Episode #162: Do you have a pet? with Anna Alter
Welcome back to Kids Ask Authors! We are excited to welcome Anna Alter here with us today. Grace and Anna answer this great question for an author: “ Do you have a pet?”
TRANSCRIPT:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books including the middle grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and the picture book, A Big Moon Cake for Little Star. Today I am here with Anna Alter, the author and illustrator of the Sprout Street Neighbors chapter book series. Hi Anna.
Anna Alter: Hi.
Grace Lin: Okay, are you ready for today's question?
Anna Alter: I'm ready.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's question is from a girl named Frances and she asks, do you have a pet?
Anna Alter: So I get this question a lot because I write a lot of books about animals, and the answer is that yes, I have two cats at home with me, George and Wilbur. Sometimes they show up in my stories, just like a lot of the pets that I grew up with when I was a kid. I grew up in a house with lots of animals, including cats, dogs, a bird, a rabbit, Guinea pigs, hamsters, fish, all kinds of animals. I used to love to make up stories about them and that's a big reason why I became an author and an illustrator.
Grace Lin: Which book of yours have George and Wilbur in it?
Anna Alter: So in Sprout Street Neighbors, there's a character named Wilbur who likes to garden, and he's a cat based on my cat, Wilbur.
Grace Lin: Aw. Well, I don't usually write books about animals, but I do have a couple of books that I wrote early in my career called Olvina Flies and Olvina Swims. Those are about chickens, and I have pet chickens, but strangely enough, I did not have chickens when I made those books. But I do have these chickens now, now that I don't write about chickens. So it's very odd.
Anna Alter: So you were writing books about the pets you dreamed of having?
Grace Lin: Exactly.
Anna Alter: Yeah.
Grace Lin: But I have five chickens and most of them are named after children's book characters. We have one called Mr. Nuggy and another one called Gobble Gracker. Those are two characters in Dory Fantasmagory. We have another one called Melvin named after a character in Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants books. Then we have another one called Black Hole, which actually is not from a children's book. Our last one is named Pecan, and the reason why that one is not from a children's book is because that is not our chicken, it's our neighbor's chicken that we just watch over. But we're hoping to get more chickens with more children's book names.
Anna Alter: Maybe you'll write some more books about them.
Grace Lin: Hopefully. Well, thanks so much, Anna, and thanks so much, Frances, for your question.
Anna Alter: Thank you. Bye-bye.
Today’s KID BOOK REVIEW comes from Dorrie. Dorrie is reviewing Sprout Street Neighbors : Five Stories by Anna Alter.
Hi my name is Dorrie and I am 8 years old. The book I would like to talk about is Sprout Street Neighbors: Five Stories by Anna Alter. This book is about 5 animal neighbors Henry, Wilbur, Violet, Emma, and Fernando. They live in an apartment each in their own room. They have to share walls with each other. It is difficult because Henry likes peace. But it can also be fun. I like this book because it's about different animals and they work together to survive living together.
Thank you so much Dorrie!
More about today’s authors:
Anna grew up with a love for art that tells stories, spending many hours drawing, painting, and daydreaming. She brought her passion for narrative art to the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied illustration, and began publishing for children in 2001. Anna's books have been a CCBC Choice best book of the year, Bank Street College best book of the year, Junior Library Guild selections, Texas 2x2 Recommended Reading, and twice been included in the Society of Illustrator's Original Art Show. In addition to her books, Anna designs letterpress cards, giclée prints, and creates handmade ceramics. Her illustrated goods can be found in her shop, at retail stores, as well as fairs and markets throughout New England. She has taught art and book making to audiences of all ages, from preschool to college, and frequently visits schools to speak about her work.
Anna lives in Western Massachusetts with her daughter Tilly, son Hugo, and two cats, George and Silver.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
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