An interview with children’s book author Kim Norman

The following is a series of questions I answered, in the spring of 2010, through an email correspondence with Mrs. Albert's 2nd grade class at Brownfield-Denmark Elementary School in Denmark, Maine.

Hi Ms. Norman,

We loved your book, Jack of all Tails. It was very funny! We are so excited that we have the chance to ask you, the real, live author some questions.

Oh thank you! I'm pleased you enjoyed the book! Okay, I'll just jump in and start answering these great questions:

Where do you come up with ideas?

I get them everywhere -- during walks, when I'm just waking up in the morning, when I'm gardening. The idea for Jack of All Tails came from a book I read. The book was full of letters written by an author named P.G. Wodehouse, who was a famous writer about 80 years ago. In one of the letters, he described a play he had heard about. The play was about a man who loses his job and takes a job as a watch dog -- pretending to be a dog. I thought that was a very funny idea, so I finally wrote my OWN story, based on that idea, of people being animals for their jobs.

Does Kristi really only have 4 teeth or is that the hippo in her imagination? (This question is about one of the illustrations in Jack of All Tails.)

Oh yes, I think that's in Kristi's imagination -- and in David Clark, the illustrator's imagination, too. I love the way David Clark added to my story with his funny illustrations.

What year did you start writing books?

Let's see. First I just wrote funny poetry, but not whole books. That was about 20 years ago. Then, about 16 years ago, I wrote my first picture book story -- but I have never sold that story as a book yet. Then I started writing lots of stories until finally one, Jack of All Tails, was bought by a publisher. So the interesting thing is that, although "Jack" was my first book to be published, it wasn't the first story I ever wrote. But that's pretty common, I think. It takes a lot of practice to start writing stories that are ready to be published.

Do you know why the author made the illustrations look like old-fashioned tv cartoons?

You know, I hadn't thought of it, but you're right -- they DO look like cartoons, don't they? Maybe David Clark decided to do that because it was a funny story, so he wanted to do the drawings to look like funny cartoons. Mr. Clark has illustrated quite a few books, so maybe you can find some of his other books and compare the drawings, to see if they look like the drawings in my book.

One thing that tickles me about Mr. Clark illustrating my book: He has also illustrated a book for a man named Mickey Dolenz. I had a big crush on Mickey Dolenz when I was a girl because he was in a popular band back then called "The Monkees." If I had known, when I was 10 years old, that one day Mickey Dolenz and I would share an illustrator, I would never have believed it!

What month of the year did you start writing this book?

Gosh, I'm not sure I even remember. The reason for that is, this book took a LOT of work, writing the story over and over again until it was "just right." I worked on it for so long that I can't exactly remember when I started. I do know that it took 4 years from the time I sold the story to a publisher to the time you could buy the book in a store. It takes a lot of patience waiting for a book to be published!

How many books have you written that were published?

So far I have two that are published right now. I have two more coming out this fall, two coming out next year and another coming one (maybe even two) coming out the year after THAT, in 2012. Like I said... patience!

How old is Kristi? (The main character in Jack of All Tails.)

In my mind, she is 9 years old. I think her brother Eddie is 8. At least, that's what I think NOW. When I wrote the story, I thought of Eddie as being her older, teenaged brother. But when I saw David Clark's drawings, and saw that he had drawn Eddie as a young boy, I realized that was exactly right. Here's a secret you won't find anywhere in the book: Kristi and her family's last name: it's Kibbleman. Kristi Kibbleman. Her dad's name is Jack (like in the title of the book) and her mom's name is Maxine. That's just something I know about the family, but those facts never made it into the book.

What is your favorite book that you wrote?

I think my favorite book is always the one that's coming out next... sort of like waiting for a baby to be born. And everybody likes babies, right? So I'm really looking forward to seeing TEN ON THE SLED as a finished book. I've seen the artwork, (by a Vermont illustrator named Liza Woodruff) and it's wonderful. The publisher (Sterling) has told me the title will be printed in shiny silver on the cover (like ice) which is going to look VERY COOL!

What was your first book?

Ah, see that is a good question, because Jack of All Tails was my first PUBLISHED book, but not the first one I ever wrote. That's the one I mentioned above, but I didn't tell you the title. It was called THE OLD WOMAN IN THE RED RUNNING SHOES. Then I changed the story, and it became MONKEY MUFFINS. But I haven't sold that story to a publisher yet.

How old were you when you wrote your first book?

Let's see -- when I wrote that first story I just mentioned above, (THE OLD WOMAN story) I remember my younger son was a baby. So I would have been about 35. I got up early one morning to feed my son, put him back in his crib and sat down to write the story... even before the sun came up. So he was a baby then -- and when my first book came out, (Jack of All Tails) he was 13!! There's that need for patience again!

What was your second book?

The 2nd book was Crocodaddy, which came out in May of 2009. I hope you get a chance to see that book, because I wrote so much of it right up there in Maine, near you. It even mentions Kezar Lake on the jacket flap, in the back of the book where you can read a little bit about the author and illustrator.

Here’s a photo of my uncle on his dock on Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine. You can barely see my yellow lab, Anna, standing behind him, towards the left.

When will you stop writing?

Oh gosh, never, I hope! Luckily, writing is a job you can do even when you get very old, too old for some other jobs. So I hope I live to be very very old and that I'm still writing then.

Have you met the illustrator of your book?

No, I haven't met any of my illustrators yet. I hope to, sometime. David Clark lives in the same state as me, in Virginia, but he lives in the mountains, many hours away by car. I was in his town last year, when I was on vacation, but I couldn't find his contact info to write to him and ask if I could meet him. The illustrator of Crocodaddy is named David Walker (I have two Davids illustrating my books!) He lives in North Carolina, not too far away, so maybe I'll get to meet him someday. My other illustrators live even farther away, so I'm not sure I'll get to meet them.

This one's not a question. Your books are great! I'd love to meet you!

Oh, thank you! I would love to meet you, too!

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, Mrs. Albert's 2nd Grade Class

It was my pleasure! Thank you so much to Mrs. Albert, Mrs. Friedman (librarian) and everyone in the class for all those great questions. Happy reading!!

All the best,

Kim Norman