I love unicorns. But the overly saccharine, My-Little-Pony unicorns that seem to be everywhere don’t appeal to me at all. I like my unicorns with muscle and tone. Ruth Sanderson unicorns! I began this book with
Harvest Home
There is an old English hymn called “Harvest Home” which I love, and autumn–with its gathering-in–is my favorite time of year. So when I heard the line repeating in my head, “Bringing the harvest home…” I knew there was a poem to be written.
Mirror, Mirror
Heidi and I located forty mother/daughter folk tales from around the world, organized them, and then held long conversations about the stories. The stories range from well-known “Snow White” and “Cinderella” to lesser known tales from Portugal, Spain, Sudan,
Off We Go!
A bouncy rhyme for the littlest book lovers, with onomatopoeic words, that take a little mouse, duck, frog, mole, snake, spider, and duck off to their grandmothers’ houses. I began this book when
History Mystery: The Mary Celeste
I had the idea for a series of true unsolved mysteries from history in picture book form because of my daughter Heidi’s interest in criminal justice. (She’s been both a probation officer and a private detective.) We began with
Tartan Magic: The Pictish Child
The second book in the Tartan Magic series. An American family visiting Scotland for the summer fall into magic. In this book, the children and their grandmother visit an Eventide Home (a Old Folks home) where a magic talisman calls up a child from Scotland’s Pictish past.
Tartan Magic: The Wizard’s Map
The first book in the Tartan Magic series. An American family comes to Scotland for the summer and immediately falls into magic. Twins Jennifer and Peter try to rescue their four-year old sister who has been captured by the wicked wizard, Michael Scot.
Moonball
Both my boys played Little League and were fine players. But my heart always went out to the whiffers, the kids who just couldn’t play very well. Everyone–even their own parents–seemed to be down on them. So this
Fairies’ Ring, The
Retellings of classic folk stories about fairies–from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England, Brittany, Persia, South Africa etc. I had long wanted to do such a volume, and had presented the idea to many editors, but was always turned down. Then after I’d done the
Gray Heroes: Elder Tales from Around the World
An anthology of folk tales in which the heroes are all older or elderly. My contribution to the AARP set. (Of which I am a member in good standing.) I was surprised that there had never been any such volume before. A long