Diana Childress

Photo by Lucy Childress

Diana Childress writes nonfiction for the school and library market, mainly on historical topics but also on art, science, archaeology, and literature. She has published nine books, as well as articles in Highlights for Children, Cricket, Calliope, Cobblestone, Faces, Dig!, and Footsteps. Her book Chaucer’s England was selected by Bank Street College for their list of Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2001 Edition.

Interview

What was your favorite book when you were a child?: The Bears’ Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati
What’s your favorite line from a book?: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?: Shakespeare, Chaucer, Austen
Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?: I loved literature, everything about it—the words, the sentences, the characters, the stories, and the whole magic worlds that authors create with these building blocks.
Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?: "No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

—Samuel Beckett