Aggie Flea Steals the Show by Tania Ingram, ill. A.Yi
(Scholastic Australia)
“Or maybe my brain just made them up. My brain sometimes does stuff like that. Mum says I have a big imagination like Dad. Sometimes my big imagination gets me into trouble, though. Like the time I thought my new neighbour was a vampire. Or the time I thought my teacher, Mrs Fossy, had a giant spider in her hair.” (Aggie Flea Steals the Show)
Aggie Flea Steals the Show written by Tania Ingram and illustrated by A.Yi is shortlisted for the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers.
Congratulations on Aggie Flea Steals the Show being shortlisted by the CBCA, Tania, and thank you for speaking to Joy in Books at Paperbark Words blog.
Author Interview: Tania Ingram
Where are you based and how are you involved in our children’s literature community?
I live in the Adelaide Hills and am a member of our local (SA) SCBWI and CBCA chapters. I’m also an ambassador for the Premier’s Reading Challenge and pop out to visit schools on their behalf a couple of times a year.
I know creators laugh at being asked questions along the lines of ‘where have you sprung from as a fully formed writer’. But I will ask you that question because you are producing amazing books and seem to be everywhere ‘all of a sudden’.
Ah, yes…my ‘overnight success.’ In reality, I have been in the industry for 12 – 13 years and had several books (including a series called Jinny & Cooper) under my belt before my latest group of books came out. And although I’ve had 5 books published in the last 2 years, the truth is that 4 or these books were held by publishers (one for 4 years before being released) due to COVID back in 2020/21. So, it just happens that the books that should have come out over a 5-year period all came out in a short span of time. Though it looks impressive and as though I’m some incredibly prolific writer, the process of waiting for so long was actually quite frustrating and there was a huge gap where I had no books come out at all.
Your character Aggie Flea has such a strong voice that she is immediately real and recognisable from the first page. Why have you given her this name?
Originally, Aggie was a boy called Gilbert Flea. Somewhere along the line, my daughter convinced me to make the character a girl. She made a comment that many girl characters in books are similar and sensible, whereas ‘boy’ characters were allowed to do more crazy things. So I changed Gilbert to Agnes Flea, and this was later changed to Aggie. I wanted her to have a quirky and unique name to match her character.
Aggie has a big imagination. What is the wildest thing she has imagined and how does her imagination make life more difficult for her?
Aggie does so many wild things, it is hard to pin it down to one! She is forever getting into trouble and her poor teacher, Mrs Fossy is constantly being challenged. Though I think that Aggie mistaking her neighbours for a witch and a vampire, or her brother for an alien must be in the top wildest things she’s done.
I love how the story breaks into comic or graphic novel form. Why have you done this?
When I originally wrote the story, I added in anecdotes from Aggie’s favourite book series – the Princess Zombie series. The editors loved these sections and asked me to add more of them. I explained that, in my mind, the Princess Zombie series was a graphic novel and I sent the editors a sample of what I imagined it would look like. The editors loved it and said we could include them as graphic novel inserts. So that is what we ended up doing.
Aggie loves playing pranks and reading. What might some of her favourite books be?
Aggie’s favourite book by far is the Princess Zombie series mentioned above, though I think she would read just about anything you put in front of her. I think she’d like books where characters find themselves in pickles or where characters get into ridiculous situations because she would identify with that! Mind you, with her big imagination – she could probably read a shopping list and somehow find an adventure!
Which of A.Yi’s illustrations captures the essence of Aggie for you?
Anne’s illustrations are just gorgeous and I was thrilled when I found out that she was going to be the illustrator for Aggie Flea. There’s a small picture of Aggie at the beginning of Aggie Flea Steals the Show! where she is crossing her eyes and biting her tongue because she thinks it will help her to remember something. Although this picture is simple amongst the many fantastic illustrations in the book, it really captures the essence of who Aggie is.
It’s great to see highlights in the illustrations, bolded words and page borders in purple. Why purple?
The publishers actually chose the colours for the books. Neon pink for Aggie Flea is NOT a Liar! and purple for Aggie Flea Steals the Show! I think the colours work really well for the stories.
There are so many funny parts. What is one of your favourites?
That’s a hard question to answer because the way Aggie views the world and her observations are all quite funny. One thing that springs to mind is when she gets in trouble for swatting a classmate. Aggie says: ‘I thought I’d seen a fly on the back of his neck but it turned out to be some kind of weird mole with eyes. I really think he should get that checked out by a doctor.’ Or when she’s complaining that she’s not allowed to go to her best friend’s house when their parents aren’t home and Aggie complains: ‘I think it’s very unfair. I flooded their kitchen once and it was only because I was trying to put the fire out.’
