Author Interview: Kim Wayans and Kevin Knotts

Today's interview is a real kick for me. I grew up watching the comedy TV show In Living Color, starring the Wayans family. That show was HILARIOUS. And I am still a really big fan of the Wayans family. I don't think any other performers make me laugh as hard!

When I found out through Twitter that Kim Wayans and her husband Kevin Knotts had written a children's book series called Amy Hodgepodge, about the life of a fourth grader, I was immediately intrigued. When I found out that the main character of the series, Amy Hodges, was Japanese, Korean, African American, and Caucasian, I nearly fell off my chair. How exciting!

I've asked Kim and Kevin some questions about Amy Hodgepodge and they were very kind to answer. Below is our interview via email. I hope you all get a kick out of it too!

When did you decide to write the Amy Hodgepodge books? Where did you get the idea for the books? And is there a particular reason you made the main character, Amy Hodges, Japanese, African American, Korean, and Caucasian?

We first decided to write the Amy Hodgepodge books about 2 years ago. It took us about a year to get a book deal, and get to writing. The first book in the series, "All Mixed Up" came out last May, and four more titles have followed. We're blessed to be the Aunt and Uncle to thirty-eight nieces and nephews, many of whom are multiracial children; they were our inspiration. It was important to us that Amy's racial background reflect as much diversity as possible, so that all children could see themselves in her. That's why we chose to make her African-American, Caucasian, Japanese and Korean. The other characters in the series reflect a wide range of races and ethnicities, as well.

What was your creative process for the books? How exactly did you divide the writing?

Kevin and I have written together for many years now, starting with a stint on the ABC sitcom "My Wife and Kids." We pretty much have our writing process down to a science: After we come up with the idea for the book, we do a detailed outline, then proceed to talk out loud our story. I'm the transcriber, so I hand write everything longhand before we input it in the computer. I also enjoy acting out the story as we go...It sometimes drives my husband crazy, but that's my process; I'm a performer first!

What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) did you draw from while writing the books?

A huge source of inspiration are stories lifted from the lives of my nieces and nephews, and also from our own childhoods.

You are both also actors. How did your acting affect your writing for children and/or vice versa?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I enjoy acting out the story as we write. That includes doing distinct character and voices for each of Amy's friends. It makes it easier to determine if what we're writing is working when I create the visual for us to see during the process.

What were the challenges and rewards from writing the Amy Hodgepodge books?

Amy has six core friends in this series. It's often a challenge to ensure each character has something to do in each storyline. Often, we give the boy characters their own b story, which makes this a little easier to achieve. The biggest reward by far, is visiting schools and libraries and hearing the overwhelmingly positive feedback from children about the Amy Hodgepodge series. Just knowing that we've provided these wonderful role-models is so uplifting.

What do you want young readers to take away from the books?

The Amy series promotes tolerance in a fun and entertaining way. We want children to celebrate diversity in themselves and in others. It's cool to be different!

What are some of your favorite experiences from signings, interviews, and other promotional activities for Amy Hodgepodge?

A lot of times at readings and signings children will identify directly with the character that looks most like them. Often kids excitedly exclaim, "I'm Amy. Amy looks like me!" or "Rusty looks just like me!" It's so important for all children to see positive images of themselves in children's literature because it helps to foster self-esteem. If you don't see yourself reflected back at you, you get the message you don't count, or you're invisible. Those are not healthy messages to send to children.



What children's books would you like your own work to match or surpass (in terms of writing, impact, popularity, or awards)?

We're really not into comparing our series to other existing ones. We just hope our Amy Hodgepodge audience continues to grow, thereby allowing us to expand the property into a cartoon and perhaps a line of dolls or toys. Who knows. The sky's the limit!

If you could choose only one, which would you choose: for Amy Hodgepodge to be award-winning, or for Amy Hodgepodge to be bestselling? Why?

We'd rather Amy Hodgepodge be a bestseller. Awards are great, but they are usually given by a very small committee. A bestseller would mean that more than a few choice folks decided our book series was worthy, and that the beautiful message of the series was reaching a very broad audience.

What kind of young readers were you? What were your favorite books? Who were your favorite authors?

We were both voracious readers. I'd get lost in dreamland reading books for hours at time. Both of us were profoundly affected by E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web." And I was a huge fan of the "Pippi Longstocking" series. I do, however, remember wishing she had a friend that looked like me. Another fav for both of us was "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

What are your strongest or favorite memories from when you were Amy Hodges' age?

Kevin grew up on a ranch in Oklahoma. Some of his fondest memories are of fishing at the lake, camping in the great outdoors, and going to see the Oklahoma Sooners' football games. When I was Amy's age, I was writing my first collection of children stories, which my teacher, Mrs. Clark, would have me read to the lower grades. Around that time, I also started honing my performing skills, appearing in school plays and dance recitals whenever possible.

Do you have a message for your readers in Asia?

Yes! Thank you so much for reading Amy Hodgepodge. Please spread the word to family, friends, teachers and librarians!

Thank you so much, Kim and Kevin!

Author/Illustrator Interview: Anne Sibley O'Brien

We're in for a real special treat today! Today, I have the honor and great pleasure of interviewing Anne Sibley O'Brien, an American author/illustrator who creates multicultural children's books.

Anne Sibley O'Brien was raised bilingual and bicultural in South Korea (as the daughter of medical missionaries). She has received the National Education Association’s Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award for her work with Margy Burns Knight, TALKING WALLS and other books; the Africana Award for AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY by Margy Burns Knight and Mark Melnicove; and the Aesop Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the Global Korea Award for THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG: THE ROBIN HOOD OF KOREA, a graphic novel she wrote and illustrated. Her latest book is AFTER GANDHI: 100 YEARS OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE, which she illustrated and co-wrote with her son, Perry. (Click here for a complete list of Anne's work.)

