| Terri Sanders Interview | Book Reviews |
Picture books are usually children's introduction to the wonderful world of reading. As parents and grandparents, we want to choose these books wisely. There are so many to choose from...older books that have been around since we were children and are being reprinted or newer innovative picture books that express ideas new to the education of very young children.
E-books are the latest innovation, and there are some very good ones out there. You can download them directly to your computer or an e-book reader or order the CD to keep in your files. Children can turn their own pages with the click of a mouse and learn computer skills as well as the book subject matter.
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This An Interview with Terri Sanders By Beverly Rowe September 2001 |
I talked to Terri Sanders who writes and illustrates children's books.
Bev: Terri,
could you give us a mini biography...tell us a little about
yourself:
Terri: Born in Centralia, Illinois, I grew up in a family of six with two older sisters (twins) and a younger brother.
I spent a lot of time watching my father, who was a local cartoonist and oil painter, create his creations. My father took time and taught me the basics.
I had taken classes in art and enjoyed oil painting but my desire was to write and illustrate children's books. So, I took classes in children's literature.
I've illustrated a picture book for author; Michelle T. Carroll called THE INVISIBLE TRAIN, published by Crossroadspub.com and Illustrating IT'S ALWAYS IRVING by Gene-Michael Higney and Ann Garrett.
I have written and illustrated three picture books. NIGHT FLIES and RAINBOW SPIDER published by crossroadspub.com and (soon to be released) SURPRISE, Crossroadspub.com.
I help my husband Terry (yes... our names can cause confusion at times) with are family business in Irvington, Illinois.
I have created logos for business's, church's and ministries and have also created a clipart cd, which contains over 300 black and white Christian images.
I helped my husband raise, his son, Michael, who has grown into a wonderful young man, and together we have three enjoyable sons, David (13), Drue (8) and Dacota (5) who are a great source of material for my writing.
Bev: Who was the greatest influence on your desire to write and illustrate children's books?
Terri: My greatest influence on illustration was my father but the greatest influence on writing and illustrating children's books were my children. When my oldest was born I fell in love with children's picture books.
Bev: Your e-books are great, complete with printable color book pages. Do you think that e-books are the future of publishing?
Terri: Thank you.... I believe they have a great future in publishing along with the printed book.
Bev: What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages for writers in e-publishing?
Terri: The main disadvantage now is it's newness and many people still don't understand what an ebook is and how it works. One advantage is, because you can send your manuscript via email, the response time is much quicker. Also, your book is published much quicker, 8 to 10 months instead of in 2 - 3 years.
Bev: I visited your e-card shop too. Your illustrations are marvelous. What is your art background?
Terri: Thank you...High school art, private art classes, of course my father and a lot of self teaching by studying other illustrators.
Bev: Which do you enjoy most, the writing, or the illustrating?
Terri: That's a hard question. When I write I think that it's my favorite but when I'm illustrating I think it's my favorite. *S*
Bev: What are your future plans in writing?
Terri: I
want to continue writing children's picture books. I am also interested
in writing YA chapter books, fantasy. I'm in the process of writing
one now, in between illustrating other books. This is a project my
13 year old son is helping with. He has lots of wonderful ideas.
Bev: Do you have any advice for aspiring children's writers?
Terri: Don't quit. I've been told rejections pave the way to success and I believe this. The bible says, In all labor there is gain. I remind myself this often.
Join a good children's writers egroup. The one I'm with is full of information. Everybody is very helpful when you have questions and very encouraging.
Terri, thanks so much. We really appreciate your taking the time
to answer my questions on your writing career.
| Links: www.crossroadspub.com |
| Terri's Homepage: www.angelfire.com/in2/Graphics/tlsanders.html |
| Terri's e-mail: tkchrist@accessus.net |
Next Month: An interview with Darren Shan, author of the Cirque Du Freak. Woooooo... just in time for Halloween!
Reviews
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NIGHT
FLIES by Terri Sanders Reviewed by Beverly Rowe, MyShelf.com |
This charming electronic picture book is science based with plenty of facts about the insect world, along with bright colored illustrations on every page.
David and his younger
brother, Alex are playing baseball, but
Alex is distracted by a ladybug. Then Mother calls them in; it's getting
late. On the way to the house, they encounter a fly, a mosquito, a June
bug, a moth and a praying mantis, but Alex is looking for a "night
fly." An exciting science adventure for young children that is
fun to read, and fun to turn the pages by clicking on "next"
or "back."
This e-book also has a complete set of black and white line drawings in a printable color book for young readers to try their hand at reproducing the artists colors or to color using their own favorite colors.
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RAINBOW
SPIDER by Terri Sanders Reviewed by Beverly Rowe, MyShelf.com |
The little brown
fuzzy spider in this charming picture e-book by
Sanders is just adorable, and you find yourself in sympathy with him
when he strolls through the garden admiring all the beautiful bright
colors, and wishing he could be that color.
There is a rain shower, and afterward the spider sees a rainbow reflected in a puddle. If only he could be rainbow colored! He thinks he can jump into the puddle and become rainbow colored, but all he gets is wet.
The spider goes into the house where he lives and spots a set of paints that someone left on the table. Dipping one leg in each color is a great way to become rainbow hued. All goes well until the paint starts to dry. It doesn't stay soft, and when it hardens, spider can't bend his legs. How is he going to deal with this problem?
Children will enjoy this tale that takes the "creepy" out of spiders. Rainbow Spider is delightfully illustrated in bright colors with a border of cute bugs on each page, and a background of raindrops. The book comes complete with a full set of pages in line drawings to be printed as a color book. E-books are wonderful to help develop computer skills in tots as they turn the pages forward and back., and print their own color book. Available as a download to your favorite e-book reader or computer or as a CD.