Because one day the book will be gathering dust on a shelf, or nanobyte-dust in a computer drive. But I think atmosphere and ambiance ought to matter to a writer. Though once I get going, it hardly matters. I write in libraries and bookstores during the cold weather, and outdoors during the warm months. I need to be near wood-pulp and wood, apparently. But there’s certainly nothing as intense as the little ones will see and hear on TV or in a PG-13 movie.

It also gets fairly exciting in the second half, and there’s an element of danger, so parents might want to give it a silent read-through, first.

It’s probably 30-40 minutes reading-aloud length, because there is an actual plot structure, and so it might be stretched over two evenings for them. I’d say it’s for kids who want a good, old-fashioned bedtime story. It’s a “story-sketchbook,” which means kids are encouraged to color and draw in it themselves (as the back cover clearly shows, I hope.) There’s no more important attribute for a child to cultivate than an active imagination, I believe. To put it simply, we all need friends–and not just on days of crisis, but every day. Martin Luther King said famously that Americans are terrible at empathy-it’s a kind of cultural “hole” in our perceptions, that we have everything to teach the rest of the world, and nothing to learn from it. It’s a book about empathy–which I thought would make great thematic material for children. Until the day, of course, when he needs help, and the tables are turned on him. So he doesn’t care about anyone else’s troubles. What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?Ĭranky Bear Wakes Up is about a furry fellow who lives by himself, he has no natural predators in the forest, and so he’s naturally the center of his own universe. Shawn StJean, author of Cranky Bear Wakes Up (Illustrated by Todd StJean)Īuthor’s blog (usually a book giveaway is underway): This latest, a children’s picture book, can be found under Dr. I’ve published a couple of college textbooks, and a novel, Clotho’s Loom (2012). I’m a college professor when not writing, in American Literature and Culture.

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.

Clotho's Loom by Shawn StJean