Anne is involved in diversity education and leadership training. She is also a performer and has created a one-woman show entitled “White Lies: one woman’s quest for release from the enchantment of whiteness” (http://www.WhiteLies.ws). She lives with her husband in Maine, and is the mother of two grown children.

Welcome, Anne!

What was it like growing up an American in Korea? Do you remember the culture shock you experienced when you first moved to Korea? Did you experience culture shock again when you moved back to the U.S.?

Memories of my earlier years are fuzzy, but from the time I turned seven and we left New Hampshire to move to Korea, it's as if someone turned on a video camera - I have a continuous set of images of this most definitive event in my life. I'm sure that there was considerable adjustment for me as a young child, losing one world and encountering a completely new culture and country, but children take their cues from their parents, and mine framed the whole thing as a grand adventure. In moving to Korea to serve as medical missionaries, they were both fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Our family - my parents, my two brothers, my baby sister and I - arrived in Seoul in 1960, seven years after the end of the Korean War and the partitioning of the peninsula into North and South Korea. It was a difficult time as people struggled to recover from the devastation and figure out how to survive in its aftermath. We often saw young children dressed in rags, begging on the streets. Over the twenty years that it was home, we witnessed the miracle of South Korea's development and modernization to become one of the world's most industrialized nations, which instead of increasing the gap between rich and poor, actually benefited all of the country's citizens. So the Korea I knew as a child was dramatically different from the country I lived in as a young adult, and the country I visit today - the changes are just so fantastic.

Growing up as an American in 1960's Korea was kind of like being a princess. South Koreans were deeply grateful to the U.S. for its role in the war; at the time it was probably the most pro-American country in the world. There were few foreigners and we were extraordinarily privileged and visible. When I went to the market or anywhere in public, I attracted a crowd of children and adults who were fascinated by how different I looked: my light brown hair (like "gold!"), my large round eyes, my big nose, my height. But the attention was so friendly, so full of awe and wonder, that it became the catalyst for my own passion for human difference and connection.

In their dream, my parents had envisioned working side-by-side with Koreans as colleagues, so they were dismayed to discover that missionaries in 1960 were housed in turn-of-the-century three-storey brick houses up on hills, on compounds surrounded by barbed wire. The second significant thing that happened, after moving to Korea, was my parents' choice to live in a Korean house, which they managed by the time I was nine. That changed everything about our relationships with Koreans, some of whom became dear friends and extended family. I also had a number of experiences of total immersion in Korean life and language, including a year at a Korean university, so I became - and remain - bilingual and bicultural.

Growing up in Korea meant belonging to a place I did not belong, being of a place I was not from, being welcomed and loved by people who were not "my" people. Somehow, culture shock and the sense of dislocation always felt more intense when I returned to the U.S., to the place I supposedly belonged, to the place I was from, to "my" people.


(Seoul, July 1960 - Anne's 8th birthday with friends)

What are some of your strongest memories from when you were living in Korea?

- Falling in love with Korea's culture and traditions: the graciousness and generosity with which guests are welcomed; the brilliantly-colored designs on the underside of palace or Buddhist temple roofs; the charming and cunning cast of animals animating folk stories and folk art - dragons, rabbits, tigers, goblins, magpies; the bold colors and graceful sweep of the traditional hanbok, with its long skirt and half-moon-sleeved top; the love of children and reverence for elders.

- Sleeping on a thick padded quilt on the floor, heated in winter, with another heavy quilt over me, my body toasty, cool air on my face. Eating meals - Korean rice and side dishes, American stew or spaghetti, or a mix - seated on cushions around a low table.

- Family vacations with Korean friends spent enjoying the country's natural beauty: tall twisted pines along a rocky seacoast, terraced rice fields climbing a hill, mist enveloping the base of craggy peaks. Eating picnics of kim-bap - rice, egg and vegetables wrapped in seaweed - and cucumber sandwiches, seated on the large flat boulders beside a mountain stream, in between wading or swimming in the deep pools of icy water.

- Navigating between worlds: riding through Korean streets in the LandRover that took us to school where we studied an American curriculum in English (at an international school founded by missionaries in Seoul, and a military dependent school on an Army base in Taegu); or walking up the alley steps past makeshift shacks and an open sewer, then through the compound gates to play with missionary friends in the ease and beauty of their lawns and gardens.

(Anne in Taegu, 1963)

- My favorite after-school activity in 5th and 6th grade: playing with the babies in the children's wing of the hospital where my father worked, where they'd been sent for medical care from area orphanages. The short-staffed caretakers were happy to have extra hands. When I'd walk into the room where a dozen or so older babies and toddlers lay in metal cribs, every one would stand up and hold up their arms to me. (I tried to get my mother to adopt some or all of them, but had to wait twenty-five years to fulfill that dream, when my husband and I brought our adopted daughter home.)

(Revisiting Korea, June 2009 - Anne with her daughter Yunhee)

- The summer before my senior year of high school, our family moved with Korean colleagues to a rural southern island to set up an experimental project in the delivery of medical care directed by my father, the Kojedo Community Health Project. The island was an unspoiled gem of hilly peninsulas jutting out into waterways and bays, with no electricity or paved roads in the northern end where we set up camp. My friends were the village girls who trained as nurses' aides. I worked there for two and a half of the eight years the project ran. (I just returned there last month for the first time in thirty-two years, and the island now has highways, high-rise apartments, and two of the world's largest shipyards! But many of my friends were still there.)

(June 2009 - Kojedo homecoming with Jum-soon and Kum-ja, former nurses' aides)

Those are truly wonderful memories, Anne. :o)

What kind of young reader were you? What were your favorite books? Who were your favorite authors?

