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Skinny Dip with Kathleen Baxter

Kathleen Baxter and Pete Steiner, the grandson of the real-life Cab Edwards in the Betsy-Tacy books

Kathleen Baxter, a librarian for more than 30 years, a nationally-known booktalker, a co-author of the wonderful Gotcha! resource books, is best known as the woman who has worked tirelessly to keep Maud Hart Lovelace’s books in print, thereby introducing new generations of readers to the Betsy-Tacy books and the other cherished novels set in Deep Valley. Her most recent book, My Betsy-Tacy Miracle: a Literary Pilgrimage to Deep Valley, shares the charming, true story of Kathleen’s meeting and correspondence with the author Maud Hart Lovelace.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever read a book?

Exercise bike, maybe?

Do you keep your bookshelves in a particular order?

Not really, though some bookcases have some rhyme or reason to them.

How many bookcases do you have in your house?

At least ten.

What’s the predominant color in your wardrobe?

Black, probably.

Which library springs to your mind when someone says that word? What do you remember most about it?

Anoka County Northtown, I worked there for 32 years.

Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life?

The Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace

What’s your food weakness?

sugar

What’s your favorite form of exercise?

walking, I guess

What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?

It astounds me that both my brother and I are in Who’s Who in America and have been for years.

What’s your favorite flower?

lilacs and lilies of the valley

Have you traveled outside of your state? Which state draws you back? (How many states have you visited?)

I love New York as well as the New England states. I have been to all the states but Hawaii and I turned down a chance to give a talk there because it would have been crazy to go on the schedule they gave me.

Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why?

England, Scotland, Ireland. I am an Anglophile to the core, love the Queen, love all things British. And my DNA comes back 97.2% British Isles and Ireland, so that may have something to do with it as well.

What’s the last performance you saw at a theater?

Assassins at Theater Latte Da, two days in a row. I love Sondheim.

Who’s at the top of your list of Most Admired People?

Stephen Sondheim is right there, for his sheer genius. I greatly admire people who are unfailingly kind and generous.

When you walk into a bakery, what are you most likely to choose from the bakery cases?

sugary things

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

pepperoni and olives

Do you remember your dreams?

Almost never.

If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose (don’t worry about language differences.)

Maud Hart Lovelace

Do you read the end of a book first?

never

If you could be granted one wish, what would you wish for?

to be slender and only want to eat really healthy food, and not miss anything.

About Kathleen Baxter

Kathleen Baxter is a retired teacher and librarian who spent many years as head of children's services at the Anoka County Library in suburban Minneapolis. She says the most exciting thing about her is that she is a native of Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in On the Banks of Plum Creek. As a former children's literature consultant, Kathleen gave many workshops every year, all around the USA as well as across Canada and in Cancun. She has co-written seven books on topics including books that appeal to boys and nonfiction for young people. She has served as a consultant for publishers and written a column for School Library Journal on nonfiction book-talking for over 17 years. Her most recent book is My Betsy-Tacy Miracle: a Literary Pilgrimage to Deep Valley. Visit Kathleen’s website..

Skinny Dip with Jerdine Nolen

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Jerdine Nolen is the versatile author of picture books, chapter books, and novels, including her most recent books, the Bradford Street Buddies series and Calico Girl. We enjoy having the opportunity to learn more about this writer and educator.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever read a book?

The weirdest place I have ever read a book is in a closet. It wasn’t a dark closet. There was a nice window with lots of light and there was enough room for a small lamp. It was quite comfy and cozy.

Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life?

Fairy tales and tall tales, poetry

What’s your food weakness?

I like chocolate-covered orange peels. Yummy.

What’s your favorite form of exercise?

My favorite form of exercising is walking and rowing, though not at the same time.

What’s your favorite flower?

Some of my favorite flowers: peonies, irises, hydrangea

Have you traveled outside of your state? Which state draws you back? (How many states have you visited?)

California, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa

Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why?

I like France best because we have friends there and my favorite foods and restaurants. I travelled for fun either alone or with my family to Italy, France, Canada, Israel, Germany, and England.

What’s the last performance you saw at a theater?

I’m planning to see The Iceman Cometh later this year.

What’s your favorite word because you like the way it sounds?

As a child, cucumber was a favorite word of mine. I think I still like it as much.

Who’s at the top of your list of Most Admired People?

My parents and my ancestors. Playwright August Wilson.

When you walk into a bakery, what are you most likely to choose from the bakery cases?

Almond or chocolate croissant

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Basil, pepperoni, extra cheese

Do you remember your dreams?

Usually, and I remember them vividly and with much detail. When this happens, I have to write them down.

If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose (don’t worry about language differences.)

William Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, and Galileo for now

What foreign language would you like to learn?

I’m learning French.

Do you read the end of a book first?

Sometimes.

About Jerdine Nolen

Born in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, along with five sisters and two brothers, Jerdine says, ”My siblings and I had a lot of fun, and we had a lot of fun together.” She received a BA in special education from Northeastern Illinois University and an MEd in interdisciplinary arts education from Loyola University in Chicago. She has been an educator for a number of years as a classroom teacher, curriculum writer, staff developer, family involvement specialist, and administrator. Jerdine enjoys lecturing on a variety of topics related to books and the writing process. Her books include Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm, Hewitt Anderson’s Big Life, Plantzilla, Thunder Rose, and the Civil War novel Calico Girl. Visit Jerdine’s website..

Skinny Dip with Lester Laminack

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Lester Laminack

Lester Laminack is sought after as a speaker in school districts all over the country. A retired professor, actively involved in literacy on many levels, he’s thoughtful, articulate, and has a sparkling sense of humor. We’re pleased that this very busy author and speaker took time to share his thoughts with Bookology‘s readers this month.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever read a book?

Well, it isn’t really all that weird, but most of my reading happens on airplanes. I fly a lot to work with kids and teachers around the country.

Do you keep your bookshelves in a particular order?

I do. Most of my books are arranged in alphabetical order by author’s last name. However, I have several sets of books that I like to keep clustered by theme. I have some books on shelves next to my desk and those rotate depending on the project I’m working on at the moment.

How many bookcases do you have in your house?

I have a room for books. I call it my library. Then, there is my office and it also has lots of books. And I have books in crates at my house.

Lester Laminack: bookcases and art

Lester Laminack: a meeting table surrounded by books

Lester Laminack: Books in crates

Lester Laminack: desk

Lester Laminack: a place to read

What’s the predominant color in your wardrobe?

Blue. I like lots of colors and wear reds and orange and pink and green and gray and black, and I have mostly plaids and checks, but the color you’ll see most in my closet is blue.

Which library springs to your mind when someone says that word? What do you remember most about it?

I have spent a lot of time in many libraries, but that word most often conjures memories of the library in the elementary school I attended as a child—Cleburne County Elementary in Heflin, Alabama. I can still hear the voice of Mrs. Hand, our librarian, reading The Boxcar Children. She had the best read aloud voice.

Which book you read as a child has most influenced your life?

Hmmmm, I think that would be The Wizard of Oz. When I was in the fifth grade my family moved to Key West for a year. In that year I read The Wizard of Oz and for the first time I fell inside and lived in the book. It was an amazing experience to be there, in the story, with that cast of characters. That experience changed the way I read.

What’s your food weakness?

Hmmm, bread. Oh, and did I say bread? OK, and éclairs. I do love a good éclair.

What’s your favorite form of exercise?

Walking and yoga, but I have fallen out of the habit of doing yoga. So, if you don’t do it, does it still count as a favorite? Hmmm, I need to get back into that again. Maybe I’d lose that 20 pounds I found. Note: If you have lost 20 pounds in the last 24 months please contact me. I think I found them.

What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?

My son. He is a kind, decent, caring young man with a lovely, confident, intelligent wife and a beautiful young daughter. He is also a college English professor.

What’s your favorite flower?

Daylilies. And dahlias. Oh, and Azalea and rhododendrons and mountain laurel and dogwood and camellia and peony. I almost forgot crepe myrtle. Say, did I mention zinnias?

Have you traveled outside of your state? Which state draws you back? (How many states have you visited?)

I have traveled in 47 of the 50 states, all but North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. But, I’m going to speak in Montana in 2018. I grew up in Alabama, but I have lived in North Carolina since 1982. North Carolina is my home now and no matter where I travel I am always delighted to return to these mountains. With that said, I do love the area around Sedona, Arizona, and Taos, New Mexico.

Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why?

I love Italy. The language is music. Dining is an experience. Art is an essential part of life. I adore Paris. And I’m traveling to Scotland in about three weeks, so I may have a new favorite.

Who’s your favorite artist?

Any child who makes art with joy and abandon. I have long admired the art of Mary Cassatt. I greatly admire the art of Jonathan Green in Charleston, South Carolina. At present I collect the art of two artists from the South Carolina Lowcountry. Mary Segars and Cassandra Gillens.

What’s the last performance you saw at a theater?

Bodyguard.

What’s your favorite word because you like the way it sounds?

Dénouement and asparagus and corduroy and bourbon …

What would you wear to a costume party?

I’m not a costume party guy. I’m sort of a character in regular clothes. When I’m working you’ll almost always find me in Levi jeans, a button down shirt, and a bow tie. Otherwise I’m likely to be in jeans and a sweatshirt or t-shirt.

Who’s at the top of your list of Most Admired People?

Mr. Rogers.

When you walk into a bakery, what are you most likely to choose from the bakery cases?

Hands down I will go directly to the éclair. And a really good looking slice of carrot cake can easily get my attention.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Mushrooms, green and black olives, ham, lots of cheese.

Do you remember your dreams?

Sometimes, not always. I don’t usually make any sense out of them, but I can sometimes remember snippets. About once a year I will have a dream that I am rushing like crazy and finally get to school with all the kids busy at work not even noticing that I’m late.

What foreign language would you like to learn?

I took French in high school. I wish I could speak fluently. I love the sound of Italian and I’d love to have it flow from my mouth like a waterfall. But, to be practical I would like to learn Spanish because I believe it would be most useful.

Do you read the end of a book first?

Never. And I never eat dessert before dinner either.

If you had a choice, would you live under the ocean or in outer space, and why?

Neither. I am just figuring out how to live on this earth. I’ll stay right here if you don’t mind.

If you could write any book and know that it would be published and tens of thousands of people would read it, which book would you write?

A memoir written for adults.

If you could be granted one wish, what would you wish for?

Peace on this globe. If I could have one wish granted it would be for all people to have enough, to live in kindness and harmony with others and to be good stewards of this earth.

About Lester Laminack

Lester L. Laminack is Professor Emeritus, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, where he received two awards for excellence in teaching. Lester is now a full-time writer and consultant working with schools throughout the United States and abroad. He is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English and served three years as co-editor of the NCTE journal Primary Voices and as editor of the Children’s Book Review Department of the NCTE journal Language Arts (2003-2006). He also served as a teaching editor for the magazine Teaching K-8 and wrote the Parent Connection column (2000-2002). Among Lester’s many publications for teachers and children, The King of Bees, a picture book, will be released in April 2018. Look for a forthcoming poetry collection, Voices for Civil Rights (Peachtree Publishers). His newest books for teachers, The Ultimate Read-Aloud Resource: Making Every Moment Intentional and Instructional with Best Friend Books (Scholastic) and The Best Friend Fiction Collection (Scholastic) are available now. He lives in Dillsboro, NC and Asheville, NC with his husband Steve and their two dogs, Bailey and Sora. And they are the proud grandparents of an adorable little girl named Everette. Learn more at lesterlaminack.com.

Skinny Dip with Laura Purdie Salas

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Laura Purdie Salas

Laura Purdie Salas is a poet, a researcher, and a popular visiting author in elementary and middle schools. Several of her books have turned heads and stirred up a buzz, including Water Can Be … and If You Were the Moon. She has published many books about writing for children and frequently speaks at conferences. We’re pleased that this very busy author is spending some time with Bookology this month.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever read a book?

Perched in a tree and lying underneath a trampoline in the shade were two favorite spots when I was a kid growing up in Florida. I have also read books on boring carnival rides, during recitals (don’t tell!), and while canoeing. There is pretty much no place I would not be happy to read a book.

Laura Purdie Salas, reading in a tree

What is the predominant color in your wardrobe?

Black, but that sounds so sad! I live in yoga pants in my daily life, and black ones are the most flattering. My top half is usually more colorful—I swear!—and blues and purples are my favorite colors to dress in.

Which library springs to your mind when someone says that word? What do you remember most about it?

The original Winter Park, Florida, Library. I would ride my bike to the small, ancient-looking building once or twice a week. When I would walk between the tall white columns to go inside, it was like entering another planet. Big wooden card catalogs. The bustling hush of people walking purposefully around. The children’s area, where I knew I was supposed to be. The rest of the library, where I wandered around and learned about the world beyond the happy little children’s books. I can still picture the wall around the corner that had all the mysteries, where I worked my way through the Agatha Christies. I felt like everyone there was smart and happy, and I knew books were the reason. l always checked out as many books as I could juggle home. Halfway through my childhood, they built a new library, which was very nice and modernized and bigger. I know I used that one constantly, too. But my memories are all of the first one—my very first library.

Which book that you read as a child has most influenced your life?

I devoured books like they were potato chips, and I went for quantity—and escapism. I lost myself in books, and they were sort of like lost dreams afterward. I don’t remember too many individual books, but The Figure in the Shadows, by John Bellairs, was a big favorite. It showed me that family isn’t restricted to your biological family. And it scared the bejeebers out of me—I loved it! Two others I read around (I think) 7th grade, Crooked House, by Agatha Christie, and Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, still haunt me a little. SPOILER ALERT: In Crooked House, the murderer is a child, which totally shocked me. Not a misunderstood child. Not a mentally ill child. A greedy, selfish child the same age I was when I read the book. It made me think about the enormous capacity for good and evil human beings have. Flowers for Algernon, which I recently reread, shaped my thoughts about love, intelligence, kindness, and the limits of science. And it broke my heart.

Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why?

In the past ten years, I’ve gotten to visit Scotland twice, Ireland, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Iceland. So far, Scotland is my favorite—so beautiful and with so much history. Familiar enough to be comfortable, but foreign enough to be an adventure. But seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland was my favorite single event while traveling. This world is just so amazing.

Laura Purdie Salas, on the shore of a loch in Scotland

Laura Purdie Salas with her husband, Randy Salas, touring a lava tube cave in Iceland

the northern lights as viewed from Iceland

What’s the last performance you saw at a theater?

Improv comedy at ComedySportz in Minneapolis. Improv is so much fun—watching people create stories, live, in the moment, is incredible. It’s like being thrown into a thunderstorm of a first draft, and you never know when lightning will strike.

When you walk into a bakery, what are you most likely to choose from the bakery cases?

Something frosted! Or with gooey caramel. Or with a mousse. When I buy cupcakes, I always ask the baker to choose the one with the most frosting for me. It drives me nuts on baking shows when a judge will say with disdain, “This cream cheese frosting is just too sweet.” Or “You have way too much buttercream on this cake.” Scientifically impossible statements, in my opinion.

If you had a choice, would you live under the ocean or in outer space, and why?

Outer space fascinates me, but I’d want to live in the ocean. The idea that there are still so many mysteries and unexplored places on our very own planet is crazy! Plus the ocean is so … watercolory and gorgeous and tranquil. Outer space seems less hospitable—all darkness and sharpness and empty space.

If you could write any book and know that it would be published and tens of thousands of people would read it, which book would you write?

I would write a picture book, maybe a poem, that would reassure kids that they are who they choose to be. They are not defined by their home, their family, or their family’s jobs, income, cars, education level, illnesses … But without sounding preachy, of course! :>)

Skinny Dip with Lisa Bullard

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Lisa Bullard (photo: Katherine Warde)

Lisa Bullard is a well-respected writing teacher in Minnesota and beyond, having shared her wisdom and her sense of humor about writing with classrooms full of adults and children (usually not at the same time). She has two books on writing, one for adults (Get Started in Writing for Children) and one for children (You Can Write a Story! A Story-Writing Recipe for Kids), as well as a series of Insider Guides co-written with Laura Purdie Salas. She has written Bookology‘s popular Writing Road Trip column for several years.

My favorite bookcase!

How many bookcases do you have in your home?

Based on my house, this question is open to interpretation. What qualifies as a bookcase? For example, if the baker’s rack in my kitchen holds dozens of cookbooks (despite the fact that I don’t cook), does this qualify as a bookcase? Does it influence the judging if I explain that one of my absolute favorite books as a child was Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book? I spent hours “reading” the book and inventing stories to go along with the cookie creations pictured there.

But okay, back to the original question. In addition to the “kitchen bookcase” described above, I have six-and-a-half bookcases.

What’s your food weakness?

