Blog Book Tour for "Amadi's Snowman" - Day One

For the next three days I am going to be featuring the book Amadi's Snowman, which was written by Katia Novet Saint-Lot

Let's begin with my review of the book:

Amadi’s Snowman
Katia Novet Saint-Lot
Illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo
Picture Book
Ages 4 to 8
Tilbury House, 2008, 0-88448-298-7
Amadi is not pleased when his mother tells him that Mrs. Chikodili will be arriving soon to teach him how to read. Amadi is an Igbo man of Nigeria who will be a trader, a “businessman” when he grows up. He does not think that a businessman should have to learn how to read, and so, when the opportunity presents itself, Amadi runs off.
Soon Amadi is in the market, a place that he loves. He eats a mango that he is given, and then he sees his friend Chima sitting on the ground next to a book stall. Chima has a book in his lap and he appears to be reading it. When he looks at the book Amadi sees a picture of a strange “animal with a nose that looked like a carrot.” Chima tells Amadi that the creature in the picture is something called a snowman and that it is made of “frozen rainwater.”
Amadi is surprised that Chima has been learning to read. Why would his friend want to do such a thing? Chima explains that he wants to “know more.” After all, if Chima had not read the book, then he and Amadi would not know about snow.
As they day unfolds Amadi discovers that reading not only allows you to learn new things, but reading might in fact be useful for a businessman.
Often children are very sure that they know what is right. They don’t need to learn math because they are not going to use numbers when they grow up. They don’t need to learn history because history has no relevance to life today. In this case Amadi believes that he does not need to read – until he realizes that reading will allow him to learn about all kinds of fascinating things. Through Amadi’s eyes children who think that reading and books are boring will see that reading allows people to discover all kinds of remarkable things about their world. Written from Amadi’s point of view, this picture book has a powerful message to share with children. No only will they be reminded of the value of reading and books, but they will also see that children around the world are very much the same. The voice that the author creates for Amadi is very convincing and, in its own way, eloquent.

Join me tomorrow for an interview with the author of this meaningful picture book.

The Tale of Despereaux and Blue Bloods Sweepstakes, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid Contest

If you are a teacher or a librarian you might want to enter this sweepstake event. One school and one library will be awarded a fantastic prize - an advanced screening of the new film, The Tale of Despereaux. Four runners up will win a Tale of Despereaux gift basket containing, among other things:

A complete set of eight movie tie-in titles
A selection of five award-winning Kate DiCamillo books in hardcover
A $50 movie theater gift certificate to see The Tale of Despereaux in theaters
One copy of The Tale of Despereaux video game (for PC)
One Despereaux plush

To enter the sweepstakes visit the sweepstakes website.

And for those of you who are fond of vampire stories take a look at the Blue Bloods Sweepstakes. Children between the ages of 11 and 16 can enter, and all entries must be received by December 31st. The winner will get to have lunch with Melissa de la Cruz, the author of the series, and will receive a $1000 shopping spree.

To enter this sweepstakes go to the Blue Bloods website.

Now, I have a confession to make. I have not yet read or reviewed any of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I know, this is a terrible state of affairs, but I am going to rectify it in the next couple of days by reading the first book in the series. For all of you Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans there is a cartoon contest that you need to know about. Anyone between the ages of 6 and 16 can enter, and the contest is open until January 31st 2009. Plenty of time to create a comic story. And the prizes are scrummy too:

1 Grand Prize Winner Receives:
One visit by Jeff Kinney to the winner’s school.
One framed “Wimpify Your Family” original comic by Jeff Kinney.
One signed copy of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Do-It-Yourself Book” by Jeff Kinney.
30 Runners Up Receive:
A signed copy of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book”
by Jeff Kinney, to be mailed to the winners.

To find out more about this contest visit the Diary of a Wimpy Kid website and click on the Contest link in the top right hand corner of the page.

