Kelly of the excellent children’s literature site Big A little a clued me into this Boston Globe interview with Penderwicks author Jeanne Birdsall. Here’s a quote:
“I started with characters,” [Birdsall] said. ”I wanted to write about four sisters—obviously a ‘Little Women’ thing. What I loved about books when I was a child were characters’ reactions to interesting situations, rather than highly plotted books. That’s what I always saw, even in ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘Little Women’ and E. Nesbit’s and Edward Eager’s magical books.”
Loads of other riches at Big A little a today, including word of a new Dick King-Smith novel (hoorah!), an interesting quote about the particular challenge of finding a picture book that can stand up to the rigors of a hundred read-alouds in a row, and links to dozens of children’s book reviews. Great site.
Okay, now I’m blushing…
Thanks for your kind words.
The praise is well deserved…I am hooked on your site. Except–one bone to pick–you are doing frightful things to my “books I want to read” list. It is swelling to monstrous proportions!