It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Every week Alphabet Soup features a book creator who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Today the book baton is passed to Jackie French. Jackie French is an ecologist, the author of more than 200 books, and the 2014–2015 Australian Children’s Laureate (and 2015 Senior Australian of the Year!).
You might recognise some of these books:
Last week Sherryl Clark asked:
What are your best or favourite research tools for your historical novels?
Jackie answers:
Old letters, newspapers, advertisements, paintings of the time.
Old diaries are great. People don’t lie in diaries.
Archeology surveys on the ground or by satellite.
Inscriptions in pyramids.
Ancient Viking rubbish tips.
Depends on the book. Incredible fun, like the best detective investigation in the universe. You never know where the trails will lead. Plus you get to play in a dozen different times with no danger of dying of the bubonic plague or getting your head sliced off by Vikings.
You can check out Jackie French’s website for more about her and her books: www.jackiefrench.com. Or read a 2015 Alphabet Soup interview with Jackie here.
And now Jackie passes the book baton to the next Friday visitor — Jen Banyard. Jen Banyard is the author of adventure stories, including the Riddle Gully series.
Jackie asks:
Why do you write?
Check in every Friday for mini interviews with children’s authors and illustrators. (While you’re waiting you can catch up on all the interviews in the Pass the Book Baton series so far!)
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