1. What draws you to write for young readers? I don’t think I will ever, as an adult, love a book as much as I loved books when I was a child. They were my entertainment, my comfort, my escape from elementary school life, which could be difficult for an introverted, geeky little kid. After college, I tried various forms of writing: magazine articles, screenplays, even greeting cards and puzzles! It’s kind of shocking that it took me so long to figure out I should be writing what I’d always loved most: children’s books. 2. What are the messages you hope to share through your work? I believe that setting out with the intention of teaching kids something is the kiss of death for a children’s writer. If someone comes up and tells me that they’ve written a children’s book about the importance of eating vegetables, I cringe (as does my inner six-year-old). When I teach writing, I tell people that if they write about what interests them, what they care about, what they love, their values will come through in their work. For me, I hope those are things like empathy, compassion, and love for the earth and the animals with whom we share it. 3. What do picture books allow you to do as a storyteller? Since I’m not an illustrator, picture books allow me to participate in a wonderful synergy: my words plus an illustrator’s images creating something magical together. As your readers likely know, the author and illustrator generally don’t communicate directly during the illustration process. Illustrators can bring words to life in a way their writers never imagined, and I love seeing what my idea becomes after another creative person has transformed it. Since I aspired to write screenplays at one point, I also love how picture books parallel them in some ways: the words tell part of the story, and the images tell the rest. Writing enough but not too much—which would limit the illustrator—is a constantly fascinating, frustrating, delightful challenge. 4. Any message for young authors (and their teachers)? Pretty much every writer I know had dozens and dozens of rejections before selling a book. Persistence is important! When I visit schools, either in person or virtually, I hit the “never give up” idea pretty hard, and I hope kids walk away knowing they shouldn’t give up on their dreams even if they hear the word “no” a lot. And I hope teachers understand how very important it is for kids to see themselves in books, and that they curate their classroom libraries accordingly. And the other message I have for teachers is a huge THANK YOU! Both my parents were teachers, so I have some idea of how much work teaching is, even when there’s not a pandemic going on. I can’t think of a more important job, and I’m so grateful for all you do. And the same goes for school librarians!
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