Issue # 13 March, 2000
		SMART PIGGY'S NEWSLETTER By Audrey Wood Compiled by Heath Uliasz March 2000 Issue #13 Dear Friends, Why Artists, Children’s Book Writers, and Blondes Have More Fun I’ve been writing children’s books for over twenty years. If there is one word to describe the relationship I have with my creative life, it would have to be the word "fun." I have come to believe that having fun is a necessary ingredient to finding the ideas which lead me to my stories. But, I have also discovered that having fun is not always a simple, or easy state of being to maintain. Even the best "fun patterns" can become old, tired, and too familiar. To continue having and experiencing fun, I believe it’s necessary to occasionally seek out new and exciting patterns of activities. A new pattern can be bold and even be accompanied by certain risks. Fun can also be non-conforming behavior, trying something no one else is brave enough to do. Because of it’s non-conforming aspect, fun can be viewed by others as self-centered, dangerous, extravagant and perhaps a bit on the eccentric side. For instance, on the supposed eccentric side, I have created two life- size lady characters out of papiermache, both of which grace our living room. The ladies names are "Victoria" and "Eva", and they are quite startling to anyone who enters our house for the first time. Both ladies have been mentioned in our publicity materials and in published interviews, but their functions have never really been explained. Several years ago when our book Piggies first came out, a book critic not only gave our book a bad review, he also criticized our lifestyle. He particularly took offence to the ladies residing in our living room, stating that "The Woods" act silly and immature -- they must think they live in "never-never land." In effect, he believed we were being childish and should just grow up. But I disagree with him, because having fun while building and costuming Victoria and Eva significantly effected my work as an author when writing two of my stories. The end result was two of my best children’s books. Briefly, I created Victoria when our son (children’s book illustrator, Bruce Robert Wood) was only five years old. At the time I was working on a story that had to do with a boy needing his grandmother who lived far away in another state, just like my son’s grandmother did. I was having trouble making the story work, and my frustration level was high. Because I enjoy doing sculpture, I decided to take a break from writing, and create the kind of grandmother I had in mind for my story (and wished my son had in his home). Granny Victoria took a long time to complete. She was my hobby, and like knitting, I found her relaxing to work on in my spare time. I also discovered that sculpting Victoria freed my mind to dream on other story possibilities. Suddenly, my writing improved because I was happy, and I was having fun. It took me several months before I finally completed Granny Victoria. She’s a charming, elderly lady, good-natured and attractive with a mischievous look in her smiling eyes that suggests she has a bit of gossip to let you in on, if you’ll just sit down for a nice chat. The story about the distant grandmother remains incomplete, but I began The Napping House while working on Victoria. Victoria was not the inspiration for The Napping House, but having her around and building her during the time I wrote the book certainly strengthened my choice of a granny character. When some people meet Victoria for the first time, they ask if Don used her as the model for the Granny in The Napping House. Who knows, in some subtle way Granny Victoria may have influenced Don, also. In 1986, Don and I agreed to illustrate my story, Elbert’s Bad Word, together. I was terribly nervous and excited about the prospect, two artists working on the same paper! How could my expressionistic, cartoony art style merge with Don’s incredibly realistic style? As an artist, I’ve always considered myself an apprentice, as compared to Don who is definitely a master. I needed to conquer my fears, so, to loosen up, I decided to build a second character. Eva took a mere two weeks to construct. I had learned a lot from Victoria, plus I decided she would serve as the model for Elbert’s mother, so I had to hurry in order to begin my drawings. Eva stands almost six feet tall, wears a sequined dress, a feathered boa, and a hat from which protrudes a long peacock feather. Standing beside my desk while I illustrated the story, my papiermache lady helped me keep my drawings on track. It was fun creating Eva and I hope there is another character lurking in the future of our books. What about being bold and dangerous? How does that fit into having fun and writing children’s books? In1992, Don and I chartered a boat with two friends who are experienced sailors. For three months this crew of four sailed the boat from St. Thomas, in the British Virgin Islands, all the way down to South America, and back again. It took three months and we stopped to explore nearly every island in the Caribbean along the way. There was more danger, and fun in those three months than I have the space to tell you about in a novel. On the island of Montserrat (now covered with volcanic ash), I met a little girl who inspired my book, Nona’s Red Racer. In fact, she not only inspired it, she starred in it. She’s the model for my heroine. That risky, impractical adventure of eight years ago continues to inspire me today. Someday I may produce a string of books loosely based on that magical time. We’ll see! Sometimes having fun inspires ideas for books, and sometimes my books inspire me to have fun. For many years my hair was the color of straw, a hue I retained from my childhood as a tow head blonde. Then the red-headed Silly Sally was born, and it was time for me to go on a major book promotion tour. Since Silly Sally was so much fun to write and illustrate, I wanted my presentations in the stores and at schools to be memorable and, well, a bit silly! So, with a wave of my hairdresser’s wand, I became a flaming red-headed author. Then, with the help of a seamstress, I created a Silly Sally costume. After the tour I packed away my costume, which I wore at every appearance, but I kept my newly colored red hair for years. Because I have to come to accept the necessity of having fun in my life as a contributing factor to writing children’s