Francesca Davis DiPiazza
Francesca Davis DiPiazza grew up loving the smell of books; but as soon as she saw a computer, she thought, Terrific! more ways to share more words with more people! Online since 1994, she still uses an orange 1970s rotary-dial phone. One of her cultural geography books for Lerner Publishing Group, Zimbabwe in Pictures, won the Society of School Librarians International Book Award.
Interview
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
What’s your favorite line from a book?
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” —First line of David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?
Maurice Sendak, Charlotte Brontë, E. B. White
(also Tove Jansson, Finnish author/illustrator of the Moomin novels and comics)Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?
For me, loving to write is a natural extension of loving to read.
Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?
All you have to do is do it! Then keep on doing it.