An Interview with Susan Wittig Albert

I recently reviewed the latest book in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series. The Tale of Briar Bank is a delightful read, and anyone who read the Beatrix Potter Tales when they were little will greatly enjoy this collection of stories. Because I enjoy these tales so much I thought I would interview the author, Susan Wittig Albert.

1. How did you get interested in writing about Beatrix Potter for your series, The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter?
Under the name Robin Paige, my husband (Bill Albert) and I were writing a mystery series set in the early 1900s, featuring real people. I had always enjoyed Beatrix’s stories, and suggested that we use her as a character. We did, in a book called Death at Gallows Green. I enjoyed finding out about her and thought she’d make a wonderful character in a continuing mystery series. That was in 1994 or 95. It was another five or six years before my writing schedule opened up enough to allow me to propose the series to my editor. She loved the idea and we went forward with it immediately.

2. Did you know in advance that this was going to be a series?
Yes. It has always been planned to be an eight-book series. As you probably know, mysteries are written in series, most of them open-ended (like the China Bayles series, which I also write). In this case, I had a definite time period in mind: 1905 (when Beatrix bought Hill Top Farm) through 1913 (when she married Willie Heelis and moved permanently to the village of Sawrey).

3. Have you visited the Lake District where the stories in this series are set? If you have did you like it?
Yes, and I loved it! The land itself--much of which was purchased by Beatrix and Willie Heelis and donated to the National Trust--is simply gorgeous. I love the landscape, the climate, the animals, the people, and I wanted to represent them as fully as possible in the books. Most of the places I write about are real--you can see them on the maps in the books and also online, at www.cottagetales.com. Also online are photos of Hill Top Farm, Beatrix’s garden, and the surrounding area.

4. How did you decide to include the animal characters in the stories?
The real, honest truth is that Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle spoke up! I was writing a scene in which the animals (Mrs. T-W, Josie and Mopsy Bunny, and Tom Thumb the Mouse) were with Beatrix while she was sleeping. Quite by herself, Mrs. T-W decided to tell her story, so of course I had to let her have her say. I love it when something like that happens unexpectedly when I’m writing. But these animals belong to Miss Potter in a very real sense, of course: that is, they are her literary creations and are covered by copyright (now owned by her publisher). So my publisher had to negotiate their use through a license, giving me the privilege of using Miss Potter’s work in my books.

5. Do you have animals in your life?
Quite a few, since we live in the country. We have a cat named Shadow (she’s black with green eyes) and a dog--a heeler, a very bossy little dog named Toro, who thinks it’s his business to make sure that the household is organized efficiently. Out in the meadow, we have two cows, Blossom and Texas (Texas is a longhorn!) and a sheep named Mutton. On the lake are the geese and a flock of ducks. In our woods are deer, armadillos, raccoon, possums, skunks, and coyotes--and a great many birds, including bobwhites and wild turkeys.

6. Have you read a lot of books about Beatrix Potter?
Oh, yes. There’s a list at the back of every book, and another (longer) list on the website, at www.cottagetales.com. I love her and want to portray her as she truly was, an imaginative and creative artist, as well as a down-to-earth person who become one of the finest farmers and sheep-raisers in the Lake District.

7. What made you decide to include dragons in the latest book, The Tale of Briar Bank?
Thorvaald introduced himself to me and asked if he could join the crew! And of course, you never say no to a dragon--at least, not if you know what’s good for you. Actually, Thorvaald (once he woke up and understood his situation) prefers to live a rather undragon-like life. We’ll see more of him in another book, a little later on.

8. In the Cottage Tales books you really capture what Beatrix Potter was like. We see her doing her best to be a dutiful daughter and to please her difficult parents, and at the same time we see that she is determined to build a life for herself on her farm. When you learned about this conflict what did it make you feel?
We all live in our own times, don’t we? As a modern woman, it is easy for me to understand Beatrix’s desire for self-determination, and at the same time, very hard for me to understand why she would dedicate herself so fully to her parents. I have sometimes wanted to shake her very hard and say, “Get on with your life, you silly girl! These Potter parents of yours can take care of themselves.” So I’ve had to try to go inside Beatrix, as deeply as I could, to feel how conflicted she must have been, and to try to understand it, from the inside out. It’s a conflict that becomes even sharper as the books go on, and she wants to spend her life with Willie Heelis, rather than her parents. Resolving it is not easy for her.

