Acclaimed Editor and Children’s Authors Read at St. Matthew’s

Keeping an audience of 450 third- through sixth-grade students quiet and entertained is a Herculean challenge, but two Newbery Award-winning authors, Sharon Creech and Kate DiCamillo, and their editor Joanna Cotler, did exactly that last Friday morning in Sprague Auditorium at St. Matthew’s School. The three women read selections from DiCamillo’s latest book, ‘Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken,’ and Creech’s latest book, ‘Hate That Cat,’ in a reader’s theater presentation. The audience giggled, applauded and, at the end of three chapters of ‘Louise’ and an equal amount of time spent reading from ‘Hate that Cat,’ asked numerous questions. DiCamillo, who lives in Minneapolis, won a Newbery Honor in 2001 for her first novel, ‘Because of Winn-Dixie,’ and that same year she was also a National Book Finalist for ‘The Tiger Rising.’ She won a 2004 Newbery Medal for ‘The Tale of Despereaux,’ which has since been made into a movie scheduled to be released in December. Creech received the 1995 Newbery Medal for ‘Walk Two Moons.’ Her ‘The Wanderer’ was a 2001 Newbery Honor book, and ‘Ruby Holler’ received the 2002 Carnegie Medal. ‘Hate That Cat’ is a sequel to her best seller ‘Love That Dog,’ a story about a student, Jack, written as a collection of his poetry. Students attended from eight other Westside private schools: Brentwood, Carlthorp, Echo Horizon, Mirman, PS1, Turning Point, Willows and Overland Avenue. One of the first questions asked was how the authors got the ideas for their books. ‘The idea for ‘Love That Dog’ came from a poem that someone sent me,’ Creech said. DiCamillo responded that ‘Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken’ came about because ‘Louise is not afraid of anything, and I’m afraid of everything.’ The two authors were queried about writer’s block. ‘I don’t believe it exists,’ DeCamillo said. ‘I write three pages a day whether I feel like it or not.’ ‘Sometimes I go for a walk,’ Creech said. Editor Coulter explained that she has edited hundreds of books and each author is an individual. ‘One writer took five years to write a book,’ she said. Creech admitted that the longest time it took her to write a published book was three years and DiCamillo said, ‘A year and a half. I have eight chapters and I’m working on it now.’ The students wanted to know what inspired the women to become writers. ‘When I was your age I wanted to be a reporter,’ Creech said. ‘But then I started to make things up, which means I would make a terrible reporter.’ She told the students that once she started writing stories, ‘it was the coolest thing in the world.’ DiCamillo said she wanted to be a veternarian, until she was at the vet’s office and someone brought in a German shepherd with an eye problem. ‘I thought maybe I didn’t have what it takes to be a vet,’ she said. She then began telling everyone she was a writer, though she hadn’t actually written anything. ‘Just before I was 30, I realized if I wanted to be published, I had to write.’ The authors and editor were asked which of their books were their favorites. ‘Whatever book I’m working on is my favorite at the time,’ Cotler told the audience. ‘Each book is a favorite, but for a different reason,’ Creech said. ‘I don’t have favorites,’ DiCamillo said. ‘They’re all kind of like my kids.’ That afternoon the three women were scheduled to do a similar reading at Crossroads School in Santa Monica. ‘We’re both starting tours,’ Creech said, ‘and Joanna [Cotler] thought it might be a good idea.’ ‘We’re two ships passing in the night,’ DiCamillo said. ‘From here I’m going to San Francisco and then local stuff around Minneapolis.’ ‘I just went to San Jose, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and I’m headed to Chicago,’ Creech said. Cotler has worked with a distinguished list of authors, including William Steig, Art Spiegelman, Francesca Lia Block and Jamie Lee Curtis. She was the publisher of Joanna Cotler Books at HarperCollins Children’s Books for 13 years, before stepping down last May to become an editor-at-large. ‘It’s a great thing to edit the book and then read with the authors,’ Cotler said. ‘You hear what the book is about in a different way. It’s also a great way to bring the book alive.’