20 questions with Scotty James about his new book

Scotty James is best known as an Olympic snowboarder – but did you know that the pro athlete has also recently come out with a children’s book?

Heavy on illustrations and packed with adventure, MOOKi vs The Big Scary follows MOOKi as he convinces his friends to climb a mountain with him. But to achieve their goal, they must face the notorious Big Scary.

To learn more about the book, and to discover some fun facts about Scotty, we sat down with him for a rapid-fire Q&A session.

1. Describe the book in three emojis.
⛰️ 🕺 🚀

2. Practice makes perfect or permanent?
Permanent. Definitely. I always think of muscle memory: the more time you spend doing something, the more permanent it gets.

3. Ride a snowboard or ride a rocket ship?
Ride a rocket ship, definitely!

4. Do you prefer cliffhangers or happy endings?
Cliffhangers.

5. Favourite character in MOOKi vs The Big Scary?
Jerry the Yeti is one of my favourites in this book for sure.

6. What's the nicest thing someone has said about the book so far?
It’s actually not one thing that someone has said, but when I read it to kids at a school the other day, they all laughed when Ralph did his nervous wees. I loved it – it was awesome. We can all relate to a nervous wee at some point in life.

7. Who was your first fan?
My family.

8. When was the first time you saw the book in real life?
I think it was the first week in May or around that time. It was awesome. I remember seeing it and thinking that the illustrations inside were amazing.

9. What's your favourite scene in the book?
When MOOKi has just landed. He’s pulling his friends into his crazy idea of climbing this mountain and (without realising how much of a journey it would be) they encourage him to do it.

They initially think he’s pointing at a tree to climb, but he is pointing at something a little bit more heroic and adventurous than that. It's a good start to the book.

10. What was your favourite childhood book?
My favourite childhood book would have been Clifford.

11. What's your favourite movie?
My current favourite movie is Surf’s Up and that hasn't changed since it came out. I love Surf's Up.

12. What's your coffee order?
A long black.

13. The three best things about books . . .
1. Creativity
2. Engaging
3. Cliffhangers

14. Weirdest item you've ever used as a bookmark.
It’s probably not that weird, but I do use plane tickets often cause I'm travelling a lot so I always use them to bookmark my books.

15. Physical book, eBook or audiobook?
Physical book for me. I like being able to hold it and see it.

16. What’s the biggest plot twist surprise in MOOKi vs The Big Scary?
You would think Jerry was the Big Scary, but he's not. There's someone else that's the Big Scary, so that's a little bit of a plot twist.

17. Who inspires you?
I get inspired by people who, whether in sport or any profession, think outside the box, do things really creatively and branch off into different areas of life outside of their ‘career’.

18. Best advice for kids who want to be brave like MOOKi?
MOOKi accepts failure and embraces his friends, Cindy and Ralph, to help pick him back up and get on his feet. He takes on the challenges and most importantly, does it all with a smile on his face. I think that's really important and something that I do every day. So my advice is to enjoy yourself, have fun and be along for the ride. It’s a fun ride.

19. What’s your favourite fictional world?
The world of Surf’s Up. The waves look nice, I love the story arc and who doesn't want to be at a beach in Hawaii?

20. Where can we find you online?
Instagram. TikTok, Facebook, X. Everywhere my handle is @scottyjames31 and my website is scottyjames31.com.