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I have been lucky enough to interview Bonny this month. Here are my questions and her answers.

1.Did this story come to you out of the ether or did some person or event give you the inspiration for it?
I was thinking about how things can keep coming back up in your life--you know, like the wrong type of boyfriend or the same mistake at work and how they'll keep coming back until you face that pattern and, in a way, "befriend" it. For some reason, that morphed into the image of a pesky little mouse who keeps popping up and a grouchy bear seemed the perfect one for the mouse to pester.

2. Why did you decide to use a bear and a mouse as your characters?
They fit so well with the story. Mice do have a way of showing up in unexpected places. Bears are big and make good grouches. The two characters came quickly and felt just right.

3. What are you trying to say to your audience in the story?
I think underneath the story, for me, is this idea about things coming up again and again in life. But as I was writing the story, I mostly was having fun with the characters and the absurdity of the situation. In my first draft, Mouse leaves and never comes back. All my critiquing friends agreed this was much too sad, so I spent another big chunk of time figuring out how to bring grouchy Bear and ebullient Mouse together in a fun, not-too-sappy way.

4. Is this your favorite book so far?
I think it's a toss-up between this and my book "A Christmas Crocodile." Both involve persistent, life-affirming characters and rather grumpy sorts who try to deal with them--but I have to admit, I didn't realize the similarities until after "A Visitor for Bear" was published. That theme must be one of those things that pops up again and again in my life!

5. How do you feel about all the success the book has had?
I'm so happy about it. "A Christmas Crocodile" illustrated by David Small was one of my earlier books and it got a lot of attention, too, including a big review in the NY Times Review of Books. It was also read on NPR, as was "Bear" and even got read on national television. At the time, although I was thrilled, I didn't realize exactly how rare that kind of attention is. Now, almost ten years later, I do know. I'm working hard to promote and support "A Visitor for Bear" but mostly this kind of attention is out of your hands. As I told a friend, "If you swing enough, sometimes you're going to hit a home run and then, mostly all you can do is sit back and watch it fly!"

6. Judging both from this book and your website you obviously have a keen sense of humor. What makes you laugh?
I am the world's cheapest laugh. My husband can attest to that--he's counting on me for a chuckle on the same old quips and I oblige. I love shows like Saturday Night Live, the Steven Colbert Report, Jon Stewart, 30 Rock, the Office. I eat up movies like "Dumb and Dumber" and "The Wedding Crashers" and Austin Powers. Dumb, stupid, broad humor--although I hate the Three Stooges. And I like clever humor--wit, satire, sarcasm and irony. I think I particularly like pompous characters.

7. I see from you website that you also edit manuscripts. Do you learn a lot from the mistakes that you see others making in their writing?
Yes, definitely. But it's also true that it's much easier to spot problems in someone elses writing, than your own. (see question 8)

8. Can you see the mistakes in your own work?
I'm better at it than I used to be. But, often, no. I totally need to get feedback. I probably do 30 or so drafts of a typical picture book. Five to six of those drafts might involve fairly significant story changes--a character eliminated, a new story event added, a different starting point, a different turning point, a different ending--that kind of thing. The other drafts are polishing, polishing, polishing. Rhythm, pacing, patterns, precise wording are critical to a picture book and that takes a lot of drafts to get just right. The polishing I'm pretty much doing on my own. But in terms of outside feedback, I probably go through about three cycles of getting feedback.

9. After writing several picture books did you enjoy writing a longer book when you did Holbrook: A Lizard’s tale?
Yes. I love middle grade novels, too. And I really like being able to go back and forth between the two forms. I have a new middle grade novel, "The Magical Ms. Plum", coming out Fall '09. And a second Bear and Mouse book "A Birthday for Bear" in Fall '09, too. "A Bedtime for Bear" is coming out in 2010. And I'm working on a fourth Mouse and Bear story. And a new middle-grade novel is starting to percolate in my head. I'm letting it kind of slosh around for now, but I'm excited about getting to work on it.

10. Did you grow up in a house full of books, and what was your favorite book when you were a child?
Yes. There were bookshelves in virtually every room. I think there were probably over 1,000 books, not to much the steady flow of books in and out of our house from the library. I particularly loved books about magic. Probably the Oz series was my favorite.

To find out more about Bonny do visit her website.

