Learning more about one of my favorite children's book authors, Margaret Wise Brown, by reading her biography: Awakened by the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus. In the 1930s she attended the highly progressive Bank Street teacher's college in NYC and worked with children in the lower grades of the Little Red School House. The philosophy there sounds like something I'd love for my own children, presently in the 21st-century NYC public schools. So much about exploration and imagination. Brown herself spoke of how much she admired the creativity of her students. In this atmosphere it is not surprising that she will develop a writing style that is abstract and inventive and so much like the way children themselves speak and think when they are very young. Loving this book!

Where I work... here is a picture of my office. It is not always this neat! As I look around me now there are piles of paper on the white desk where my son and daughter often draw. Outside the window is a tree-lined street in Brooklyn. I've always loved the look and feel of "Brownstone Brooklyn." One day, though, I hope to have a desk that overlooks a pretty garden--a house in the country would be so nice, and would probably inspire stories of tiny creatures that live in the woods and the flower beds. These days I'm going through old stories I have in various stages of completion. Some aren't half bad, but others, in retrospect, are forgettable. No one particular story has grabbed me for a while. I'll start working on one, convinced that it would be enthusiastically received, then after a week I lose interest, or better--I begin to doubt myself. Sometimes all it takes is for someone besides myself, especially someone in the publishing industry, to tell me that a story has potential and then I can focus 100% till it's done. For now, I'll keep sifting through my files and hope I can spot the one I should finish!

What I'm reading now... the biography of Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon, by Leonard S. Marcus. I've only just begun it but am so excited to learn more about the life and inspiration of one of my favorite children's book authors. Her writing is so creative and quirky, with a freedom sometimes missing in kids books today. How can you beat "Goodnight nobody, Goodnight mush." ? I didn't know until I was an adult that one of my very favorite books when I was a girl, Color Kittens, was written by Ms. Brown. Somehow my mother missed Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny when buying books for my brothers and me, but I've read each to my own children countless times. Runaway Bunny in particular gets me choked up and in awe of how in tune she was with the world of children and the love of parents, though I think she never had children of her own. (I'll find out soon in Mr. Marcus' book!) A few favorite lines from Little Fur Family (a gift to my kids from my dear friend Domenica who had read it as a child)... "It was a wild wild wood. Wild flowers grew all over the ground and wild winds blew through the air." And of course, Garth Williams illustrations are magical. I'll post again as I get through the book and again when I'm done. From the jacket I see that her own life may not have been joyful, which only makes me more curious about her and her wonderful stories!

My first kids book! It's been two years now since my first picture book was published. I had written it for my son when he was three years old back in 2006. What a thrill when an editor at Sterling Publishing liked the initial idea about traveling the country learning funny dances. I did have to rewrite a few times but as I have come to find out that is nothing out of the ordinary. I added more dances to cover all areas of the country (originally it was just places that our family had visited or where we had relatives or friends). I changed the main character of my son to a universal "we" so that all kids could feel included. All in all it was a great learning experience and a good introduction into the world of children's book publishing. Next up: A Christmas picture book next year, fall 2013, which has such beautiful illustrations--I can't wait to see it in its final form! It's also published by Sterling. After that? Hopefully I can transform one of the many drafts in my computer into something sell-able. And there are new ideas popping into my head everyday, since my 8 and 5 years olds are my near-constant companions. I'm excited for what's ahead!

An author I'd love to be... Cynthia Rylant!

There are many children's book author's I admire, but my first choice for blogging about today is Cynthia Rylant. I sometimes have what I consider to be a good idea for a story, and sometimes I can keep up the enthusiasm and keep the ideas flowing long enough to complete a whole book, but the consistency with which Ms. Rylant creates wonderful stories for children is truly inspiring.

There is her Henry & Mudge series, the Mr. Putter & Tabby books, High-Rise Private Eyes, and others too numerous to count. Here is a bio I found on the Scholastic website:

"As a child in West Virginia, Cynthia Rylant never dreamed of becoming a writer. In her free time, she devoured Archie comic books and paperback romances and enjoyed the outdoors. But after taking one college English class, she was, “hooked on great writing... I didn’t know about this part of me until I went to college-didn’t know I loved beautiful stories.” And one night, inspired by the Southern writer James Agee, she sat down and wrote When I Was Young in the Mountains. Named a Caldecott Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book, it was an instant success. Since that night, Rylant hasn’t stopped creating wonderful books. Her stories explore friendship, love, grief, and other mysteries, and often draw on her memories of growing up in Appalachia. “I get a lot of personal gratification thinking of those people who don’t get any attention in the world and making them really valuable in my fiction — making them absolutely shine with their beauty.” She lives with her many pets in the Pacific Northwest."

