WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION

FOR WRITERS

TODAY’S GUEST

LAURI FORTINO

I’m always talking about the wonderful kid lit community I belong to – filled with incredibly talented and dedicated people. And every day I meet more of them. Recently, I discovered a blog which is a super resource for parents and teachers – Frog on a Blog – and I connected with its creator. When I found out the she had a DEBUT PICTURE BOOK coming out this fall, I knew I’d be inviting her to step into the Will Write for Cookies spotlight. And when my May guest, Katie Davis, needed to exchange her May interview for October, I was thrilled that Lauri was ready, willing and able to step in and fill the spot.

Lauri grew up in the village of Canastota, NY with four older siblings and a twin sister. She tried various careers (she was a horse groom for two years and a floral designer for ten years) before becoming a Library Assistant. She is also working hard to grow her career as a picture book author. Her debut book The Peddler’s Bed is set to be released on September 1, 2015 by Ripple Grove Press. The illustrator is Bong Redila. She also has a digital picture book coming out soon with MeeGenius called The Dinosaur Tag Survival Guide. Lauri is a member of SCBWI, ALA, CBI Club House, and the Picture Me Published critique group, and she’s an avid blogger. She lives in DeWitt, NY with her husband and Lhasa-mix dog Java.

I’m so happy to have her here to share her thoughts with us.

Welcome, Lauri!

ME: Who were your favorite authors/illustrators when you were a child?

Lauri:

Hmm…I don’t know that I have favorite authors or illustrators from childhood, but there are a few books that stick in my memory. I loved Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library with the four tiny books. Last year, I visited the gorgeous Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and they happened to have the set for sale in the gift shop, so I purchased one, since my original set is long gone. It’s like having an old friend back again.

Another book that I loved as a child is The Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown. In fact, I loved the pictures so much that I almost cut them out of the book! Luckily, I thought better of it and stopped myself after inflicting just one tiny snip on one of the pages. I wish I still had that copy.

I do, however, still have my absolute favorite book from childhood, Jolly Old Santa Claus. It was published in 1969 by Ideals Publishing Co. Interestingly, there’s no author listed, but the editor was Maryjane Hooper Tonn and the illustrations, which enchanted me then and still enchant me today, were done by George Hinke. It’s just a little slip of a book, and it’s worn, but it’s beautiful and I’ll cherish it forever. Continue reading →