9. Have you read all of Beatrix’s wonderful stories?
Yes, all of them, every one, from beginning to end, and several times. And I have read them aloud to my children, who loved them just as much as I.

10. I think that Beatrix’s tales are timeless. Would you agree?
I do agree--and I think that is an important part of her genius. So many of the stories for children written in her era are “dated”: we recognize them as being from a certain time. But Miss Potter’s stories speak to something in us that is the same whether we were born in 1895 or 1995, or whenever. Perhaps it is Peter’s mischievousness and refusal to play by the rules, or Jemima’s innocent naiveté, or Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s charming industry. Whatever it is, we enjoy it now just as much as Miss Potter’s first readers enjoyed it. At least, I think so!

To find out more about Susan Wittig Albert please visit her website. To find out more about this series visit the Cottage Tales website.

Interviews with the creators of Willow and a book giveaway

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!

The New Issue of Through the Looking Glass Book Review

Hello everyone. It is the beginning of a new month, and here at TTLG this means that the new issue of the journal is now online. Take a look to see what is new:

• This month the special feature is Alphabet Books. You will find that a wide selection of alphabet books have been reviewed and that they suit readers of all ages - including adults.
• The Series Spotlight looks at the Emily Windsnap books. If you have a fondness for mermaids then this is definitely the series for you.
• The Editor's Choice title is Masterpiece by Elise Broach. Look for an interview with Elise right here in a few days time.
• The Bookish Calendar is packed with books about King Tut, Sojourner Truth, Georgia O' Keeffe and much more.
• The Author Spotlight for November is about Liz Kessler, the wonderful British author who created the Emily Windsnap books.

I hope you enjoy this new issue.

A Happy Halloween With Vunce Upon a Time

Happy Halloween Everyone! Here is Ashland, Oregon, Halloween is celebrated in a big way. Schools have Halloween parties and parades, and in the afternoon the whole town turns out in costumes for the annual Halloween parade. The costumes are often very creative. I remember that in last years' parade I saw a goldfish, a bag of groceries, and a fortune telling booth in the parade. I am not doing anything quite so exciting. My daughter and I are going to be going as a Snow Queen and a Snow Princess. I am sure that we will be finding glitter on our persons and out clothes for weeks to come.

Through the Looking Glass has a terrific Halloween feature where you will find a collection of books about Halloween. One of the books that I reviewed this year was Vunce Upon a Time by Jotto Seibold (who gave us Olive the Other Reindeer) and Siobhan Vivian. This book is delightfully funny and children will really enjoy getting to know a little vampire who is a vegetarian with a sweet tooth.

The publisher of this book, Chronicle Books, has created a splendid website that is packed with Vunce Upon a Time Halloween activites. Do take a look at this page and have a wonderful Halloween!

If you would like your own copy of this title drop me a line. I have one book to give away

Alan Gratz Blog Book Tour - Day Three

Today I want to tell you a little bit about Alan Gratz, the author of Something Wicked:

Alan Gratz is the author of the historical young adult novel Samurai Shortstop (Dial 2006), which was named one of the American Library Association's 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. His second book, a young adult murder mystery based on "Hamlet" called Something Rotten (Dial 2007), was named an ALA 2008 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, and a sequel based on "Macbeth, " Something Wicked (Dial 2008), is on sale now. He is also the author of the forthcoming novels The Brooklyn Nine (Dial 2009), and Nemo (Knopf TBA). A former bookseller, librarian, eighth grade English teacher, and TV and radio scriptwriter, Alan is now a full time novelist for young readers. He lives with his wife and daughter in Penland, North Carolina.


