Exclusive Interview: Annie Barrows Talks Ivy + Bean Success, Discovering Her Passion for Storytelling, and More

Annie Barrows is a New York Times best-selling author whose stories and words have connected with generations of readers. Maybe you’ve heard of Ivy + Bean or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Annie about her illustrious career, how she discovered her passion for storytelling, having her novels adapted for the screen, and more.

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Annie: It wasn’t so much a discovery as a gradual realization that there were people in the world who didn’t think in stories. Everyone in my family talked all the time, and they talked in stories. You couldn’t find out a fact to save your life, and not one of us cared. We talked to entertain ourselves. When I was grown up, I learned that some people could remember numbers and theories and data—you know, information. What a shock. I decided to stick with what I knew, which was wrapping tiny crumbs of fact in big swathes of story.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Annie: My daughters. Definitely, my daughters. Before I had children, I was a career-minded editor and writer of adult non-fiction. A few years after I had kids, I realized:

• I had nothing to say to adults
• I never read adult books
• The only interesting conversations I had were with children
• I only liked children’s books

Conclusion: Perhaps I should start writing for children. What a brilliant idea! The kids running in and out of my house, the yelling and laughing, the torrent of toys and books and markers and tape, the rejected foods, the scrapes and cuts—it was all material for my books.

PC: You’ve had so much success. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Annie: I don’t know about other authors, but I always figured my books sold well because my mother was buying them. I suspected that she had a storage unit filled with my books. Then one evening, I was at one of those interminable meetings at my daughters’ school about to pass out from boredom when I heard a kid laughing. Oh, thank the lord, I thought, something funny’s happened, and I twisted around in my seat to see what it was. Yep, it was a kid; yep, she was cackling away—at Ivy and Bean Take Care of the Babysitter! Never, never have I felt such pride.

PC: Ivy + Bean is a story that has resonated with readers around the world, so much so that Netflix wanted to adapt it for the screen. What was your initial reaction when you got the call?
Annie: I never believe movies are really going to happen. When another book I wrote, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, was made into a movie, I didn’t truly believe it until I went to London and walked onto the set. Same with Ivy + Bean. I nodded when the producer optioned it. I nodded when I got the first draft of the script. I nodded when I heard Netflix was interested. But still, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I received the email telling me that it was going into production.

PC: How did you initially come up with Ivy + Bean? As you were writing these beloved characters and stories, could you ever have imagined it would connect with readers in the way that it has?
Annie: I wrote the first Ivy + Bean book because my seven-year-old daughter ran out of stuff to read. I was shocked at how little there was out there for her—especially how little there was that was funny and playful—so I decided to write her the kind of book she was looking for. Luckily, I didn’t know that no one published early chapter books back then, so I went ahead and sent it to my publisher. I think the world of Ivy + Bean felt very real to its readers, very recognizable and manageable, and that made it resonate with the audience.

PC: As we look ahead to the rest of 2022 and into 2023, what can readers and fans expect from you?
Annie: I’ve just embarked on a new genre: picture books! They are very tricky to write, and I love a challenge, so I think I’m going to be doing more of those. I’m also working on a new early chapter book series with the wonderful Sophie Blackall, who illustrated Ivy + Bean. I’d tell you all about it, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy.

To keep up with Annie, follow her on Instagram.

About Mariko
Mariko is an avid consumer of all things pop culture and celebrity gossip.  In her free time, she loves watching Netflix and YouTube.  Her favorite shows currently in rotation are Seinfeld, Severance, Bling Empire, and Kung Fu.