This book of mermen stories may have the longest and most difficult gestation of any book I have ever done. It began almost 30 years ago when my friend Shulamith Oppenheim and I wrote a proposal for a children’s book called
Boots and the Seven Leaguers
I needed a new short story for my collection, Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast, and I found the start of Boots in my files. No memory of when it had gotten there. But it looked hopeful: the
Sister Emily’s Lightship
Most of my adult short fantasy/sf fiction has never been put in a single book. I have four story collections–Tales of Wonder, Dragonfield, Merlin’s Booke, and Storyteller, plus a chapbook that are all out of print. But my more recent stories
Sleep Rhymes Around the World
It took about eight months to track down the lullaby rhymes for this picture book. Some I got from books, others from my husband’s graduate students and international colleagues. I wanted the rhymes in
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Bonnie Verberg, who had been my editor at Harcourt and then again when she moved to Scholastic, had a baby boy. When he was a year old she called and said, “My little boy hates going to bed
Not One Damsel in Distress
Move over, Xena! This collection of thirteen retold folk tales about strong young women come from every corner of the globe. From Bradamante, the fierce medieval knight from “The Song of Roland,” to Li Chi
Color Me a Rhyme
I was helping Jason sort and file his slides at his house in Colorado one visit, and realized what astonishing shots he had of single colors in nature–yellow flowers, brown wrinkled sand, punky pink thistles, etc.
Stuart Quartet: Queen’s Own Fool
This novel about Mary Queen of Scots is told from the point of view of one of her three female jesters. (Yes–there were three, though we know little about them.) Scottish writer Bob Harris and I worked
Where Have the Unicorns Gone?
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.