If you would like to read one of Alan's books you can of course go to a bookshop or the library to get a copy. You can also go to his website where there is a complete copy of his book Something Rotten for you to read. There are also reader's guides for both Something Rotten and Something Wicked. These guides will really enhance your reading experience of both books.

Please visit the other blogs that are participating in this tour:

the 160acrewoods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Never Jam Today, Reading is My

Alan Gratz Blog Book Tour - Day Two

Welcome to day two of the Alan Gratz Blog Book Tour. Soon after reading Something Wicked, I was able to interview Alan. Here is the interview.

1) How did you get interested in creating stories that are somewhat based on William Shakespeare’s plays?
To tell the truth, it began with Horatio almost seventeen years ago. One of our first assignments in a Mystery and Detective Fiction class I took at the University of Tennessee was to create a detective for our fiction. I was also taking a Shakespeare class at the time, and I liked the character of Horatio from Hamlet. Not only was he down to earth and rational in ways Hamlet wasn't, he was also one of the very few characters who didn't DIE at the end of the play. I figured that was the kind of guy I wanted to be my protagonist. So I called him Horatio and based his practicality on the character from the play. Wilkes was just an invention--no real significance there. In Horatio's original stories, he was a thirty-something forensic detective. I liked the character I had created, but I didn't like his job, so I next recast Horatio as a columnist for a newspaper. When that didn't work, I made him the owner of an independent theater. I kept changing his jobs, looking for the right fit, but nothing worked. Then, years later when I was writing YA fiction, I had the idea to take Horatio out of mothballs and make him into a teenager. He was already snarky and a bit lazy, so I figured it was a perfect fit! But what to do about the plot? Well, I figured Horatio was already in a good plot as it was, and struck on the idea of remaking Hamlet into a modern day murder mystery. I've had a blast taking that idea and running with it ever since.

2) Your first two books are based on Hamlet and Macbeth. Do you see yourself doing one that is based on one of Shakespeare’s lighter plays, "Midsummer Nights Dream" perhaps?
You have, in fact, guessed the next play I'll be doing! If the sales hold up for Something Wicked, I'll be turning in Something Foolish, based on A Midsummer Night's Dream. I figured after Macbeth I would need something a little lighter. It's more of a challenge, of course, because no one dies--but I've found a fun way to combine Midsummer and The Maltese Falcon, which are strange bedfellows indeed. :-) I also have ideas for Julius Caesar (Horatio on a college visit, at a toga party), and The Tempest (Horatio works as an intern at a Disney World-like theme park ruled by a "wizard" of animatronic creatures).

3) Something Wicked has a fair bit of explicit sex in the story. Did you at all worry that parents, teachers, and librarians might not like this?
Ack! Wait. There's no explicit sex in Something Wicked. Explicit sex, to me, is SEEING two people have sex, and I just don't go there. Yes, that the teens in Something Wicked have sex is explicitly STATED. I'll cop to that. And yes, I know that will keep some parents, teachers, and librarians from sharing my books with their kids, and I hate that. But I strive for verisimilitude in my YA novels, and in real life, many teenagers are sexually active. I think to pretend that all teenagers are chaste--or to imply that consensual, responsible sex is a bad--does a disservice to young adult readers. A book like that would run counter to what they're already experiencing in the real world. And I think we're not giving teenagers much credit when we assume that just reading about some behavior is going to make them go out and imitate it. Teens are curious about their bodies and the things they can do to feel good, and I would much rather a young adult satisfy that curiosity by READING about sex or drugs than go out and try to experience either one first hand.