I loved books. Probably my three favorite things were people, drawing and reading.

I have a vivid memory from when I was eight, living in Seoul, and my mother, brothers and I caught a lingering virus that kept us bed-ridden for weeks. A woman who called herself the Story Lady came to visit with a pillowcase of books over her shoulder. Magical.

Once or twice a year, we got to order used books from a church warehouse in the States. We checked them off on a master list, mailed off the order, then waited months for the package to be delivered by sea mail to discover whether or not we'd gotten the ones we'd wanted. Books were precious.

My mother read to us a lot, classics like WIND IN THE WILLOWS, WINNIE THE POOH, the NARNIA books and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. We had an extensive library of marvelous picture books like BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL, Taro Yashima's UMBRELLA, and the delightful Little Golden books illustrated by Eloise Wilkins.

I was a romantic child, and I loved books about babies, princesses and fairies - an antique book I got from the order service called JIJI LOU, about a doll who makes a home for abandoned baby dolls; BABY ISLAND; FLOWER FAIRIES; THE GOLDEN BOOK OF FAIRY TALES illustrated by Adrienne Segur. In junior high, my favorite book was a fairy tale, TATSINDA by Elizabeth Enright, with pictures by Irene Haas, who became one of my favorite illustrators. As a teenager, I loved the novels of Madeleine L'Engle (especially the Austin books) and Katherine Paterson's novels set in Asia.

How has growing up in Korea molded you as a person?

Aside from being born into my family of origin, growing up in Korea was the single most formative event of my life. I was seven years old, that time in development when a child is moving from sensing oneself as the center of the universe to having a look around at the rest of the world, so it had a huge impact.

The greatest gift is the certainty that we are all connected, that all human beings belong to each other as members of one family. I think I sensed this as a young child, but it was confirmed by the direct experience of being embraced by people who were different from me, yet claimed me as their own. My early experiences were the inspiration for my desire to explore the glory of human difference, to portray racial and cultural particularity in such a way that we can all see the beauty of other ways of being.

Having the reference points of two often contrasting languages and cultures is wonderfully mind- and heart-expanding.

I've also exercised my mind and heart working at the puzzles of race, economic class, and privilege. All the attention I got as a child for my visible difference made me intensely aware of my own race, which is an unusual perspective for a white American. When I came back to the States for college, my culture shock propelled me into an exploration of racism and whiteness that has became a lifelong passion.

What was your path to publication as an author/illustrator for children?

I started off as an illustrator. By the time I finished my studio art major at Mount Holyoke College and moved back to Korea, I was leaning towards children's book illustration as my chosen art form. In 1978, just married and living in the States, I set up a course, "Writing & Illustrating Children's Books," taught by Eric Carle, for the teacher-community center in western Massachusetts where I worked. During that wonderful series of classes, I decided that this was exactly what I wanted to do, even if it took ten years to break in (I would have been astonished to know that it would take seven).

I put together an illustration portfolio and over the next seven years, took it around to art directors and editors at New York and Boston publishers, attended conferences, and used what I learned to keep improving my work. Finally, in 1985, I was in the right place at the right time, when an editor told me he wanted to publish a series of board books on toddler conflicts. As the mother of a two-year-old son, I was primed and ready to respond. Holt Rinehart published the first set of four, which I wrote and illustrated, in 1985, the second set a year later (all long out of print, but still sometimes found in libraries).

In between, I illustrated my first picture book, JAMAICA'S FIND, by Juanita Havill. Nine books in eighteen months!! Then three long years went by before my next contract, another JAMAICA book. During that fallow time, I started to take my writing much more seriously, first in order to develop manuscripts that I could illustrate, then for its own sake.

(Anne's daughter Yunhee was the model for Brianna)

What inspires and motivates you to write and illustrate for children?

By the time I was seven, I was announcing to the world that I was going to be an artist when I grew up. I drew constantly - filling sketchbooks, doodling all over my math papers, trading sketches of babies for American candy from my Army kid classmates. Those early picture books were an inspiration - I loved illustrations of people's faces, which was also my favorite thing to draw.

In fourth grade, I used to write stories for fun after school, making up the kind of families I wished I lived in - with lots and lots of children, not just four.

At Mount Holyoke, where the art department was exclusively fine arts, it became clear that I was more drawn to applied arts, and my advisor gave me a piece of wisdom: "The task is to find work that sustains you, that you can sustain."

To this day, most of the ideas I have for creative projects come in a form that works for young people, though they cover the spectrum from board books to young adult novels. "I get paid to write stories and make pictures," I tell groups of schoolchildren. "Isn't that a cool job?" I'm blessed to say that, so far, my work sustains me, and I can sustain it.

What is your creative process when you are writing and/or illustrating a book?

I always hold this intention for my creative process: "I will listen, receive impulse, and follow it through response into form." My working principle is that everything has more substance and power when it comes through me rather than is directed by me. I hope to let images and ideas rise up from the unconscious rather than being consciously produced.

In concrete terms, when I'm illustrating a book I start with very rough thumbnails, then move to storyboard and dummy, often cycling through this process several times before reaching final illustrations. If I'm also writing the picture book, it may move from text to images back to text, in any order. Each book seems to have its own unique journey, its own needs.

When I'm writing longer manuscripts, I never move through the story in a line from beginning through middle to ending. Instead, I write whatever scene feels lively, wherever the energy is moving. I can juggle many projects at a time when I'm working on them informally, but not once I'm on a schedule, limited by a deadline. I always think that when I'm doing final illustrations, I could also be working on revising a novel on the side, but it never seems to work out that way. Apparently, I can only work intensively in one medium at a time.

How has growing up in Korea influenced your writing and illustrating for children?