My food weakness is that I love food far beyond its nutritional purpose. It represents so much more than just that to me. Food is sneaking into the kitchen late at night with Grandma to eat pickles while Mom looks askance. Food is spitting watermelon seeds into the lake and getting brain freeze from homemade ice cream on the 4^th of July. Food is the brownie you lick so that your brothers don’t eat it first.

If you’re asking about my favorite food rather than my food weakness, it’s any food that somebody else has cooked. I am fortunate enough to have several friends who love to cook, and who express their affection by cooking for me. Now that’s love!

Have you traveled outside of the United States? Which country is your favorite to visit? Why?

I’ve been lucky enough to travel outside of the U.S. to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Canada. I found things to love in all of those countries, but I most loved how different I became in Italy. For some reason I transformed into a whole other person there. Someone who knows me well once described me as a “cheerful pessimist;” growing up, I was heavily influenced by my stoically Scandinavian mother; and I’m typically very cautious. But under Italy’s influence, I transformed into a risk-taker who gamboled from one romantic city to the next with hardly a care in the world. I really liked that person, but she only seems to exist in Italy!

Juliet’s balcony in Verona

A gondolier in Venice

What’s your favorite word because you like the way it sounds?

I love saying the word “collywobbles.” It’s such a wonderful, roly poly word, and it sounds so much more joyful than its meaning. Whenever one of us kids was sick, my mom’s first question was: “Do you have the collywobbles?” Few of my friends knew what the word meant, so they usually looked blank when I asked them the same question. For a long time I thought it was a word that belonged to my family alone; that you had to have access to some kind of Bullard Family Dictionary to be able to decode it. This was also true, by the way, of one of my most dreaded words: “potch.” My mom threatened to “potch” us when we were naughty, and it wasn’t until I was an adult that I was able to figure out that this “Bullard family word” was (surprisingly, given our heritage) in fact Yiddish.

What foreign language would you like to learn?

I don’t know if it’s defined as a “foreign” language or not, but one of the things on my bucket list is to learn American Sign Language. When I attend a performance or presentation where someone is interpreting into ASL, I’m riveted—I’d love to be able to make my words dance in the air the same way that I try to make them dance on the page when I write.

Do you read the end of a book first?

I’m actually perfectly happy to start a book somewhere other than the beginning, and then to read it in sections completely out of order. But now that I’m a writer, I’ve made a rule to allow other writers the chance to tell me their story in the fashion they think is best (in other words, I make myself read it in the order it’s presented, from beginning to end). But if I grow bored a couple of chapters in, the rules change, and I revert to random reading order. In that case, I usually dip into the middle and read a bit to see if the story seems more exciting at that point. If not, I’ll read the end as my way of giving the author a final chance to sell me on their story. If I like the ending after all that, I sometimes go back and read earlier bits, dipping in and out of the story in random fashion until I get back to that end again.

Skinny Dip with Brenda Sederberg

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Brenda Sederberg is the current facilitator of the Chapter & Verse Book Club in Duluth, Minnesota. She’s an enthusiastic reader and wonderfully avid about sharing the books she reads. A retired teacher, she continues to inspire learning wherever she goes.

How many bookcases do you have in your home?

Oh … soooo many! When I retired from 34 years of teaching I brought very little home from my classroom, but I did bring 24 boxes of children’s books! I’m just not ready to part with them. They take up bookshelves on an entire wall in my house. From time to time I will be chatting with someone about something, and end up saying, “oh … you should see this book by ….”, and I find the book and loan it out. When guests with children visit they often end up reading books from my shelves.

I also have shelves of books in another room in our house, organized:

nature and outdoors books
books by Hispanic authors (I taught middle and high school Spanish for a number of years … before teaching elementary school)
travel books
an assortment of Nobel Prize winning literature
children’s books from places I’ve visited (Maine, Texas, Rhode Island, France, Germany)
favorite fiction and nonfiction books I’ve read or want to read

Have you traveled outside the United States?

I love to travel, and when I do I look for children’s books from the area I’m visiting, or read a book while I’m there that was written by an author from that region. I read Heidi in Switzerland last fall, and Pinocchio in Italy the year before. I enjoy hiking and biking in the wide open spaces in these countries, the small towns … and I stay away from the big cities.

Mt. Royal Public Library, Duluth, MN

Which library springs to mind when someone says that word?

It’s hard to choose one! We lived in a small town in North Dakota when I was young, and I biked to the Public Library there and checked out as many books as the book clamp on my bike would hold. It was a beautiful building, of course, as libraries are! There were large steps leading up to the door, and columns alongside the steps. The old public library near Lincoln Park School was a favorite when I went to school there, and now I LOVE the Mt. Royal Library in Duluth. When I was in college in Duluth, I worked 10 hours a week in the Children’s Library at UMD, run by Lorraine Bissonette. She arranged books beautifully, with stuffed animal book characters next to books, colorful mobiles hanging above the shelves, green and flowering plants throughout, and comfortable chairs in which to sit and read. It was a library like no other, to be sure … more like some of the wonderful children’s bookstores … the Wild Rumpus, for example.

Do you read the end of a book first?

NEVER. I do not usually read any information on the flap or the back, either. I like to start with the dedication, and then the first line of the book, and continue from there. I want to read it and let it speak for itself, I don’t like to know much at all about a book before I read it! First lines are important to me … I sort of “collect” first lines!

“In the Carpenter Shop,” Carl Larsson

Who is your favorite artist?

It is hard to choose one … I like the art of Carl Larsson, Swedish painter, and visited his home in Sweden where one can see the painting he did IN his home, above doorways, around walls. I copied a “saying” he painted in his house, above a doorway in our home: “Whef Du Vad, Var God Och Glad,” in Swedish (forgive any errors!), in English: “I’ll tell you what, be good and glad.” I love Betsy Bowen’s woodcuts, and the prints of Rick Allen, who has a studio in Canal Park in Duluth and each spring releases a new print of “The Trapper’s Daughter”! He has practically written a book in printing her many adventures! The lettering and text he sometimes incorporates in his work is wonderful, and often humorous.

Skinny Dip with DeDe Small

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DeDe Small shares her enthusiasm about books, reading, and literacy with her students at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. We invited DeDe to Skinny Dip with us, our first interview in the New Year.

When did you first start reading books?

I don’t actually remember learning to read but I do always remember having books. I even came up with my own cataloging system in the later elementary grades.

Dinner party at your favorite restaurant with people living or dead: where is it and who’s on the guest list?

I don’t know where it is but I know I am eating a really good steak and we need a big table because I am inviting Barak Obama, JK Rowling, Buck O’Neill, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Jane Goodall, my parents, and my aunts.

All-time favorite book?

This is really hard because there are too many to name! I loved it when my mother read The Secret Garden to me. As a young child, I loved reading Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn. In upper elementary, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell was my favorite. All-time favorite might have to be the entire Harry Potter series because it speaks to choosing kindness, love, and integrity over power and fame.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

I was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

What’s your least favorite chore?

Doing the laundry.

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

I love the feeling when everything starts clicking and you can sense where the project might go. That sense of potential is energizing.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Barefoot in warm weather and socks when it is cold. You will most often find me curled up on my couch with a book, doing school work or watching a movie. The activity changes but my location does not.

When are you your most creative?

I am most creative when I step back and take the time to let an idea percolate a bit.

Your best memory of your school library?

My strongest memory is actually of my public library. We would go once a week. It became a great bonding experience with my mother and I came to think of the library as a special place. I now have four library cards.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mint Chip.

Book(s) on your bedside table right now?

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk, and La Rose by Louise Erdrich. I recently read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Refugee by Alan Gratz and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.

Best invention in the last 200 years?

Vaccines

Which is worse: spiders or snakes?

Spiders. Way too many legs and eyes.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

Recycling

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

I find hope in the characters of good books and real-life stories. Lloyd Alexander was specifically referencing fantasy but I think it is true of all good stories: “Sometimes heartbreaking, but never hopeless, the fantasy world as it ‘should be’ is one in which good is ultimately stronger than evil, where courage, justice, love, and mercy actually function.” Books allow us to recognize our own humanity in others and that makes me hopeful. If we read more, connect more, and understood more, the world would be a better place.

Skinny Dip with Kelly Starling Lyons

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Kelly Starling Lyons (photo: Lundies Photography)

You may know Kelly Starling Lyons for One Million Men and Me or Tea Cakes for Tosh or Ellen’s Broom, memorable picture books, but we’re celebrating her new chapter books starring Jada Jones! Thanks, Kelly, for taking a Skinny Dip with us in December.

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

That’s a tough question. I loved all of my teachers. But two that stand out are Dr. Kupec at Beechwood Elementary and Mr. Powell at Milliones Middle School.

Dr. Kupec was my second grade teacher and later principal of the school. I looked forward to going to her class to see what wonders were in store. Would we sing? Act? Read books that took us to other worlds? She knew how to captivate kids and make learning fun.

Another favorite was band director and teacher Mr. Powell. Brilliant, creative and exacting, he taught me the power of practice and feeling what you’re playing. Under his direction, I couldn’t just blend into the background. I had synthesizer solos that put me in the spotlight. He even wrote a song that showcased my playing called “Kelly’s Blues.” I’ll always remember how amazing that made me feel.

All-time favorite book?

A children’s book that made a big impact on me was Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. In the story, an African-American girl learns that the power to create beauty lives in her. I looked at her face full of wonder and saw girls I know and little me. That was the first time I saw a black character on the cover of a picture book. It called me to write for kids and will always have special meaning.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

Breakfast is my favorite meal. On weekends, we would sit around the table and marvel at the spread made by my grandma and mom. The table was filled with favorites—fried apples, scrambled eggs with cheese, homefries, link sausage, homemade muffins, banana pancakes with warm maple syrup. It was a feast of food and love.

Your best memory of your library?

My local Carnegie Library was magical. All around, stories waited to be read and explored. It was a place where adventures and dreams came to life. Reading was like being on another plane, outside of time and space. Those storytelling journeys meant everything to me. I feel blessed to be creating them for children today.

Your favorite toy as a child?

I treasured my homemade Raggedy Ann doll. In stores, I just saw white ones. But a relative made one with skin the color of mine. It was more than a toy. It was an affirmation, a love letter. It’s one of the few keepsakes I’ve held onto from childhood. Today, it’s my daughter’s.

About Kelly Starling Lyons

I’m grateful for the awards and honors my books have received. But what means the most to me is my work connecting with children. Recently, a woman wrote to let me know she gave my Jada chapter books to her daughter who’s a teacher. That made my day. Then, this note came: “I wrote you several weeks ago to let you know how much my daughter’s second grade class loves Jada Jones. I talked to my daughter last night and she told me a great story. A group of girls from her class were bullying another girl so my daughter pulled of the bullying girls aside and asked her what she thought Jada Jones would do. The girls said Jada would stick up for the other girl. After lunch, the girl came in and told my daughter that when the group started bullying the other girl she stood up for her and then they all played together and had fun. Thank you for inspiring these girls.” There’s no greater reward for me as a writer than learning something I wrote helped make a difference. kellystarlinglyons.com

Skinny Dip with Sarah Aronson

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Sarah Aronson’s most recent books, The Worst Fairy Godmother Ever (The Wish List #1, Beach Lane Books) and Keep Calm and Sparkle On! (The Wish List #2) are at once lighthearted and serious—stories that are fun to read and encourage working for causes that matter to the world. Sarah is widely known in the children’s book writing community as an enthusiastic and effective writing instructor. Thanks, Sarah, for taking a Skinny Dip with us in December!

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

This is an easy one! My favorite and most influential teacher during those first years of school was my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Dan Sigley.

It was a year that began with mixed emotions. At that time, I didn’t really feel passionate about books. Oh, I liked books, but theater was my favorite story medium. I had also just returned from 8 months in York, England. I went to school there and was introduced to new settings (that you could visit) as well as writers like Charles Dickens. I read Enid Blyton. More important, I watched my friends take the 11 plus exam, effectively tracking and dividing them for different kinds of futures.

Mr. Sigley awakened my creative spirit in many ways. He got me hooked on books in three distinct ways. First, our class read and performed Romeo and Juliet—unabridged! He showed me that even if I didn’t understand the individual words, I could infer meaning in a text! Second, he tirelessly handed me books—he was determined to make me a reader. The book that did it was John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. That ending blew me away! It made me think! This was what I wanted from books! A chance to think about injustice and relationships and family … and how I could make it better. Last, he taught us how to make books—from writing to illustrating to binding. This first home-made book, The Adventures of Prince Charming, connected the dots. Books were like theater. Books were unique for each reader. I loved getting into the heads of my characters. I loved holding a book, too.

About the time Head Case was released, Mr. Sigley moved to the house next to my parents, so I got to see him many times and thank him for everything he taught me. He was a gentle, creative man. He was the first person who held me accountable and awakened my imagination.

All-time favorite book?

The word, favorite, is my least favorite word ever! Here are the books I keep on my desk—they are the books I love. They are the books I reach for when I’m stuck. These are the books that have taught me how to write.

Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)
The Rag and Bone Shop (Robert Cormier)
Monster (Walter Dean Myers)
Clementine (Sara Pennypacker)
Bunnicula (James Howe, Deborah Howe)
What Jamie Saw (Carolyn Coman)
The Carrot Seed (Ruth Krauss, Crockett Johnson)
The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Leaf, Robert Lawson)
Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh)
Blubber (Judy Blume)
Officer Buckle and Gloria (Peggy Rathmann)
Charles and Emma (Deborah Heiligman)
Sandy’s Circus (Tanya Lee Stone, Boris Kulikov)

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

When I am in pre-writing mode, nothing counts! (I am one of those weird writers that deletes her first discovery draft!!!) I love writing without expectations! It doesn’t feel like work. It is all disposable!

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

You have to ask? I write books about fairy godmothers! I like shoes. Always shoes. I love shoes and boots and would even wear glass slippers if I didn’t think I’d trip and break them.

When are you your most creative?

First thing in the morning. Best advice I can offer: hide your phone. Be a word producer—not just a consumer. Get out of bed and create. Get someone to make you a coffee. Journal every morning. Or doodle. Get the pen to the paper. Find a way to transition from the real world to your imaginative state. The world and social media can wait!

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

In the winter: chocolate

In the summer: peach

But the gelato place around the corner makes Greek Yoghurt gelato. It’s sweet and sour and tangy! Yum.

(File under: this author has problems with favorites.)

Book on your bedside table right now?

I’m crying over Matylda, Bright and Tender, by Holly McGhee, recommended by Olivia Van Ledtje, also known as @thelivbits

What’s your hidden talent?

I can turn anything into a writing lesson.

Also: I can draw an elephant from behind.

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

Young people give me hope. They value kindness. And the environment. They stick up for one another. They exhibit a strong sense of goodness and a willingness to speak out against injustices.

That is what I have seen and learned from readers—to kids and teens—even the shy ones who wait until they can email me to ask a question. Our young people are growing up in a time where there are no barriers to information. Yes, there is a lot of misleading stuff, but the good stuff is at our fingertips, too. I could complain a lot about phones and the internet, but technology is also equalizing. We live in a time when we can interact with just about anyone. There are so many ways to learn.

In young people, I see motivated kids like Nora (from The Wish List). They want to make the world better. They believe in goodness. They are not afraid to speak out. They support each other. That gives me hope.

About Sarah Aronson

Sarah began writing for kids and teens when someone in an exercise class dared her to try. Since then, she has earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and published four novels: Head Case, Beyond Lucky, Believe, and most recently The Wish List (Scholastic), the first book in a middle grade series about the worst fairy godmother ever. Look for her forthcoming picture book biography, Just Like Rube Goldberg (Beach Lane Books). When Sarah is not writing or reading (or cooking or riding her bike), she is talking to readers about creativity, writing, social action, and of course, sparkle power! She loves working with other writers in one of her classes at Writers on the Net or the Highlights Foundation. She is also the cofounder and organizer of the Writing Novels for Young People Retreat at VCFA, now approaching its fifteenth year. Sarah has served as an SCBWI mentor in both Illinois and Michigan. She loves sports. She overuses exclamation points. When she’s excited, she talks with her hands. Sarah currently lives and writes in Illinois. saraharonson.com

Skinny Dip with Mira Bartók

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Mira Bartók, author and illustrator, recently ushered The Wonderling into the world and it is already on several best of 2017 book lists. Congratulations, Mira, and thanks for sharing your responses with our readers.

When did you first start reading books?

Age 4.

All-time favorite book?

The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, mashed potatoes, and chocolate milk!

What’s your leasst favorite chore?

Vacuuming.

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

Reading all kinds of books and taking random notes, and also going to museums to sketch objects and paintings that relate to what I’m working on.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Soft, comfy socks.

When are you your most creative?

When I’m not promoting a book, and when I turn off all electronic devices. And my brain is usually exploding with ideas when I’m either in a museum or walking in the woods.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip.

Book on your bedside table right now?

