Prospective authors of 2012, take note of the Simonetta Carr blueprint.

She writes what she LOVES. If you truly believe in a subject, chances are young readers will, too.

It’s that easy. Or, that hard.

Simonetta, what’s good right now about children’s literature?

I am writing children’s biographies about men and women who have shaped the history of Christian (and consequently Western) thought. It is an exciting project, because these types of books are just now rising to the standard of quality and objectivity we have been noticing in children’s biographies in general, and for this reason they are taken into greater consideration by the literary community.

What could be done to make that good better?

We can find encouragement in the overall improvements in this genre and continue to raise the standard, learning from each other.

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Simonetta Carr was born in Italy and has worked for years as teacher, literary translator, and freelance writer. A mother of eight, she is the author of the ongoing series of Christian Biographies for Young Readers published by Reformation Heritage Books (four titles in print so far) and of the YA historical fiction Weight of a Flame, published by P&R. A complete list of her books and other writings is on her blog (www.simonettacarr.com). Her biography John Owen was chosen as finalist in the 2011 San Diego Book Awards.