In addition to all the ways I've mentioned, it's provided source material for a number of my books - THE PRINCESS AND THE BEGGAR (Scholastic 1993, out of print) and THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG: THE ROBIN HOOD OF KOREA, plus a forthcoming book I illustrated, WHAT WILL YOU BE, SARA MEE? (Charlesbridge 2010) by Kate Aver Avraham, about a Korean-American first birthday, and four of my current projects.

THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG, a hero tale in graphic novel form, is my most decorated book, receiving the Asian/Pacific American Literature Award, the Aesop Award, and the Global Korea Award, and named to Booklist's "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth 2007."


(The Smithsonian, May 2007 - Readers' theater presentation of THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG, photo by James DiLoreto)

(ALA, June 2007 - Anne signing books after the ceremony for the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature)

What are the challenges and rewards of being an author/illustrator for children?

The biggest challenge for me is the sustaining part - economically, that is. I often say that the finances are as creative as the work. I put together a living (and I'm incredibly lucky to actually be able to do this) from advances, royalties, school visits, other writing and illustrating gigs like emergent readers, and other bits and pieces of income. Of course there are creative challenges with the work itself, each book seeming to present its own new set, but that's what makes it worth doing: it's not easy.

The rewards include: doing work I love; having the freedom of a totally varied and flexible work schedule which I am in charge of; going to work in my pajamas; getting paid to dream and imagine and play as well as write, draw and paint; being part of a creative team with editors, art directors, marketing people; interacting with audiences of young people and adults, some of whom have read my books(!); connecting with other children's book creators; royalties, still coming, even on one book published twenty-four years ago; and having a really cool response when people ask, "What do you do?"

Can you tell us a bit about your book tours, school visits, or workshops?

I'm an extrovert and a performer, so the presentation part of book marketing is fun for me. I've done hundreds of school visits across the U.S. over the last twenty-five years. I do between fifteen and thirty days per year, I'd guess, mostly K-5, but sometimes middle school and occasionally high school classes.

Programs include joint author-illustrator presentations with Margy Burns Knight for TALKING WALLS and our other books, and solo visits as the illustrator of the JAMAICA books (author Juanita Havill lives in Arizona, but we did manage one week of joint school visits this year) or talking about creating THE LEGEND OF HONG KIL DONG: THE ROBIN HOOD OF KOREA. I also do specific content workshops such as "Composing Comics: The Power of the Frame," "Visual Literacy," and "From the Heart: Illustrating Across Cultures."

I appear at conferences, writers' workshops, and events such as the Kennedy Center Multicultural Book Festival; spend a week each summer as the Creative Writing teacher at a Korean cultural camp in New Jersey; and have twice presented at my high school, Seoul Foreign School in Korea. I'd love to do more international schools.

There's lots more information about appearances, including some of the programs I offer and a complete list of the schools I've visited over the last three years, at my website, AnneSibleyOBrien.com.

What are some of your favorite experiences from your book tours, school visits, or workshops?

Just a few:

- Looking out at a roomful of children - all those beautiful faces!

- Who knew you could fascinate entire classrooms of American fourth and fifth graders with 15th century Korean history, including the invention of the Korean alphabet?

- Hearing students say as a program is ending that all they want to do is go write or draw.

- Connecting with Korean-American students - I start speaking in Korean and they nearly fall out of their chairs.

More thoughts about school visits and programs at my blog, "Coloring Between the Lines," (www.coloringbetween.blogspot.com)

Readers, check out Anne's blog! On it, Anne looks at issues of race and culture in relation to creating and using children's literature. :o)

What are you working on now?

I have about twelve of my own projects at various stages of development: two teenage novels (one set in Seoul, the other in North Korea), two graphic novels (both with Korean content), two long-term memoir projects, four picture books, and a couple of others at the concept stage.

This fall I'll be illustrating a picture book, THE MOON WATCHERS (Tilbury 2010), written by an Iranian-American friend, about a family celebrating Ramadan in the U.S. And I'll be promoting two new books: AFTER GANDHI: 100 YEARS OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE (Charlesbridge 2009), which I co-wrote with my son, and the seventh in the JAMAICA series, JAMAICA IS THANKFUL (HMH 2009) by Juanita Havill.


If you were to visit the Philippines, would you a) visit white sand beaches and underground caves, go sailing, go snorkeling and scuba diving, etc.; or b) check out the natural wonders above ground, like the Taal Volcano, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Chocolate Hills. Why?

Beautiful landscapes feed the eyes and the soul, so I'd certainly look for a dose of natural wonders (a and b), but my first choice would be meeting Filipinos, interacting with them and seeing how they live. Then I'd want to see and do whatever they recommended to introduce me to their country. And I'd want to spend time in markets selling handcrafts.

What is your message for your readers in Asia?

Wow, I have readers in Asia?! I'd love to be invited to your school, library or conference. I've been to India, Nepal and Hong Kong in the 1960's, otherwise only to Korea and Japan. I'm eager to experience other Asian countries. And 안녕하세요 to anyone from Korea!

Anne, thank you so much for sharing your experiences, work, and insights with us!

Author/Illustrator Interview: Keith Patterson

I want to go to Homer, Alaska. Why? Because of Maybelle, Bunny of the North (Bees Knees Books, 2009). It's a very cute and engaging children's picture book that celebrates nature and play. I don't think I will ever get tired of it. From Maybelle I have learned that in Homer, I can play in the snow in the winter, go to Beluga Lake and watch the float planes take off in the spring, go to Bishops Beach and pick up rocks and sea stars in the summer, and watch the geese fly south in the fall.

Keith Patterson, the author and illustrator of Maybelle, Bunny of the North, is visiting today to answer some of my questions. (Below are also images from the book.) Welcome, Keith!