There are several: M.T. Anderson’s Landscape with Invisible Hand, two volumes of fairy tales by 19th century Scottish writer George MacDonald, the first Redwall book (I still haven’t read the series!), and a new short story collection called The Age of Perpetual Light by a brilliant young writer named Josh Weil.

What’s your hidden talent?

I think I sightread piano music pretty fast.

Your favorite toy as a child …

A little stuffed pony named: PONY.

Favorite artist? Why?

South African artist William Kentridge. Because his work is avant-garde yet accessible, personal and political, and intellectual and emotional.

A Universal Archive, copyright William Kentridge

Which is worse: spiders or snakes?

I love them both! I worked in a zoo and handled everything, including tarantulas!

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

I’m not sure which is my own best contribution but I know that composting and recycling every day is super easy and really helps.

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

It’s hard to feel hopeful these days but when I see the little littles of the world experience wonder, it give me hope. So I suppose I feel hopeful because of them.

About Mira Bartók

Mira Bartók is an artist and writer, and the creator of The Wonderling: Songcatcher, the first book in an illustrated middle-grade fantasy series (Candlewick Press 2017). The Wonderling will also be a movie, directed by award-winning British director, Stephen Daldry and produced by Working Title Films and Fox2000. Mira is also the author of The Memory Palace, a New York Times bestselling memoir and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. She has written numerous books on ancient and indigenous cultures for children (The Ancient and Living Stencil Series), and her writing for adults has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, noted in The Best American Essays series, and has appeared in many literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. She lives in Western Massachusetts. mirabartok.com

Skinny Dip with Susan Yutzey

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Susan Yutzey

Susan Yutzey worked as an Ohio school librarian for many years, serving in local, state, and national leadership positions. Now retired, she continues to be a tireless advocate for school libraries and librarians.

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

Ms. D’Angelo was my seventh grade teacher. I was a new student at Edith A. Bogart Elementary School and Ms. D’Angelo made me feel welcome. From encouraging me as a left-hander to position the paper the way I felt most comfortable to serving as my piano accompanist at the annual talent show as I sang selections from my favorite musical “Gigi,” Ms. D’Angelo was always my role model.

When did you first start reading books?

My first book was a gift from my grandmother—The Little Engine that Could. From that point on, I remember reading every Nancy Drew book, relishing my Saturday mornings as I devoured The Secret of the Old Clock, The Mystery of Lilac Inn, The Secret at Shadow Ranch, and all the rest. To keep track of my books I created “checkout” cards and attached them to each book. Playing librarian at the tender age of ten should have been my clue that twenty-nine years later I would embark on a career as a school librarian.

All-time favorite book?

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

Your best memory of your school library?

The library in my high school was a two-story library with shelf after shelf of books and periodicals. From the second floor to the first floor was a winding staircase. During the two years I was a student at Northern Highland High School, I was secretary of the Library Council. The officers of the Library Council had their yearbook photo taken on that winding staircase. I also have fond memories of Mrs. Enos, the school librarian, and her assistant Mrs. Holmstrup who provided a supportive environment for students and encouraged independent thinking and action.

Book on your bedside table right now?

I seem to being going through a British mystery phase so on my bedside table you’ll find Friend Request by Laura Marshall. I just finished reading John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down. I usually have two books going at the same time so my nonfiction read is The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.

What’s your hidden talent?

As an elementary school student I discovered that as a left-hander, I could write backwards. I would write my name or a phrase backward, hold it up to a mirror and there it was—able to be read by anyone! It was great for passing notes to friends.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Graeter’s Ice Cream is a Cincinnati-based creamery. My favorite flavor from Graeter’s is black raspberry chocolate chip.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

Walking wherever and whenever I can and recycling plastics and paper in our neighborhood recycling program.

About Susan Yutzey

I earned a PhD from The Ohio State University in 1988. Loving the process of doing research, I began my MLIS from Kent State University in 1989. Continuing to work in higher education until 1995 when I completed my MLIS, I left higher education to work at Bishop Watterson High School for four years. In 1999, I began working at Upper Arlington High School as a librarian and, in 2002, was promoted to Director of the Learning Center. During my career at Upper Arlington, my biggest joy was collaborating with teachers and preparing students to be independent learners and find joy in reading. Leadership in my profession was very important to me so I served as a Central Region Director, Secretary, Vice President, President, and Immediate Past President of our state school library association, OELMA. As an officer in our state school library association, I served as the representative to the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) to the Affiliate Assembly for two years and was appointed as the Local Arrangements Co-chair for the AASL National Conference in 2015, which was held in Columbus, Ohio. I received the Award of Merit and the President’s Award from OELMA as well as District Teacher of the Year from Upper Arlington City Schools. Now retired, I am a tireless advocate for school libraries and librarians. Follow me on Twitter @sfyutz23.

Skinny Dip with Anne Broyles

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Author Anne Broyles is a world traveler, explorer, and social justice advocate who writes books about historical journeys, family traditions, and the immigrant experience.

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

My fifth grade teacher at Schumaker Elementary School, Mr. George Willems, encouraged me to think of myself as a writer through our weekly writing assignments. One week he put on a scary piece of music called “Danse Macabre” and asked us to write the story that came to us as we listened to the music. My story was about skeletons in the graveyard. Another week, he took us out on the playground to lie on our backs and use the clouds for inspiration. I still have a lot of the work I did in his class.

I have few regrets in life, but I do wish I had returned to the school to thank him for his encouragement, but by the time I was old enough to realize that this might have meant something to him, he was already gone.

What is your favorite part of starting a new project?

I love the initial inspiration of a new project, then the research into making sure my ideas, setting, language, and details are all accurate. For instance, in my research for my middle grade novel-in-progress, Plenty Powerful, I spent two weekends in Arthurdale, West Virginia, a planned community that Eleanor Roosevelt helped found during the Depression. I spent time with the real-life people who, had my character been an actual person, would have been her classmates. They told me what it was like to move from extreme poverty in mining camps to a place where they had homes, running water, electricity, and a sense of community. Those are the kinds of details I love to include in writing fiction..

Favorite lunch as a kid?

Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich.

Barefoot or shoes?

I grew up in Tucson, so I am definitely a thongs/sandals person. I feel sad when summer is over and I have to start wearing “real shoes.” Though I backpacked through Europe for seven months right after college and loved my heavy hiking boots so much, I sometimes slept in them after I got home!

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

Like Anne Frank, I “believe, in spite of everything, that people& are truly good at heart.” I try to look for and find the light that is in everyone I meet.

Best invention of the last two hundred years?

The telephone, because it gave people opportunity to communicate with family and friends who were not geographically close. I use email and texts to stay in touch, too, of course, but there’s nothing as satisfying as hearing the voice of someone I love, and getting to have a back-and-forth conversation when we are apart.

Book on your bedside table right now?

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, which I just picked up today. I look forward to seeing how he pulls off the concept of “a novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.”

Your most cherished accomplishment?

I received a Youth Mentor Award from the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Skinny Dip with Patti Lapp

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A dedicated educator in Pennsylvania, we invited Patti Lapp to answer our twenty Skinny Dip questions.

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

Mr. Jordan was my favorite teacher who taught 7th grade. He was funny and straightforward; all of us students respected him, and he certainly kept everyone in line. I attended a Catholic school, and he was unique in that setting.

When did you first start reading books?

My mom read to me when I was very young, and because of her dedication, I could read independently when I entered kindergarten. I have been reading voraciously since.

Your favorite daydream?

I daydream of having time to write!

Dinner party at your favorite restaurant with people living or dead: where is it and who’s on the guest list?

The dinner party would be at Soggy Dollar in Jost Van Dyke, BVI. The guest list would include: Jesus, of course! This choice is cliché, but how interesting would this dinner conversation be with Him?! At this dinner, I would also invite Mary Magdalene, Stephen Hawking, David Bohm, Albert Einstein, Gregg Braden, Nikola Tesla, Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Shirley MacLaine, Nelson Mandela, Charles Dickens, Maya Angelou, Avi, Viggo Mortensen, Paul McCartney, and my father and grandfather, both deceased.

All-time favorite book?

A Tale of Two Cities—brilliant plotline, indelible characters, and a notable beginning and end!

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

My mom made the best French toast. The key is a lot of cinnamon.

What’s your least favorite chore?

Getting ready the night before for the next day’s work.

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

Inspiration.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Barefoot or socks—season dependent.

When are you your most creative?

Sitting alone in the quiet dark at night, decompressing before bedtime.

Your best memory of your school library?

When in elementary school, my best memory is of the Nancy Drew mystery stories that I borrowed every week. Now, as a teacher, my best memories are discussing novels with the many librarians that we have had over the years. They read a lot; so do I.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Cherry Garcia.

Book on your bedside table right now?

William Kent Krueger’s Purgatory Ridge, the third novel in his Cork O’Connor murder/mystery series of currently 16 books. I got hooked on his brilliant story, Ordinary Grace, a standalone novel. He writes beautifully.

What’s your hidden talent?

I can weave.

Your favorite toy as a child …

Jacks—Anyone remember that game?

Best invention in the last 200 years?

Clean water and indoor plumbing and the printing press and the electric light.

Favorite artist? Why?

I love Van Gogh because of his textured brush strokes, color, and creativity.

Which is worse: spiders or snakes?

Snakes are the worst. I do not kill spiders because they will consume most of the insects in our homes. If they are big and hairy, they pack their bags and leave—in a cup—to move outside.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

I am a vegetarian. It takes 15 pounds of feed to generate 1 pound of meat; hence, more people in the world can be fed when people consume a vegetarian diet. Additionally, animals are saved, many that would be raised in inhumane conditions, many that would be treated inhumanely.

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

Ideas are humans’ most valuable resource. If we continue to invest in innovation and research that make our planet healthier and improve the quality of life for the global community, we have hope. As a very simple example, look at the fairly new awareness of GMOs in our food. With awareness, comes demand. With demand, comes change—and humanity clearly needs to continue to make pioneering and positive changes.

About Patti Lapp

Working in the Warwick School District, Patti Lapp is a 6th-grade language arts teacher at Lititz Elementary School in Lititz, Pennsylvania, voted Coolest Small Town in America in 2013. In her 23rd year of teaching, she instructs writing, grammar, reading, and additional language skills. Her favorite subject to teach is writing, and she enjoys seeing her students’ skills and confidence grow as they voyage through the year. By year’s end, (most) students love to write, and they also find it much easier to organize their thoughts and to write a variety of sentences structures than when they arrived in September.

Beginning in about February of each school year, her advanced LA learners begin their YA novel study of Avi’s work. She feels that Avi can offer her students one of the best examples of great writing; hence, they read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Crispin: The Cross of Lead, and a self-selected Avi novel. Over the years, some students have even read more than 30 of Avi’s books, having fallen in love with his endearing characters and page-turning plotlines. After this Avi study, students culminate with an Avi Skype, a momentous event.

Skinny Dip with Cathy Camper

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Are you fans of the Lowriders graphic novels? We are! And we can’t wait for the next one. The author who thinks up those great stories is Cathy Camper. We invited her to Skinny Dip with the Bookologist … and she said yes! When we asked her pointed questions, here’s what she had to say.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

Eating cake for breakfast just like Two Bits in The Outsiders.

What’s your least favorite chore?

Making my stupid lunch. I work full-time and it’s never-ending! I make my lunch, go to bed, go to work, eat my lunch, go home, and have to make my stupid lunch all over again.

When are you your most creative?

When I have a little bit of something with caffeine, preferably dark chocolate, maybe a small gulp of coffee, then go for a run or walk, or some mindless activity that allows me to daydream. When the ideas start to come, I write them down immediately.

Raul III, winner of the 2017 Pura Belpre award for illustration, with Jon Scieszka and Cathy Camper at the Chronicle Books booth at ALA in Chicago, 2017

Best invention in the last 200 years?

Indoor plumbing and clean water, in particular, hot water WHENEVER you want a bath or shower, and clean water whenever you want a drink. I give great thanks for being born in a time and society where we have that luxury.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

I never had kids. One less human.

Skinny Dip with Suzanne Costner

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Suzanne Costner

We’re thrilled to Skinny Dip with outstanding educator Suzanne Costner, Thanks to Suzanne for answer our questions during her very busy end-of-the-school-year hours.

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

My favorite teacher was Mrs. Hill in 4th grade. She read to us every day after lunch: Stuart Little, Where the Red Fern Grows, James and the Giant Peach. She introduced us to so many awesome writers that I still go back and reread.

When did you first start reading books?

I can’t remember a time that I didn’t read. I still have my first little cloth book that I chewed on as a baby. My grandmother had a set of Dr. Seuss books on the shelf and read them to me whenever I stayed with her. I was reading on my own before I started kindergarten.

Suzanne’s first book, a Real Cloth book.

Your favorite daydream?

In my daydream, I am living in a little cabin in the woods with my dogs and my books. There is a little stream gurgling along nearby and sunlight filtering through the trees.

Dinner party at your favorite restaurant with people living or dead: where is it and who’s on the guest list?

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L’Engle, Ursula K. Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, and Lloyd Alexander. My sister and my nieces would have to be there, too.

All-time favorite book?

The Princess Bride—chases, escapes, swordfights, torture, pirates, giants, magic, true love…

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

My favorite lunch was a peanut butter sandwich, and I always asked for “a lid on it,” because I didn’t like open-faced sandwiches.

What’s your least favorite chore?

It’s probably laundry, because the washing machine is in the basement and it means multiple trips up and down the stairs.

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

Bouncing my ideas off my friends and having them suggest ways to make things even better.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Barefoot, and either reading a book or listening to an audio book.

When are you your most creative?

When I am writing grant applications to fund more STEM activities for my students. I can think of all sorts of ways to tie rockets, robots, and gadgets into literacy instruction.

Your best memory of your school library?

I was a library aide in middle school and loved being in the library and helping to get the new books ready for the shelf. That “new book” smell when the box was opened should be a signature perfume or cologne.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

O’Charley’s Caramel Pie ice cream from Mayfield Dairies (the best of both worlds)

Book on your bedside table right now?

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and The Unbreakable Code by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman.

What’s your hidden talent?

I have a brain that holds onto trivia, so I can come up with a song or movie quote for almost any occasion. Sometimes at family dinners we all just speak in movie quotes.

Your favorite toy as a child …

I had a little wooden riding toy that looked like a giraffe. I rode it up and down the walk behind my grandparents’ house. I also had a cowgirl outfit, complete with boots and hat that I loved to wear.

Best invention in the last 200 years?

Digital books so that I can go on vacation without taking a second suitcase just for all my reading material.

Favorite artist? Why?

I love space and stars, so Van Gogh’s Starry Night is my favorite painting. I don’t really have one favorite artist.

Which is worse: spiders or snakes?

Spiders—because my sister Jamie hates them and I have to rescue her from them.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

Recycling. especially trading in books at the used bookstore, or using CFL bulbs in my reading lamps.

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

Because kids still fall in love with books. If they can lose themselves in characters and settings that are different from their everyday world, then they can learn tolerance and kindness.

About Suzanne Costner

Suzanne is the school library media specialist at Fairview Elementary School in Maryville, TN. She serves as the robotics club sponsor, Hour of Code sponsor, the Aerospace Connections in Education coordinator, and one of the school’s STEM coordinators. She started her library blog as a way to share more book recommendations with the families in her community. Suzanne lives and reads in Alcoa, Tennessee, near Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In 2016, Suzanne was the first school librarian to win the Humanities Tennessee Outstanding Educator Award. The award began in 1985, but librarians weren’t eligible until 2016. Winning the award provided new humanities materials for her school library, as well as sending her to the ALA Midwinter 2017 meeting. This year, Suzanne participated in the judging committee to choose the next group of winners, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Skinny Dip with Aimée Bissonette

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Aimée Bissonette

We’re thrilled to Skinny Dip with Aimée Bissonette, who is the author of two acclaimed picture books so far, North Woods Girl (Minnesota Historical Society Press) and Miss Colfax’s Light (Sleeping Bear Press). Thanks to Aor taking time away from writing and work to answer Bookology‘s questions!

When did you first start reading books?

My best friend, Lyn, taught me to read when I was 5 years old.

Lyn was a year older so she went to first grade the year before I did. When she got home from school, she would bring her reading books (the “Fun with Dick and Jane” series) over to my house. We’d sit on my front steps and Lyn would teach me everything she’d learned in school that day. I am sure I read with members of my family, too, but Lyn was the one who really taught me to love reading.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

I always loved Sunday breakfast growing up. It was the one time of the week we were all guaranteed to be in one spot together. I have six brothers and sisters, so it was a bit of a challenge to get enough food ready at the right time to feed everyone. (Remember, this was before microwave ovens!) And it was pretty chaotic. My mom used to joke that when she wrote the story of her life, she would title it “Raw Eggs and Burnt Bacon.” Maybe I’ll write a book about her someday with that title.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Socks! I love socks! In fact, my mother-in-law used to laugh at the size of the sock basket in my laundry room—you know, the place where you throw all those clean socks from the dryer so you can pair them later while watching TV? My sock basket is huge.

