An Interview with author Charles Ghigna

1. What draws you to write for young readers?

I used to write a lot of serious poems for adults. Some of those were published in The New Yorker, Harper's, and various literary journals. After my son was born, I wrote him a couple of funny rhyming books about dogs and cats. I submitted the manuscripts to Disney. They sent me a contract for those two books, followed by three more picture books. I fell in love with writing for children! I quit my teaching job that year when I realized I could reach more kids via my books than I could from inside a classroom. I've been writing full-time ever since.

2. What advice/message would you send to young creators?

Get yourself a notebook. Write in it every day. Write about something that happened that day or about your special thoughts. Write just a few sentences about anything you want to write about. Write as though you’re talking to your best friend. Do that for two weeks. Then stop. If you can. If you can’t, you’re a writer. And no one, no matter how hard they may try, will ever be able to stop you from following your writing dreams. Enjoy those dreams. Follow them. Make new ones. Share them. Write of your passions, your loves, your fears, your joys. Find your writer’s voice by listening deep inside. It’s that little voice that says in a low, soft whisper, “Listen to this…”

3. What message(s) do you want to share in your work?

Most of my books are about the wonder, beauty, and joy of nature and childhood. I would like children to know that they are all born poets and that each one of us sees the world in our own unique ways. Whenever we look up at the passing clouds and see long-tail dragons and sailing ships, we are poets. When we share our vision and dreams, we are poets. We are poets whenever we tell the world who we are, what we think, how we feel. I want children to know that poetry unites us, transcends all that divides us, saves us from ourselves and each other. It is the guiding star that shows us who we are.

4. Please tell us more about Little Hearts: Finding Hearts in Nature and any other work you'd like to share about.

Little Hearts takes the reader on a nature walk journey to discover the many "little hearts" found in nature. I hope the book reminds us all to take our time and appreciate our surroundings and the beauty of nature. That book will be released this coming Fall. We also have four other books on the way, including a book of poetry that represents much of my life's work in writing for children. It is a big 128-page gold gilded book titled The Father Goose Treasury of Poetry. It will be published next year. We also have a few other new books on the way.