Author of over 400 Books for Children and Adults
Another book that started with a dream, this story predates the Harry Potter books by eight years. A young inept wizard who turns out to be in some ways the most powerful of them all, my hero is named Henry (not Harry) but renamed Thornmallow when he gets to the Wizard’s Hall. The Hall is a school,
This original folk tale uses both the Piegan mythic stories about how the horse came to the Piegan (Blackfeet) people and also some historical matter. There are full notes on the last page. It is always tricky business, writing in another culture. I heard that one Native spokesman said that “She has an authentic voice.”
Because we are a family of bird watchers, and because I have many opportunities to see my husband David (the original Pa from OWL MOON) interact with birds, children, and other birders, this book of poems came about. Some are celebratory, some are sad, some are observations. One poem
This novel began as a short story also called “The Dragon’s Boy” (see Merlin’s Booke) but eventually grew to novel length. I had to first read a lot about the Arthurian cycle of stories. But I also had to learn about England around the fifth century. I spent time down in the English fen country, going on walks
This was written as a companion to THREE BEARS RHYME BOOK, using the same characters, but instead of rhyme, this book is told in prose. Baby Bear, determined not to go to bed, cons his babysitter Goldie into telling him story after story. Each story she tells is connected visually to one of his toys. In the end
This alphabet book stars elves doing a variety of activities. Illustrator Lauren Mills was one of my students at Centrum and I always loved her perfect miniaturist style. When she moved from California east and married Dennis Nolan, another wonderful illustrator, I wrote this book just for her.
I have always loved the Scottish border ballad Tam Lin, first mentioned in a ballad book of 1549. It’s one of the only ones (maybe THE only one) in which the woman does the rescuing. Young Janet McKenzie (in my version) wants to have her patrimony–the old mansion of Carterhaugh–but it now belongs to the fairies.
Originally published as Writing Books for Children, and revised and updated twice, this book is now–alas–out of print. But I still think that some of the essays–notably on writing with joy, folk tales, fantasy, and children’s poetry stand the test of time.
When they were little, my boys both loved dinosaurs so much, I embroidered dinosaur pillows for them. (I am NOT good at needlework.) When they were teenagers, I wrote this book. Go figure! The poems range from a dinosaur rock-and-roll band to a dinosaur waltz to a dinosaur square dance.
Original horror stories by a variety of authors, including William Sleator and Melissa Mia Hall. This saw the first publication of my much reprinted “The Baby-Sitter. ” I chose all the stories and edited them. Marty did the business end of things.