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Last month I read and reviewed A is for Abraham: A Jewish Family Alphabet. This special alphabet book looks at many aspects of Jewish life and I was delighted when the author, Richard Michelson, agreed to be interviewd.

Was A is for Abraham your idea or did the publisher suggest that you write it?
Why do you think a book of this kind is important?
I was contacted by the publisher about my interest in doing a Jewish Alphabet book, as part of their larger cultural alphabet series on March 1, 2006. I enthusiastically accepted the challenge. Though culturally Jewish, I did not grow up with a religious education of any kind. But I married a Methodist who felt strongly that children should be raised with a religious foundation. Jennifer converted to Judaism (going into labor while in the mikvah, but that is a different story), and it was her questioning me about Jewish traditions that made me realize how little I knew about my own history. I wanted to write a book that would have been both helpful to me at that time, and later to my children. I think it is important and empowering to teach kids (and adults) the long history and the reasons behind much of what they are learning about their heritage.

Did you write the poems in the book all in one go and then the prose, or did you mix it up?
At first I jotted some quick notes listing every Jewish subject I felt needed to be considered. Jewish Holidays; Famous Jews from the Patriarchs to contemporary Rabbis, artists, entertainers; Diaspora Judaism, Israel Judaism, Foods, Language. Religious beliefs, etc.-- And of course, within each category, the word choices were endless. Chanukah under C or H? Under M for Menorah, D for Dreidels, L for Latkes, G for Gelt, etc. The list got completely unwieldy, and I reached a state of total despair. But I worked for months writing individual verses, often using 3 or 4 words and concepts under each letter. I sent my editor a draft, but each letter seems crowded with info that didn’t necessarily connect to make a greater whole. It felt disorganized. Too much info was crammed into too small of a verse, and that the language was too complicated.

My wonderful editor's response: If someone said to list the 26 most important things to know about Jewish-American history/culture, is this the list you would give? Make sure all the topics for each letter are grouped together in the best way possible.

So I started a long rethinking process, which was much like putting together a puzzle: Grouping foods (kosher, etc.) under one letter; Literary Arts under another; Prayer under another. If one letter changed, I had to shift numerous other letters. It became addictive? I can’t tell you how many nights I fell asleep or woke up trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.Then, of course, I needed the right balance of serious and fun; Religious, cultural, and historical.

Finally I had to make the poetry simple enough for young children, and interesting enough rhythmically and conceptually for parents and older kids. After all the poems were written, the side bars allowed me to expand on the subject. I tried to boil down sophisticated ideas, and explain them as simply as possible within a specific given # of words to fit the book's format. More than two years later, my final draft was submitted.

Do you enjoy speaking to children in schools? If so why?
I am pleased to say that the book is selling well, and has been added to the essential PJ Library booklist; also the Jewish Book Council has sent me on tour to speak with kids at book festivals and schools around the country, where I have a lot of fun interacting with kids. Meeting the kids, and their families is an honor and more importantly, it is fun. The kids and I read together, we laugh, we discuss, and we have a great time. The enthusiasm of children, when they learn something new, or understand something for the first time, or think about something they'd not considered before, is wonderful to witness and be a part of. I get to be the good guy, and then, when they or I get tired and cranky, I get to leave them with their parents and teachers. What's not to like about school visits? Writing for and speaking to kids is a dream job.

Many of your books have a historical element to them. Why do you choose to write books of this kind? Is there a time in history that you are particularly interested in?
I write both fiction and non-fiction; I write for kids and for adults; and it all interests me equally. In fiction and poetry, I get to exercise my imagination, and in non-fiction (though it is also an imaginative undertaking in so far as I try to put myself in the mind of the individuals during their historical moment), I get to learn about what makes us who we are, which of course, helps me understand myself, and others, and where we might be going. I can't conceive of "specializing," and the past interest me as much as the future.

What do you think parents and teachers can do to encourage their children to read more books that are history based?
It is a constant challenge to see the world as if for the first time, or in a new light, and if a parent is truly interested in a subject, their enthusiasm will encourage their children. When my own children were in college, I always suggested that they choose their courses based on the teacher, more so than the subject. A good teacher is even more important for younger kids.

