1 Author, 7 Questions: Lucy Catchpole
Mama’s wheelchair can take you on all sorts of adventures, especially expeditions to the kitchen. But the very best part about the Mama Car is…it has Mama! We (virtually) sat down with author Lucy Catchpole to discuss Mama Car, the sweet story that portrays a mother’s wheelchair as a wonderfully normal part of family life.
Mama Car is your first picture book as the sole author, and a uniquely personal story. Can you share a bit about your inspiration to write this book?
When my eldest daughter was little, everything with wheels was a car. So of course, she started calling my wheelchair the ‘mama car’. My husband’s tricycle became the ‘dada car’, and the real car the ‘big car’, and the names stuck.
From a small child’s perspective, this made sense. Children are fascinated by wheels, and my daughters saw what most adults don’t – that a wheelchair is just another vehicle. Except, unlike other vehicles, this one is always there with them, in the house. And it belongs to their mother, making it uniquely desirable. My wheelchair became the centre of so many games: a hiding place, a picnic table, dolls’ bed, racing car, and just a squabbled-over place to sit.
How strange, really, that the rest of the world should see it so differently.
That vast, peculiar gap – between my daughters’ relationship with my chair, and the way the world looks at it – was my starting point.
Can you describe your process in creating Mama Car?
My children were small when I wrote Mama Car, and the language they used – those toddler quirks, and the utter confidence of their storytelling – fascinated me. Insignificant things were often as important as big things – spotting a bee could easily eclipse a massive party! Thinking about our life from my girls’ perspective, I wondered how they’d tell that story. My wheelchair and the ‘big car’ would be given equal weight, and a trip to the kitchen might be as exciting an expedition as a day at a stately home. So much of writing is about finding the right voice, and that child’s voice was everything here.
I absolutely adore Karen George’s illustrations in this book—you can practically feel just how cozy and comforting the Mama Car is. Do you have any favorite moments from the artwork?
My favourite is easily the ‘cosy as a sheep’ page. Karen conjured such tenderness and warmth with her close-up of the little girl asleep, curled into her mother’s lap. This is the illustration that sums up the child’s perspective, for me – the great comfort to be found with her mother, and the way the wheelchair is a part of that moment.
I actually have it framed on my bedroom wall.
You have a lovely note to adults in the back of the book that shares a bit about your family’s experience with your very own Mama Car. Would you be able to share more about what it means to be a parent that your child is incredibly proud of?
All small children are proud of their parents, and as a disabled parent that’s meaningful – seeing my daughters’ absolute pride in me, that ‘ta dah’ flourish when they introduce me to someone new. Being a wheelchair user can be uncomfortable, in terms of how the world treats you. But of course, my children knew nothing about that. Their pride isn’t something I expected from motherhood – it’s been healing, in a way. A glorious antidote to the awkwardness of other people.
You and your husband, James, are both wonderful writers and strong activists in the disability field. What is it like to work together on your projects?
We’ve been together for more than twenty years now, and spend most days together – our lives are entirely interlinked. Originally, though, he wasn’t meant to appear in Mama Car. At first, Karen drew a lovely bearded two-legged hipster as Mama’s husband. It felt odd! And the power dynamic between the parents seemed different, suddenly. I tried to get over it – after all, why would Mama in my book randomly have a one-legged husband?! But then a friend asked directly – why this two-legged guy? Why not just… James?! And after all – why shouldn’t Mama have a one-legged husband? I do! So Karen kindly erased the hipster and put James in instead, and the book fell into place for me. Our disabilities are inseparable from who we are, our lives and our relationship. His presence in Mama Car is part of that.
I love keeping up with @thecatchpoles on Instagram! It’s wonderful to see your family’s creativity and curiosity shine through. What inspires the content you and your family share?
My life looks different to many people’s, and not just because of my wheelchair. I spend most of my time in bed – which sounds tragic, but really isn’t. In a way, that was the starting point for our instagram account. I wanted a space for my reality, with all its beauty, mess and joy. The good news stories I saw about disabled people were narrow – sporty wheelchairs, bionic legs and ‘overcoming’. That isn’t my life. My wheelchair is a cosy, comforting space, and so is my bed. My children learnt to read on it – it’s the first place they make for after school. Now they’re older, we play out Greek myths and Shakespeare plays on it with toys. This is not a sad life.
Social media gets a bad rep, but for disabled people like me it’s been transformative. Our lives, our stories, usually filtered through news media or well-meaning non-disabled writers, are suddenly our own. And we are the authors.
What’s next for you? Do you have any exciting projects in the works?
It’s been a wonderful, surreal few years. Alongside our day jobs (we run a children’s literary agency from our home), we’ve written three picture books between us, and now there’s a middle-grade anthology of disabled authors’ stories, too. It’s taken a lot of multi-tasking, and I’m looking forward to a bit of a break. Quite honestly, in the short-term I’m planning time with my girls, and a lot of sleep!
I have a tricycle. Daddy has a big car. And Mama has a Mama Car.
Mama’s wheelchair can take you on adventures, big and small. Even going to the kitchen for breakfast might become an exciting expedition. But the very best part about the Mama Car is…it has Mama! And she’s always there when you need her. This sweet story from writer and wheelchair user Lucy Catchpole and illustrator Karen George portrays a mother’s wheelchair as a wonderfully normal part of family life.
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