Barbara Else
Barbara Else is the author of the award-winning children’s novels The Traveling Restaurant, The Queen and the Nobody Boy, and The Volume of Possible Endings. Barbara lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Interview
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
I had many more than one favorite. Here are two: The Magician’s Nephew, C. S. Lewis and Into the Happy Glade, Trevor Dudley Smith
What’s your favorite line from a book?
To choose only one is very hard. Since I can’t quote every single line from Finn Family Moomintroll, I’ll have: “They came to the river—they came to the bridge—they crossed it hand in hand—then over the hills and faraway she danced with Pigling Bland!” (Beatrix Potter)
Who are your top three favorite authors or illustrators?
C. S. Lewis, Tove Jansson, Philip Pullman
Why did you want to become an author or illustrator?
It happened by accident. I found out that I loved making stories and now I don’t want to stop.
Do you have any advice for future authors or illustrators?
To become a writer, you have to be a good reader. Read everything you can get your hands on—fiction, non-fiction, the classics, books that have just been published, poetry, plays—and think about it.