I write the books I write because something captures my attention, and I want to share that feeling or knowledge with others. It is creating a community, which is why Jews pray together in synagogue, or in a minyan. Plus I write because I am in love with words, and their possibilities. What a parent or teacher can do to encourage a love of history, is to choose the right books that make history fascinating; and to read the books themselves, or along with their children. How many times have you heard parents complain that their children aren't reading, or interested in learning, while they themselves are plopped in front of the TV.

What kinds of books did you like to read when you were a child?
Unfortunately, I did not read much as a child. I really fell in love with books, under the guidance of a wonderfully enthusiastic teacher in high school. I did not realize there was a whole world of children's books out there. So when my kids were young. I was reading the classics: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Vonnegut, Kafka, Singer, and these are the books I would read to my children at night. My daughter tells me now that I used to embarrass her by reading long passages Kafka's Metamorphosis to her and her 2nd grade friends when they came to our house for sleepovers. It wasn’t until my children were older that I discovered children’s literature. I had become social friends with writers/artists like Jane Yolen, Barry Moser, Maurice Sendak, and so I read their books, and I was astonished by the richness of their best work for children. Later, when my children brought friends home with them from college, I would insist on reading them passages from, for instance The Stupids. So I continued to embarrass them. Most readers move from children's books to "adult books," but great books are great regardless of the age they are supposedly geared toward, and the time in life you encounter them.

I'd like to introduce you to Matthew Price, a children's book author and publisher. Recently his publishing house, Matthew Price Limited, set up an office in the United States and several Matthew Price books are already available. Curious to learn more about Matthew and his work, I interviewed him.


What prompted you to set up a publishing house here in the United States?
Our children had gone through high school in the States and didn't want to come home! What choice? We had to move and move we did with absolutely everything.

Is the publishing world in the United States very different from the one in the U.K.?
Yes and no. The principles are the same, the taste is different in some ways. How do you decide which books to publish? Mostly gut instinct as a father, but also as a former children's book editor, and as a former children book buyer.It is unusual for a publisher to also be a writer.

Do you think that your experiences as a writer make you a better publisher? Yes, in some ways, it's very inconvenient in others! The compulsion to write gets in the way of being an efficient manager. On the other hand, it makes me much more empathetic to what writers and artists go through. The number one complaint from authors is that publishers don't communicate enough with them. As an author myself I view the editorial and publishing process with an authors eye. I am gentle with my editorial comments, and keep the author informed during all phases of production and marketing. That allows us to have wonderful, long term relationships with our authors.

Your company motto is "Education through delight" and you have produced several books for young children that fit this bill. Do you think you will publish books for older children too?
It's possible, but I want to get the younger books established first. This is our area of strength.

What do you think we need to do to make sure the unhappy economy does not have a dire effect on the children's book industry?
Traditionally children's books have not suffered as much as adult books in a recession. None of us is recession-proof but all we can do is try and publish only those books that we believe in wholeheartedly. That is what we should do all the time anyway, so maybe this difficult time will help us to concentrate our minds!

I have read that you "grew up in a bookshop." Where was this, and what was it like?
What I meant by this is that I grew up in the book trade in a bookshop. My first job was in Dillon's University Bookshop in London and I spent five years there, ending up as the children's book buyer. It came to be the basis for all my editorial instincts. As an experience for a publisher, it was invaluable. When I got my first job in a large publisher and we would discuss a book, I would sometimes say: "Well, I couldn't have sold it in the bookshop," and people would glare at me, because in England it was very unusual to go straight from a bookshop into an editorial job and they had not had this experience.

Do you have plans to write another book?
Yes. What will it be? I honestly don't know. I have foresworn writing many times but it always seems to come back and get me.What do you like most about being a publisher? I have to confess, I love the whole business. I love working with authors and artists. I love working with other publishers. I love working with reps, librarians, booksellers, the professionals of the book trade. We have very strong international links and I love to discover people all over the world who love the same things I do. I even love the wheeling and dealing.What do you like most about being a writer? I love to put something new where there was nothing before. I think what I mean by this is that I love to create something original.


Take a look at my review of Matthew's Book, Room for one more.

Good morning everyone. Today I am going to be 'talking' to the authors and illustrator who created the wonderful book Willow. Willow is a picture book about a little girl who does not let someone else tell her how to express her creativity. Instead she sees and paints the world in her own way. You can read my review of this book on the Through the Looking Glass Book Review website.


