Anne Bowen

Photo by Art Bowen

Anne Bowen is the author of Tooth Fairy’s First Night, which was nominated for the Nevada Young Reader’s Award, the Nebraska Golden Sower Award, and the Georgia Picture Book Award. Her book, What Do Teacher’s Do (after YOU Leave School)? was a CBC Book Award nominee and a Society of School Librarians International Honor Book. She also wrote When You Visit Grandma and Grandpa, A Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, and I Know An Old Teacher, which was included in the 100th anniversary edition of the Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books of the Year.

Anne was a teacher for thirty years. She lives in Ogden, Utah, with her husband.

Interview

What was your favorite book when you were a child?: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett
What’s your favorite line from a book?: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” —Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?: It’s difficult for me to narrow down the list of my favorite authors to just three because there are ever so many that I truly love! Kate DiCamillo, Cynthia Rylant, Alice Hoffman, Gary Paulsen, Katherine Paterson, Anne Lamott… I told you I couldn’t do it.
Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?: I like the world of story, of settling down with a good book and being transported elsewhere. The same thing happens for me when I sit down to write a story: I enter another world and meet new friends. I also love playing with words!
Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?: Read as many books as possible in the genre you want to write. Study the craft of writing from your favorite authors. Write, revise, write, and revise again until your story is the best it can possibly be.