What I love most about her books is their sweetness and how seamlessly her narratives flow. She makes it look easy, but it is anything but! She is a great talent and I have spent many hours reading her books to my children--they love her stories as much as I do.

There are many books I loved when I was a girl, but my very favorite of all was Miss Suzy by Miriam Young with pictures by Arnold Lobel (of Frog & Toad fame). I would make my mother read the story to me every night without fail. If she was tired and skipped a page to speed up the process, I would innocently point out that she'd missed a page and could she please go back and read it. In fact, my own copy was read so frequently that the covers came off and were lost long ago (see photo, left). About 10 years back I found a vintage copy with its cover intact and scooped it up (photo, right).

Originally published in 1964 by Parents Magazine Press (a 40th anniversary edition came out in 2004 from Purple House), Miss Suzy tells the story of a little gray squirrel who lives in a tidy home at "the tip, tip, top of a tall oak tree." One day some mean red squirrels kick Miss Suzy out of her house and she seeks refuge in the attic of an old abandoned (human) house nearby. There she finds an elegant dollhouse in need of a good housekeeper and a friendly band of toy soldiers to spend the winter with. Come springtime, the toy soldiers reclaim Miss Suzy's oak-tree home and she is very happy once more.

A few years ago I discovered there had been follow ups, one called Miss Suzy's Easter Surprise--not such a favorite for me--and Miss Suzy's Birthday Surprise which I have yet to find. I just spotted it used on Barnes & Noble for more than $60! (Another day I will write about my love of finding old kids books for under $1.) As far as the original story goes, I highly recommend it!

Before I did my first reading in front of children (that's me, above, in 2010 at BookCourt in Brooklyn, NY) I was under the impression that everyone in attendance would be on their best behavior. They would sit quietly and listen attentively. Quite the opposite was true. While some kids did sit sweetly and follow along (some even thanked me afterward), these are some of the situations I've run into at these events: a maniacal laugher (start to finish, whether the page was funny or not), two boys who tried to shock me by whispering "poop" every once in a while, a few kids audibly asking their mothers when it was time to leave, and a whole lot of fidgety little folks. Through it all I kept my composure as best I could, repeating in my head like a mantra "Just make it to the end!" When my second picture book comes out next fall, will I subject myself to these intimidating audiences once again? Of course I will!

Even outside of bookstore settings, children are tough critics. Whenever I tell people I write children's books, I point out that I have two"in-house critics" at home. My kids, ages 5 and 8, are ruthless in their assessments of my work, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Do they like a certain story line or animal or person's name? They will tell me without hesitation. What obstacles should a character encounter? They will undoubtedly have an opinion. The trickiest thing is making changes once the kids have given their blessing. We might have chosen a girl's name for a story but once I've Googled the name and seen that it is already the title of a kids book or, worse, the name of an unsavory real-life character out in the world, I'll need to change it. That does not always go over well with my in-house critics: "But we LIKED the name Amelia!" (or Ashley, or Arabella, or whatever it may be!) That's why I've come to seek their counsel early on in the process and usually keep the editing to myself!

Welcome to my blog!

I am a late-comer to this medium. The fact is, I am and always have been a bit of a techno-phobe. I was the last of my friends to embrace--in order--computers, email, cell phones, and texting. I have yet to join Facebook, although I am getting close so maybe I'll do a post about it one of these days! In college a friend told me, "If you had been alive when they invented the car, you would have said, 'What's wrong with the horse-and-carriage?'" He was right.

So who am I and what am I going to write about? I am a writer living in Brooklyn, NY, and the mother of two, ages 5 and 8. I've written two children's books (The All-American Jump and Jive Jig and a Christmas picture book that is due out next year), a number of decorating books (among them Country Living Cottage Style and House Beautiful Decorating With Books), and a whole bunch of magazine articles (for O, Town & Country, Country Living, and Art & Auction to name the ones I'm proudest of).

As for a topic for this blog, I've decided to focus on children's books. I write them, I read a lot of them to my kids, and I even collect them. I have most of my favorites I read as a child, some with pages barely clinging to the spine, and I can't pass a yard sale without browsing the selection (which explains why I have many more books than shelf space). I'll share with you the titles I love, writers and illustrators I love, my own writing process, and general musings on all manner of children's books.

Thanks for reading, if you've happened to stop by. Please leave a comment anytime you'd like!