I'll begin with Cyd Moore who has created, among other things, the Stinky Face books.


1) As an artist did this book strike a special cord with you because it is about a little girl who is artistic?

I was actually working on a story about a creative little artist who didn't see the world like every one else. I had a lot of doodles and bits of story ideas, when I received the manuscript for WILLOW from Sleeping Bear. I loved Denise and Rosemarie's story so much that I decided to jump right in. I'm glad I did! I'm very happy with the book.


2) Do you think this book has an important message to impart to children?

Definitely. I know that art is better when you're feeling happy and confident and FREE. Everyone chooses how they move around in the world. You could choose to remain in a tiny comfort zone drawing round green trees like everyone else. You could be angry and sad and lonely. Or, you can be determined to experience a big world every day: draw funny drawings of your neighborhood, read a book about something new, surprise someone with a gift they never expected, and maybe even munch on blue apples one morning and sweet mangoes the next. You'll have a great life and you'll make others happy along the way.

3) How do you create your illustrations?
I read the manuscript and doodle small thumbnails of ideas on a large piece of paper. Any idea that looks promising gets a full size sketch after that. When the entire book is sketched, I make a dummy book for the art director and editor to see. When they approve the sketches, I paint with watercolor and use Prismacolor pencils on soft french watercolor paper that is very unforgiving!

4) How long does it take you to create a full page piece of art?
If the ideas are coming easily, I can sketch a page per day. My style is very loose, so I paint quickly. If I obsess over a piece, I overwork it. So, I've learned to keep moving—usually, only a day or two per page for final art.

5) Do you decide how the art should be laid out on the pages?
Yes. Art directors have been generous over the years giving me a lot of freedom. I am a graphic designer as well as illustrator, so I am always thinking about design when I'm illustrating books. I always lay out the page with sample text in place. Doing this allows me to create spaces within the illustration for the text to flow freely. I personally like books where the text and the art work together as opposed to a more formal layout like the image on top, text in a block underneath.

6) Do you work on a piece for many hours at a time or do you take many breaks and work on several projects simultaneously?
Sometimes I'll have smaller jobs like magazine illustrations here and there while I'm working on a book. But I like to work on one story at a time. No matter how much I plan, though, my calendar doesn't always work out this way. After working for several months on a book, I finally send off the big package of artwork to the publisher. It's such a relief...like a new baby. It's finally in the world! The next day, my studio feels so empty. The day after that, I usually start a new project and the cycle begins again!

7) Do you find that your travels to foreign countries affects your creative style at all?
It most certainly does. The larger you make your world, the more inspiration you have at your disposal. Travel stretches you, challenges you, informs you, changes you. I believe it's as important as organized education. I really do. Maybe going to veg out on the beach with your head buried in a good trashy novel is not AS informative as touring the temples of India, but I suppose even those lazy uncomplicated vacations can affect you in positive ways.

8) Do you have lots of ideas for books swirling around your head or do ideas just pop up suddenly?
Ideas pop up suddenly, and I have probably hundreds of scraps of ideas stuffed inside notebooks. I'm working on several stories of my own, so in the future, maybe I'll be publishing books that I've illustrated and written.

9) Do you listen to music while you work or do you need peace and quiet?
It depends on where I am in the process. If I'm working on ideas and sketches, I need absolute quiet. But, if I'm painting the finished artwork, the music will definitely be going. I like many kinds of music, so my iPod play list moves from folk to rock to classical and jazz and even a few Buddhist and Gregorian chants!

10)What kinds of books did you like to read when you were little?
I grew up on a farm in Georgia and we didn't have a lot of money to buy books. The library was far away, yet I read thousands of books as a kid. We were so lucky to have the bookmobile lady show up at our front door every week during the summer. My favorite was THE SECRET GARDEN. I also read a lot of mysteries...and Dr. Seuss books—GO DOG GO and HORTON HEARS A WHO!
When my boys were little, we loved Roald Dahl books. I still read them now and again, and my kids are in the twenties! His stories are fantastic and silly and adorable. We gave the BFG as birthday presents to their friends—every kid should have the Big Friendly Giant in his library!

Next I will be asking Rosemarie Brennan about her writing:

1) Was the idea for Willow something that you and your sister came up with together or did one of you think it up and then share the idea with the other?
On July 22, 2006, while sipping caramel lattes in a coffeehouse, I mentioned to Denise a story idea I had, she said she had a similar idea, and she generously agreed to co-create a book with me. I was experiencing great personal loss at the time, and Denise threw me a life preserver.