When are you your most creative?

I am at my creative best when I am out in nature. I love to hike, bike, and snowshoe. I walk every day—rain or shine, puddles or snow. I need to get away from my desk, smell outdoor smells, listen to birdsong. Nature always finds its way into my books.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip. Hands down.

About Aimée Bissonette

Aimée Bissonette was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven children. She grew up with her suitcase never fully unpacked—her family moved many times and she attended 8 different schools before graduating from high school. Aimée earned her Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and her Law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School. She has worked as an occupational therapist, teacher, lawyer, and small business owner. In her legal practice, she works with numerous children’s book authors and illustrators. In addition to her books for children, Aimée has published a book for K-12 teachers and administrators on the legal issues associated with technology in the schools. She lives with her husband, family, and dogs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To learn more about Aimée and her work please visit her website.

Skinny Dip with Susan Latta

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Susan Latta

This week we’re all set to Skinny Dip with Susan Latta, who is celebrating the publication of her first trade book on September 1st, Bold Women of Medicine: 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries, Daring Surgeries, and Healing Breakthroughs (Chicago Review Press). With historical to contemporary biographies of women who have found cures, advanced medicine, and tended to the sick with compassion, Susan has written an inspiring book that teen readers will find fascinating. Thanks to Susan for taking time to answer Bookology‘s questions!

Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?

My favorite teacher was my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Palmquist. I don’t remember her first name. She had a system of writing the numbers 1, 2, 3, on the blackboard for discipline. If the class misbehaved and she got to number 3, that meant she wouldn’t read to us that day. Since I was one of the “goody two-shoes” in the class it always made me so angry when one of the boys (usually Dennis) did something to get us to number 3. I especially remember when she read Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. I was fascinated and looked forward to that time of day.

When did you first start reading books?

Probably in about first grade. We had all the usual books for the time; Cat in the Hat, A Snowy Day, The Little Engine That Could, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Caps for Sale. When I was a little older, I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, as well as anything by Beverly Cleary. And a bit later, I devoured every Agatha Christie mystery.

Dinner party at your favorite restaurant with people living or dead: where is it and who’s on the guest list?

Broder’s Pasta Bar in Minneapolis, their homemade pasta is to die for. As far as guests, I think Abigail Adams, Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen, Dr. Helen Taussig, Sister Elizabeth Kenny, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Julia Child, and my family; husband Rob, sons Ryan and Robbie, and daughter Kristen. Our golden retriever Stanley would love to come for the leftovers.

All-time favorite book?

Hard to choose just one. As a child, My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan. As an adult: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, John Adams by David McCullough.

Favorite breakfast or lunch as a kid?

American Braunschweiger which is a type of liverwurst or liver sausage with a little mayonnaise on white bread. Haven’t had it in years; not sure it is considered health food.

What’s your least favorite chore?

Changing the sheets.

What’s your favorite part of starting a new project?

Digging into the research.

Barefoot? Socks? Shoes? How would we most often find you at home?

Shoes and good wool socks in the winter, barefoot in the summer.

When are you at your most creative?

Morning, but after breakfast and good strong coffee. And when I say strong, I mean “spoon almost standing up in the mug strong.”

Your best memory of your school library?

As fifth graders, we wrote and illustrated picture books to read to the kindergartners in the library. Mine was something about bears. Sure wish I still had it.

Favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mocha chip.

Book on your bedside table right now?

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney.

What’s your hidden talent?

I can wiggle my ears.

Your favorite toy as a child?

My Barbie and Skipper dolls.

Best invention in the last 200 years?

The dishwasher.

Girl with a Watering Can, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876

Favorite artist? Why?

Claude Monet or Renoir. I love impressionism and had a poster of Renoir’s painting A Girl with a Watering Can in my bedroom growing up. I also love Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as Grandma Moses. Her idyllic paintings have so many things to discover.

Which is worse: spiders or snakes?

That’s a toss-up. Probably spiders.

What’s your best contribution to taking care of the environment?

Recycling.

Why do you feel hopeful for humankind?

Because buried in each of us there is goodness. In some it may be hard to find, but it is there.

Skinny Dip with Gary Mlodzik

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This time around, we’re Skinny Dippin’ with Gary Mlodzik, founder of the Grow Your Library initiative within the national literacy foundation Kids Need to Read.

Gary Mlodzik and his daughter Kody in Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Lee Child. I love his writing! I have read every one of the Jack Reacher books and love his storytelling style. Lee let’s your imagination fill in the blanks. A Joe Friday approach to writing, “Just the facts, ma’am.” No more than needed to capture the essence of the story, no less than required for a thrilling adventure. I have heard him speak at a book signing and he has a great sense of humor and he’s very engaging.

Favorite city to visit?

San Diego. When you live in the Arizona desert, the ocean is a welcome reprieve from the summertime heat. San Diego is a six-hour drive and brings a welcome change of scenery. Great food, fun attractions, recreational opportunities, and an opportunity to relax by the gentle waves make for a great getaway.

What’s your dream vacation?

Iceland! God’s beauty in so many forms, all in one country! The Aurora Borealis, beautiful coasts, wildlife, caves, glaciers, waterfalls and hot springs are waiting to explore and enjoy.

Morning person? Night person?

Definitely a morning person! Get up and get ‘er done! I have a list ready and hit it hard. Once evening comes, productivity declines rapidly.

Best tip for living a contented life?

Discover who you are as a person, accept who you are, build your life into the best you that you can be.

Gary shares his passion for literacy by volunteering!

I volunteer with the national literacy foundation Kids Need to Read (KNTR). I am honored to serve on their board of directors. In 2015, I developed the Grow Your Library program for KNTR. For this program, KNTR provides 200 books to four carefully selected, economically challenged libraries throughout the USA per year. Along with the book donation, my wife, Tina, and I visit the library, conduct a story time and explain how the kids can “donate” more books to the library just by emailing KNTR with a short note regarding what they like about reading or what they like to read. Then, Tina and I donate a book to the library with the child’s name on a book plate inside the cover! It’s the child’s gift to the library! Each child in attendance also gets a book to keep and a Highlights for Children magazine to take home. Sometimes the kids are in awe that the book is really theirs for life.

I have been blessed with support and encouragement from many sources. I am humbled by the number of people who, like me, believe that public libraries need our support to provide services for future generations. If readers would like to support this endeavor, please make a financial donation. Or if they have a favorite children’s book they would like us to include in our program, they can send the books right from their favorite bookseller directly to:

Kids Need To Read, Grow Your Library
Attn: Gary Mlodzik
2450 W. Broadway, Suite 110
Mesa, AZ 85202

Multiples of four books per title are usually best so we can send one to each library.

Skinny Dip with Loni Niles

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Loni Niles

We interviewed Loni Niles, K-12 media specialist in the Wadena-Deer Creek public schools in west central Minnesota. She shared her thoughts about books and life.

What is your favorite late-night snack?

I love popcorn and can eat it any time during the day, even for breakfast!

Favorite city to visit?

Chicago. Even though we moved from there when I was just a baby, I still take some pride that I was born there! Now I love to visit there because my stepdaughter and her husband are such wonderful hosts—they show us all kinds of wonderful things the city has to offer. Oh yeah, and there’s that grandson there, too! He definitely is a draw for me to visit this wonderful city!

First date?

My husband and I do not really agree on when our first date was. Fortunately, we agree on some of the more important things in life!

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

I find myself passionately recommending the novels The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Miss Steimle, my fifth grade teacher, read both of these out loud to my class in the 1970s, but today’s kids love them, too!

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

Mike Wohnoutka. My favorite book of his work is written by one of my favorite authors, David LaRochelle. It’s a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards this year and called This is NOT a Cat! Check it out!

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Gotta have my coffee in the morning!

Favorite season of the year?

Although I love them all, it’s winter! Minnesota is the perfect place for me! We typically get a real winter here and we definitely get four seasons! At age 48, I started to downhill ski. But I love to watch high school hockey, go snowmobilng and sledding, and when my sons were younger we used to love playing in the snow!

Favorite candy as a kid?

Anyone remember the Marathon candy bar?! A yummy caramel braid covered in chocolate.

Brothers and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

I’m in the middle of two brothers. I always told my two sons that I’m the best mom for them because I know what it’s like to have that big brother pounding on you and that little brother picking at you! I used to lament not having sisters, but I have been surrounded by wonderful women (and girls, too—I have three granddaughters) in my life—so it’s not so much an issue anymore.

Best tip for living a contented life?

I do live a very contented life, but I don’t really have a tip on how to do it. Seeing the good in things and people comes pretty naturally to me. I try to remember my mom’s advice to always assume the best. This is the same woman who once told me as a teenager complaining about my acne that I should just be happy I have a face. That still makes me chuckle!

Hope for the world?

My hope for the world is that we begin to recognize each others’ talents (and our own!) and appreciate each other—even our differences.

About Loni Niles

I live and work in Wadena, Minnesota for the Wadena-Deer Creek School district. I work in two libraries, one is a PreK-4 building and the other is for grades 5-12. Before working in this public school, I spent a year and half at a Catholic elementary school in Wadena and before that I was a paraprofessional and long-term sub in the Pine River-Backus school district, all in west central Minnesota. In June of 2010, our city experienced an F4 tornado that destroyed a lot of public infrastructure, including our high school. Uff da, what a mess! My colleagues and I spent most of that summer moving, sorting, and discarding the media center’s entire book and media collection! After two years in temporary facilities, we now call a brand new high school home! We are an active school district. You can read about us on Facebook or by visiting our website.

Skinny Dip with Mike Wohnoutka

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Mike Wohnoutka

We interviewed Mike Wohnoutka, children’s book illustrator, widely known for his books Dad’s First Day, Moo!, and Little Puppy and the Big Green Monster. (Mike’s last name is pronounced wuh-noot-kuh.)

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Picture books in general. I often hear parents say their children are too old for picture books. Recently a parent told me her first grader had “moved on” from picture books. This absolutely drives me crazy. You are never too old for picture books. They are second to none when it comes to art, storytelling, and language.

Favorite city to visit?

New York. I love the museums, comedy clubs, book stores, and theaters. It’s also nice to go to lunch with my editors since most of the publishers I work with are in New York.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Playing Kick the Can with all the kids in our neighborhood.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

David Shannon. David is the reason I became an illustrator. After seeing his presentation, when I was in college, about how he illustrated his first children’s book, How Many Spots Does A Leopard Have?, I thought “THAT is what I want to do!” His paintings are technically stunning and his stories are so funny.

When I visit schools I tell students about David being such an influence on me. It’s amazing how excited the students get when I show the cover of No David! and it’s incredible that every student is familiar with that series. He obviously has struck a chord with children.

A couple years ago, David and I both presented at the Mazza Museum summer conference. It was wonderful to meet him. He is the nicest guy and it was fun to let him know how much of an inspiration he has been to me.

Go-to drink?

Coffee, especially in the morning as I write or paint.

Favorite season?

Fall. Leaves changing colors, cooler weather, the World Series, and Halloween are a few of the many things I love about fall.

Dream vacation?

Prague

What gives you shivers?

Mice

Strangest tourist attraction?

Our family recently took a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, mainly to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was such a fun vacation. The attention to detail in creating Diagon Alley, Hogwarts Express, and Hogsmeade was awe-inspiring.

My wife and I got teary-eyed when we first entered Diagon Alley.

Also, the rides throughout Universal and Islands of Adventure were a blast. Of course our kids loved it all, but the strange thing about this tourist attraction is how much my wife and I truly enjoyed everything, too. We can’t wait to go back.

Brothers or sisters? How did they shape your life?

Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved to draw. Having three older brothers who were all really good at drawing had a big influence on me. I remember being so impressed with the simplest sketch they would do and I was determined to be as good as they were.

Best tip for living a contented life?

I have found meditation and yoga very helpful. I start every day with a 20 minute meditation (before the coffee).

Skinny Dip with April Whatley Bedford

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April Whatley Bedford

We interviewed April Whatley Bedford, lifelong reader, currently the Dean of the School of Education at Brooklyn College.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Can I choose two? I would love to have coffee with Michelle and Barack Obama, either together or individually. I’m sure I’m not alone in this answer, but there are no two people I admire more in the world, and I also believe we would laugh a lot during our conversations.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

This changes on a frequent basis, but I just finished reading the most recent Newbery winner, The Girl Who Drank the Moon. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. Kelly Barnhill’s beautiful language, the world she imagined and described in such exquisite detail, the ultimate message of hope and forgiveness … I could go on and on about this book. I feel sure that the well-deserved award will bring this book to the attention of more readers—of every age—who need to know about it.

Favorite city to visit?

Until I was fortunate enough to live in them, my two favorite cities to visit were always New Orleans, where I lived for 15 years, and New York City, where I have lived for the past three. Now my favorite city to visit is San Francisco, but I also dream of living in Paris sometime. There is never enough time to explore all the wonders of each of these unique and culturally rich cities, and they all have pretty fantastic food, too.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

Again, I could never pick just one but I am currently swooning over Javaka Steptoe’s spectacular Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat! Since I moved to Brooklyn, I have become friends with Javaka, and when his name was called in Atlanta at the ALA Youth Media Awards first for the Coretta Scott King medal and then for the Caldecott, I couldn’t stop screaming. He showed me a draft of the book on his iPad about a year before it was published, and I was counting the days until I could see it in print. His collages, evoking the style of Basquiat but pure Javaka, are so captivating to me. We invited the fifth graders from a local partner school, PS 119, to hear him speak at Brooklyn College just a few weeks before ALA Mid-Winter and gave them each a signed copy of Radiant Child. Being able to connect children with authors and illustrators is one of the great joys of my personal and professional life, and I was thrilled to be able to call the principal of PS 119 after the awards ceremony with the wonderful news that she could share with all of her fifth-graders. I am definitely one of Javaka’s biggest fans!

Favorite season of the year? Why?

Growing up in Texas, I was always a summer sun worshiper, but since moving to New York, I’ve grown very fond of the fall. As a teacher, the beginning of a new school year has always seemed like the real New Year’s for me, but most of my life I lived in places that really didn’t have four separate seasons. There’s just an excitement in the air as the season changes from summer to fall that I love. I’m still not a fan of New York winters, but it’s pretty hard to beat the holiday season in the city.

What gives you shivers?

Sunsets, fireworks, candlelight, shooting stars, lightening bugs, waterfalls, the ocean…all in a good way.

Morning person? Night person?

Most definitely a night person.

Your hope for the world?

My greatest hope for the world, especially during these difficult days, is that we are all able to expect kindness and compassion from one another.

Skinny Dip with Nancy Peterson

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Nancy Peterson

We interviewed Nancy Peterson, EdD, professor of elementary education at Utah Valley University and co-chair of UVU’s annual Forum on Engaged Reading “For the Love of Reading” conference and retreat.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

I recently learned that Patrick Henry (Revolutionary War Patriot) is one of my ancestors. I’d love to talk heart to heart with him about what I have read concerning his personal trials. For instance, I believe his first wife suffered from a mental illness, and that he remained loyal and responsible for her until she died. I’d really like to know how he coped, dealt with it, etc.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I re-read it every so often… finding different gems for the first time, depending on my life’s circumstances. I love that book… love that woman!

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

I can’t even think about it…. Today is my 188^th day of no sugar, no flour, and no snacking. When I crave “that thing,” I just have go to bed!

Favorite city to visit?

Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall. I’ve only been there once, but I was enamored with it, and want to see it again!

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

I really want to answer this, but I have to share three: Steve Jenkins, and his exquisitely detailed cut paper work that almost redefines realism, in my mind! Marla Frazee, whose illustrations are dripping with unique personality and “voice.” And finally, Jon J Muth. Some words I have borrowed to express how I feel about his watercolor and pastel illustrations are “magical,” “haunting,” “charming,” “majestic,” and “cozy.” All I can say is that I can’t get enough of them.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Shasta diet root beer… I just love that stuff!

Favorite season of the year?

Autumn (not “fall” – autumn) Why? Evening walks in the crisp, damp air, the vivid colors of gold, orange and scarlet leaves, and the aromas coming from the chimneys of the first houses on the block to light their fireplaces.

What’s your dream vacation?

I would love to take the train from Washington, DC, to Harper’s Ferry, stay in a bed & breakfast inn, and walk and wander around for 2 or 3 days sight-seeing the historical landmarks and museums and shopping in the historic village and quaint shops – in autumn, of course!

What gives you shivers?

Snakes and mice.

Morning person? Night person?

Morning.

What’s your hidden talent?

I am an amazing grandma! For my talent of “grandmothering” I have the hair, the rocker, the storybooks, the sewing machine and the most beautiful two and four year old grandchildren ever to walk this earth!

Your favorite candy as a kid …

M&Ms – always and forever! Have you tried the Mega M&Ms?

