I began the COMMANDER TOAD books because I saw an article in the local newspaper about a boy and his frog who had just won a jumping-frog contest. The frog’s name was “Star Warts.” I thought it would be funnier if the frog had been a toad
King Long Shanks
I had long wanted to do a book with Victoria Chess whose quirky illustrations of animals and children greatly appealed to me. She, it seems, wanted to work with me. She mentioned this to one editor friend who urged her to call me.
Sea Man, The
A short historical fantasy chapter book that takes place off the coast of Holland in the seventeenth century. The crew in a boat in the Dutch navy pick up what they think is a drowning man. But when they get him into their boat, they see they have a merman
Child of Faerie/Child of Earth
This rhymed fairy tale is about the friendship between a mortal child and a boy of the faerie folk. The verse that begins, “He was a child of faerie folk, a child of sky and air,” just popped into my head one day. It had its own peculiar rhyme scheme. One such verse is
Young Merlin Trilogy: Merlin
The third book of the Young Merlin trilogy (PASSAGER and HOBBY are the others), this tells the story of Merlin as a twelve year old and immediately follows young Merlin’s escape in Book 2 from a murdering king. In this part of the adventure,
Once Upon Ice
When Jason showed me some of the pictures of ice he’d taken–especially the one that looks just like Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream,” I knew what our follow up poetry book to “Water Music” had to be. Originally I called the book “Ice Song”
Miz Berlin Walks
My grandmother, Fanny Berlin, lived in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Every evening she took a long walk around the block. She was the inspiration for this book that is about a black child and an old white lady who tells stories to her as they walk. Cooper’s paintings are sensuous stories on their own.
Nocturne
A tone poem about a boy going to bed which I wrote for artist Anne Hunter after seeing her portfolio. I call this my homage to Dylan Thomas, because of the sensuous wordplay in the text. To make up the word “hullaballooning” it took me well over a week. Poems are like that.
Once Upon a Bedtime Story
This collection is entirely retold folk tales for the youngest listeners: “The Three Bears,” “The Three Little Pigs,” “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” “The Little Red Hen,” “The Shoemaker and the Elves,” etc. There is a storytelling CD/tape narrated by me, with musical interludes by my son Adam Stemple.
Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast
welve of my stories, several of them brand new, all with a fantasy or science fictional basis. “Lost Girls,” the story that closes the volume, won the 1998 Nebula award for best novelette of the year. I believe that was the first time a children’s story won that coveted award.