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.