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Anastasia Suen: Prolific Non-fiction writer for children - Page 2

© Sue Reichard

grew up near the sea in Florida and Southern California! I walked out to the mailbox very carefully, so I wouldn't slip, and inside the mailbox that day were three acceptances! After all those years of rejection, I had three poems accepted all at once! All three appeared in magazines. A year later, the day after my fortieth birthday, the phone rang and I was offered a contract for my first picture book. Six weeks later, I sold another picture book and six weeks after that; I sold a third picture book. Good things come in threes!

5.. What was your inspiration for "Window Music" and "Delivery"?

My family is the inspiration for my picture books. My mother's father was a railroad man, so that was the inspiration for Window MusiRosiebook about a train ride. My father's mother was a Rosie the Riveter lady. She and my grandfather built P-51 Mustangs during World War II. They were the inspiration for Air Show. In Delivery I was able to show the many jobs that had been held in my family. There is someone in my family represented on every page.

6.. Was your book "Doctors Without Borders" an assigned book or do you have a particular interest or personal experience with this truly amazing organization?

Doctors Without Borders was part of six book series I wrote about Helping Organizations. I also wrote about the ASPCA, the Red Cross,Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corps and UNICEF. I was happy I could share these groups with children, to show them that there are people in this world who were dedicated to helping others. So much of what we see on TV is people hurting other people.

7.. Can you discuss the experience of writing a leveled book, especially the advantages and disadvantages. How is this different that writing a work of fiction or nonfiction?

I think leveled books are important for beginning readers. In order to learn how to read, the child must be able to read 95% of the words in a book by himself. Otherwise, the book is too hard! As a former K-1 teacher, I enjoy writing very young readers. They are not, however, easy Iw write. I call them "pretzel" books, because I need to twist myself up as Iw rite them. The "specs" [publisher specifications] may only allow you to use 16 sounds, and yet they also require that you use certain high frequency words. At the same time, I am also writing a real book, that is a nonfiction story with facts that are true, not made up. In order to do all of this at once, I twist and twist until I come up with something that works. Needless to say, a LOT of rewriting is involved.

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