They are both small side-bars to the bigger story but are perfect examples of the way Aggie’s wonderful, imaginative mind works, and how she creates chaos wherever she goes.
Why spiders?
In the first book, Aggie has an incident with her teacher, which is how she finds out that her teacher suffers from arachnophobia. Since it’s something that was brought up a couple of times in book 1, I thought it only made sense to continue the poor teacher’s torment in book 2.
The class play is such a great plot vehicle to build to a story climax. Do you have a class play experience of your own to share?
In junior primary, I was in a school nativity play where I’d been chosen to play the 3rd wise man. I wanted to be one of the angels in the nativity because they got to dance on stage. The teacher wouldn’t let me change roles, so I decided to be a dancing wise man instead, and I made up my own dance. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into account that my robe would be so long and I tripped over mid-twirl and managed to knock over both of the other wise men and Joseph as well!
[Joy: Well that’s certainly memorable, Tania.]
Why do you think your series about Aggie has such strong child-appeal?
I think the humour in the book and Aggie’s unfiltered imagination is her biggest appeal to children. It gives them permission to use their own big imaginations.
What impact has being a shortlisted CBCA book had on you or the book so far?
I think the biggest impact is that it has given me more visibility as an author and perhaps put me in front of people who may not have found the book otherwise. I’ve certainly had more invites to participate at festivals and visit schools and run workshops, which has been awesome as well, as those opportunities usually don’t get offered much to a middle-aged woman from Adelaide!
This may be a sensitive question but many people assumed that your other recent book for younger readers, The Other Shadow, wasa strong contender for CBCA shortlisting. It’s an outstanding book and is a CBCA Notable. Why do you think the judges might have selected Aggie Flea over The Other Shadow? Where else has The Other Shadow been recognised?
I never assume that any of my books are going to make any list, so it is wonderful when it does happen. The Other Shadow is a very important and personal book for me, so for the CBCA to recognise it as a notable was a huge honour. I can’t really say why they chose Aggie Flea Steals the Show! over The Other Shadow – but I’m thrilled to have any book shortlisted by the CBCA, so I’m not going to complain!
The Other Shadow took second place in this year’s Forevability Awards and was also shortlisted in the NSW Literary Awards (Patricia Wrightson Award) – both of which were a tremendous privilege.
What’s an impression or feedback from festivals and other interactions you’ve had with children about how they respond to Aggie Flea the character and book?
I’ve been blown away by the feedback from kids. Both boys and girls have really resonated with the character and I’ve received lovely comments and fan mail saying that they feel that Aggie is ‘like them’ – which actually makes me fear for their poor parents and teachers! 😂
What’s a sneak peak into the next book in the series?
Unfortunately, the publisher decided to end the series after the second book, which is incredibly sad because I really enjoyed writing them.
Could you tell us something about your other books?
In 2024, I had a baby book published with Little Book Press, illustrated by the amazing Lucinda Gifford, called The Bug Book, which is a fun rhyming book about bugs a child might come across in their house and yard.
I also had a picture book called Walls come out in 2024 with Wombat Books and illustrated by Ruth-Mary Smith, which I think is an important story, especially given our current world climate. I wrote this book in response to Trump’s USA / Mexico border wall expansion during his first term as President. In the story, a Viking lives on one side of the book, while a knight lives on the other page. Both believe their side is the best side. Since they cannot agree, their solution is to build walls to keep them ‘safe’ from the other side. While they argue, their two children quietly watch from the sidelines. The kids don’t get a say in what’s happening, but they do understand the impact, and they’re the ones who eventually help the adults see things differently after the adults have destroyed both sides of the book.
This is a book that I’d like to get more traction on, as I think it is such a necessary book for our time. The underpinning themes of the story include differences, conflict, fear, and the importance of communication. It’s my hope that books like Walls can be used to teach the younger generation that there’s other ways to resolve differences than what our current world leaders are choosing.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Link to Walls : https://wombatrhiza.com.au/walls/
Link to The Bug Book: https://littlebookpress.com.au/products/the-bug-book?srsltid=AfmBOopvGRweX7jQvsbRp3e0t83KB5KgmRni-6okSwJMPPu1vJzXnajR
Link to The Other Shadow: https://shop.scholastic.com.au/Product/100134004/The-Other-Shadow/?BackToSearch=&breadcrumb=
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