Brother and sisters or an only child?

I’m the oldest of five girls.

How did that shape your life?

I’m headstrong, opinionated, stubborn, and always But I’m also a pleaser; I can hold my tongue when I want to, and I usually go overboard in trying to make a good impression.

Best tip for living a contented life?

Taking time to be alone and find joy. Anne Morrow Lindbergh says women need to take a minute of every hour, an hour of every day, a day of every week, and a month of every year (or something like that) for themselves. I don’t have a regular schedule for it, but I know when I’m needing it, and I go to great lengths to get it.

Your hope for the world?

For every human being to receive and give kindness more than feeling and inflicting pain.

Skinny Dip with Linda Sue Park

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Linda Sue Park

We interviewed Linda Sue Park, veteran author and Newbery medalist, whose books have inspired children in many ways, appealing to a wide range of readers with books like A Single Shard, The Mulberry Project, Keeping Score, Yaks Yak, and A Long Walk to Water.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

My paternal grandmother, whom I never got to meet. However, I suspect she wouldn’t invite me to a coffee shop; she’d invite me for naeng-myun instead (Korean cold noodle soup. Delicious.). And I realize that she is not a celebrity in the conventional sense, but I believe that all brave women should be.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Currently: All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Brendan Kiely, Linda Sue Park, Jason Reynolds

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

Really good guac with really fresh chips. I will eat mediocre chips if they’re all that’s available. The guac is what matters.

Favorite city to visit?

New York!

Most cherished childhood memory?

Saturday mornings at the public library.

First date?

Roller-skating and ice cream, 6th grade, with a boy named Curtis. Where is he now?

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

UNFAIR question. Registering protest by not answering.

No, strike that: I’ll name the illustrators of my two most recent picture books: Matt Phelan (Xander’s Panda Party) and Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Yaks Yak). ‘Admire’ is too staid. Their work for my texts THRILLED me.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Tea in the morning, espresso once or twice a day, swee’ tea when I’m in the South. My go-to is water.

What’s your dream vacation?

Snorkeling, reading on a beach, and eating fabulous food, both street and fine dining, with family and/or friends, somewhere that has lively outdoor markets.

What gives you shivers?

Worms.

Morning person? Night person?

NIGHT. Morning is a recurring insult to the psyche.

What’s your hidden talent?

It has faded with time, but I used to be able to identify red M&Ms blindfolded.

Your favorite candy as a kid …

As a kid? Why not now? As a kid: Bit O’Honey. As an adult: pecan rolls.

Is Pluto a planet?

Of course not. He’s Popeye’s nemesis—that big guy, with the arms. 😉

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

The DMZ, border between North and South Korea.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

One of each. I’m the oldest. I don’t think my life has a shape. Or maybe it’s constantly changing.

Best tip for living a contented life?

1) Find a way to do work that you love. 2) When you’ve got the blues, do something for someone else.

Your hope for the world?

Every child a reader.

Linda Sue, thanks for these candid answers for our Bookology readers. If they haven’t read all of your previously published books, we encourage them to have a Linda Sue Park read-a-thon. Could you share with us which books comes out next?

I hope you’ll enjoy the second book in the Claw & Wing series, Cavern of Secrets. It follows Book #1, Forest of Wonders. You’ll find the book in bookstores on March 7, 2017. Raffa sets off on a treacherous journey across Obsidia to save his friends and family … and the world!

Skinny Dip with Caren Stelson

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Caren Stelson, author

We interviewed Caren Stelson, first-time author, whose nonfiction book Sachiko: a Nagasaki Bomb Survivor Story has received a good deal of positive recognition, including the longlist for the National Book Award and inclusion on many Best Books of 2016 lists. (Her name is pronounced just as you would say Karen.)

Which celebrity would invite you like to invite to a coffee shop?

If I could invite anyone to coffee, I’d invite Eleanor Roosevelt and happily pick up the tab. Eleanor—what a woman! She overcame so much, from her difficult childhood, to finding and claiming her own life work, to being Franklin Roosevelt’s conscience as First Lady. Actually, she was the conscience of the nation, then as U.N. representative, the conscience of the world. I’d love to ask Eleanor, “What do you think of Donald Trump as President of the United States?”

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

I keep coming back to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee as my favorite book. Anyone who wants to understand the United States needs to read Harper Lee’s novel.

Favorite city to visit?

Can I have two favorites? Bath, England is one and Nagasaki, Japan is the other. I lived in Bath, England in 2001-2002 and spent that year interviewing adults who had survived the April 1942 blitz as kids during World War II. I was fascinated by what they remembered about living through the war and what those memories meant to them now. I have great memories of the interviews and great memories of the city of Bath, itself. Bath is a Georgian architectural wonder with layers and layers of history. The Roman Bath in the heart of the city is the best preserved Roman bath in the world. I loved living in Bath. I still have many friends there, making Bath “home away from home” for me. Nagasaki, Japan is another city where I’m at home. Of course, my friend Sachiko Yasui lives in Nagasaki as do many of my other Japanese friends. Because Nagasaki was the second city destroyed by an atomic bomb during WWII, the horror of nuclear war is forever stamped on the city’s conscience. So is the necessity for peace. For me, Nagasaki is Ground Zero for the study of peace.

Bath, England

The Roman Bath in Bath, England

Nagasaki, Japan today

Most cherished childhood memory?

One of my most cherished childhood memories is sledding down a hill in Vermont one wintry night with my family. I still can see my father stretched out on a wooden sled with my mother on top of him, speeding down the hill. I can still hear their screams of laughter echoing through the dark. I don’t have many memories of that kind of family laughter, so I hang onto this memory pretty tightly.

What’s your dream vacation?

My dream vacation is a photographic safari to the Serengeti Plain. My husband and I traveled to Tanzania in the 1980s and camped on the floor of Ngoro Ngoro Crater, the place with the greatest concentration of wild animals in the world. I can still hear the lions’ roaring at night. And the eyes. At night, we aimed a high-powered flashlight outside the circle of tents and watched the eyes of antelope stare back at us. Today it’s not possible to camp on the crater floor, but I’d do it in a heartbeat as my dream vacation.

Ngoro Ngoro Crater, Tanzania (Wikimedia Commons)

What makes you shiver?

There’s a lot to shiver about these days, but honestly, the first thing that popped into my mind was shark attacks. Any story that has a shark attack in it will give me nightmares.

Morning person? Night person?

I used to be a night person when I was younger, but now I’m a straight morning person. Sometimes I’ll get out of bed around 5:00 am, maybe earlier, put on the coffee, and start writing right away. When I’m in that half-sleep, half-awake zone, lots of interesting things start happening on the page.

What’s your hidden talent?

I really love having conversations with three-year-olds. I think that can be considered a talent. I recently took care of a three-year-old for a day and we had the best time exploring every mechanical item in the house, from how a mixer works to how a piano makes its sound. If we could all sustain our three-year-old curiosity, we truly could be wide-awake, life-long learners.

Explaining how a piano makes sound (Wikimedia Commons)

Favorite candy as a kid?

Good ‘n‘ Plenty. I loved those pink and white candy covered pieces of licorice, particularly if I ate them at the movies.

Brothers and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

I have an older brother and a younger brother, so I’m the sister stuck in the middle. Being the only girl shaped my life quite a bit. My brothers weren’t all that interested in sports, but I was. My father taught me how to throw a football, play tennis, and get up the courage to play varsity high school sports. Having that fatherly attention gave me confidence. But I also missed not having a sister I could confide in. I looked for that closeness in the books I read and in my personal journals. Today, I think of my closest women friends as my sisters, which makes up for the hole in my childhood.

Hope for the world?

What is there but hope for peace? The world is heating up with fears and tensions we haven’t seen in decades. This does not bode well for the future. It’s a long shot, but I hope the nations of the world will collectively realize war is not the answer to our problems. Really, we have no choice. Between nuclear weapons and climate change, our existence on this planet is at stake. We Americans and the rest of the world’s population have to figure out how to work together and work for peace. As individuals we may feel powerless in the face of world tensions, but we can begin the peace process among neighbors and across our cities and states. I love the quote by peace activist and Quaker Gene Knudsen Hoffman, “The enemy is a person whose stories we have not heard.” We can start listening.

Caren Stelson in Nagasaki, Japan

Skinny Dip with Janet Taylor Lisle

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For this interview, we chat with Janet Taylor Lisle, Newbery Honor-winning author of Afternoon of the Elves, the Scott O’Dell Award-winning The Art of Keeping Cool, and the thriller Black Duck, along with many other reader favorites.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

I’m quite sure Emily Dickinson, shy and secretive as she was, would never invite me to a coffee shop, but perhaps I could slip a note under her door in Amherst, Massachusetts and beg for a visit. I’d like to ask her why she made her poems, what some of them mean, and if it mattered to her that her work was unpublished during her life.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

My all-time favorite book is The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Every time I read it, the novel changes what I see around me. Lampedusa wrote only this one work but it’s enough to put the universe at your fingertips.

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

I am not nocturnal but my cat Nellie would like to mention here that she will take straight canned tuna fish and milk anytime after midnight. After 3 a.m., too, if it comes to that.

Most cherished childhood memory?

So, we three children are sailing off Martha’s Vineyard with my dad when a sudden storm hits. Violent sea! Howling wind! My dad is on deck reefing the sails when a huge wave rolls into the cockpit. It lifts my little brother up and is sweeping him overboard when I grab him by the arm and hold on with all my strength. Hugh is saved! (That was close.) I cry. He grows up to become a loved doctor who cares deeply for his patients.

Janet Taylor Lisle with one of Barry Flanagan’s “hare” sculptures, at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, in Washington, DC

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

I guess the illustrators I loved as a child still speak to me most directly. Beatrix Potter for her hedgehogs and rabbits; John Tenniel for his Mad Hatter and March Hare; N.C. Wyeth for his murderous, one-legged pirates and mysterious islands. So many others. Today, it’s anything by William Steig or Arnold Lobel for me and my grandchildren. (Nellie cozies up to these guys too.)

Favorite season of the year? Why?

Winter in New England. Stark. Quiet. When the leaves fall off the trees the land opens to show its real face. The moon looks bigger.

Winter, Janet’s favorite time of year

What gives you shivers?

A recent arrival in my Rhode Island neighborhood is an otter-like animal known as a Fisher Cat. It hunts near the pond and screams most horribly at night. I pull the blankets over my head and Nellie’s. We don’t like even thinking about this creature.

Morning person? Night person?

I’m a morning person. I like to rise with the sun. Rosy-fingered dawn for me, and a walk on the beach. (My novel The Lampfish of Twill came from this daily habit.)

Janet Taylor Lisle in front of the pond in Little Compton, the inspiration for my fictional Quicksand Pond.

What’s your hidden talent?

I love to sing and have sung in choral groups all my life. Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Bach. I’m not a religious person but the big requiems and masses sometimes bring me to tears even as I sing them. I’m a sucker for popular music too: a big crooner in the car. Radio always on.

Best tip for living a contented life?

For a contented life, keep it simple and keep out of the limelight. Fame never did anyone any good.

Skinny Dip with Ed Spicer

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For this interview, we visit with Ed Spicer, educator, author, curriculum guide writer, and ALA committee member many times over.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

I would love to spend some time in a confidential, friendly chat with Michelle Obama.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Oh! This depends so much on what color your wheelbarrow might be! As a teacher, I’ve always loved edging students out of their comfort zones and we are all students. I adore Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. I love Audre Lorde’s poetry, which is most certainly a window for this white, male reader.

Currently, I am getting ready to do a presentation at a symposium featuring Naomi Shihab Nye, so I have fallen in love again with 19 Varieties of Gazelle, a gorgeous book that helps us to remember that no single story can encapsulate a people or a culture or even a single human. If you want to read a book with your ears, I think Tobin Anderson’s Feed is actually enhanced by the audio (and it is terrific with just your eyes).

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

Either cashews or ice cream. but don’t tell anyone!

Favorite city to visit?

If I were only allowed one, I could very well choose staying at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans in the winter or spring (they treated us like family). If not, Chicago and Toronto would have to battle it out.

The badge of honor in Ed’s class was trying things that are hard. These students are eating seaweed.

Most cherished childhood memory?

A lot of my childhood memories are not pleasant. I watched my father knock my sister’s front tooth out with a cement sprinkler attached to a garden hose. I ran away and lived hiding in a church youth center for about a year. I was on my own for good at the age of 15. Yet I absolutely cherish these memories. As The Association says, “Cherish is the word I use to describe all the feeling I have hiding…”

First date?

When I went to college, I weighed under 100 pounds and was approaching the five foot mark. Dating wasn’t a word that meant the same thing to me as it did to the young women I thought I was dating. In any event, my first 500 dates were totally boring and insignificant. I may also be exaggerating the five actual dates I really did have, but I still do not remember them.

A recent dinner at Ed and Ann’s house with (clockwise from left) Charles Emery, Eric Rohmann, Gary Schmidt, Edith Pattou, Bill Perkins, Lynn Rutan, Anita Eerdmans, Cindy Dobrez, Lynne Rae Perkins, Candy Fleming, Stephanie Hemphill, Ed, Travis Jonker.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

Too many! Kadir Nelson, Beth Krommes, Pamela Zagarenski, Melissa Sweet, Jerry Pinkney, Paul Zelinsky, Marla Frazee, Mo Willems, E.B. Lewis, Matt Faulkner, Yuyi Morales, Ashley Bryan … And, of course, Maurice Sendak, Wanda Gag, Beatrix Potter, Dorothy P. Lathrop from earlier years. Among the younger illustrators coming up the pipe, I am very excited by the new work Shadra Strickland is doing. I also think Christian Robinson will become even more of a force. My friend Ruth McNally Barshaw gave me a watercolor she painted of Red Riding Hood. Watercolor is a new medium for her and it is among my very favorite pieces of art and I hope it bodes well for her.

One of Ed’s favorite reading photos

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

COFFEE, cream and no sugar! Sometimes there is nothing better than a gin and tonic, however.

Favorite season of the year? Why?

ALA Midwinter season! This may not be a universally acknowledged season, but for me it begins that slow trek back into feeling healthy. I suffer from seasonal affective disorder and ALA comes right after the holidays in January (sometimes, painfully, February). Hanging around so many believers in children, in literacy, and, more importantly, kindness always restores my faith in the world and in myself. From an art perspective, I love autumn. The colors never cease to blow me away.

Ann and Ed on their national park tour

What’s your dream vacation?

My wife, Ann, and I have begun exploring our National Parks. Last summer we visited six, which brings our total close to 20. We want to keep exploring. I have dreamed of traveling down the Zambezi River through the Okavango Delta region of Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana although I fear I may have missed my opportunity.

What gives you shivers?

Our newly elected president and our lack of kindness and even civility toward those who do not share our culture, religions, customs, holidays, language, etc.

Logan, a former first grader in Ed’s class, now a writing major and slam poet at Emerson College in Boston

Morning person? Night person?

NIGHT! Bedtime before 1:00 am is for wimps.

What’s your hidden talent?

Years ago I was a very successful cologne salesperson during the holidays! I sold a lot of Russian Leather cologne. Today, I am not a chef, but I do make very pretty food that tastes good! I cannot, however, follow recipes to save my life and I have rarely made the same thing twice.

Your favorite candy as a kid …

Any that I could steal.

Is Pluto a planet?

Ha! I write the curriculum guides for Houghton Mifflin’s Scientists in the Field series. I just finished doing the guide on Pluto. The lead scientist in this book thinks of Pluto as a planet. I will side with him.

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

Corn Palace? I have been to some very sketchy amusement parks. In Allegan, I often take people to see our giant chicken at our County Fair site.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

When everyone was alive, I had 2 brothers and 5 sisters. At least one brother has passed away and I haven’t seen the other for more than 50 years. I haven’t spoken to anyone in my family for more than ten years. It is more like anti-shaping.

Best tip for living a contented life?

Get help!

Your hope for the world?

When I taught first grade, I could never read the Ashley Bryan illustrated version of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World without crying! I read this book every year and cried every time. “They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know…” always hit me as so beautiful and so true. I often told people every year that I had first graders who are much smarter than I am. Many people assumed I was being facetious, but I meant it quite literally. I have more experience and I have more facts at my disposal, but my first graders always demonstrated the creativity, the dreams, and the fearlessness that make me feel hopeful for our future.

Ed Spicer’s class five years ago

About Ed Spicer

From graduate students to kindergarten students, Ed Spicer is a southwest Michigan educator with a wide variety of experiences during the last two decades, including founding and writing a book review column for the Michigan Reading Journal. Ed retired from teaching first grade in June of 2016. He has served on the Caldecott Award committee, the Printz Award committee, and many other committees for the American Library Association. In June 2016, Ed was nominated and selected as one of Allegan’s “Outstanding People in Education” by the Allegan County School Board Association. He is a Cool Teacher winner in Michigan. Mr. Spicer continues to write curriculum guides for Penguin Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, and Eerdmans. Currently he is reviewing books as a member of the Schneider Award committee. Friend him on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter: @spicyreads. His website is in the process of a major update.

