In their picture-book collaboration, Dusk Explorers (Page Street, June 2), author Lindsay Leslie and illustrator Ellen Rooney beckon readers to join a multiracial cast of kids as they romp through their neighborhood at twilight, catching frogs and fireflies, playing kick-the-can and hide-and-seek, “and pretend[ing] not to hear their parents’ the-sun-is-gone yell: ‘TIME TO COME HOME!’ ” Leslie’s rhythmic, propulsive text and Rooney’s vibrant mixed-media collages capture a magic that’s increasingly rare for today’s kids. Kirkus spoke with them both by Zoom, Leslie joining from Austin, Texas, and Rooney from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

Tell us about your book.

Lindsay Leslie: Oh my gosh, this book is the book of my childhood. It’s a tribute to it, but it’s also a call to action for the children of today. So I had my feet planted in both those worlds when I wrote it. The strongest memories [from my childhood are of] when, after dinner in the summertime, I would run out the door and hope my neighborhood friends were out there to play with. And to just let our imaginations go and see where the evening took us. It was so magical to me.

How about you, Ellen? What did you feel when you got the manuscript?

Ellen Rooney: I connected with it for that reason. I was in a big family, so for me, it was usually my siblings and my cousins. I was the youngest of 20-some cousins. I think it was maybe extra magical for me because I was younger, and I could go out with the older kids. That’s what I tried to think about when I was putting together illustrations for the book.

Is this a specific neighborhood that you created, Ellen?

ER: I drew from my own neighborhood here in British Columbia. It’s a pretty working-class neighborhood. So I just did a lot of walking around with my sketchbook. [I also wanted it to feel like] it could span a range of times too, since we’re calling back to our childhoods. It was a push and pull between trying to ground it in something specific and also have it be recognizable to people from everywhere. I’m pretty far north. So I was doing all this looking at the skies and how the sky changes, and then I realized “Oh, that’s actually quite different for different people.”

One of the book’s strengths is how racially diverse it is. I’d love to hear both of you talk about that.

LL: I had an idea in my mind, and I didn’t share it with Ellen until after [the book was finished], but I saw all kinds of kids. I was so, so glad when Ellen took it the way that she did. I was more than happy.

ER: It was such an interesting project that way, right? Because the text is so open. I did talk to [our publisher] about it, and I think everybody was jelling on the same thing.

Lindsay, how long did it take you to get the text just right?

LL: This came flowing out of me, like gangbusters. I couldn’t stop myself. I just felt like, from the get-go, it had its intention and it kept it. It’s like a movie in my head, that’s how strong this memory is. And I was in it. I mean, I was so in it.

Does either one of you have a favorite spread?

LL: This one just kills me [holding up scene of children catching fireflies].

ER: I think that was maybe the first one that I did in color.

LL: When I saw this one I just went, “Ohhhhhhh.”

ER: I just always liked that one [holding up the first full spread]. When you’re at the beginning of the adventure.

Lindsay, are you hoping to persuade some parents to let their children roam a bit more?

LL: Yes, actually, I have a whole list of reasons why they should let their kids go outside, having been through those feelings of being scared as a parent to let your kids out. You kind of have to check yourself and trust your children. Because how will they learn what’s good in the gut when their parents are always telling them what their gut reaction should be?

Vicky Smith is a young readers' editor.