What I Like to Read

busy_busy_worldThe very first books I remember liking before I could read were:

  • The Gingerbread Man by Patricia Martin Zens
  • Big Sister and Little Sister by Charlotte Zolotow
  • Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy World
  • Fortunately by Remy Charlip

When I was older and could read for myself I liked these books:

  • Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol
  • The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
  • The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
  • Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
  • 21 Balloons by William Pene du Bois
  • Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
  • From the Mixed up Files of Ms. Basil E Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
  • The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin

I also liked to read maps, biographies, folk and fairy tales, scripture, poetry, the newspaper and a magazine of my mother’s called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. I was lucky enough to see quite a lot of theater as a child, too.

Now, I read about 50 books a year. I read several hundred picture books each year and often I’ll read a dozen or so non-fiction books to research my upcoming stories. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite book, but I will try to put a picture or two of recent favorites here.