The fourteenth book that my photographer son Jason and I have done together, I think it is one of my favorites. The photographs—as always—are stunning and the design elements have matched the elegance of both Jason’s pictures and the bird itself. The poems are varied in kind (there’s
Come to the Fairies’ Ball
This book began in a very different way from most of my books. My dear friend Gary Lippincott, an illustrator I have known for years and whose career I have had a bit of a hand in. His first book sale was for the cover of my anthology Werewolves, at my request of the editor; and when I had my
Pit Dragon Trilogy: Dragon’s Heart
So twenty years after the last book was written, I finally wrote (and finished) the fourth book of the Pit Dragon Trilogy. Yes, I know. It’s laughable. So we have renamed them the Pit Dragon Chronicles. I swear this is the last. All the threads have been wound up. Everyone’s fate is laid out.
Scarecrow’s Dance
I had the start of this book years ago and wrote the opening couple of verses while listening to a talk by Sid Fleischman. Heidi was sitting next to me and was appalled at my bad manners, but when I told Sid afterward, he just laughed. It took me months to get the book to where I was happy with it.
How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?
The idea for this book came from the Scholastic salesmen and the editor who all felt it would be a winner. And since they did a huge Toys R Us push for the book, they asked Mark and me to sign 7500 (that’s the correct number) bookplates.. Without thinking, without remembering that I have
Pumpkin Baby
I began this years and years ago, with a young illustrator, and it was a watermelon baby. But she disappeared from the scene. About fifteen years later, I rewrote it entirely and finally found the perfect editor in a Canadian publisher for the book. She found
A Mirror to Nature
When going through Jason’s backlog of photographs—never an onerous task but rather a real joy—I realized how many pictures of animals and birds reflected in water that he had. Almost enough for a book. So I wrote some poems for the best of the pictures and started trying to sell it. Boyds
My Uncle Emily
I have loved Emily Dickinson’s poetry (and her life story) for as long as I can remember. My husband and I moved to the Connecticut River Valley near Amherst where Dickinson had lived all her life, first to Conway in the mid ’60s where we our first
Sad, Mad, Glad Hippos
Key-Porter is a Canadian publisher, and this is how I got to them. My friend Jonathan Schmidt (and ex-editor at Tor) moved to Canada to be married and settle north of the border, and soon became head of trade books there. He introduced me to the children’s book editor, Linda Prussen, hoping I
Hip Hippos
Key-Porter is a Canadian publisher, and this is how I got to them. My friend Jonathan Schmidt (and ex-editor at Tor) moved to Canada to be married and settle north of the border, and soon became head of trade books there. He introduced me to the children’s book editor, Linda Prussen, hoping I