books, I’m always on the lookout for experiences which will expand my "fun horizons." (Am I in danger of taking my fun too seriously? Oh oh!.) The latest fun endeavor both Don and I have embraced is the raising of our two pug sons (Oh, I mean dogs), Sumo and Duffy. Not a day goes by that our pugs don’t do silly, endearing things that make us laugh with delight. Pugs are definitely funny. They like to dress up in clothes, watch television cartoons, listen to you sing, and of course -- they snore. Recently, Sumo, Duffy, Don, and I packed up the dog’s suitcase of matching doggie clothes (they have six matching sets) and went to visit our friends. Our friends have three darling mini dachshund girls and were completely delighted when we told them our "pugs" wanted to give their "minis" a fashion show. With the dachshunds sitting expectantly on a couch beside their people, the show began with one costume change after another – Sumo and Duffy as World War I flying aces, eighties Glamrockers, intrepid yachtsmen, motorcycle bikers, baseball fans, ski-pugs, and even formal gents dressed in tuxedos! Who knows where this latest fun experience with our pugs will lead? Undoubtedly they will influence our art, writing, and our lives. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I realized how much I admired the colors in their lovely fawn-apricot coats. That’s when another fun idea occurred to me, what would it be like to match my hair to the color of my pugs? I took a risk -- it was back to the hairdresser again -- out with the red and in with the blonde! After four years of being a red head, I can report its fun to be a blonde again, but red was fun, too. Now you know, "fun," that’s the key word in my life, and I’m going to do my best to keep it that way, no matter what anyone thinks or says! Try it yourself. Shake things up. Change things around. Be adventuresome. Have some fun. Who knows where it may lead! To see what Victoria and Eva look like, my bold new hairdo, and our pugs, Sumo and Duffy, enter The Audrey Wood Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link. Then click on the "Who else lives in The Napping House" link. -AW *********************************************************************** AT LAST, THE COMPLETE AUDREY WOOD BOOK LIST! We have just added a new area to The Audrey Wood Clubhouse called "Books." This link will take you to a listing of all of the books written by Audrey Wood. The list tells you the name of the book, the illustrator, and the publisher. To visit our new "Books" area - Enter The Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com. Then click on the red balloon that Max the parrot is holding. *********************************************************************** A SWEET LETTER FROM A FAN! Dear Don & Audrey – The other day my five year old son and I were cleaning strawberries. He looked at me and said, "There is only one way in the world to hide a strawberry from a big, hungry bear!" He proceeded to cut it in two, share half with me, and we both ate it up yum! Living in rural Alaska without television and other forms of media, books are our link to the world. Thank you so much. E. Knotek of Moose Park, Alaska *********************************************************************** QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! Have you visited our "Q&A" (Questions & Answers) area of The Clubhouse? Well, if not, you’re in for a treat. In the "Q&A" area you will find answers to some of the questions we have been asked over the years. Questions like: "Where do you get your ideas from?" "What was the bad word that Elbert spoke in the book, ELBERT’S BAD WORD?" and many others. To visit our new "Q&A" area – Enter The Clubhouse at www.audreywood.com. Then click on the "Q&A" link. *********************************************************************** A RECIPE FOR SWEET DREAM PIE! Dear Audrey – The children at Kid’s World really enjoy your book, SWEET DREAM PIE! After reading the book all the children ate a "Sweet Dream Pie" before nap-time. Our recipe for Sweet Dream Pie is; In a muffin cup place one vanilla wafer, add chocolate, vanilla or chocolate/vanilla swirl pudding. Top with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a chocolate teddy graham! Thanks for making children’s reading fun! - Kid’s World of Holiday, Florida *********************************************************************** AND THE WINNER IS... Congratulations to DeeAnne Skains! She won a free autographed copy of THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR (Hardcover) from Audrey and Don Wood! Due to the overwhelming response to our February contest, we decided to draw 2 runner-ups. These 2 winners will receive an autographed copy of THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR (Paperback). Congratulations to the following 2 runner-ups: -Amber Thompson of Heyburn, ID -Silly Sally’s class 1B (St. Joseph School) of Needham, MA THE FEBRUARY CONTEST QUESTION WAS: In the book, THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE RED RIPE STRAWBERRY, AND THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR, at the end of the story, the mouse is napping in a hammock. What is the Little Mouse wearing on his head? ANSWER: The top of the strawberry (we accepted all answers that related to the strawberry top, e.g. strawberry hull, strawberry stem, etc.)! Thanks for all of your entries. Enter our March contest and you could win an autographed copy of the book, SILLY SALLY. *********************************************************************** MARCH CONTEST!!!!!!!!! DON'T MISS OUT! This month one lucky person will win an autographed copy of SILLY SALLY. To enter the contest go to the CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Contest" banner. If you answer the question correctly you will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be drawn at the end of the month. Good Luck! *********************************************************************** NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Check out our past Smart Piggy's Newsletters! Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link or the "Fun Bag" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter Past Issues" link. *********************************************************************** Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey Wood Info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com