4) Did you base the character of Horatio on someone you know?
As I said, he's partially based on Horatio from Hamlet. I also borrow liberally from Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, one of my favorite literary detectives. As for real life inspirations, no. I only wish I had been like Horatio in high school. He's smart, tough, a hit with the ladies, and he always knows the exact right thing to say. Reverse all that, and you have me as a teen. :-)

5) How do you get into the heads of teenagers so well?
First off, thanks for saying so! I'm never quite sure if I'm tapping into teens' heads perfectly, and I suppose until we all have chips in our brains like in M.T. Anderson's Feed we'll never know for sure how teenagers think. But I did teach eighth grade English for a time, and I got to know 12 and 13 year olds pretty well during that time. I could probably say too that I haven't grown up very much since high school, so maturity-wise, I'm pretty close to my audience. :-) There are some "adult" things I can't escape, like that pesky mortgage payment, but otherwise I like reading YA novels, watching programs aimed at teenagers, and hanging out with teen readers. I can't quite keep up with teen music though. That's beyond me.

6) When you wrote "Something Rotten" did you know that you would be writing a second book?
I knew I wanted to put Horatio into Macbeth, but I didn't know if I would have the chance. I sold Something Rotten as a stand-alone book, a one novel deal, but I deliberately called it "Something Rotten: A Horatio Wilkes Mystery," as a sort of wink-wink, nudge-nudge that I would like to write MORE Horatio Wilkes mysteries. When the editing on Rotten was finished, I approached my editor with a pitch for Something Wicked, and she eagerly bought it up. When I told her how relieved I was, she was surprised. "Oh, we always imagined this as a series!" she said. Ha. Well, they could have told ME! It would have saved me quite a lot of anxiety.

7) Your two other books are about baseball. Have you always had an interest in this sport?
I've been an avid baseball fan since high school, but before that I wasn't into much of any sport. I tried playing baseball in high school too--and I was a pretty good hitter--but I hadn't played youth sports consistently as a young kid, so I didn't have the skills in the field that so many others with years of Little League and travel teams had. So I guess I've been a much better fan than player over the years. I was also really into fantasy baseball for a long time, where you draft players based on how you think they'll perform, and then collate stats through the season and make trades with other owners. I was playing fantasy baseball so long ago that we had to send off our rosters each week to have a stat company crunch the numbers on a computer. These days, you can play fantasy baseball online with daily transactions for free. I have a few other baseball novel ideas, but I don't want to do them all at once. I have lots of other non-baseball ideas, and I don't want to get locked into being the guy who only writes about baseball...

8) You clearly have a decidedly unique sense of humor which allows you to laugh at yourself. Do you find that this helps you with your writing?
I do like to make fun of myself, and it helps that I'm such an easy target. :-) I figure if you can't laugh at yourself, you're not trying very hard. And I suppose it helps with my writing too, in that I don't take myself so seriously. I think if I did I wouldn't have been able to take two of the darkest, heaviest plays in the Western canon and have fun with them. Just the weight of taking on a master would have been too much for me. In Something Rotten, I have Horatio make a comment like, "I was a little tired of every no-talent hack without an original idea taking classics and 'updating' them," and that line has gotten me a lot of attention. People ask me, "did you write that to make fun of yourself?" and the answer is, "Of course I did!" I can't take myself too seriously. I'm not writing Deep, Meaningful Books here. If you want deep and meaningful, I can recommend a couple of good Shakespeare plays!

9) What kinds of books did you like when you were a teenager?
I didn't read much outside of school as a teenager, an oversight I'm playing catch up for now. What I did read in school that I liked were things from the canon, like the short stories of Ernest Hemingway and J.D. Salinger, Crime and Punishment, Lord of the Flies, The Great Gatsby (maybe my favorite book ever!), Leaves of Grass, Huck Finn, and of course Julius Caesar and Henry IV. I had a healthy appreciation for the things we read in English--except, oddly, a lot of older British lit. I was never happier than to be done with The Canterbury Tales, and I never had much patience for the Romantic poets. Ha.