What were you like as a young reader and writer?

I grew up in a house full of books, so there was always something to read.

What were you like as a young artist?

Art was always my favorite subject in school. I drew cartoons in all my notebooks.


What motivated you to create Maybelle, Bunny of the North?

Everyone who has been to Homer, Alaska has a similar story about their first view of the mountains. You drive down the Sterling Highway, and you come around a bend in the road, and you are at the top of a cliff overlooking Kachemak Bay, with the mountains in the background. It is very inspiring. I started doing some watercolors of scenes around Homer, and the children’s book was a natural progression.

What was your chosen medium? What was your creative process?

My chosen medium was pen & ink and watercolor. My daughter was about eight months old at the time, and we often went for walks around town. I started drawing the things we saw on our walks, and that evolved into the book.


What influences (literary and artistic) did you draw from while working on Maybelle, Bunny of the North?

I wasn’t consciously thinking about anyone else’s work, but Maurice Sendak and Richard Scarry have always been favorites.

What were the challenges and rewards from working on the book?

I rearranged the book several times over a period of about four years, so the biggest challenge was keeping the bunny the same age in all the pictures. The reward was finally seeing it as a finished book.


What was the path to publication for Maybelle, Bunny of the North?

First, I made one or two copies at Kinko’s. The thought of sending it out to publishers was daunting, so I thought I would do another book in all woodcuts, and print it myself on hand cranked letterpresses. I created all the woodcuts, and took a class on letterpress printing, and finally created two finished copies of Maybelle Counts to Ten. Letterpress is another world. There are all kinds of possibilities there, but it takes so much time, that I decided to self publish online at Lulu.com. At that point, Nancy Arruda, of Bees Knees Books, saw the book on Lulu and emailed me to say that she wanted to publish it.

What is it like working with Bees Knees Books?

It has been really great. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible to have a real book published and in book stores.

{"Soon it will be winter again. It will be cold outside..."}

What do you want young readers to take away from Maybelle, Bunny of the North?

I guess the basic message is that it’s fun to get out and explore your environment.

Who are your favorite children’s book authors? Why are they your favorites?

Maurice Sendak is the children’s book author/illustrator that really made an impression on me when I was growing up. Richard Scarry is another one that I could sit and look at for hours. Virginia Lee Burton is an author/illustrator that I have recently rediscovered. Her graphic design is original and playful and inspiring. I like William Steig because his drawings are simple, but he captures expressions perfectly, and he paints beautiful landscapes, and his stories are suspenseful.

{image from Maybelle's Dress-up Party}

Who are your favorite children's book illustrators? Why are they your favorites?

Most of my favorites are author/illustrators. Barbara Cooney is another great pen & ink artist. Beatrix Potter did the most realistic animals I can think of.

If you could choose only one, which would you choose: for Maybelle, Bunny of the North to be award-winning, or for it to be bestselling? Why?

I think it’s counterproductive to worry about how your work will be received.

{image from Maybelle's Dress-up Party}


What are you working on now?

I’m working on several things right now. The main one is Maybelle’s Dress-up Party, a book about playing dress-up, sharing, and what to do if a bear tries on your play dress and rips it. I’m also working on some different ideas for new books, and making mock ups.

If you were to visit the Philippines, would you a) visit white sand beaches and underground caves, go sailing, go snorkeling and scuba diving, etc.; or b) check out the natural wonders above ground, like the Taal Volcano, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Chocolate Hills. Why?

I’d like to learn about rice farming, so I’d say the rice terraces.

Thank you so much, Keith! I can't wait to read Maybelle's Dress-up Party!


IMAGES FROM MAYBELLE, BUNNY OF THE NORTH © 2009 KEITH PATTERSON, COURTESY OF BEES KNEES BOOKS. IMAGES FROM MAYBELLE'S DRESS-UP PARTY COURTESY OF KEITH PATTERSON. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Author Interview: Susan Chodakiewitz

Too Many Visitors for One Little House (Booksicals, 2009), written by Susan Chodakiewitz and illustrated by Veronica Walsh, is a very colorful and heartwarming children's picture book about a big family reunion in a little house. And the family's neighbors hate all of the fun going on in the reunion. In fact, they want to file a complaint at the city's complaint department! Too Many Visitors for One Little House is a very likable story about community.

Today, let us welcome the book's author, Susan Chodakiewitz. Susan is the founder of Booksicals. Booksicals not only publishes children's picture books, it brings those books to life using musical theater. There is a musical staging of Too Many Visitors for One Little House!


Susan, can you tell us a bit more about what Booksicals is and why you founded it?

I absolutely love picture books and the way they express complicated emotions and ideas in simple and whimsical ways. Years ago I decided that one day I would be a children’s book author. I put that idea on the back burner for many years as I dedicated myself to writing musical theater.

About 4 years [ago] I wrote a musical based on a picture book. This was the catalyst that started me writing my own books. Writing children’s books took over my creative activities yet I was looking for a way to combine my passion for musical theater with my love for writing picture books.

While writing Too Many Visitors for One Little House I found myself thinking up songs for the characters. This could be a musical, I thought to myself. The thought made its way to my subconscious and one morning I woke up with the word BOOKSICALS in my head. I immediately knew I had stumbled on to something very exciting.

In 2008 I launched Booksicals with the mission of encouraging a love for reading through the arts. I published Too Many Visitors for One Little House as Booksicals’ debut picture book.

In March 2009 I wrote the musical version of the book and formed the Booksicals Repertory Company which is now performing Too Many Visitors for One Little House at schools, libraries and at special literacy events.

A mom who was at the debut performance of Too Many Visitors for One Little House at the Robertson Library in Los Angeles emailed me that her 2 year old daughter begged to have Too Many Visitors read to her 4 times that night, before going to bed. This level of excitement about reading is exactly what Booksicals is setting out to accomplish.

