AT SCHOOL My career as a writer began in second grade. That year I bought my first poetry book at the school book fair. The book, "A Rocket in my Pocket", was filled with silly poems. I began making up poems of my own. I started searching for rhymes that worked with my teacher's name, Mrs. Cuzzard. It was time to change schools. We moved again. Our town of Wilton was growing and somebody kept building new schools. I got to try them all out. I thought it was fun. Although I was always drawing, my career as an artist became "official" in Miss Buckley's third grade class. That was when I sucked up paint through a straw. It was like swallowing chalk. I can still taste it! I was supposed to blow through the straw to move the paint around, but I got confused.

I had a brief fling with theater in elementary school. I was chosen as the witch in a production of Hansel and Gretel. The Music teacher took out all of my solo numbers…I had a great cackle…but my singing needed a lot of work. In high school I moved to designing programs and posters for the school productions. It was clear the visual arts were a better choice for me.

I did not become a real reader until high school. I discovered Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dickens and Tolstoy. My favorite books seemed to have a recurring theme. The main character, usually destitute, finds a new family who loves them, understands their every need, and is usually rich. Great reading for an adolescent!

ART SCHOOL

I wanted to go to art school in Paris. I ended up at Syracuse University, where I spent the year preparing my portfolio for Parsons School of Design in New York City. While studying fashion illustration at Parsons I discovered that, if it weren't for the clothing they wore, the fashion models would all have the same shape. It was a lot more fun sketching people on the subway. This is when I decided to try children's book illustration. After the first class I found what I wanted to do. By the third class, I changed my career path in the elevator.

This is when, while riding the elevator with one of my teachers, I told him about my revelation. I loved the process of creating children's books and I hated fashion. He questioned why I was in fashion in the first place. He went home. I went back up the elevator and changed my major to children's book illustration. Then I went to the local bookstore to look at books by the instructor that was teaching the class. I found plenty of his books under the "S" section, including "Where the Wild Things Are". The class was taught by the author/illustrator from the elevator, Maurice Sendak and an amazing book designer, Jane Bierhorst. These two people are so gifted and giving of their talents. I feel that I am still learning from them, although the class was almost 25 years ago.