13.SR: What was the inspiration for your book "Noodle Man"?
AS: We were eating pasta. I asked my family what book I should write next. Suddenly, we were brainstorming silly things about this guy named Al Dente.
14.SR: The research you do looks so exciting. Also workingwith your husband must be great. When do you find time to write?
AS: Most of my time is spent writing. My time touring and in the field is limited by my need to write to make a living, and my husband's vacation, as well. I hope to increase the amount of time I can spend in the wild. I love being in rain forests. That's why we started a tour company, so we'd have a good excuse to go back to the rain forests we love and share them with other people.
15.SR: Can you discuss any future projects?
AS: My first math book, which is also my first picture book coauthored with my husband, is coming out in 2003. It's ONE IS SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB, with Candlewick. That book looks simple but actually teaches quite sophisticated math concepts. The illustrations, by Randy Cecil, are hilarious. (Just wait until you see the two crabs riding bicycles.) I love that book!
I also have several other nonfiction picture books in the pipeline, i.e. being illustrated. Currently I'm revising a novel.After I finish that, I'll submit it for publication. Whether or not it gets published, I'm going to start another novel. I'm enjoying the challenge.
Please check out April's other great books. They are great for home libraries and super in the classroom.
Books by April P. Sayre:
If You Should Hear a Honey Guide. Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Put On Some Antlers and Walk Like a Moose. Twenty-First Century Books, 1997. Home At Last: A Song of Migration. Illustrated by Alix Berenzy. Holt, 1998. Splish! Splash! Animal Baths. Millbrook, 2000. Dig Wait Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale. Illustrated by Barbara Bash. Greenwillow, 2001. Army Ant Parade. Illustrated by Rick Chrustowski. Holt, 2002.
Her newest book, "Secrets of Sound: Studyiing the Calls and songs of Whales, Elephants and Birds" is a fascinating look into these amazing creatures and their methods of communication.
Can animals really talk? Scientists who study animal sounds say yes! Readers are introduced to this new breed of scientists,bioacoustisicans. These are the people who study the sounds made by
