Approach writing and illustrating as if it were not only a passion but also a job, a business, and a career because it is. Study each book you can get your hands on and take classes. I still draw and paint with watercolors, but I leave the illustrating to those who have spent their lives perfecting their craft.ĭo you have any advice for future authors or illustrators? I held on to it until I thought I knew enough words to write beautiful sentences and draw flowers, trees, dragons, and a girl who could fight all the bad things in the world with her trusty steed (usually in the form of a cat or dog) at her side and a magic sword in her hands. I received my first diary before I could spell. Why did you want to become an author or illustrator? I love them all equally, but differently. It’s like asking me to list my favorite children. As for my favorites-how much time do you have? I’ve spent the last decade reading as many books as I can get my hands on, and I studied with so many accomplished author/teachers and fellow students. I can’t imagine where we would be without them. They are Jane Yolen, Patricia Polacco, and Bette Greene. I can give you a group of three writers who inspired me by tackling some deep topics in children’s literature. I’m part of an incredible community of writers and illustrators. Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators? And even the ones that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths. “Stories,” he’d said, his voice low and almost husky, “we are made up of stories. This book discusses racism, anti-Semitism, and domestic abuse, while still managing to warm a reader’s heart by showing us that love and kindness often come from unexpected places. On further inspection, evil lurked closer to home for Patty Bergen. At face value, a captured German soldier imprisoned in a small town in Arkansas seems like a straightforward villain. In fact, it was the inspiration for my critical thesis in my master’s program, where I discussed the need for an ambiguous approach to good and evil in children’s literature. This story continues to speak to me to this day.
It’s a story about a twelve-year-old Jewish girl named Patty Bergen living in Jenkinsville, Arkansas, during World War II. When I got a little older, I loved Summer of My German Soldier, written by Bette Greene. Frederick was a poet, and even though he didn’t follow the traditional tasks of preparing for winter, his job turned out to be just as important as everyone else’s. He feels his job is to catch the sun’s rays, the colors of summer, and the dreams, thoughts, and words to sustain the family’s spirits through the cold, dark winter months. Each mouse has a job collecting food and supplies-everyone except Fredrick. It’s a lovely story about a family of field mice preparing for winter. One of my favorite childhood books was Frederick by author/illustrator Leo Lionni. What was your favorite book when you were a child? A lifelong learner, she also earned a master’s degree in gardening from Michigan State University, so she could write a gardening column for a local newspaper. She has a degree in journalism from Oakland University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Frederick is my all-time favorite kids book and I'm positive it will stay that way forever.Anita Fitch Pazner lives in Michigan with her husband, Bruce, and a needy Portuguese water dog named Finn. When he finally had his chance to prove that he wasn't, he took advantage of it and every mice eventually loved him for what he said or did (or even didn't do). Frederick appeared to be shy, lazy and an outsider of the colony. Just the way Leo Lionni portrays Frederick in the book was the main reason I loved it so much. A mice then asked about Frederick's supplies and then Frederick sprang to life and told all of them about the warm colors and great stories so vivid that they could feel the warmth from the colors and they were a part of the story that he was telling. The mice were quiet and everyone seemed to be sad. When winter finally came the colony was happy with the amount of food, but the supplies soon dissapeared into every mice's stomach. Frederick always claimed he was gathering warm colors for the winter will be cold, and thinking of great stories for words will be lost in the cold wind. Every mouse always got on him for not collecting straw or gathering nuts.
Every mouse worked long and hard to gather supplies for the harsh and bitter winter, except Frederick. I thought that this book was the best book I've ever read.įrederick is a book about a colony of mice who were storing food for the winter. I remember when I was about 3 years old I used to try to imagine and see exactly what Frederick was imagining in his mind. Frederick was my all-time favorite childhood book.
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