What motivated you to write Too Many Visitors for One Little House?

Too Many Visitors for One Little House is based on the wild and crazy summer that my family moved into our new house in Beverly Hills and all these visitors came to stay.

First my sister drove in from Miami in a Bounder (the biggest camper ever made) with her husband, four kids, and housekeeper. For a surprise they brought my parents and uncle from Russia.

Then I got a call from my sister-in-law in Houston. She was getting a divorce and was moving to LA. She and the 3 kids needed a place to stay until she found a new house. She came with 3 children and a housekeeper.

My mother-in-law who had just been rehabilitated and was still in a wheel chair also moved in with us, together with her nurse that summer.

Every evening our visitors would congregate on the front lawn speaking different languages. My Russian uncle occasionally led the group in singing Russian folks songs.

Our formerly quiet little neighborhood buzzed with music, noise from children at play and the barking of a scraggly dog -- that also decided to adopt our family that summer – Our not so little house began to bust at the seams. Needless to say our neighbors became concerned and summoned the police on various occasions to check out the “suspicious activity” at the house of the new family on the block!

It took 16 years for Too Many Visitors for One Little House to finally manifest itself as a children’s picture book.

What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) did you draw from while writing Too Many Visitors for One Little House?

Roald Dahl’s book Matilda was in the back of my mind a lot while writing Too Many Visitors for One Little House. I love the tone of that book. Roald Dahl’s writing is a real inspiration to me and something I aspire to.

With a background in writing musical theater, for me, writing picture books is a lot like writing a song. The sound of the words and how they roll off the tongue is critically important in both art forms. I write, re-write and keep cutting words until the words fall on all the right beats and the sentences “sing”.

What were the challenges and rewards from writing Too Many Visitors for One Little House?

Being able to fictionalize a story that is based on true characters and events was a real challenge for me. I found that once I got the story out I felt freer to get away from the actual facts and start adding, cutting, changing and creatively crafting a good story.

I also struggled with the point of view. At first I wrote the story from the family’s point of view –- which is the way I experienced it. Various drafts later, I realized that it was really the neighbors’ story. Once I discovered that -- I had a real story arc to work with.

What I found rewarding while writing this book - and that’s true in general for writing picture books - is the challenge of being able to build a character, create a setting, develop a story arc, get from point a to point b in an emotionally rewarding way -- with few words and in a short time span. Like songwriting if accomplished – the experience is magical.

What do you want young readers to take away from Too Many Visitors for One Little House?

First of all- I want them to love the book and want to read it over and over again.

I hope they will enjoy chanting the repeating chorus “Too many visitors for one little house!” and will be excited about reading.

The picture books I loved as a child made their way into my psyche and discreetly play a part in the values I now cherish as a grown up. I would hope that readers of Too Many Visitors for One Little House will always remember the book's story and the value it teaches about [the] importance [of] being included.

What were you like as a young reader? What were your favorite books? Who were your favorite authors?

I grew up in Flushing, New York. During the hot summer my best friends (the three sisters who lived across the street) and I went to the Flushing Library and participated in their summer children’s reading program. We spent afternoons sitting on the stoop sucking on ice cubes and reading our books.

As a child my favorite picture books were The Cat in the Hat and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.

In 3rd and 4th grade I absolutely loved the Danny Dunn series especially Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine by Jay Williams, the book Charlotte's Web by E.B. White and all the Beverly Cleary books. I loved reading about the big family in Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

I came of age with the help of Francie, the main character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith.

In junior high school I loved reading the earthy writing of Pearl S. Buck.

My all time favorite book which is more of a philosophy book than a children’s picture book is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I discovered that picture book for the first time when I was a college student. I am forever remembering the scene where the Little Prince is devastated to learn that his rose wasn’t the only one in the world. Until he realizes his was “unique au monde” because he “tamed” her.

What children's books are you reading now?

I recently read Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith with illustrations by Marla Frazee, probably the best children’s picture book text I’ve read in a long time.

I wish I had written The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill and Laura Huliska-Beith.

What songs are in heavy rotation on your iPod or stereo right now?

I listen mostly to classical music and don’t own an iPod. I mostly listen to the classical music station on the radio while I drive. I enjoy going to the opera with my husband and going [to] classical music concerts. My favorite concert this month was a choral performance of Mozart’s Requiem. I took my 18 year old son and two of his friends who had never heard Mozart before. They thought the Requiem was [the] coolest thing they ever heard.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on a new book about a character named Dogstoyefsky. Dogstoyefsky is a dog with a flair for writing that can’t seem to find his own artistic style despite the fact that everyone keeps trying to tell him what to do.

At the advice of my readers during an author reading in Phoenix, I decided to write a sequel to Too Many Visitors for One Little House featuring the scraggly dog [from the book] as the main character. There is only one problem. The dog does not have a name!

I am inviting readers to help me name the dog by entering the Booksicals NAME THE DOG CONTEST. The winner will get a prize, be featured on the Booksicals website as well as win a free book. To enter the contest go to http://www.booksicals.com/name-the-familys-new-dog.


If you could choose only one, which would you choose: for Too Many Visitors for One Little House to be award-winning, or for Too Many Visitors for One Little House to be bestselling? Why?

My goal is to turn as many kids on to reading as possible. By encouraging children to enter the world of the book through contests, arts and crafts projects and live musical performances, I hope to expand the reading experience of a child beyond the pages of the book.

Therefore, while I would be love to win an award for Too Many Visitors for One Little House (wouldn’t that be grand?) if I had to choose one or the other, I would chose to reach as many children as possible by being a best seller.

