AUDIO INTERVIEWS ON THE WEB

Authors and Their Books Education Issues Galore

AUTHORS AND THEIR BOOKS

• Reading Rockets, a nonprofit Web site sponsored and supported by public television stations and the U.S. Department of Education, offers dozens and dozens of excellent online video interviews with some of the best contemporary authors and illustrators for children at:
               www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews.
  
  Below is a sample featuring Mary Pope Osborne, author of the hugely successful Magic Treehouse series. Free podcasts through the Apple iTunes store also are available for each interview (excellent to load in your iPod for family car trips):
  http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=159653704.
  
  
  
  
• Tomie dePaola, one of America’s most beloved children’s author-illustrators, sat down with Dick Gordon on “The Story” and shared his recollections of Christmas as a child and young adult. Dylan Thomas may have had his vivid memories of a Christmas in Wales but Tomie’s rings truer to America. If there was ever an interview that resonated joy, it is this one. (“The Story,” 50 mins, Dec. 23, 2008, http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_672_Tomi_di_Paolo.mp3)
  
           To hear the interview here, click right:   
  
  
• Children's book editor Susan Hirschman nurtured some of the finest authors in the field during her 47 years in publishing, including Jack Prelutsky Virginia Hamilton, Chris Crutcher, Kevin Henkes and Donald Crews. She also was responsible for Richard Adams' Watership Down being published here in the U.S. She looks back on her long career's highlights in a 10-minute interview with "To the Best of Our Knowledge." (Sept. 28, 2008, 10 mins. — push RealAudio meter to 39:34 min. mark to start with the Hirschman interview.)
  
  
• If you're looking for advice on writing successfully for print (or otherwise), check out Walter Mosley's suggestions on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" as he draws upon the lessons he learned in writing 25 novels. (32 mins., April 17, 2007)
  
  
• Just when you thought you knew everything about Charlotte's Web, along comes some insiders to inform you otherwise. "All Things Considered" offers a delightful profile of the E.B. White classic, including anecdotes from his family and his "standoff" with Hollywood about Charlotte. (August 4, 2008, 12-mins.) At www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93263496.
  
  
• Kadir Nelson, one of the most creative and talented illustrators of the last 25 years, talks to NPR's "All Things Considered" about how he created his picture book We Are the Ship, which he both wrote and illustrated. (Jan. 29, 2008, 8 mins.) www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18518791.
  
  
• Bill Moyers interviews author John Grisham, whose books have sold nearly a quarter billion copies in 29 languages, about the growing role of social justice in his books and how his Baptist religion influences his writing ("You can give my books to a 15-year-old or an 80-year-old and not be embarrassed." The 2008 interview (approx. 15 min.) can be viewed as a video, read as a transcript, or listened to as a podcast at this site:
        http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01252008/watch4.html.
  More Grisham interviews:
  • with Academy of Achievement— www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/gri0int-1
  • with BBC (21 min.) — www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/openbook/ram/openbook_20030309_grisham.ram;
  • with Diane Rehm (Feb. 1, 2000, 51 mins.) www.wamu.org/ram/2000/r1000201.ram
  
  
• In the late 1950s, an 11-year-old English lad arrived in Harlech, Wales, and after receiving a "going-over" from some local youths, began an inspiring pupil-teacher relationship with Enid Jones that persists today, well into his career as one of the world's more renowned storytellers—novelist Philip Pullman. In early 2007, BBC-Wales recorded pupil and teacher together as they reminisced about what made their relationship last and how that Welsh classroom launched a writer's life. RealAudio links provide excerpts from the interview, along with text at:
  www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/harlech/pages/pullman_radio.shtml.
  Other Pullman sites:
        www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/halloffame/arts/philippullman.shtml;
        www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/harlech/pages/pullman.shtml
  
  
• Fourteen days before the battle of Wounded Knee, an editorial appeared in the local press urging an assault on the Lakota tribe: "Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are." How many of the resulting 150 dead Indians could be attributed to that editorial is pure conjecture but a century later the writer's great-great grandson devoted his master's thesis to the subject of that writer's racist views—L. Frank Baum, the author of America's first original fairy tale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Listen to NPR's "'Oz' Family Apologizes" Also: the Indian-Oz Connection.
  
  
• The world of children's literature is forever morphing into something else or revisiting itself, and all the while trying to solve that never-ending puzzle called childhood — or life itself. "To the Best of Our Knowledge" from Public Radio International in this segment offers five insightful interviews with prominent authors and their take on the role played by children's lit: Maurice Sendak, Kevin Henkes, Salman Rushdie, Philip Pullman, and Geraldine McCaughrean. It's a must for children's lit classes! (May 4, 2008, 53 mins. www.wpr.org/book/070603a.html
  
  
• When Minnesota Public Radio's "Talking Volumes" book club spotlighted The Polar Express, author-illustrator Chris Van Allsburg gave two hour-long interviews, one in-studio with listener calls and one before a live audience at the Fitzgerald Theater. (Minn. Public Radio, "Midmorning," December 2004, 60 mins.)
  
  
• Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, talks about the translation of his books to film on the eve of the film's opening, and what he feared most as a child. ("All things Considered", Dec. 2004, 8 mins.)
  
  
• Award-winning novelist Walter Dean Myers ("Diane Rehm Show," WAMU, July 2004, 50 mins.)
  
  
• BBC School Radio offers interviews with prominent British authors, with children asking the questions. Although tapes are available only in Great Britain, the questions are available online and the authors' responses are available via RealAudio online. The interviews average between 15 to 25 minutes:
  
  

  Novelist Eva Ibbotson (author of The Star of Kazan and others) is interviewed by British school children (25 minutes)

  Novelist Michael Morpurgo (author of Kensuke's Kingdom and others) is interviewed by British school children (15 mins.