Skinny Dip with Cynthia Grady

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For this interview, we visit with Cynthia Grady, author and librarian, at her home in New Mexico.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Oh, most definitely Beatrix Potter. My earliest literary hero.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I turned back to page 1 as soon as I finished reading it.

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

Popcorn—fresh popped on the stove in a Whirley-Pop Hand Crank Popping Machine –with lots of butter and salt. But I will pop it and eat it anytime.

Most cherished childhood memory?

I wouldn’t call this my most cherished memory exactly, but one that I’ve been revisiting lately—is how a friend and I roamed several neighborhoods, crossing streets we weren’t allowed to cross, by way of creeks and drainage pipes.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Am I allowed to say Irish whiskey? Straight up? After that comes lavender lemonade. Mmmmm. Delicious.

What gives you shivers?

The dark. Since age 3.

Your favorite candy as a kid …

Neccos—at the movies.

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, now located within the Science Museum of Minnesota. A frightening experience of medical quackery!

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

Ah. I am number six of nine children. Being the youngest of the first six, the eldest of the bottom four, and nearly in the middle overall has shaped every single bit of my life, from my ability to sleep anywhere to my absolute love of silence. Plus, I display all of the characteristics on those birth order charts.

Best tip for living a contented life?

A house rabbit or two.

Skinny Dip with Debby Dahl Edwardson

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For this interview, we visit with Debby Dahl Edwardson, author of the National Book Award finalist My Name is Not Easy and co-founder of the LoonSong Writers’ Retreat.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Anne Lamott. I feel like I already know her so well though her books that I would actually feel comfortable with this kind of meeting, which is a bit out of my comfort zone, for sure. Lamott seems like the kind of person you could talk to about anything—from your struggles with spirituality to your awful first draft—and she’d emphasize, having just dealt with these same issues like yesterday morning or in the middle of the night last week.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Getting lost in books. When I was 12 years old, my godmother gave me a book for Christmas. It was a book that had won the Newbery award that year and it captivated me. Clichés aside, I was pulled immediately into the dark and stormy night with which the book opened and I found myself instantly inside that little attic bedroom where Meg Murry was just beginning to awaken to the series of strange and wonderful events. I remained immersed in that book for several days. I reread it immediately upon finishing it. I simply did not want to leave that world. I am talking, of course, about A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle. Entering new worlds through the world of books are among my most cherished childhood memories.

Debby Dahl Edwardson and George Edwardson

Debby Dahl Edwardson and her husband, George Edwardson

Favorite season of the year? Why?

Fall. It’s always been my favorite. I love the colors and the smells of fall everywhere, even here in Alaska, where I live on the treeless tundra. I love the way the tundra turns russet and the air tingles with the promise of snow. I remember, as a child in northern Minnesota, watching the sky darken with geese calling out their raucous calls, headed south. And now that I am in the fall of my life, I love that, too!

What’s your dream vacation?

I have about a hundred dream vacations. Most of them involve ocean beaches because I love the ocean and I love to swim. But one non-beach place I’d love to visit and spend time in is northern New Mexico, the region where Georgia O’Keeffe lived and painted. I have a picture of hers in my writing room. It’s one you’ve never seen: a single blue trail leading up into pastel blue and ginger mountains. I want to go there. I love adobe, too, the way the red houses seem to grow from the red earth—and there’s a hot spring there, too: Ojo Caliente. I love hot springs. Above that picture of O’Keeffe’s painting in my writing room is a photograph of her with the words that have pretty much become my writing motto: “It belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough I could have it.” I am attracted to landscapes that hold that kind of power.

Proud grandparents!

Your hope for the world?

That people will learn true empathy and develop, from a young age, the ability to see the world through multiple lenses. I think many of the problems we face in the world come from an increasing tendency to see the world monolithically. This kind of inflexibility is extremely dangerous in pretty much every way you can imagine. One of my favorite quotes is this one, from Wade Davis: “Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit. The world in which you were born is just one model of reality.” We will not begin to find true solutions to our deepest problems until we develop the ability to see multiple ways of configuring reality.”

About Debby Dahl Edwardson

Debby’s books have earned many stars and awards. Her most recent novel, My Name is Not Easy, was a National Book Award finalist, a Junior Library Guild selection, and a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Her picture book, Whale Snow, was named an ILA Notable Book for a Global Society, an NSSTC Notable, an IPPY winner, and a Bank Street Best. Her first novel, Blessing’s Bead, was selected by the Junior Library Guild, was named to ALA/YALSA’s list of Best Fiction for Young Adults, Booklist’s Top Ten Historical Fiction for Young Adults, and Booklist’s Top Ten First Novels for Young Adults. She earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2005.

Debby was born and raised in Minnesota but she has lived in the northernmost community in the state of Alaska for 40 years. Her husband is Iñupiaq, and it is within this culture that she has raised seven children and found herself as a writer and as a human being. Visit Debby's website.

Skinny Dip with Heidi Hammond

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For this interview, we visit with Heidi Hammond, associate professor at St. Catherine University in the MLIS program, long-time school librarian, and author of Reading the Art in Caldecott Award Books: a Guide to the Illustrations, along with co-author Gail D. Nordstrom.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

I would love to enjoy a cup of tea with Michelle Obama and find out what the first family plans to do after President Obama finishes his second term of office.

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

I don’t usually stay up late, but my favorite after supper snack is popcorn (unbuttered) and ice cream (Coconut Explosion), not together, but in that order. Sometimes I just have popcorn and ice cream for supper.

Favorite city to visit?

London! I’ve been there six times. “…when a man, (in my case, a woman), is tired of London, he (she) is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” —Samuel Johnson

Most cherished childhood memory?

One of my favorite childhood memories is receiving a stack of Nancy Drew mysteries for Christmas and having all of the Christmas holiday to read them.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

I drink tea and water. That’s pretty much it. I learned to drink tea after my first year of teaching. I chaperoned a group of 12 junior high students (What was I thinking?) on a four-week exchange program with a school in Wales. I stayed with the deputy headmaster and his family, and every morning he made his family tea and served it to us in bed. I would hear a knock on my door and the question, “Tea, Heidi?” It was a lovely way to begin the day.

Favorite season of the year? Why?

My favorite season on the year is fall. Having been an educator or school librarian all my professional life, fall always seems like a new beginning with the kickoff of the school year. It’s like having two New Years, one in January and one in September. That means two fresh starts.

Hiking to Ouzel Falls, Rocky Mountain National Park

What’s your dream vacation?

A dream vacation for me is one that involves some hiking. In the summer of 2015, I hiked Hadrian’s Wall from coast to coast in northern England, all 84 miles. In spring I hiked in the Grand Canyon. This past summer I hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park. This September I’m hiking the Great Glen Way in Scotland from Fort William to Inverness, all along Loch Ness. That part of the world just happens to be the setting for “Outlander.”

What’s your hidden talent?

I am a very good parallel parker. It seems I’ve been attending the University of Minnesota off and on from 1974 to 2009. I couldn’t often afford to pay for parking in one of the lots, so I’d parallel park on the residential streets surrounding the university and walk blocks and blocks to class.

Your favorite candy as a kid?

Milk Duds. I still like them, but I think red licorice is my favorite candy now. And, dark chocolate caramels. I like pretty much any kind of candy. I have a sweet tooth. They are opening a new Abdallah’s candy store about a mile from my house in September. I’m not sure this will be good for me.

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

I don’t know if this qualifies as strange, but it was very different and wonderful. The last time I was in London, right after I read Brian Selznick’s book The Marvels, I visited the Dennis Severs’ House. I had heard Brian talk about his new book at the American Library Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco a few weeks before I left for England in 2015 to hike Hadrian’s Wall. If you know the book, you know the house is an important feature. When I entered the house, I told the young man at the door that I had come because I’d read the book and heard Brian speak. He said I was the first person to visit who had read the book (I had an advance reading copy). Unbeknownst to me, he told the curator David Milne about me, and David found me and spent quite a bit of time with me talking about Dennis and the house. He even went and got the book and showed me an illustration of one of the rooms while I was in that room. It was one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited in London.

Dennis Severs House, London [photo: Matt Brown, Creative Commons]

Best tip for living a contented life?

Everyone expresses good in his or her own individual way. See the goodness in others and appreciate it.

Your hope for the world?

Like Rodney King, I wish we could all get along.

About Heidi Hammond

As well as being a school librarian for a number of years and an associate professor at St. Catherine University, I’ve had the privilege of serving on several ALA award committees: the Randolph Caldecott Committee (ALSC), the Margaret A. Edwards Committee (YALSA), and the YALSA Outstanding Nonfiction Award Committee. It was after serving on the Caldecott Committee that Gail Nordstrom, who served on the committee with me, and I wrote a book Reading the Art in Caldecott Award Books: A Guide to the Illustrations. Our service on that committee taught us to look, and look again, at picture book illustrations, and try to determine just what it was about them that made them outstanding. We all know when we like a picture, but we can’t always articulate what it is about the art that we like. We hope our handbook will help teachers and librarians feel more comfortable talking about illustrations in picture books.. Learn more at hammondnordstrom.com and St. Catherine University.

Skinny Dip with Pamela S. Turner

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For this interview, we visit with Pamela S. Turner, children’s book author with two new books out in 2016, Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune and Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World’s Brightest Bird:

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Sir Richard Francis Burton, the Victorian anthropologist, translator, linguist, and African explorer. I’ve had a huge crush on him ever since I read The White Nile.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Getting my first library card at age four. Mom said I couldn’t get one until I could write my own name, so I learned in a flash.

Richard Francis Burton by Rischgitz, 1864

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Why isn’t “margarita” one of the options here?

Your favorite candy as a kid …

Abba-Zabba … or maybe Bit O’ Honey … or maybe Big Hunk … no, wait! Cotton candy. I still love cotton candy. I have the taste buds of a three-year-old.

Is Pluto a planet?

No. But Pluto being demoted from planethood is a wonderful lesson in how science works. In science data matter, not tradition.

Best tip for living a contented life?

I think Buddhists have the best motto of all: “compassion for all sentient creatures.”

Your hope for the world?

That we will find a way to live within our ecological means and not muck everything up for ourselves and for all other sentient creatures.

Skinny Dip with Mélina Mangal

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For this interview, we visit with Mélina Mangal, children’s book author and librarian:

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

My favorite ANYTIME snack is white cheddar popcorn.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Roaming through the north woods, climbing trees with my sister and brothers. I loved being outdoors so much.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

There are so many illustrators I admire, such as Leo and Diane Dillon, whose vast body of work has inspired several generations. Also: the late Vera B. Williams, David Diaz, Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, Pat Cummings, Maya Cristina Gonzalez…. I could go on!

Favorite season of the year? Why?

Summer is my favorite season. I can work in the garden, swim outside, bike everywhere, and read in the backyard hammock next to the apple tree.

Morning person? Night person?

Definitely a morning person. I love to wake with the sun.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

I have one older sister and two younger brothers. Being in the middle made me flexible and helps me listen, mediate, and empathize.

Skinny Dip with Rebecca Kai Dotlich

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For this interview, we visit with Rebecca Kai Dotlich, poet and children’s book author:

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

As most of my friends know, that would be Billy Collins. And then Meryl Streep would stop by too of course.

Favorite city to visit?

I’m not a far and wide traveler, but the city I’ve always wanted to visit is any city in Switzerland.

In high school, reading on the couch.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Friendly Fire by C.D.B. Bryan. On Writing: a memoir of the craft by Stephen King. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy.

Stromboli (photo credit: wikimedia commons)

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

I haven’t eaten late-night snacks since my college days at Indiana University. Strombolis. Delivered.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Oh, so many. Piling into the station wagon on a summer night to go to the drive-in in our pajamas. Watching Roy Rogers and Sky King on Saturday mornings. The smell of baby dolls and new saddle oxfords.

First date?

First love 8th grade, Dennis. First date, high school and I am pretty sure it involved a double date and a drive-in.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Coffee. Growing up, there was always a pot percolating in our house. My grandmother made me coffee from a very young age. She added lots of cream and sugar and called it Boston coffee. I still love it that way.

Favorite season of the year?

Fall. Why? The chill in the air. The freshness. The newness. Reminds me of new beginnings, sweaters, and school supplies.

What’s your dream vacation?

Being in a little town with bookstores, art museums, cobblestone streets, lamplights and nothing but time.

Burgess Meredith, Twilight Zone, 1960, wikimedia commons

What gives you shivers?

Heights. Burgess Meredith. (Twilight Zone. “Time Enough At Last.”)

Morning person? Night person?

All of my young adult and adult life I was both. Easy up at 5 and to bed after midnight or 1 o’clock. Now I’m more of a morning person.

What’s your hidden talent?

Nada. Except maybe a good recall of song lyrics. And baking darn good Christmas cookies. Oh yes, and imaginative concept photography. (uh-huh, well it’s on the bucket list.)

Your favorite candy as a kid?

Sky Bar. Rock candy (icy clear, never colors.)

Is Pluto a planet?

Wait, I have to google that . . . seems it depends on the year, the poor guy keeps getting demoted. His head must be spinning.

I did get a little huffy sometimes. With my brother Curt on my grandparents’ front porch.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

A big brother and a little sister. Big brother ruled the land of siblings, so I am used to not squawking much when it comes to following rules suggestions. He also taught me by example that books in the hand, on the shelf and splattered on the bed are the best treasures of all. Little sister passed me the opportunity to rule in the land of siblings. And also to feel responsible to look out for someone, which fortunately or unfortunately I still feel compelled to do.

with my brother and sister and our cousins

Your hope for the world?

Besides peace, love and kindness, it would be for the eradication of bullying, and more understanding of, and compassion for, depression and other mental health issues, especially for our youth.

Skinny Dip with Nancy Johnson

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For this interview, we are pleased to share answers from Nancy Johnson, professor, children’s/young adult literature and English/ language arts education, Western Washington University:

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Eleanor Roosevelt and Michelle Obama. I’d do my best just to listen … and learn.

Favorite city to visit?

Favorite country is Vietnam. Favorite “city” in Vietnam is Hoi An. It’s magical!

Dragon Fountain, Cantonese Assembly Hall, Quant Trieu, Hoi An (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Coffee (dark roast) … no sugar, no cream.

What’s your dream vacation?

A pile of books, lots of sun, a beach (and nothing to grade!)

What gives you shivers?

Spiders and snakes. It’s irrational, I know, but they creep me out (even the teeny-tiny, nonpoisonous ones). And aerial acts (circuses, the Blue Angels, etc.).

Your favorite candy as a kid …

Movie theatre candy = Jujubes

Drug store candy = candy cigarettes (Seriously! They looked so cool—and so did we—but they tasted like chalk.)

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

It’s not really a tourist attraction but … when we were kids, my Dad and my best friend’s Dad took us on a field trip to a sewage treatment plant.

Skinny Dip with April Halprin Wayland

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Today we welcome author and educator April Halprin Wayland to Bookology. Her most recent picture book, More Than Enough, is a story about Passover. April was one of nine Instructors of the Year honored by the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, Creative Writing.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

I would LOVE to have coffee (one-shot latte with extra soy, extra foam) with Crockett Johnson, author/illustrator of Harold and the Purple Crayon but most notably for me, author/illustrator of Barnaby, a comic strip that ran during WWII (actually 1942-1952). I think of it as the predecessor of Calvin and Hobbes. Barnaby stars five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his fairy godfather Jackeen J. O’Malley. Mr. O’Malley continually gets Barney into trouble. It’s brilliant.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

You’re joking, right—one book? I’ll tell you right this very minute what books (plural) I recommend. But ask me in half an hour and my list will be completely different.

Collections of Barnaby comics by Crockett Johnson
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Calling the Doves—El Canto de Las Palomas by Juan Felipe Herrera, illustrated by Elly Simmons (a nonfiction picture book told in poems about growing up in a migrant farm worker family, in both Spanish and English. Lush illustrations in brilliant colors.)
I’m a big audio book fan (I live on the freeways some days), so here are three dynamite middle grade audio books: Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, read by Lincoln Hoppe, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt, read by Sam Freed, Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt, read by Lincoln Hoppe.

Favorite city to visit?

NYC! And Poipu, Kauai! And let’s not forget London, for heaven’s sake. And anywhere my husband, my son, or my best two friends are.

Most cherished childhood memory?

One August when I was nine or ten, I found a raft by the Feather River, which ran by our farm. I repaired it (I don’t remember if an adult helped me or not), then climbed aboard and lay back. The next month, at the beginning of the school year, my teacher asked us to choose a word and define it by writing about something that happened that summer. I wrote about that hot summer day on the river. My word? Bliss.

