The Book Sense 76
-- The Children's 76
-- Category Top 10s

Okay. Maybe I'm exaggerating. Actually, what happened was my phone rang one day in 1997 and, like a fool, I answered it. On the line was the New England Irish accent of Jeff Dwyer (who, along with his partner Elizabeth O'Grady, represent some of the best children's writers and illustrators working today). Jeff said he'd just read some of my stories from The End of the Road and The Big Garage On Clearshot, and wondered if I had ever considered turning some of them into children's stories. I told them that, as a matter of fact, I had not.

It could have ended there, but as you'll discover if you're ever on the telephone with Jeff, nothing ends there. I soon found myself working on an outline for a 1,500-word picture book. The outline turned out to be 5,000 words. Jeff said maybe what I have is not meant to be a picture book, but a novel for young readers. I went to work to trim it down and it became 10,000 words. "You know," said Jeff, "I think this might be a series."

I stopped trying to condense, and Jeff found me a contract for four books with Knopf, where I was lucky enough to work with editor Andrea Cascardi. Andrea taught me how to write clearly and respectfully for kids, and about a year later the result was Williwaw! It's the best thing I've ever written.

Williwaw!, introducing my two little friends, September and Ivan Crane, was published in April of 1999 as I started work on book two, and waited for all the glamour of children's publishing to come find me.

Here's the part that keeps me honest: There was no big author tour with stops at all the morning shows and maybe a romp with David Letterman, as I had experienced with my adult books. There was no wearying list of bookstore appearances to become pre-caffienated for. There was, in short, nothing. Had I not been the one to write the book and send it off in the mail, I would never have known it existed.

A few well-placed phone calls was all it took to get my education. Knopf/Random House, of course, was perfectly happy with the book and willing to send me wherever they could. But there was no place to send me. Few of the talk shows, local or otherwise, are doing books, and those that are don't do children's books. Apart from the industry trades, media interest in children's writers is somewhere below the lemur handlers at the Bronx Zoo.

So, accepting my lot in the world and recognizing that you write children's books for love or not at all, I plodded onward. A short time later I was talking with my old friend Ben Manilla, a radio producer I'd worked with before, and a father of a four-year-old. We were deliberating on how difficult it is for the average person to hear about new and good books for kids. I told him about the frustrations of the authors and artists on the other side of it. Finally, one of us said, "Somebody ought to do a radio show for adults about children's books."

True story, but this story is getting as long as my outline for Williwaw! and I need to cut it short. Ben and I brought Jeff Dwyer into the conversation, and before the year was out we had the Loose Leaf Book Company in production.

We now have more than 100 public radio affiliate stations across the country, and each week we feature the best in new and classic books for kids. Our titles are selected with help from an expert panel assembled by the Children's Book Council -- made up of some of the leading educators, librarians, critics, and booksellers from the field of children's literature.

I invite you to drop by our website to look us over and listen to some of the episodes. You can also see if there is a station in your area that carries the program.

The Loose Leaf Book Company is the best thing I've ever worked on. Jonathan Mitchell, our senior producer, is the most gifted sound designer I've heard. I have the pleasure of hosting and writing the show and, best of all, I get to meet all of the top writers and illustrators around the country and the world. I've visited with Gary Paulsen, Katherine Paterson, Natalie Babbit, Leonard Marcus, David Wiesner, and David Shannon. Valerie Lewis of Hicklebee's Children's Bookstore in San Jose, California is a weekly guest on the show. Molly Bang has taught me how pictures work, and author Robert Cormier taught me what a gentleman and a scholar truly is.

These people are unbelievable, and I am thrilled week after week to be involved in creating a place on the radio for them to speak their thoughts, and reach the wide and literate world of the public radio listener.

I've learned a lot about writing by writing for kids. I've learned even more over the past year producing the Loose Leaf Book Company by reading those authors who have mastered the art of writing for kids, and talking with them about their craft. Here are three of my favorite authors writing for young people, and my favorite books so far:

 

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman The Golden Compass The Subtle Knife The Amber Spyglass
Abraham Lincoln;A Photo Biography The Wright Brothers; How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman
Dogsong and Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen

A lot has happened since that day Jeff Dwyer called me out of the clear blue sky and asked me to write a book for kids. All I can say is I'm glad I answered the phone.

Further Reading

Loose Leaf Book Company
Brian Selznick
Walter Dean Myers
Lois Lowry
Art Spiegelman

Author photo by Stacey Ramirez

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