I tend to rely a lot on my subconscious for inspiration. Often when I'm working, I'll recline and close my eyes and just daydream for a while and simply observe whatever turns up. I had been toying with the idea of a little girl starting at a new school and figuring out what her challenges would be. One morning, I stopped to daydream and the image of an elephant popped into my mind, along with the title, "Ella the Elegant Elephant". I've always loved elephants and so does my daughter, Olivia, so it just felt right. The story took off from there.

2. What kinds of messages do you think your Ella books convey to their young readers?
Because I read a lot to my daughter, who was two when I wrote the first Ella book, I noticed that many of the girl characters in picture books were sort of sassy or even snobby as a means of being entertaining. There are many exceptions, of course! But I really wanted to capture a spirit that was genuinely sweet while also being courageous and adventurous. I hope that the message of the Ella books is always one that urges children to be true to themselves but never at the expense of being unkind.

It's funny. I didn't used to think so until my Aunt said after reading the first Ella book, "Oh, I remember Belinda. She was so mean to you!" Well, the name of the girl who had teased me relentlessly in 1st grade was actually Brenda, but I had honestly blocked her out until my Aunt brought her up. As a child, I was very shy and kind of odd so I did get teased quite a bit, which I'm sure helped to inform the first book. I also often desired to be responsible and self-sufficient, which is a prevalent theme of the subsequent Ella books.

It did at first, but less so, now, mainly because I've gained more experience with collaborating. Steve has been a designer for many years and often has to go back and forth with a client to reach a place where everyone is happy. Writing is a solitary art. I had never been in a position where I'd had to collaborate before. If he didn't like the way I'd written something, I'd tend to take it personally, which would upset him, and next thing I knew, we wouldn't be getting along and I would be wondering why. The challenge of putting on my "work hat" when doing a book with Steve was tricky for me at first, but I ended up learning a lot about him, about myself and the process of creative collaboration.

5.Do you discuss the illustrations with your husband before he begins drawing?
Yes, I do. In fact, he jokingly calls me his "art director". However, once I express to him what I'd like to see happening visually, he does his own thing, which I'm normally very pleased with.

6. Are there going to be more Ella books or are you going to branch out in a new direction?
We may do more Ella books; I've written another one. But, at the moment we're exploring a new character we're both excited about.

I have wanted to write children's books ever since I was child. Funnily, on one of Steve and my first dates, we discussed our mutual love of children's literature. Once I had my daughter – and with my husband being an illustrator – it seemed like an avenue I simply had to explore.

My favorite picture book was "Thidwick the Bighearted Moose" by Dr. Seuss. No matter how many times I read it, my heart would go out to Thidwick and I'd feel such satisfaction at the end when he finally gets rid of his pesky guests. I have read it to my daughter, but she thinks it's just okay. My favorite children's book that isn't a picture book was "Charlotte's Web". Olivia learned to read by having me read that book (the unabridged version) to her, again and again, when she was four. So it balances out!

9. Are you the kind of author who carries around a notebook to scribble down ideas and thoughts as you go about your day?
I sometimes feel that I should carry a notebook with me but I don't. I write every day and when I write I'm in total isolation. When I "go about my day" doing things around the house or running errands, I'm often chatting on the phone or with the people in my neighborhood. I'm pretty social for a writer. And I learn a lot from my day-to-day interactions. I should note, however, that during much of my "writing time" I'm not actually writing but pondering and scribbling notes. I'm fascinated by how every writer's process is different.

It varies. Sometimes I think I know how a story will develop and conclude and then I'm taken by surprise when it takes off in a different direction; other times it kind of chugs along as planned. But usually I begin with a mental smattering of "snapshots" that I endeavor to arrange into a well-balanced collage. I tend to "see" the stories I will write, meaning they come to me first in pictures rather than in words. I then set out to write a story that elaborates on these scenes and links them together and gives a voice to the individual characters.

You can read my reviews of the Ella books on the Through the Looking Glass Book Review website and do visit the very lovely Ella the Elephant website as well.

Because Roald Dahl's books made such a deep impression on me I have created a profile for him on Through the Lookingglass Book Review. I have also reviewedmost of his books. In addition, I have reviewed several books about Roald Dahl's life and his work. You can view these on the Roald Dahl feature page. Roald Dahl fans will particularly enjoy D is for Dahl: A Gloriumptious A-Z guide to the world of Roald Dahl compiled by Wendy Cooling and illustrated by Quentin Blake.