For All Daydreamers...

1 day ago

5 min read

Louise was fortunate to have an opportunity to ask author Louise Gooding some questions about her daydreamer, Davey and his very special book. It's a book important to me, giving me something I didn't have as a child and allowing me to share it with children, to show them they are important and wonderful as they are. Louise's answers are insightful and she has a question for us at the end too...

The title hints at alliteration. Was it your intention, to draw in readers for whom that could mean something, or was it simply happy coincidence? I personally like how alliteration sounds, it rolls off the tongue and I think it makes the title more memorable. I was definitely something I did intentionally as it’s how my own brain likes to process and remember things.

Were you a daydreamer as a child? Have you’ve into adulthood? How did you manage it then, and now, how much of yourself, or others you know, is reflected in Davey? I’ve always been a creative thinker and a bit of a daydreamer. Maybe a little less so than Davey but I do sometimes find my mind wandering even today when I’m really meant to be concentrating on important things.

When I was younger I would get embarrassed that I’d missed whole conversations or things people had said, but now, I think I own the fact my mind wanders and apologise for missing parts of what people have said and ask them to repeat themselves. When people know you work with good intentions and that your brain processes things in its own way there is a lot more patience and understanding. When I was younger, there was probably a lot less patience for me if I didn’t pick things up straight away and was seen to be daydreaming.

If you could daydream yourself a superpower what would you have and why? I sometimes wish and imagine I had a ‘search bar’ in my head - that probably sounds very silly but sometimes I forget the most silly of things. I know the information has been processed somewhere but I don’t know where my brain has stored it and that can be very frustrating at times as I don’t like coming across as forgetful, or that I don’t know things- my brain just has its own weird filing system so yes, a search bar would be excellent!

Why do you think children find adults don't recognise it’s their brains firing differently causing them to have moments of, for example, daydreaming? This is an interesting one because when we are looking at what ‘paying attention’ means vs daydreaming, we are assuming we can all focus as if it’s an internal on/off switch. A child processes a tonne of data every single day, and just because you want that to be focussed say on a particular task, say maths equations, over maybe what’s happening outside - it doesn’t mean they aren’t ’paying attention’ they may be just paying attention to something other than what you’re expecting them to focus on.

Because while you may see them sat with a maths equation looking out the window they may also be processing the clock ticking, the rain running down the windows, the fly buzzing around the room, they may even be sat thinking about what’s for tea - their brain could be processing A LOT of things all at once.

I think that’s where some folk miss the opportunity to help children understand their brains may simply be processing or prioritising information differently at that moment.

With this story are you hoping that you can share something enjoyable which could also be used as a teaching/education aid? Absolutely. Sometimes stories leave us with something to think about but that’s assuming everyone has the tools to discuss these topics further or have the information they need to accurately address the possible talking points. By putting in end notes I’m trying to make the story as accessible to everyone as possible, whether it’s helping answer any questions the child your reading to has, or you are wondering if there is a way, as an adult, you can be more aware of the topic covered.

On that note how do you ensure you balance telling a story which children will enjoy, relate to and want to return to, with one that could be used as a teaching aid? As someone who has worked with children for years and who has three children of their own, I’m very used to having to work with inquisitive minds.

Why did that happen…. why did ‘character A’ say that to ‘character B’… that story made me

laugh/sad.

Kids love interacting with stories and being able to have time to reflect on things that pop up in a story, or checking in with how a story makes them think or feel is a great way to learn about open communication and being curious about the world. I want to write stories that children feel reflected in, and I also want to find ways to help continue that connection and communication beyond the story and I hope I’m just helping give folk the tools and support to have those moments together to share and explore topics further.

What's most important, to you in making sure we consider neurodivergency at a young age. How do you think it helps young people and their adults? Something I cover in Wonderfully Wired Brains, is that even before we look at neurodivergence, we look at how our brains are uniquely our own to begin with. No one brain is the same. Add in neurodivergence and we are looking at brains that need less/more support than the ‘typical’ brain. As I mentioned above, there are certain expectations that are put on us all to behave/think/feel a certain way, at a certain pace, but a lot of those expectations ignore how individual and unique we all are. The more space and patience we give each other, the more confidence we find in ourselves. I don’t want anyone to grow up thinking they need to be less, or that they need to be more. I just want them to grow up confident in who they are and how they explore and embrace the world.

Would having a story like this, as a child, have been important to you? Would it have made a difference to anything about you to see yourself in a story? I wish there were a lot more stories like this for me growing up because I was often told I was too much or that I should pay more attention.

I wasn’t too much- I just was energetic, friendly, maybe a bit over helpful, but always with a good (loud) heart. I had to learn to mask my joy and energy, shrinking it to fit to a more acceptable level for others. I think as I’ve got older I’ve reclaimed that version of myself but I wish there were more books and education when I was growing up so people could have been more understanding and supportive.

Can you give us any insights into what you might be writing next…? Who knows! I’ve written about wonderfully wired brains, masking and now daydreaming …. Let’s see what stories come next… what stories do you think you’d like to see next?

...Take a moment to scroll the slideshow of images from this fantastic book below...