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Author Information
 CHILDHOOD
GROWING UP IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK I was born in 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. I was surrounded by art, music, and books. My father, William, worked on the art staff of the World Telegram & Sun, one of New York's major newspapers. My mother, Florence, was a junior high school home economics teacher. They both enriched my life with the love of reading, playing the piano, singing, dancing, science and stamp collecting. I was the youngest of three girls. My favorite possessions were my microscope, a box of 64 crayons and my library card. I loved being a Girl Scout. I was a Brownie all the way through Cadets. I enjoyed it so much, especially selling Girl Scout cookies. The Thin Mints were and still are my favorites. My best friend, Pat, and I would work on badges together.
MY LOVE OF READING BEGINS
I also loved to draw, read and make up stories. I started writing my own stories and drew pictures to go with them. I would make a bookcover for them and write down the name of a publisher. I also spent a great deal of time reading. The public library was about 5 blocks from my house and I went every week. At that time you were only allowed six books at a time. I gobbled up all of the books by Beverly Cleary, Marguerite Henry, the DR. DOOLITTLE series and books about animals. When I read ELOISE, by Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hilary Knight, it became one of my favorites. I also loved, STUART LITTLE, by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams. (Most people are big CHARLOTTE'S WEB fans, but Stuart won my heart!) And of course, I adored THE CAT IN THE HAT, by Dr. Seuss! I'm honored to be able to say that the three publishers of those 3 titles, are also the same publishers of my books! HarperCollins, who published STUART LITTLE, did IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE, IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN, IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE and THE CHICKEN SISTERS! Simon & Schuster, who published ELOISE, did WHAT MOMMIES DO BEST, TWO FOR STEW, WHY A DISGUISE?, SOMETIMES I WONDER IF POODLES LIKE NOODLES, DOGS DON'T WEAR SNEAKERS and CHIMPS DON'T WEAR GLASSES! And Random House put my book MONSTER MUNCHIES in the Dr. Seuss Beginner Reader Series, along with THE CAT IN THE HAT! What a thrill!
GOING TO COLLEGE
THE START OF MY LIFE AS AN AUTHOR
When I was 15, I had a change of heart. Instead of being a writer, I decided to follow in my sister Emily's footsteps. She was a fashion designer and I thought it sounded like a great job. When the time came to go to college, I only applied to Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, where Emily had gone! Unfortunately, I hated everything about the fashion department and I couldn't sew to save my life! I ended up taking classes in things I enjoyed, photography, animation and radio broadcasting. By my last semester, I was still unsure of what I would do once I graduated. I ended up taking a class in writing and illustrating books for children because it sounded like a great class. We had an assignment to write and illustrate a children's book. Mine was about the tallest girl in the third grade. (No, I wasn't the tallest but I have an imagination!)I made several attempts to get it published and after only 4 rejections, Macmillan bought it! I graduated from college with a degree AND a contract for my first book!
My first nine books are now out of print. One of them (my favorite), BEATRICE DOESN'T WANT TO, is a story about a girl who hates books!!! This one is coming back with all new illustrations by Lynn Munsinger who did the art for WHAT MOMMIES DO BEST/WHAT DADDIES DO BEST! I can't wait! I'm hoping to make the other titles available so keep an eye open for those!
THE REST OF MY FAMILY.
I'm the youngest of three girls! Emily, the middle sister, was a fashion designer and now owns her own company that helps other fashion designers find new jobs! She and her husband, Larry, collect antiques (I was inspired by them!). Their collections range from old posters and cookie jars to advertising signs. Then there's Alice. She is a junior high school English teacher, she's married, to Jerry, who sells commercial real estate. She and I co-authored 2 of my out of print books, EMILY'S BUNCH and YOU CAN'T PUT BRACES ON SPACES. I have a niece, Nancy, who lives in London with her husband Andrew and their son, Charlie. I also have a nephew, Douglas who lives in Los Angeles, with his wife, Jennifer. I have great memories of laughing with Alice and Emily, doing silly things, traveling with them and feeling so lucky to have two great sisters.
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Author Interview
IF YOU GIVE AN AUTHOR A PENCIL..
By the time I was nine years old, I loved to write and tell stories and knew someday I would be an author. But when I was fifteen, I decided I wanted to be a designer, just like my big sister, Emily. I went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, to study fashion design. But after my first year of college, I realized it wasn't my cup of tea. So, I took classes in illustration, animation, photography . . . and a class called "Writing and Illustrating Children's Books" with Barbara Bottner.
... SHE'S GOING TO NEED SOME PAPER TO WRITE ON...
In that class, we had a homework assignment to write and illustrate our own children's book. I ended up selling my homework, and Amy For Short was published by Macmillan in 1975 just before I graduated. That's when I realized that writing for children combined my three favorite things to do: writing stories, drawing, and reading!
...AND A LIBRARY CARD
I am and have always been an avid reader. I'll never forget the day I got my first library card! I was thrilled when they told me I could take home any six books! I would lie on my bed and read for hours. Then as soon as I finished the six books, I went back to the library for more. Two of my favorite books were Stuart Little, about a mouse in New York, and Eloise, about a little girl in New York. Now I love biographies, nonfiction, and stories dealing with travel.
"NEVER GIVE UP"...EVEN BE YOU'RE BORED
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was the tenth book I wrote. The idea came to me on a long, boring car trip.
I don't know about you, but I get silly when I get bored.
On the way from San Francisco to Oregon in the car, I tried to make my friend laugh by telling a story about a mouse nibbling on a cookie: "He'd want some milk to go with it. And then he'd probably need a straw. Then he'd want a napkin . . ." And by the time we reached Oregon, I I had told the whole story!
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie was turned down nine times-but my motto is "never give up." I continued to submit it to publishers until it found a home at Harper.
Now, I visit classrooms all over the country and read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. For fun, I'll warn them that I may make a mistake while I'm reading and I hope they can catch it. Then I'll say something like "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a banana." You should hear the shouts of protest go up. There's also a dance I made up to the song "Doin' the Mouse Cookie" which I teach the kids.
It's fun to see kids growing up with Mouse and Moose And so many exciting things are happening with these characters-they even have Hollywood knocking at the door. And the next "If You Give a . . ." book is coming soon. Who's the star? You'll have to wait and see.
THE MOOSE THAT ROARED
Some things were just meant to be. At a charity auction, I won an appearance as an extra on the 'Ellen" show. The particular episode I did was directed by Robby Benson, who did the voice of Beast in Beauty and the Beast I thought, "What the heck! went up to him, and asked if he'd consider doing the reading for the audio edition of If You Give a Moose a Muffin (coming in Fall 1997). He agreed and has done a fabulous job. Ironically, Carol Kane, who read the audio version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, was also on the show that night!
There is a new song on the tape too: "Doin' the Moose." I'm planning the dance now and can't wait to teach it to kids when I visit their classes. With the "If You Give a . . . " program expanding the way it is, maybe soon we'll be able to perform an entire dance revue.
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