10) Are you at all interested in writing books for younger children?
I do have a squarely middle grade novel (ages 8-12) coming out next spring just in time for baseball season: The Brooklyn Nine. It's the story of nine "innings"--nine generations--of an American family from the 1840's to the present, and their connections to baseball. We focus on a kid in each story, and that kid grows up to be a parent in the next story, and a grandparent in the next. It was a pretty exciting and exhausting project, as I had the thrill and the challenge of researching nine different eras of American history and baseball development. I'm eager to see how it will be received. I also have an idea or two for picture books, but those are so tough to write well, and so tough to sell once you have something good. We'll see. I've always said, it gets more difficult to write the younger your audience is. With Ya, anything goes. With middle grade, it has to be clean, AND you have to worry about how to write something heavy enough to warrant a novel but light enough to have a middle grade protagonist be the hero. With picture books you're really in trouble, because not only does the content have to be exceptional, the words have to be PERFECT--and short. A lot of editors today want to see picture books with texts of less than 100 words!
That's like writing poetry, and as my college poetry professor can tell you, I'm no poet. :-)

Thanks for the interview, Marya! Oh, and if I can jump in with one more thing here at the end: To celebrate the debut of Something Wicked, my publisher is putting Something Rotten online for FREE until the end of November. Not just a chapter, not just an excerpt, but the WHOLE BOOK. I'm really excited about this offer, and I hope a lot of people take advantage of it. To read Something Rotten for FREE, go to http://www.blogger.com/www.alangratz.com and click on the link to the free book.

Tomorrow I will be posting Alan's bio and more information.

Please visit the other blogs that are participating in this tour:
the 160acrewoods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Never Jam Today, Reading is My

The Alan Gratz Blog Book Tour - Day One

This month I have had a splendid time reading Alan Gratz's books. He has found a very compelling way to retell two of Shakespeare's stories. Using a punchy and contemporary style of writing Alan has his teenage hero solve two murders, that of Duncan in Macbeth in Something Wicked, and that of the King in Hamlet in Something Rotten.

For the next three days I will be highlighting Alan's newest book, Something Wicked. Here is my review of the book:

Something Wicked
Alan Gratz
Fiction (Series)
Ages 14 and up
Penguin, 2008, 978-0-8037-3666-5
Horatio Wilkes is going to a Scottish Highland Games on Mount Birman with his friends Mac and Banks. Both Mac and Banks are pretty serious about the games, donning kilts and participating in events at the games. Mac is pretty firmly under his girlfriend’s thumb and he does almost everything she asks of him. So when Beth announces that she wants to go to Madame Hecate’s to have her fortune told, Mac readily agrees – much to Horatio’s disgust.
Madame Hecate tells Mac that he will become “king of the mountain.” Mac is thrilled, believing everything that the fortune teller tells him. He is not best pleased therefore when he hears that Banks – his cousin – will not become king of the mountain, instead his will “own” it.
Mac’s father has long wanted to own the mountain so that he can turn it into a money making resort, but the man who owns the land, Duncan MacRae – who is Mac’s maternal grandfather - has always refused to sell it. That very evening Horatio finds Duncan MacRae brutally murdered. Evidence at the scene of the crime suggests that Duncan’s son Malcolm was responsible but Horatio is not convinced. Why would mild mannered Malcolm do such a terrible thing? It just doesn’t make sense. Furthermore there are other people around who had a much bigger motive than Malcolm. Mac’s father, Beth’s father, and Mac himself would all benefit if Duncan MacRae died.
In this second Horatio Wilkes mystery, readers will be taken into the American Scottish clans community, a community that has its own traditions, rules, and culture. Readers who are familiar with Shakespeare will quickly realize that this story is based on the tale of Macbeth, the ambitious Scot who could not let go of a dangerous dream. Alan Gratz’s gritty story shows how a simple ambition can become a corrupted passion. His characters are incredibly lifelike, and true to the feelings and thoughts that teenagers experience.
In his first book about Horatio Wilkes, Something Rotten, Alan Gratz gives a unique interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is also set in modern day America.

You can read my review of Something Rotten on the Through the Looking Glass Book Review website and you can read the whole book online on Alan Gratz's website - for free!