If you were to visit the Philippines, would you a) visit white sand beaches and underground caves, go sailing, go snorkeling and scuba diving, etc.; or b) check out the natural wonders above ground, like the Taal Volcano, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Chocolate Hills. Why?

Besides the fact that I’m a chicken when it comes to water, I am much more of an explorer than a water sports person. Therefore, I would choose to check out the natural wonders above ground, like the Taal Volcano, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Chocolate Hills. Experiencing the wonders of nature fill me with religious awe.

Susan, thank you so much for stopping by to take us into the world of Booksicals! I think the combination of children's picture books, music, and theater is wonderful.

Author Interview: S. Terrell French

In the heart of Mendocino County, California, there is a gorgeous stand of rare old-growth redwood trees known as Big Tree Grove. One of the redwoods has an amazing tree house. The front side of the tree house is a deck with long benches, the back is a little cabin with a pointed roof. There's a pulley seat to go up and down the redwood. The tree house is fortified with sleeping bags, walnuts, apples, water, peanut butter, bread, cheese, cereal, crackers, powdered milk, jam, and chocolate-chip cookies. Julian Carter-Li, Robin Elder, Danny Lopez, and Ariel Glasser - all ages 11-12 - are camped out in that tree house and they are NOT coming down until San Francisco-based IPX Investment Corp. agrees not to log in Big Tree Grove.

How did Julian, Robin, Danny, and Ariel meet and become friends? How did they find out about IPX's plans for Big Tree Grove? Why do they want to save the grove and how did they get their parents' permission to "tree sit"? Most importantly, are they successful in saving Big Tree Grove? You'll have to read Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French (Amulet Books, 2009) to find out!

S. Terrell French grew up near Washington, D.C. and is a graduate of Harvard University and Berkeley Law. She currently lives with her husband and three children in San Francisco, where she is practicing environmental law.

S. Terrell French is at Into the Wardrobe today to tell us more about herself and about Operation Redwood, which is her debut novel.

Why did you write Operation Redwood?


I always loved reading and writing. I'd written a lot in college and then switched paths when I moved to California and began working in environmental law. After my kids were born, I returned to the world of children's books. My first image of the book was of a boy, alone in an office, inadvertently coming across an e-mail from a faraway girl, one that would lead him on an unexpected adventure. I ended up writing the book I wanted to read aloud to my own kids.

WOW. How did you divide your time between being a wife and a mother of three, being an environmental lawyer, and writing Operation Redwood?

When I was writing the first draft of OPERATION REDWOOD, my youngest was only three and my legal work was episodic. I would write during his afternoon naps, while my two older kids were in school, or at night after they were all in bed. I wrote more briefs later, but tried not to schedule work when I was expecting another round of revisions.

What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) did you draw from while writing?

I love the back-to-nature adventures of Jean Craighead George, the contemporary mystery of FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E. L. Konigsburg, and the lyrical, clear writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In real life, I was inspired by the story of the people who risked so much trying to protect the Headwaters Forest -- the last major unprotected stand of old-growth redwoods -- in the 1990s.

What were the challenges and rewards from writing?

It's challenging for me to find time to write now that OPERATION REDWOOD is out and my kids are older. I love the writing process itself. Sometimes I'd be so excited at night after finishing a scene or a chapter of OPERATION REDWOOD, I couldn't sleep. Now that the book is out, I really enjoy meeting with or hearing from kids and other devoted readers like teachers, librarians, and booksellers.

I was excited when I saw that the main character of Operation Redwood, Julian Carter-Li, is Chinese American. Is there a particular reason you made Julian Chinese American?

My husband is Chinese-American and so my own children are "half-Chinese" like Julian. I tried to find books for them with Asian heroes, but found that most were set in Asia or revolved around themes like immigration or trips to Chinatown. I was interested in writing a book, set in the very multicultural city of San Francisco, in which the characters' ethnicity is simply taken for granted and the focus is on other things: friendship, mystery, and adventure.

THANK YOU for writing a middle grade eco-adventure with an Asian hero. :o)

What was the path to publication for Operation Redwood? Was it difficult to find an agent and a publisher?

I was fortunate to find my agent, Kate Schafer Testerman, fairly quickly -- through a friend. Kate really handled everything from there. She submitted OPERATION REDWOOD to Susan Van Metre at Amulet Books. I made some revisions based on Susan's very thoughtful editorial letter, and then Amulet made an offer.

Where were you and what were you doing when you found out that your novel was going to be published? What were your first thoughts and feelings? How did you celebrate the good news?

I knew OPERATION REDWOOD was under consideration and was on pins and needles waiting until my agent e-mailed me. I’m not sure I actually celebrated until the contract was signed (that’s the lawyer in me) and then my husband and I went out to dinner. Because it was my first book, it seemed a little unreal and I had no clear idea of what the future would hold.

What do you want young readers to take away from Operation Redwood?

I wrote the book with my own kids in mind, so I wanted it to have a lot of humor and adventure and plot twists. The book also reflects my own interest in the fascinating history of the California redwoods. I think it’s important for children to realize that the battle over natural resources isn’t just something that occurs in faraway places, like the Amazon, and that taking action can make a difference.

{sorrel, a flower that grows in the redwoods}

{a redwood snag with a redwood sapling growing out of it}

In your novel, the children ask for permission from adults to be tree-sitters so that they can save a redwood grove. Would you allow your children to be tree-sitters?

I better hedge my answer in case my kids ever read this! I would say that if my kids were in the situation of the kids in OPERATION REDWOOD, I might give the kind of permission that Robin's parents give, which is highly conditioned on various promises from the kids. It's a very different scenario from what the (adult) tree-sitters faced during the Headwaters battle.

What are some of your favorite experiences so far from signings, interviews, and other promotional activities for Operation Redwood?

