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!