The ideas Denise and I discussed on that July afternoon never took off. But the opportunity to collaborate with Denise, who already had her foot well inside the publishing door, was enough to light a fire under me. In the weeks to follow, I conceived of and wrote most of WILLOW. During the process, Denise was an important sounding board. I wrote independently and then telephoned or emailed my words and ideas to Denise. Her enthusiastic and encouraging responses -- "You're onto something!" or "Awesome!!!!!!!" or "You're a genius!" -- helped me believe in WILLOW and keep going.

2) Did you find it hard to work with someone whom you know so well?
No partnership is without its challenges. I can be so perfectionistic that nothing is ever good enough. Denise can be bossy. Both of us are a bit too fond of talking and sometimes we have to interrupt each other to get a word in edgewise. But our different personalities and gifts make Denise and me a good team. We're middle children of a big family, and pretty good at bending and give-and-take. We laugh 'til our sides hurt on a regular basis. We know, as Denise's book Grady the Goose illustrates, that we can fly farther together than we can apart.

3) In Willow the little girl has a special almost magical quality in the way that she communes with her art. Did you base her character on someone specific?
No, Willow isn't based on anyone I know (although I do have a friend who is an art teacher and who has a daughter named Willow). Willow represents the best in all of us. She doesn't follow the crowd. She trusts her instincts. She is unselfconscious, unafraid, generous, and open-hearted and loving to everyone. She looks at the world through the rose-colored glasses of LOVE. I want to be more like Willow. All too often I slip into my Miss Hawthorn nature.

4) You and your sister give writing workshops around the country. Do you find that you learn a lot from the people you talk to?
Absolutely. As we give author presentations and lead writing workshops, the roles of student and teacher blur (as was the case with Miss Hawthorn and Willow). We are teachers and students at the same time. We teach and transform and uplift each other.

5) What do the children in your library think of the book?
My local library, Brighton District Library, owns three copies of WILLOW and they are almost always checked out. I take that as a good sign.

And last, but by no means least, here is what Denise had to say:

1. How did you and your sister write this book together?
It began as a conversation at a coffee house and grew with many brainstorming sessions. After tweaking it through numerous emails back and forth, Willow was completed with the help and support of an exceptional staff at Sleeping Bear Press.

2. What do your daughters think of Willow?
All of my stories/characters are like a new member of the family. Everyone is excited about its arrival but the novelty quickly wears off.

My daughters are always excited to see the final results; the end product. They live with me throughout the process, read every draft, are asked to give their opinion more times than they want to and see the sketches and the galleys, etc. I wish I could tell you they don’t go anywhere without the book, I wish I could tell you they tell all their friends about it, and I wish I could say they can’t wait to see what Willow will do next, but truthfully, I think they’re thrilled when it’s finally over.

Children often ask me of the eight books I’ve written, which is my favorite. I use my parents to explain the answer; I tell them there were eight children in my family and if you asked my parents which was their favorite, they would probably say “We loved them all equally.” I feel the same way about my books. Each one has a special place in my heart and my children appreciate the time and effort it takes to create each one.

3. Was this book harder to write than your previous books?
It was actually easier in many ways because I was working with my brilliant and creative sister, Rosemarie! Writing Willow with Rosemarie was a unique experience; an unexpected gift.

4. You must be pleased with the artwork that Cyd Moore created for this book. Does Willow look the way you imagined she would?
It is exciting to see what an illustrator will do with your story and how they will they bring it alive. I’ve always been a fan of Cyd’s work so I was thrilled when Sleeping Bear Press told me she would be illustrating Willow.

Rosemarie and I were together when we got our first glimpse of the book and squealed with delight when we saw what Cyd had created! Cyd really “got” Willow and it shows in the details. Check out the end pages!

5. Have you considered writing another book about this wonderful character?
Absolutely! It is our hope that Willow will continue to inspire others through her unique and creative outlook on life.
If you would like to find out more about this wonderful book, its authors, and its illustrators please visit the Willow website. In addition there are are art projects to try, activites, bios, and more.


I have THREE SIGNED copies of Willow to give away. Drop me a line if you want one!