A: Every book we create is different. Some books take longer to write and illustrate than others. Heckedy Peg took two-and-one-half years to illustrate and four months to write. Silly Sally took six months to illustrate and five months to write.
A: Our favorite book as a team so far is Heckedy Peg.
A: I get my ideas in many different ways such as thinking about my life as a child, my son's life, my life experiences as a grown-up, dreams I've had, daydreams, and any subject that tickles my fancy!
A: We live in The Napping House! Don used our house as the model for the house in our book The Napping House.
A: In the fourth grade I decided I wanted to be an author when I grew up. That's when I started writing stories. I was not published until I was in my twenties. My first book was published in 1978.
A: At home! We have two studios. One big studio where we sometimes work together on projects, and two smaller separate studios.
A: We work almost every day, but we love it. Writing and illustrating books are our passions. We also take time to play. Sometimes we'll take off on a traveling adventure that will last several weeks.
A: Sorry, we do not have teacher packs. That's one of the reasons we created our web site. My suggestion to you is to go through our site and download as many pages as you like and print them out. Many teachers and parents then make a book out of the pages or display them on their walls.
A: There is a very comprehensive set of reference books called Something About the Author. Generally, they are found behind the reference desk in your public library. Don and I are in volume fifty and I am also in volume eighty-one.
A: On a bench, in my bed, on a plane, in a car, with people around me or alone. When I need to write I do it no matter where I am or who's around me.
A: I left that to the imagination of the reader, everyone knows a bad word.
A: Myself (as the mother) in Heckedy Peg, my father (as the knight) in King Bidgood's in the Bathtub, and Don (as the witch) in Heckedy Peg.
A: Only in conjunction with my publishers and while on tour.
A: Heckedy Peg was inspired by a dramatic, acting out game that children once played, dating back to the medieval ages. The game has many variations, sometimes a witch and seven children and sometimes the villain is a man, other times a fox or wolf. The witch is named Heckedy Peg and the children Monday thru Friday. It is not a very pleasant game. The children are kidnapped one-by-one while the mother is away.
A: My first book that I both wrote and illustrated was 24 Robbers. Published by the British publisher Child's Play.
A: Our first book as a team was Moonflute.