Tomorrow look for an interview with Alan right here.

Please visit the other blogs that are participating in this tour:
the 160acrewoods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Book Review Maniac, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maggie Reads, Never Jam Today, Reading is My Superpower

An Interview with Amy Bates and Amy Hest

Last week I read and reviewed a wonderful picture book that warmed my dog-loving heart. The dog who belonged to no one is not only wonderfully written but it is also beautifully illustrated. Wanting to talk to Amy Hest, who wrote the book, and Amy Bates, who illustrated it, I contacted them and asked them a few questions about their work.

AMY HEST:

1. You have illustrated many different kinds of picture books and chapter books. Was this book different in some way from the others?
This book was different for me because it allowed for a lot of the
narrative to take place visually. I loved the text and it was a lot
of fun. The author and the editor made it a real collaboration. I think the emotions in the book are ones that everyone can relate too.

2. How did you create the pictures for The Dog Who Belonged to No One?

All the illustrations are watercolor and pencil.

3. Do you have to draw a lot of sketches before you begin working on the final version of an illustration?

Sometimes. Sometimes it all comes together immediately. You can imagine I prefer the later :)

4. Did you use a model to create the image of the homeless little dog? If yes what was your model like?
I usually don't use models directly. However I did see a jack russell out walking one day, and I thought "that 's it! but with a hint of shaggy mutt thrown in.

5. You so beautifully captured the emotions of the dog in the story. Have you had dogs in your life?
I actually sort of think of my animals as people, even going so far as to pose in their position, so I can sort of "feel" their emotion. My kids think it is funny because if I am painting someone or something that is sad, I often have that expression on my face while painting. I did have a labrador when I was young. Unfortunately I have bad allergies, but I love other people's dogs! My kids are a great inspiration too.

6. The layout of the text and the artwork is so beautifully done in this book. Did you come up with this format or was that the work of a designer?

I wanted it to look old, maybe like a silent movie. we talked about some ideas, and the designer at Abrams did an absolutely beautiful job.

7. Have you always loved to draw and paint?

Always loved it. My Dad is great at drawing and we loved it when he would draw us funny pictures and play drawing games with us (although professionally he is a Professor of Computer Science ) also my Uncle is an Illustrator and a Professor, he taught me so much about the business and drawing the figure. My Grandma always encouraged me and filled me with a great appreciation for art.

8. Did you like to read when you were growing up?

My Mom would laugh at that question. The problem wasn't getting me to read, I guess it was getting me to stop. I lived in books. SO I loved reading and I loved drawing. If there was an interesting character in a book I liked to find all the details about that character and draw him/her. I liked visualizing the imaginary world that a book could make. I think of my work as a stage where anything can happen. And really what I do is one of the very oldest art forms.
All the way back to cave painting people were painting stories. I love stories.

AMY BATES:

1. The way in which the little girl in your story connects with the dog suggests that you know something about the child/dog relationship. Did you grow up with a dog?

Yes, we always had a dog when I was growing up. There was Sleepy ... there was Taffy ... then Rusty ... and Mr. Chips. The most misbehaving dogs in the world but we adored them .

2.What inspired you to write this story?

I wanted to write a love story .

3.What do you feel this story tells children?

It tells children that loneliness need not be forever .

4. In this day and age life can sometimes be so complicated. Do you think that we should simplify our lives somewhat and focus on the important things like family relationships, friendships, finding our own way, and appreciating the lives that we have? – These are all sentiments that I have picked up from your books!

Absolutely! Thank you, Marya, for getting me!

5. It would seem you that you have always loved books and made them a part of your life. What do you think we can all do to help our children appreciate and love books?
We should read to babies ... read to toddlers ... read to all kids ... read with joy and gusto and drama ... read!

Thank you ladies for giving us such wonderful answers and for letting us into your lives for a short while. You can find out more about these talented people on their websites:

Amy Bates

Amy Hest

If you want to know more about this delightful book take a look at my review.