What’s your dream vacation?

Like my favorite books, this will change in the next half hour. For right this minute it would involve my husband, our lanky, knuckle-brained dog, Eli, our son and his girlfriend, hiking, biking, meadows, forests, and arriving at a different bed-and-breakfast each evening with farm-fresh, just-harvested food for dinner, a down quilt each night, and a one-shot latte with extra soy, extra foam each morning. 🙂

Best tip for living a contented life?

I ask myself a central, touchstone question: Will this action or thought help me to like myself?

So, for example, each day I might ask myself: Should I say yes to this invitation to speak? Should I eat this whole bag of (fill in the blank)? Should I spend an extra half-hour with this person, even though I have a pile of work at home? Should I go to this political gathering? Should I volunteer to help put on an event? Should I skip meditation (or exercise or walking the dog) today? Should I pick up that piece of trash I just passed? Do I really need to eat the whole jar? Should I floss my teeth? Should I work on this poem or this book? Should I go to a meeting tonight? Should I turn off the computer and spend time with my husband, who just got home from work?

If I ask myself that question, the answer is always clear. I may not choose to act on the obvious answer, but if I do, I feel more content.

Monkey and Eli read poetry together.

Your hope for the world?

That we will be kind to each other.

Skinny Dip with Polly Carlson-Voiles

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Today we welcome author Polly Carlson-Voiles to Bookology. Her book, Summer of the Wolves, has been a favorite adventure story with middle grade readers, a recent contender for the Maud Hart Lovelace Award.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Jane Goodall.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Most cherished childhood memory?

Spending a summer on the windward side of Oahu, in Hawaii.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

So very many…but I would have to say, Graeme Base…

Favorite season of the year? Why?

I love the season I am in … right now I love the spring with tiny green leaves misting the tree tops, the wild white blossoms of serviceberry and chokecherry. I always reluctantly say ‘good-bye’ to the last season and then fall passionately in love with the newness of the new season, with changes, new birds, new sounds, new colors.

What’s your dream vacation?

To go to Africa and see elephants and other creatures of the African wilds.

What a way to make a Skype visit with wolves in the background at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota.

Morning person? Night person?

My best writing happens right after I wake up in the morning. I get some of my best ideas in those shadowy first moments of coming awake when my brain isn’t filled with distractions. But I am not one who wakes at dawn.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

I have one older brother who was expected to do wonderful important things. Since we were raised in a sexist time and my father was very traditional, I felt very unimportant as a girl child. It made me feisty, though, to feel that girls were expected to let boys win at games, to not excel in school too much, and to be afraid of physical risks. My rebellion against this was one of the greatest gifts of my childhood.

Best tip for living a contented life?

To find your passions and cultivate them like a garden. Do things you love.

Working with a school group at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota

Your hope for the world?

That we all keep evolving to learn from people who are different from us, and that we all learn to treasure the gifts of wild creatures and wild places.

Skinny Dip with Eric Rohmann

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Today we welcome author, illustrator, and Caldecott medalist Eric Rohmann to Bookology. He agreed to give us the skinny on several topics of vital importance.

Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Darwin, Newton, William Blake … and so many others I’ll need a big coffee shop.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Lately, The Lost Carving by David Esterly.

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

Popcorn.

Favorite city to visit?

Vienna, New York, Paris, Madrid, Singapore … still gonna need a big coffee house in each one.

Most cherished childhood memory?

Traveling in the American west.

First date?

Sometime in the fog of High School.

Illustrator’s work you most admire?

Like a person could name just one!

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Coffee.

Favorite season of the year? Why?

Autumn. Clear, cool, and colorful.

What’s your dream vacation?

The next one I have planned … so many places to see!

What gives you shivers?

Good shivers: watching dogs run, Bad shivers: conservative talk radio.

Morning person? Night person?

Morning.

Painting you could look at again and again.

Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights; any Rembrandt self-portrait; Cezanne’s apples; Delacroix’s The Death of Sardanopolus … lots of wall space in the coffee shop!

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights

What’s your hidden talent?

I can cook well, a little.

Your favorite candy as a kid …

Milk Duds.

Is Pluto a planet?

Is Brontosaurus really just a big Apatosaurus?

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

Haw Par Villa in Singapore.

Har Paw Villa

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

Brother and sister. Good: I was never alone. Bad: I was never alone.

Best tip for living a contented life?

Be curious.

Your hope for the world?

Wishing for anything but peace would just be selfish.

Skinny Dip with Bobbi Miller

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Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

My definition of celebrity is someone whom I admire, who I think has contributed to society in his actions or words. To me, celebrity is more than a pretty face. He does more than recite words that someone else wrote, acting out a story that someone else has planned out and directs.

Eric Kimmel is my favorite celebrity. I always love talking to him. Another celebrity I can’t wait to meet is Monica Kulling. Of course, I’d love to talk to Mark Twain, too, about his adventures riding the stagecoach west and his time in San Francisco. And Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, about the times she lived in.

But let’s be real: my friends are the celebrities in my life.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

I am currently reading—for the second time—John Adams by David McCullough. I love McCullough’s blending of narrative and research, creating such a powerful story. Of course, we know all of history is a story. He does it so well. I just finished Einstein, by Walter Isaacson. For a long time I always thought I’d love to meet Einstein, speaking of celebrity. It turns out, while he didn’t like the label “celebrity,” he certainly lived the life. Einstein was such a hound dog. For all his lofty thought experiments about space and time, he really didn’t have a clue about life on this planet. He had an interesting, complex life, and saw a lot of history. It would be more interesting to speak to one of his friends, wives, or girlfriends, to see their reaction to navigating such a complex personality. One of my favorite movies is IQ, in which Walter Matthau plays Einstein as an old man. I like that Einstein.

Even more interesting, I bet it would be cool to listen to a conversation between Einstein and Stephen Hawking!!

Another book I just read was Happy Birthday, Alice Babette, written by Monica Kulling and illustrated by Qin Leng. This books tells a gentle story about a birthday party between two friends, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. Of course, we know the history of those two celebrity writers, which makes this book all the more impressive.

Favorite city to visit?

I’ve visited many historical cities and towns as I researched my stories. I visited Gettysburg, PA several times, walking the battlefields, as I researched my Girls of Gettysburg. I’ve driven along the Mississippi River for a ways, as I researched life along the river for my Big River’s Daughter. I’ve been to Boston and the surrounding area, which is intently interesting as it relates to John Adams. I’ve been to Washington, DC, of course, and just love that history. I’d like to go again and check it out more, especially Arlington National Cemetery. And I’d love to go to Philadelphia, for all the history.

Tea? Coffee? Milk? Soda? What’s your favorite go-to drink?

Diet Coke, most definitely. Although I’ve cut down quite a bit since my young years and now drink more water. I recently had my first cup of coffee, made very weak and included sugar free hazelnut creamer. Very tasty! And it did the trick: I was up at 4, and I had a long day of traveling ahead of me. I was able to make it through without nodding off.

Is Pluto a planet?

What a tricky good question!

Pluto is a hound dog, and he’s every bit as loyal a friend as Lassie and Old Yeller. Just like Mickey Mouse!

Skinny Dip with Barbara O’Connor

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Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant. I read it at a time when I was struggling to find my writing voice. I was so struck by the strong sense of place in that book. It was obvious that West Virginia was Rylant’s heart’s home. So I decided to write stories that were set in my heart’s home—the South—and specifically the Smoky Mountains. I wrote her a letter to tell her the impact her book had on me and she sent me a lovely hand-written note back, signed “Take good care. Cyndi Rylant.” *swoon*

Favorite season of the year? Why?

SUMMER all the way!! I love the heat. The flowers. The long days. Love it all.

What gives you shivers?

Heights. OMG….. And one more thing: snakes. *shivers*

What’s your hidden talent?

I’m actually a pretty good tap dancer. I took tap lessons for years, from childhood all the way up until just a few years ago. I love to tap dance. It totally suits me much more than yoga.

Morning person? Night person?

Morning all the way. I turn into a pumpkin about 8 o’clock. My writing day never extends beyond about 3 o’clock … cause I’m heading toward Pumpkin Town. (Trivia for you: There is actually a town near my hometown of Greenville, SC, called Pumpkin Town.)

Skinny Dip with Marsha Qualey

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Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Joni. And I’d come prepared with questions about her painting, not her music, because then, just maybe, she’d see beyond the gobsmacked fan. Maybe she’d draw something on a napkin for me.

If she didn’t show, I’d be okay because I’d have a back-up date with Louisa May.

What’s your favorite late-night snack?

Buttered toast, but I can’t indulge that often now. Once upon a time, though, it was a nightly thing. Then when I was diagnosed with celiac disease I went years without it because the bread I made or could find in stores just didn’t cut it. And then along came Udi’s.

Most cherished childhood memory?

I had the best best friend any quiet, introverted, bookish girl could have. Mary was just the opposite of me, and when I was with her, adventure wasn’t just something that happened in books, it was something we made together.

One first grade day we were walking the six to seven blocks home for lunch. It had rained all morning and we were excited by all the earthworms still on the sidewalks. What if we gathered them all and sold them as bait? We began collecting the liveliest ones and putting them in the pockets of our raincoats. The pickings were grand and we didn’t notice the time pass. When we neared our houses, conveniently across the street from each other, something made us realize how late we were (A beckoning family member? Church bells? Kids returning to school? This detail is lost.). We rushed to our respective homes for a quick lunch and met up again at her family car for a ride back to school—we were that late.

The sun was shining and we were in a car and neither of us wore a raincoat. The sun prevailed for many days thereafter. Only when at last we again needed our raincoats, did either of us remember the grand plan to make a seven-year-old’s fortune by selling worms.

The worms were dust in the pockets of our size 6x raincoats. There’s an old woman’s somber metaphor about dreams in there somewhere, but it wouldn’t have registered with Mary and me. We laughed then and we still laugh about it now.

Morning person? Night person?

Night, now and forever.

What’s the strangest tourist attraction you’ve visited?

I love environmental art—the concrete and bottle constructions that an individual artist builds over the years on his or her property. Thanks to the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and the Kohler Foundation several such installations in Wisconsin have been preserved. Any one of these would qualify as strange, and they are all worth a visit.

Skinny Dip with Caroline Starr Rose

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Which celebrity, living or not, do you wish would invite you to a coffee shop?

Author L.M. Montgomery, of Anne of Green Gables fame. I’ve read all of her books several times over, including the journals she kept from fourteen until the time of her death. In fact, I’ve committed to revisiting Maud’s journals every ten years. So far, I’ve read all five volumes twice.

Though I have a feeling Maud wouldn’t approve of me (she was not fond of free verse), she has always felt like a kindred spirit. Like me, she was a teacher, a Presbyterian pastor’s wife, a mother to two boys, and an author. I’d like to think we’d have a lot to talk about!

Later this year my best friend and I are heading to Maud’s home, Prince Edward Island—a trip six years in the making and dream come true.

Which book do you find yourself recommending passionately?

I adore Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth. I’ve probably read it thirty times, first as a student, then as a student teacher, then with my students, and finally with my own children. It’s witty, it’s clever, it’s fun, and oh so quotable. It’s also great for teaching elements of story. There’s a reluctant hero on a classic quest, and even the climax takes place at the highest physical point in the story—the Castle in the Air.

Most cherished childhood memory?

I’m going to change this one slightly to my most starry-eyed literary childhood memory. My family hosted a Spanish exchange student named Paula when I was in fourth grade. Since then, Paula’s family and my family have continued to remain close. The Maciciors own a home that is hundreds of years old, a grand thirty-four room structure in the Spanish countryside, near the city of Pamplona. In the 1920s Ernest Hemingway rented a room there while working on The Sun Also Rises.

I visited this house as a pre-teen and a teen. Though I hadn’t yet read anything by Hemingway, I knew his name and was thrilled to learn I’d get to stay in the room where a real-live author had temporarily lived. There are two beds in the room, and you better believe I slept in both, to cover my claim-to-fame bases.

Brother and sisters or an only child? How did that shape your life?

I have a half sister and half brother who are ten and twelve years older than I am. I often describe myself as a semi-only child, as much of my childhood was spent as the only kid at home. This taught me to entertain myself, certainly, and meant I had plenty of time for reading and imagining and just making do.

Best tip for living a contented life?

This is one I’m still learning (and probably will be till I die). But so far I’ve learned contentment comes from gratitude, from realizing how many simple, wonderful, often-overlooked gifts we experience everyday. Like breathing. Have you ever considered how amazing it is that there’s air to fill your lungs every single moment? Contentment comes from loving and being loved. And it comes from acknowledging what you can control and letting go of what you can’t. Easier said than done, I know.

Skinny Dip with Steve Palmquist

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Favorite holiday tradition?

Well, that usually involves food—we try to have Chinese food on Christmas Eve. Our family has had a lot of changes lately, so we’ve been trying to create new traditions.

Were you a teacher’s pet or teacher’s challenge?

Both! At times I was a model student and other times I was the class clown. I’m sure the clowning was a bit disruptive but I only got sent to the principal’s office once. This was at a parochial grade school. The principal was a nun who was about 6′3″. She was a gentle disciplinarian but it did sort of seem like her height gave her a direct line to God and all the gravitas that goes with that.

What’s the first book report you ever wrote?

I don’t remember the very first but the one that sticks in my mind was a report for a book about living in space. I did a horrible job with it and was allowed to redo the report. I knocked it out of the park with the second attempt—that taught me the value of revision.

Do you like to gift wrap presents?

I like the idea of wrapping presents but my execution leaves a little to be desired. Gift bags and a supply of colored tissue paper have saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

What do you wish you could tell your 10-year-old self?

You are going to be loved and cherished by someone who will inspire you to be the best person you can be.

Look beyond the hurt that some people seem to always give—that always gives a clue about where they’re truly vulnerable or hurting themselves.

Keep your mind free and open—it will be your best tool and lead you into many adventures.

What three children’s book authors or illustrators or editors would you like to invite to dinner?

Oh, gosh, that’s a hard one. If I go historical, how about Mark Twain, Margaret Wise Brown, and Don Freeman?

Where’s your favorite place to read?

I don’t have that overstuffed chair from my parents any longer. My favorite place to read now is anywhere near my wife, Vicki, so whenever one of us gasps or laughs at a book, we get to share with the other one.

Skinny Dip with Michael Hall

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What is your proudest career moment?

Several months before the publication of my book, Red: A Crayon’s Story, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial bemoaning the “gender industrial complex,” “cultural warriors,” and books—including mine—“that seek to engage the sympathies of young readers … and nudge the needle of culture.” I had written something good enough to provoke the wrath of the WJS editorial page. It was a proud moment, indeed.

In what Olympic sport would you like to win a gold medal?

The first thing that comes to my mind is baseball. But there are problems.

First of all, baseball isn’t an Olympic sport. (It became an official Olympic sport in 1992, but was ousted after the 2008 summer Olympics.) Nevertheless, since we’re talking about fantasy—and since I have a rich fantasy life—this is relatively easy to overcome. Let’s face it, if I can imagine the balding, pot-bellied, sixty-something me gracefully climbing the wall in left field to rob a batter of an extra-base hit (to the thundering approval of the crowd), I can certainly imagine that baseball has been reinstituted as an Olympic sport just in time for the summer of 2016.

But there’s a more difficult problem: Having spent much of my life imagining myself as a star left fielder for the Minnesota Twins, my status as an amateur is clearly in doubt. If it came down to it, I wouldn’t sacrifice my imaginary Twins baseball star status in order to imagine winning an Olympic gold medal for the United States Olympic team.

So I’m going with table tennis.

What is your favorite line from a book?

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.”

What keeps you up at night?

These pesky creatures called should’ves. I don’t know how they get into the house, but at night, they crawl into my bed and whisper in my ear.

“You should have done this, Michael.”

“And frankly, you should have done that as well, Michael.”

This makes sleeping difficult.

It’s well known that should’ves tire easily. If you ignore them, they’ll fall asleep. So I thought I could just wait them out. But it’s less well known that they snore loudly. So, even while sleeping, they keep me awake.

One night, after the should’ves fell asleep—and were snoring horribly—I picked them up, put them in a shoe box, and took them out the back door. I went back to bed and was dozing off, when I was visited by five angry shouldn’t’ves.

“Michael, you should not have done that!”

Which of your books would make a good movie and who would be the star?

The book with the most crisply drawn characters is probably It’s An Orange Aardvark, a book about five carpenter ants who awake to a noise outside their dark nest in a tree stump. One ant tries to get clues as to what it is by drilling holes in the stump. As each new hole reveals a different color, a second ant, who is convinced that it’s a hungry aardvark, twists the information to fit his preconceived belief, even as his version of the truth becomes more and more absurd.

For me, this was always a book about scientific method. The hole-drilling ant is a wide-eyed, dedicated, idealistic scientist. I think someone like Toby Maguire would be perfect for the role. (There is no love interest here. It’s a picture book after all. But I’m sure a talented screenwriter could fix that.)

