention both ARABIAN NIGHTS and NEW OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH VERSE in CHILDREN OF THE LAMP. Would you like children to explore both of those books?

PBK: Well, I probably would recommend NEW OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH VERSE more as some of the ARABIAN NIGHTS stories are not for children. I think more children should be reading poetry. I think it's great to have to learn to memorize poems by rote. It stretches your mind and your powers of recall. I still remember memorizing "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley when I was in school.

The great thing about writing is that you can try to introduce readers to other writing that you love --- great poems and stories. And the poems do not need to be hard..."Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear." Read and memorize the fun ones as well as the more challenging ones.

By the way, back to ARABIAN NIGHTS for a moment. There are few versions of the book that have all 1001 stories. There used to be a story that if you read all 1001 you would die. Most have 275 stories.

KRC: You also offer commentary about the French when you refer to their drinking wine, layering on perfume, a dislike of Americans and the English. Do you think references like this just reinforce stereotypes in a new generation?

PBK: Possibly they do. They are stereotypes that are justified. The Parisians are like this. I do not think there is harm in this. I think it would be a sad world if we were not able to talk about ourselves and others like this and do a bit of laughing at ourselves.

I remember one time I was traveling and there was an American girl on the phone talking to her mother. She said, "I am never coming back here. These people are really, really rude. They are loud and very noisy." Of course, she was the one talking in a loud voice on the phone. There are things we all would like to change, but we must remember that differences are charming. I think we all like traveling around and seeing people who are not the same as us. It is better than seeing a whole roomful of people just like us.

KRC: How long did you work on THE AKHENATEN ADVENTURE? Did you always plan to write a book for children?

PBK: I actually was writing an adult book at the time. My older boy was not much of a reader and did not enjoy reading. It seemed to be time for me to do something about that. I put aside the book I was working on and started to write this book for children. I wrote it really quickly and did not think I was going to get it published. I thought people publishing children's books were celebrities. Instead, 3-4 months later I found myself with a finished book and soon afterwards it was being published.

KRC: Did you always plan this as a trilogy?

PBK: At the beginning I did not see it as trilogy right away. However, I did see where the next story would go and all I could think was "Let me do this again."

KRC: How much have you plotted for the next two books?

PBK: The second one is completely plotted and I have written the first draft. I do not know exactly what will happen in the third book. I think you cannot know too much about it yourself. Sometimes I do not know what is going on, which makes it more terrifying, all that not knowing what will happen in the next chapter.

KRC: What will happen in THE BLUE DJINN OF BABYLON?

PBK: As I had mentioned there will be the whirlwind. The second book takes place more in NY than the first one. I have been coming to NY for 20 years, usually staying at the Carlyle Hotel, so I know that part of town well. This time I am staying downtown and the city looks so different from uptown.

KRC: Is there still a plan that the third book will be set in Casablanca?

PBK: I think it probably will be set there, but I am debating and it may be set in Calcutta. Casablanca is not a very pleasant place to go right now.

KRC: You often have big words in your books, ones that can even have adults scrambling for a dictionary. Why do you do that?

PBK: I believe in dictionaries. Once in a while it's fun to throw in a word you may not know. I remember when I was six and I saw a word on a carton that I did not understand. I sounded it out to be Hummon Cannon ball. Humming. Human cannonball.

KRC: Why did you choose to use P.B. instead of your name?

PBK: I had written about 12 books as Phillip Kerr. They are crime novels written for grownups, and some nasty stuff happens. I didn't want kids looking at those books and thinking they were reading the same author.

KRC: What questions do you always get asked?

PBK: One very popular one is "Do you ever get writer's block?," like it was a disease. I never get writer's block and I don't know what it is.

KRC: Will you have a pronunciation guide on your website? What else will readers be able to find there?

PBK: A pronunciation guide might be a nice idea. We had not thought about that. There will be a FAQ and an area where I will be reading the book in 5-10 minute segments. I also will answer questions in my own voice. There will be information on why I became a writer and some pictures of me as well.

KRC: Do you enjoy going on the road and meeting readers?

PBK: I was 30 before I met an author and still remember how nice that was. I think of that when I go on the road and meet my readers. I want them to have a nice memory of this just like I did.

Back to top.