• Newbery-winner Avi talks to MPR about his writing craft and the mind behind his more than 50 books. (Minnesota Public Radio, "Midmorning Show," June 22, 2004, 53 mins.)
  
  
• J. K. Rowling talks with the BBC about the trials of single-parenting while going to grad-school and writing the first Potter book. (Mar. 16, 2004, 5 mins. — push RealAudio meter to 1:30 min mark to start with Rowling)
  
  
• Award-winning children's author Lois Lowry (50 minutes).
  
  
• Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) is interviewed at The Commonwealth Club of California (Feb. 2004, 45 mins.)
• The irrepressible Daniel Manus Pinkwater ("Fresh Air," July 2004, 32 mins.)
  
  
• Science fiction great Isaac Asimov ("Fresh Air," Sept.1987, 12 mins.)
  
  
• How Dr. Seuss created "The Grinch"  ("Morning Edition," 8 minutes).
  
  
• Novelist Jon Sczieska on boys and reading (Minn. Public Radio, "Midmorning," 55 mins.)
  
  
• Novelist Kate DiCamillo, author of The Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn-Dixie (55 minutes); see also a second MPR "Mid-Morning" guest appearance. PRI's Bob edwards interviewed DiCamillo in December 2008 on the eve of the Desperoux movie. To download the show on either iTunes or Zune, go to: www.pri.org/pri-podcasts.html. Look for Bob Edwards Weekend (about 5th choice from the top of the list) and then click on either iTunes or Zune from the columns on the right. At the next window, scroll down to 12/19/08 on the release date column. DiCamillo is the first hour of the show (Annie Leibovitz is the second hour—definitely not child’s fare). Clicking on the Get Episode button will download the show.
  
  
• Newbery-winner Christopher Paul Curtis (Minn. Public Radio, "Midmorning," 55 mins.)
  
  
• Terry Gross interviews Gary Paulsen ("Fresh Air," 12 mins.)
  
  
• The Horn Book, the prestigious children's literature journal, is now offering a series of podcasts with famous authors and illustrators, conducted by editor Roger Sutton. The recording quality is not yet good enough for classroom or library usage (too much room echo in the recordings) but good enough for individual listening. To date the authors include Lois Lowry, John Scieszka, Lee Kingman, M. T. Anderson, and Philip Pullman.
  
  
• "Weekend Edition" interviews Art Spiegelman, Pultizer-prize winner and co-editor of the popular "Little Lit" series of comic book art that satirizes and plays with popular literature (It Was a Dark and Silly Night...), including efforts by Maurice Sendak, Lemony Snicket, William Joyce, and Neil Gaiman. (10 minutes)
  
  
• The irrepressible Dav Pilkey tells how an innocent comment by his 2nd-grade teacher led to his hugely popular but controversial "Capt. Underpants" series. ("All Things Considered," 5.5 minutes)
  
  
• Each month, NPR's "Diane Rehm Show" hosts a book discussion between a panel of experts and the national listening audience. At least once a year, a classic children's book is the focus, including the following:
  
• On the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery at www.wamu.org/programs/dr/08/07/23.php#21635. (55 mins., July 23, 2008)
  
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the Newbery-winning classic fantasy at www.wamu.org/programs/dr/07/12/19.php#18127. (55 mins., December 19, 2007)
  
• The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis at www.wamu.org/programs/dr/05/12/21.php. (55 mins., December 21, 2005)
  
  
• For more than five years now the BBC's World Book Club has been conducting monthly interviews with writers before a live audience. While the authors write primarily for the adult audience, high school teachers will find some of their core authors here in 26-minute Q&A interviews, including: Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, Carlos Fuentes, Kazuo Ishiguro, PD James, Thomas Keneally, Doris Lessing, Frank McCourt, Alexander McCall Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Amy Tan, Scott Turow, and Kurt Vonnegut.
       (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/133_wbc_archive_new/index.shtml)
  
  
• For almost 40 years, one quiet but persistent rumor has haunted one of the century's great novels: "Harper Lee didn't really write To Kill a Mockingbird. Her childhood friend Truman Capote wrote it for her." Ms. Lee has refused to dignify the rumor by responding to it. Now a letter from Truman Capote has surfaced that may put the rumor to rest. ("All Things Considered," Mar. 3, 2006, 5 mins.) www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5244492
  
  
• Fairy tale and folklore expert Jack Zipes talks about his latest project, the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature, including a stimulating discussion of the role children's literature plays in today's world, the role fairy tales, science fiction, primers, and even Captain Underpants (which did not make the anthology's cut). (MPR-Midmorning Show, Dec. 12, 2005, 53 min.) http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/programs/midmorning/listings/mm20051212.shtml
  
  
• A warm look back with Beverly Cleary (as she turned 90) at 50 years of writing for children, with a special look at Ramona Quimby. (10 mins., April 9, 2006) www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=541221.
  
  
• Dissecting the mind of Dr. Seuss on the 100th anniversary of his birth, Prof. Philip Nel, author of Dr. Seuss: American Icon, offers insights to why his writing "worked" well enough to sell 500 million books. (Midmorning, MPR, Mar. 11, 2004, 53 mins.)
  
  
• Many children's books have dealt with children evacuated from London during the London, with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian being two of the more famous. Three short and remarkable RealAudio interviews are available online with adults who were children in those days, each with unique perspectives on the experience. One was never evacuated and was left for dead after one bombing (but found uninjured two days later); another was evacuated and eventually fostered 200 children as an adult; and the third turned to petty theft in order to survive his evacuee years and became one of England's more notorious safe-crackers, but finally turned to a life of great charity and benevolence:
       •Left for dead   •Fostering 200    •Past crimes