I just spoke at the four-day Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference at Book Passage, a wonderful indie bookstore in the Bay area. I had attended this conference just after I wrote the first page of OPERATION REDWOOD. It seemed impossible at that time that my book would ever be on the shelves at this fabulous bookstore, so it was very gratifying to be back there as “faculty” speaking about OPERATION REDWOOD. I’ve done a number of school visits and I love talking with the kids about the book and about the history of the redwoods. And I just did a book signing a Muir Woods, our closest redwood park, which was very fun.

{S. Terrell French at the launch party for Operation Redwood}

If you could choose only one, which would you choose: for Operation Redwood to be award-winning, or for Operation Redwood to be bestselling? Why?

Well, I’ve already written the book, so winning awards wouldn’t really change anything (except my ego maybe). So, I’d rather have people reading the book. I just got an e-mail from a boy who said his family read the book under the redwoods during a family trip, and I love the thought of that!

Will you continue to write for children? Are you working on another novel right now?

Thinking a lot and trying to work!

If you were to visit the Philippines, would you a) visit white sand beaches and underground caves, go sailing, go snorkeling and scuba diving, etc.; or b) check out the natural wonders above ground, like the Taal Volcano, the Banaue Rice Terraces, and the Chocolate Hills. Why?

I’m a person who reads guide books obsessively and wants to see everything, especially natural wonders. So I’d probably try to see it all. But my whole family loves the water and snorkeling and going to the beach. The closest we’ve been to the Philippines is Hawaii, which is one of our favorite places. My husband and I used to dive occasionally, but snorkeling gives you a little more freedom and I never really liked all the heavy equipment. We live near the beach in San Francisco, but it’s so cold you really have to wear a wetsuit, so we all appreciate the chance to swim in warmer water. Now you’re making me think we should all go to the Philippines!

Of course you should all go to the Philippines! ;o) Thank you so much for sharing with us today.

To all my blog visitors looking for a summer read, I recommend Operation Redwood. The eco-adventures of Julian, Robin, Danny, and Ariel happen in the summer, and Operation Redwood is an enjoyable read with important messages about the environment and fighting for what you believe in.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

From the front inside flap of the dust jacket:

In a world where people born with an extreme skill--called a Grace--are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

First off, I would like to say that the plot development in Kristin Cashore's Graceling is excellent. Each event, each character, each action, each line of dialogue - everything fits together beautifully to form the story. And there was nothing extra, wasted, or unnecessary. Furthermore, I was thoroughly entertained by the story. Katsa and Po's great adventure, the mystery they have to solve concerning the kidnapping of Po's grandfather, is always exciting and never predictable. In fact, I was genuinely surprised (in a good way) by some of the events in the story.

Then there is eighteen-year-old Katsa herself. Wow. She is so fast and strong physically because of training and because of her Grace. She's also real smart, resourceful, and truly independent. In fact, Katsa plans to never marry because even if she has her freedom in a marriage, it would be a gift from her husband, something he could take away. The freedom wouldn't really be her own because it wouldn't come from her. Katsa has a good heart too. She leads a Council that goes on secret missions to help victims in the different kingdoms.

Katsa is truly amazing, but she still has her weaknesses and she develops quite nicely in the novel. I am happy that young readers have another female protagonist they can admire and even look up to.

There is a fascinating love story between Katsa and Po. Katsa has met her match in Po, the handsome, intelligent, and confident Prince of Lienid with the Grace of fighting. At first, Po infuriates Katsa and she can't stand him. But they become friends and fall deeply in love. As friends and then as lovers, Katsa and Po are equals and they give each other true freedom. It's been quite some time since I've read a fictional couple that has impressed me. And yes, their relationship has its realistic fights, tensions, and misunderstandings.

Graceling has two companion books coming out: Fire, which takes place thirty years before Graceling, and Bitterblue, which takes place six years after Graceling. I am interested in these companion books and will probably read them out of curiosity, but I am not DYING to read them - as I sometimes am with some books. Why not? I was not captured by the world in Graceling. I was not drawn into its world of seven kingdoms and magical talents known as Graces. I found the worldbuilding lacking. There wasn't a lot of background on the seven kingdoms or on the Graces, and any information about the kingdoms or Graces that was given was neither satisfying nor compelling. I feel that in a fantasy novel it is important for the reader to be drawn into the fantasy world and this experience just didn't happen for me while reading Graceling.

Nevertheless, I recommend Graceling because of its interesting plot, interesting characters, and interesting romance. It's a teen fantasy novel you will enjoy. :o)

A Letter from the Class of 2k9

Debut YA novelist Albert Borris has a way with words. Or rather, had a way with words. This past December, just months before the release of CRASH INTO ME (Simon Pulse), Albert suffered a stroke so powerful, his doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. And alive he is, having made a full physical recovery, enough to roughhouse with his two young sons and work out at the gym. However, Albert is still working on recovering something else: his words.

To be sure, they are all up there in his brilliant mind. He just can’t get them out – verbally or on paper – in the correct order, yet. But he’s working on it. Prior to his stroke, Albert was a full time teen counselor, husband and father. He also served as Co-President of the Class of 2k9, a group of 22 debut middle grade and young adult novelists banding together to promote their books. Words were his thing. Communicating with others, in person and on the page, was his specialty.

As his friends and fellow debut novelists, we, the Class of 2k9, are making it our business to get the word out about Albert and his novel, CRASH INTO ME. Here's a bit about it:

When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.

Won’t you join us in spreading the word?

Pass this on to every librarian, teacher, and teen reader you know.

Send him an encouraging note on our website: www.classof2k9.com

Blog about Albert.

Pre order his book.

Anything you can think of to show your support would be deeply appreciated. Thank you.

The Class of 2k9