The second ant, the one who’s convinced an aardvark awaits, is sort of a cross between Dick Cheney and Cliff Clavin from Cheers. I could suggest someone like Willem Defoe, but I don’t want to play up the sinister part too much (it’s a picture book, after all), so I’ll go with John Ratzenberger from the Cheers cast.

Skinny Dip with Karen Blumenthal

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Favorite holiday tradition?

Food! I love to bake and holidays are the best excuse for baking! Peach cobbler for the Fourth of July, apple cake for the Jewish holidays, dozens and dozens of cookies for friends and family in December, and this killer candy that we call matzo toffee at Passover. I make a ton of it for friends and even send some to special editors. It’s the most addictive thing ever and it proves that chocolate makes everything better.

Were you a teacher’s pet or teacher’s challenge?

Mostly a teacher’s pet. I had poor eyesight and super-thick glasses and had to sit up front. But I also have strong opinions, so I’m sure I was a challenge as well.

What’s the first book report you ever wrote?

This is embarrassing, but I don’t remember book reports in elementary school. I remember reports on a town in Texas (I chose Mexia, pronounced Me-hay-a) and other subjects, and even a report on Nixon’s trip to China, but no book reports. Maybe I blocked them out! We did do them in junior high and I got in trouble for choosing a 1934 novel by John O’Hara that the teacher deemed too old for me.

Do you like to gift wrap presents?

That’s kind of a funny question. Yes, and no. Here’s why: For the last 12 or 13 years, my family has gift-wrapped books at local bookstores during the Christmas season to raise money for a literacy organization called First Book. Some years, we worked many shifts at several bookstores and some years, we worked just a handful of shifts. But nearly all of those years, we gift-wrapped on Christmas Eve, which is a crazy day when all the last-minute or visiting-from-out-of-town shoppers come in. By the middle of the season, I could hardly bear to wrap our family’s own gifts.

All together, our wrapping raised more than $20,000 for First Book. But we decided 2014 would be our last year. Our daughters, who were 12 and 14 when we started, are now grown and live on opposite coasts and we don’t get to spend much time with them. It was a great experience though, and I’m now an excellent wrapper!

What do you wish you could tell your 10-year-old self?

Hmmm. I enjoyed writing at that age, but was becoming self-conscious about it, and I had classmates—including another Karen—who were more skilled. Probably I would tell her that passion and persistence are about as important as anything and to keep at it.

What 3 children’s book authors or illustrators or editors would you like to invite to dinner?

One of the really great things about being an author is that you get to meet other authors, and even have a meal with them. So I’ve gotten to meet some of my heroes, like Russell Freedman, Steve Sheinkin, and Susan Bartoletti.

Oh, this is so hard! Beverly Cleary, for sure, because she was one of my early favorites and still is. J.K. Rowling, because that would be amazing. And maybe John Green, because he’s so cool.

Where’s your favorite place to read?

Anywhere! Really! I’ll read just about anywhere, though I prefer a chair. I read a lot at my breakfast table, but also in a comfortable chair in our den, on the bike at the gym, on planes, and when I’m waiting for an appointment.

Skinny Dip with Eileen Beha

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What TV show can’t you turn off?

I watch very little TV; I will almost always choose to read a good book instead. However, I do admit that I’ve not missed a single episode of Mad Men since the series premiered in 2007 or Downton Abbey, which will end after its sixth season this winter. Lately, I’ve gotten into this strange habit of watching old episodes of Murder, She Wrote on Netflix. Mind candy. I’m inspired by the main character, a retired-teacher-turned-mystery author named Jessica Fletcher, peering through her oversized, horn-rimmed glasses, typing her manuscripts on an old Royal typewriter. (A few months ago, I bought a new pair of eyeglasses that are strikingly similar to hers, I just now realized.)

In what Olympic sport would you like to win a gold medal?

I would like to win a gold medal as a member of the U. S. Olympic women’s soccer team. All of our children—one son and three daughters—played soccer, so I have attended innumerable soccer games in my life. I really do love the sport and wish that I could have played in a league when I was growing up. Watching a soccer game is very much like the process of plotting a story, where every action on the field—pass, kick, shot, or header—is significant and contributes to the final outcome.

What 3 children’s book authors or illustrators or editors would you like to invite to dinner?

I would invite children’s book authors E. B. White, Katherine Paterson, and Christopher Paul Curtis to my fantasy dinner. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little; Paterson’s The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob I Have Loved; and Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham and Bud, Not Buddy are books I use as models of quality, substance, voice, and style when I write books for young readers. We would meet at Gramercy Tavern, my favorite restaurant in New York City, or in front of the fireplace in my living room in Minneapolis during a winter snowstorm. I’d serve homemade split pea soup, freshly-baked whole wheat bread, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream, made from scratch. I wouldn’t say much, I’d just sit back and listen.

What animal are you most like?

Since my husband, Ralph, knows me better than anyone else in the world, I asked him, “What animal am I most like? Say the first thing that comes into your mind.” He answered, “A black bear.” Of course, I pressed for his reasons. Apparently I’m affable but not Hello-Kitty-cute and remind him of Eva Bear, one of his favorite stuffed toys. My image of that particular mammal is one of a mother bear raising a den-full of rambunctious cubs, which I’ve experienced as a mother, stepmother, teacher, and school administrator.

What is your proudest career moment?

My proudest career moment happened in the mid-1990’s when St. Anthony Middle School, where I served as building principal, was selected as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. I had the honor and privilege, along with representative members of my outstanding staff, of attending a reception at the White House, hosted by President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, and U. S. Department of Education Secretary Richard W. Riley. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

What is your favorite line from a book?

My favorite line from a book is: “Life is difficult.” This three-word sentence is the first line of The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. For the past couple of years, a confidante has been teaching me the grace and peace that comes with “radical acceptance” of this not-so-simple truth.

Skinny Dip with Stephanie Greene

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What keeps you up at night?

Not much. If I do wake up and start worrying about something, I put my newest plot dilemma into my brain. Puzzling over it puts me right to sleep.

What is your proudest career moment?

I guess I’m most proud that I’m still coming up with fresh ideas after twenty years. I’ve written several character-driven series, some stand-alone books, several anthropomorphic books, and new ideas continue to arrive. Maybe I should call that a professional miracle.

What’s the first book you remember reading?

The first book I remember caring about, deep down, was The Secret Garden.

Were you a teacher’s pet or teacher’s challenge?

Depends on what grade you’re talking about. Not sure I was ever a pet, but I certainly became a challenge in middle and high school.

What 3 children’s book authors or illustrators or editors would you like to invite to dinner?

Hilary McKay, E L Konigsburg, Louise Fitzhugh

Where’s your favorite place to read?

Almost anywhere. At night, in bed. In the morning, on a bar stool at the kitchen counter. While I eat lunch, at the table. On a nice day, outside. If it’s raining … see what I mean? While in line at the grocery store, if it’s long. Anywhere, anytime.

Skinny Dip with Roxanne Orgill

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What keeps you up at night?

Thoughts of my two children: their school issues, health problems, things they said or didn’t say. What calms me and gets me to sleep, perhaps oddly, is to think about the book I’m writing at the moment. I can think about parts of it I like, what I’ll write next, and even problems whose solutions are right then, anyway, out of my grasp, and drift off, content.

What is your proudest career moment?

Being at the New York Public Library presentation of its Best Books for the Teen Age with two books: Mahalia, a biography of the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and Shout, Sister, Shout! Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped a Century.

Describe your favorite pair of pajamas ever.

Lavender cotton short pjs, a gift from my grandmother, who had a bathroom all in lavender (towels and rugs and smelling of lavender soap and sachets), which I enjoyed.

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

Raising (and not giving up on, not for a minute) a teen with mental illness.

What’s the first book you remember reading?

I’m afraid the first book(s) I remember reading are the Dick and Jane books, and not with any fondness, in first grade. But the first book I remember falling in love with is Pippi Longstocking.

What TV show can’t you turn off?

The Good Wife. Really good writing, and Juliana Margulies is too good not to watch to the end.

Skinny Dip with Loretta Ellsworth

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What keeps you up at night?

Usually my son Andrew – he’s blind and sometimes gets day and night mixed up.

What is your proudest career moment?

Finishing a novel, meaning writing and revising until I’m satisfied with it – no matter what happens with the manuscript, I know I’ve accomplished an amazing goal.

Describe your favorite pair of pajamas ever

When I was young I had a pair of footie pajamas that I loved and wore out.

In what Olympic sport would you like to win a gold medal?

I love to play tennis and would love to win a gold medal in that – if only I could play like Serena Williams!

What’s the first book you remember reading?

My parents had a book of nursery rhymes that all seven of us children read (or were read to). I loved the pictures in that book and memorized most of the nursery rhymes.

What TV show can’t you turn off?

The Simpsons, because my son loves to watch it and he won’t let me turn it off. I’m now an expert on anything Simpson-related.

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Skinny Dip with Candace Fleming

Skinny Dip 1

What’s the first book you remember reading?

The first book I remember reading on my own is E.B. White’s Stuart Little. I was seven years old and it was the Saturday before Christmas – the day of St. John Lutheran’s annual holiday party. I loved that party! The potluck. The carols. The visit from Santa Claus (really Pastor Frankenfeld in a red suit).

My father had spent the morning decorating the church’s community room.

My mother had spent the afternoon baking sugar cookies.

And I had spent the entire day asking how much longer until we went.

No one noticed the snow coming down until my Uncle Howard stopped by. “Six inches and more coming,” he reported. “We’ll be snowed in by dinnertime.”

He was right. The party was cancelled. My parents were left with six-dozen cookies and one very whiny second grader. I stomped. I pouted. I flung myself on the sofa and howled. The last thing I deserved was a present. But that’s exactly what I got. My mother went to her stash of gifts meant for Christmas morning and returned with Stuart Little. She also gave me a plate of warm cookies.

I took both to the bay window in our living room. Settled in the window seat, I turned to the first page. And fell into the story. I was delighted, enchanted, completely swept into the story. I got all the way to the part where Stuart sails across the pond in Central Park before the real world returned. I blinked. It had gotten so dark I could no longer see the words on the page. I blinked again. And when had I eaten those cookies?

This was the first time I experienced the transporting power of a good book. I’d traveled to New York City without ever leaving Indiana. Amazing! It made me hunger for more of these “travels.” I quickly became an adventurer through books, visiting places I could never travel to on my bike, or in my parent’s Chevy. And whenever possible I bring along some cookies.

Describe your favorite pair of pajamas you’ve ever had.

My favorite pair of pajamas? That’s easy. It’s the pair I’m wearing right now, the ones made of blue flannel and patterned with black Scotty dogs sporting red hair bows. I like them because they’re big and roomy have been worn to threadbare silkiness and because the right sleeve is stained with blue ink from the Bic pen I use to write all my first drafts. They’re working jammies, the best kind.

What is your proudest career moment?

The first time I saw my book at the public library. That was my proudest career moment. After all, I’ve long known that libraries are sacred spaces, the repositories of all good things in life (picture books, story hour, librarians). So when I found my book on the shelf, I was overwhelmed. Me! Included in this place! I looked on in wonder. I couldn’t get over it. I still can’t. Want to know a secret? I continue to look myself up whenever I find myself in a library I haven’t visited before. I still get that electric thrill. I still look on in wonder.

What television show can’t you turn off?

I simply can’t turn off House of Cards. I binge-watch every new season, spending hours on the sofa, popcorn and cat in lap. Oh, that Clare Underwood is a manipulative piece of work. Looove her! I’m drooling for the next season.

In what Olympic sport would you like to win a gold medal?

Ice dancing. Does that seem like a typical female response? Who cares! As a person who has two left feet, I adore the notion of gliding gracefully across the ice in the arms of my partner, while performing twizzles and dance spins. I also think the costumes are pretty spiffy. Sigh. A girl can dream.

About Candace Fleming

Candace Fleming is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-honored The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of the Russian Empire; the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns; and the bestselling picture book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!. Her most recent books are Presenting Buffalo Bill: the Man Who Invented the Wild West and Giant Squid, illustrated by Eric Rohmann. She lives in Illinois. For more information please visit her website.

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Skinny Dip with Catherine Urdahl

Skinny Dip 2

What’s your proudest career moment?

I had just started doing author visits and was at a small school that serves a high-risk population of students from preschool through eighth grade. I started with the little ones, and it went well. I had this. Then a group of TALL sixth through eighth graders sauntered in. They slumped in their seats and looked away.

My picture book Emma’s Question (my only published book at that time) is officially for ages 4 to 7, but someone had told me it didn’t matter because everyone liked to hear stories. I wished that someone was there. I introduced myself and started reading—though it did not seem like a good idea. When I was a few pages in, I glanced up. The body language had changed. Students sat taller. They looked up. When I was finished I read from The Great Gilly Hopkins and The London Eye Mystery—books that, like Emma’s Question, deal with difficult topics. I talked about how the students could write about their own lives.

When I finished, one of the boys walked up and said in a quiet voice, “I want to be an author when I grow up.” I think that was my proudest moment—or at least my most grateful.

Describe your favorite pair of pajamas ever.

When I was about six, my grandma made matching nightgowns for my two sisters, my cousin and myself. They had a white background with pink flowers. (At least I think they were pink; the photo of us, lined up by height, is black and white.) I do remember the feel of the fabric—thick cotton flannel—not the fake-fuzzy polyester of store-bought pajamas. Most of all I remember the sense of belonging and security that comes from matching pajamas. Last year one of my sisters bought us matching pajamas. It still works.

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

I began telling people I was trying to write books for children. When I was writing in secret, I could quit if it was too hard or just didn’t work out. But once people knew, I felt accountable. One day I found a to-do list written by my then 9-year-old daughter. One of the items was Encourage Mom to get a book published. This was years before my first book was published—at a time I was tempted to quit. But what could I do? I kept going. Telling someone you’re pursuing a long-shot dream isn’t the same kind of brave as skydiving or picking up a snake (which I did once and will never do again). But sometimes it feels just as scary.

What’s the first book you remember reading?

I remember my grandpa reading a Little Golden Book—The Cow in the Silo by Patricia Goodell—to my sisters and me every time we visited. The book is long out of print, and probably never received any awards. But I loved it. Maybe that’s because my grandpa, a quiet farmer from northern Minnesota, took time from his fieldwork and chores to read it again and again and again. And maybe because, in the end, Mrs. O’Crady solves the problem of the stuck cow by covering her in Crisco and pushing her through the door. Brilliant. And probably the best use of Crisco ever.

What TV show can’t you turn off?

I don’t know whether I should admit this, but it’s Gilmore Girls. I love the cast of quirky characters, each of them distinct and full of enough contradictions and imperfections to make them loveable and believable in a really weird way. I also enjoy the strange pop culture references and the speedy-quick dialogue. I once read that the scripts ran about 77-78 pages, compared to 50-55 pages for a typical show with the same running time. I think about picture book writers like myself struggling to write shorter and shorter manuscripts and wonder whether we could apply the Gilmore Girls trick (or something like it). Maybe tiny type?

About Catherine Urdahl

Catherine Urdahl is the author of two children’s picture books: Polka-dot Fixes Kindergarten and Emma’s Question, which received an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award. Catherine teaches classes in children’s writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolism and is herself a graduate of the Loft Master Track program in children’s literature. She lives in Minnesota. For more information please visit her website.

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Skinny Dip with Anne Ursu

Skinny Dip 1

What keeps you up at night?

My cats biting my feet.

Describe your favorite pair of pajamas ever

A student got me sushi pajamas. What could be better?

In what Olympic sport would you like to win a gold medal?

Figure Skating. However, this is very unlikely.

What’s the first book you remember reading?

There’s a Monster at the End of this Book

What TV show can’t you turn off?

Power Rangers, much as I’d like to.

Were you a teacher’s pet or teacher’s challenge?

Pet! Most of the time. There was a French teacher who hated me.

What’s the first book report you ever wrote?

I’m not sure about the first, but I remember doing Where the Red Fern Grows, and crying on the book report.

Which of your books would make a good movie and who would be the star?

I think Shadow Thieves. I don’t know who could play Charlotte and Zee, but I would love Johnny Depp to play Philonecron.

What do you wish you could tell your 10-year-old self?

You actually get to be a writer. Also, you’ll have that stuffed bear for at least thirty more years.

Where’s your favorite place to read?

Next to my son.

About Anne Ursu

Anne Ursu is the author of several books for young readers. Her novel The Real Boy was on the 2013 longlist for the National Book Award. She is also the author of Breadcrumbs, which was featured on NPR’s Backseat Book Club, and the three books that comprise The Cronus Chronicles: The Shadow Thieves, The Siren Song, and The Immortal Fire. Anne teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis with her son. To learn more about her and her work please visit her website.

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