Q. What inspired you to write children's books?
A. I've always like to write, and silly rhymes and phrases have been overtaking my brain as long as I can remember. But I never took it seriously until a couple years ago, when I was visiting a former newspaper editor of mine in New York
.
My son was 2 1/2 at the time, and I was going a little nuts as a full-time stay-at-home mom. But I didn't want to go back to daily journalism either.
"Well," my former boss asked, "what do you want to do?" To my surprise, I said: "Write children's books!"
Q. Why was that a surprise?
A. Because until that moment, I had allowed myself to buy into the notion that writing for children was somehow less "important" than writing for grown-ups. But when I made this sudden announcement, I felt this epiphany. The fact that my former boss, for whom I have great respect, encouraged me certainly helped. I wrote the beginnings of my first children's story on the plane ride home.
Q. So why is writing for children important?
A. Children are exposed to all kinds of things, but a picture book with wonderful art and rich, playful language--including deceptively simple text such as in Goodnight Moon--will draw a child in like nothing else. And it's those early experiences that count. It drives me nuts to hear people talk about children's books as if they were toys. Parents will supply their toddlers with computer games, and all these other electronic gizmos, then years later, they'll wonder why their kids won't pick up a book. If more people took the time to look at these books--good books, not the latest Diary of Pokemon or whatever--they might make the connection. Helping kids develop a lifelong love of words and language is what it's all about. For me, at least.
Q. Were you a voracious reader as a kid?
A. Yes and no. I was the youngest of five kids, so most of my reading was from hand-me-down series books--Nancy Drew, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys. My brother, Tom, turned me on to the mysterious Mr. Bass and Voyage to the Mushroom Planet. I loved The Borrowers and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. But my all-time favorite probably was Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach.
Q. Do you remember the first story you wrote?
A. I remember my first writing assignment. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Bowerly, told us to write a book report on our favorite book. Well, I must have been daydreaming when she described what a book report was, because I thought it meant copying a book word for word.
A. Uh oh...
A. Yeah. I chose some book about a man and his pet parrots. And wrote the whole thing out, word for word. I got a "U" for unsatisfactory, and a big frowny face. Tough stuff for a first grader!
Q. But you rebounded.
A. I think so. Fortunately, there were many good teachers along the way who encouraged me. I actually took Creative Writing twice in high school--the second time for no academic credit--because I loved it and my teacher, Karyl Baker, was so supportive. She was one of those teachers who actually encouraged us not to worry about grammar and punctuation or sentence structure. She was big on letting the words and feelings flow.
Of course, in my college creative writing courses, I got frowny faces all over again. The professors wanted deep, dark, heavy writing, and all I wanted to write about was fun stuff.
Q. Children's books?
A. Well, there are plenty of heavy subjects in children's books. But for one reason or another, I'm not drawn to write that way, at least not yet.
Q. Describe your style.
A. So far, it's been silly, rhyming stuff with a fun plot. I don't think it's a bad thing to make kids laugh. One of my favorite quotes is from Putnam editor Kathy Dawson, who said she likes verse "that feels good in your mouth" when you read it. I guess I aim for that. I like rich language, and support using so-called "big" words here and there. I mean, I don't see anything wrong with stretching a kid's vocabulary. Heck, David Small's books have sent me to the dictionary more than once. It can't be overdone, though, otherwise it gets pretentious.
Q. How do you feel about picture books that are obviously written for an adult audience?
A. Well, if they're marketed to kids, I think kids should be the ones reaping the majority of the benefits. But as a mom who has read probably a thousand books to her son, I see nothing wrong with including a little bit of adult humor. Again, as long as it's not overdone. And it's pretty obvious when it is.
Q. Was getting published easy?
A. No. But I was very lucky. I sold my first book, Skateboard Mom, exactly two years after that plane ride. I should point out that this was not the book I wrote on the plane.
Q. What happened to that one?
A. It was an RBC. A "recycling bin contribution."
