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As the third child of a pastor and a music teacher, I never quite managed to be the model of decorum that neighbors and parishioners seemed to expect. I explored. I got lost five times a week. I climbed everything in sight—the higher, the better—and when I arrived at the dignity of a trike, I headed straight to the freeway. (My father caught up with me on the exit ramp.) As soon as I could speak, I asked awkward questions. I was a terror in Sunday School. And family lore has it that I stood on a pew to contradict my father in the pulpit. When I discovered books, I found the freedom I was looking for. I could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone I chose, unhampered by size or gender or geography. I adored books, and began to write and illustrate my first stories. Eventually I acquired an overlay of civilization. I married, graduated, and even got a respectable job. I wrote three middle grade novels—all rejected—and dreamed of becoming a published writer. But when I became a mother, I found myself so sympathetic with my sons’ longing for freedom, and their frustration over their limitations, that I turned my attention to picture books. I wasn’t able to give my children the freedom from parental control that they wanted, so I did the next best thing. I gave my children, in fantasy, what I could not in reality. In Mommy Go Away!, Christopher is big, while Mommy gets small. In I Need A Snake, Robbie’s pretend snakes turn into the real ones he so desperately craves. “My sons themselves used fantasy to soften the hard edges of powerful emotions. In the throes of sibling rivalry, they created a game called “Puppy and Master” which showed up in It’s My Birthday, Too! They used the power of fantasy to make a romp with their father more exciting—and to tone it down, when it got too scary, as in Let’s Play Rough! I drew on my own childhood memories when I wrote Mom Pie—seeing how hurt small children can be when parents are too busy for them—and had the boys use fantasy to help them through the sad feelings. And in When Mommy Was Mad, Robbie uses his imagination to transform himself into a porcupine—to show Mommy just how angry he is. When September 11, 2001 arrived, with its terrible dose of tragedy, I felt compelled to write about it—to give children a story of their own, to help them deal with what had happened. So I used fantasy again—an emotionally safe way to approach the most difficult of subjects—in Bravemole, and illustrated it as well. Eventually I attempted middle grade fiction again; only this time, something clicked. In Emmy & the Incredible Shrinking Rat, fantasy and humor weaves in and out of some very real issues for kids—over-scheduling, absentee parents, and feeling powerless in difficult situations. The publisher, in this case Henry Holt, liked it so well that they signed me to do a sequel, Emmy & the Home for Troubled Girls. I have a great deal of fun creating fantasies. I love to make things up, and I love to laugh! But at the heart of every story I write you can always find something about power, and conflict, and freedom, and love. Those are the issues that interest me most. |
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Emmy & the Home for Troubled Girls Emmy Addison is an ordinary girl—almost. If you don’t count the fact that her parents are rich (very), her best friend is a boy (and a soccer star), and she can talk to rodents (and they talk back), she’s very ordinary indeed. But she hasn’t been that way for long... It was only a few weeks ago that Emmy and her friends Ratty and Joe got rid of the evil Miss Barmy, the nanny who had nearly ruined Emmy’s life—and the lives of five other girls who went missing. Miss Barmy is now a rat. How much harm can she do? |
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Emmy & the Incredible Shrinking Rat Emmy tried hard to be good, but no one seemed to notice—except for the Rat. And he was rather sarcastic...What had happened to make her parents stop caring about her? And why do the kids at school seem to hardly know she exists? Could it have anything to do with Miss Barmy, the nanny who kept forcing Emmy to drink and eat the strangest things? Awards |
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Bravemole “Once upon a time, there was a wicked dragon...” So begins the bedtime story that Mole tells his little babymole. But when real dragons attack, what’s an ordinary mole to do? He does what he can, of course. A modern-day fable inspired by the events of September 11, 2001, Bravemole honors the extraordinary capacity of ordinary people to make a difference in the world. Awards |
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When Mommy Was Mad Mommy was mad, but the boys didn’t know why. Had they done something wrong? Or was she mad at Daddy? Either way, nothing they try seems to fix things...until Robbie does something surprising! |
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Mom Pie Company is coming for dinner and Mommy is too busy to pay attention to Christopher and Robbie. They don't care that there will be four kinds of pie for dessert, they want Mommy. Then Christopher has an idea. "We can make Mom Pie," he says. Their recipe includes something soft, something snuggly, some of her perfume, and then something that's her favorite color. So what if the candle from the dining room table is too big. Christopher can take care of that... |
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Let's Play Rough! When Daddy sits down on the couch, his little boy pounces. “Let’s play rough, Daddy!” Such romping! Such uproarious tickling and tossing and tumbling! But when Daddy turns into a bear, things get a little too scary. Now what? |
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It's My Birthday, Too! Christopher is having a birthday; but little brother Robbie wants one, too. At the very least, he wants to come to the party, but Christopher says ‘no.’ Last year, Robbie wrecked everything! Robbie gets mad—but then he has an idea. Maybe there’s a way he can come to the party, after all! Awards |
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I Need a Snake Robbie desperately wants a snake, but Mommy is not so sure. She says he will have to wait until he is grown-up, because snakes are too scary. But Robbie knows better, and sets out to prove it. It doesn’t take him long to find some very unusual snakes that even Mommy likes! Awards |
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Mommy Go Away! Christopher thinks Mommy is too bossy. So he shrinks her to doll-size and sends her on a wild ride in the tub. What a switch! Now Christopher is the boss, and Mommy finds out what it is like to be small! Awards |
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