Click to go to St. Paul’s Website
Late on a February Tuesday morning, I packed a pile of books and papers into the back of my car and drove south and then east along some winding Indiana roads that led me further and further into the country. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I arrived at one of the most charming little schools I think I’ve ever seen: St. Paul’s Catholic School. The weather that day had been borrowed from April and students – from grades K through 6 – were out on the playground taking full advantage of it. When I stepped through the door of the building, I stepped back in time.
The K though 2 group got to hear about Thank You Very Much, Captain Ericsson!, the 3rd through 6th about Just Fine the Way They Are. I had dug around in my files a long time looking for my original versions of the stories (one of them handwritten) rough sketches of the illustrations, and some of my research material. As I talked, I remembered all over again how magical it is to send ordinary typed pages to an editor and get back a real, live illustrated book.
Students always ask good questions and this group was no exception. Questions can be a challenge. “Write? Well, I just DO it…” is not a good answer and questions from students make me think hard about the “how” of the process. Inevitably the question comes: “Do you make a lot of money writing?”
No. But I surely love what I do!
