Questions from Kids
(To read excerpts from a recent interview for California Kids magazine, Click Here.)
Where do you get your ideas? My ideas come from different places at different times--sometimes from something one of my children said; perhaps from seeing something outside, for example, watching animals; sometimes from just letting my mind wander. Once I have an idea, I write it down so I won't forget it. Of course, having an idea doesn't mean you have a story. Sometimes an idea immediately makes itself into a story in my head. Other times I put the idea away and forget about it. But my mind doesn't ever completely forget the interesting ideas. My mind keeps quietly playing with them. Then suddenly one day I may fit that idea into a story. Or I might combine two ideas into one story. When I have most of the story worked out in my head, I go to my paper or computer and start writing. Once in a while, I will open my folder of idea notes that I've jotted down and see if those old ideas finally spark a story. Somethime they do. Sometimes they don't. You never know.
How do you make books? Once the story is written, I begin illustrating it. Then I send everything--words and drawings--to my publishers. They have designers that fit the words and pictures together, then they hire printers to print the pages and covers. (Whew! I'm glad I don't have to do all that work myself!) The printers stitch the pages together and glue on the covers in a special shop called the bindery. Then distributors send the books to all the bookstore owners and librarians who order it. So, you see, a lot of people help me make books.
When did you start writing books? I started trying to write some time after I graduated from college. My wife, Carol was a kindergarten teacher at the time. She collected children's books for her classroom. I enjoyed her books so much, I decided to see if I could make one. It took six years of trying before I was finally published.
Do you know any other authors? I have had the good fortune to meet many of my favorite children's book authors and illustrators as I work and travel. Some of my best friends are authors you may be familiar with. Once a month a group of us get together and discuss each other's writing. They are Mary Jane Auch, Patience Brewster, Bruce Coville, Cynthia DeFelice, Robin Pulver, Vivian Vande Velde, and Ellen Stole Walsh. To visit my writing group and read about each of these great authors, click here.
What books did you like when you were little? I grew up when Dr. Seuss was brand new. In the early 1950s when my mother was reading to me and my brothers and I was first discovering the school library, he was popular. I don't recall many of the other books I read as a kid but I vividly recall his books. His rhymes had a great influence on me and my work. A similar question I was recently asked was "What children's book do you wish you wrote?" To that I answered, "Mother Goose!" Mother Goose is the queen-mother of childrens literature. I have illustrated two Mother Goose collections--the first as a set of four "board books" and the second as a collection of rhymes all illustrated with cross-stitched samplers. I collect Mother Goose editions and enjoy reading about the history of the rhymes.
Do you act out stories before writing them down? Heavens no! Can you imagine a grown man like me acting out Green Wilma??? What I do is let scenes play out in my mind, like a movie inside my head. Then I pick the best scenes to draw.
How do you make your drawings? So many kids have asked me this! Many want to know what all that squiggly stuff is in my pictures. I thought it would be best to go through it one step at a time. Click on the next line to see how I work.
A Step-By-Step Look At How I Illustrate
Do you have any kids? Yes I have two boys, Walter and William. They are both stars in a couple of my books. Walter is in NO JUMPING THE BED! which I wrote when he was 4 years old. Walter is now twenty-something. William was 9 years old when I wrote his book NO MORE WATER IN THE TUB!. He's now in college. Maybe their books are in your library.
Do you have any hobbies? Yes, I love to drive out of town and sketch. I particularly enjoy drawing the old one room schoolhouses that dot the countryside. Click here to view a few drawings. I also collect coins. My favorite coins are those mentioned in old Mother Goose rhymes. Like the rhyme, "Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye" -- I looked up the rhyme in the library to learn that it first appeared in print in England around 1744. So I tried to find a sixpence that old or older. I found a silver English sixpence, made in 1575, with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth the First. William Shakespeare himself might have handled my coin. Pretty cool, huh? I have some pennies from the days of Robin Hood, and a coin from King Arthur's time. Another hobby--I read a lot and collect books.
Do you have any pets? Yes, we have three cats. Cody is a real old-timer that we've had forever. Cody is white and appears in several of my books. Boo is a white "teenager" cat. Doo is Boo's sister, a smoky gray cat. Boo and Doo may sound like funny names. But Boo is short for Boo-Yakka-Moo. And Doo is short for Doo-Wah-Kitty-Kitty-Dum-Ditty-Doo. Now THOSE are funny names!
What are your favorite places? The library is one of my favorite places. Wherever I go, whatever towns and cities I visit, I like to stop in at the libraries. I like to think of my favorite authors as being my friends, and no matter what strange places I find myself in, I can always find my friends at the library. Of course, my most favorite place is home. But I love to travel.
How old are you? I'll say this much. I was born in 1949. You do the arithmetic.
What other jobs
have you had?
Before I became a writer and illustrator
of children's books, I had a job doing advertising, which means I
would make advertisements to help businesses sell things. Often,
part of an advertising job included designing signs for
businesses, like the signs in my book THE SIGNMAKER'S ASSISTANT. I've been a soldier, a hamburger
cooker, and a worm counter (at a fishing tackle store.) I've
illustrated school books, delivered newspapers, and popped
popcorn at a drive-in movie theater. Now that I'm an author and
illustrator, I love this job the most!!!
| About the author | About the books |
| A step-by-step look at how I illustrate | Work in progress |
| Visit my writing group | A cat that loves reading??? |
| What's new? | To purchase books | Links |
| How to schedule an author appearance |
| Flat Stanley visits my web site | Kids' art gallery |
Copyright © 2003 Tedd Arnold. All rights reserved.