The actor in me started to realize that there was something very funny about the whole experience. This kid was handing me a script: “Here are your lines tonight. Please perform for my enjoyment.” I thought the funniest thing in that situation would be for me to have to say things I don’t want to say—things that the kid is making me say.

So it came from there. If the adult had to say silly things, I knew the kid would feel very powerful and would feel that books are very powerful. Working backwards, I realized that if there were no pictures, it would be an even more delightful trick: The kid is taking a grown-up style book and using it against the grown-up.

Rothenberg Gritz: Some of the best children’s book writers never had kids themselves. Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak ...

Novak: Yeah, and H.A. Rey. I’ve noticed that, too. I hope I do have kids one of these days. But for now, maybe I’m more interested in having all kids as my audience.

Rothenberg Gritz: Maybe you also feel like you can be more irreverent than a parent might be.

Novak: That’s true! The books I loved as a child all had one thing in common: They were very fundamentally on the side of the kid. They represented mischief. That’s what really got me interested in reading. For all Dr. Seuss’s educational accolades, every kid sees what he’s doing and knows, “This guy is Team Kid. This guy isn’t trying to teach me anything. It’s a rebellious, joyous book just for me.”

Rothenberg Gritz: How much editing do you go through for a book like this? Did you have to try out lots of different nonsense sounds before you came up with phrases like boo-boo butt and ba-doongy-face?

Novak: Those came pretty naturally on day one. I don’t know why, but b sounds came out as the music of the book. Boo-boo butt, blork, bluurf. There seemed to be something explosive and innocent at the same time about silly words that started with a b.

I did take a few pages out from the beginning for rhythm. Some of the early versions of the book were a little slow to start. When you have a book with no pictures, the kid is immediately intrigued. But if it’s not funny soon, the kid says, “No, I don’t think so.”

Rothenberg Gritz: A lot of the writing you’ve done has been for professional comedians like Steve Carell to perform. How did you make sure ordinary parents reading this book out loud would get the timing and delivery just right?

Novak: I did a million different tweaks in the design process to help give parents those cues. I put in page breaks to force a certain timing: You turn the page at the point where a comedian would pause. I also put in visual stage directions. There are small words underneath the big words that indicate the under-the-breath comment of a parent: “I didn’t want to read those words! What kind of a book is this?” It’s sort of an aside, but you say it loud enough so the kid can hear it. Everyone naturally knows that you read small print that way.