Author Profile: Creating Grace

Acclaimed children's book author Katherine Hannigan has gone in a new direction with her latest book.

Known recently for her middle grade books, 'True (… Sort of)” and 'Ida B: … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster and (Possibly) Save the World,” Hannigan's latest release is a picture book called 'Gwendolyn Grace.”

It's the story of a tutu-wearing alligator and her rather endearing adventures.

'I love how good Gwendolyn Grace is at imaginative play, and how she's always trying to squeeze every drop of fun out of any situation,” Hannigan says. 'The love between her and her mom makes me melt.”

The book was inspired by all her usual sources, Hannigan says: 'Love, fear, and the strange and wondrous workings of my brain.” A trip from Iowa - Hannigan lives in Fayette - to New York to visit her two nieces served as extra inspiration.

'Those girls are two of my favorite people in the world, and they are excellent imaginers,” she says. 'They also can be quite loud, and they are always finagling for fun. While I was with them I was reminded that, when the younger one was born, the older one was not too happy about it. She did not want to share her world with that baby, and is still working on that attitude at times.”

Hannigan hopes that Gwendolyn Grace can help growing families adjust.

'I hope that by the end of the story the reader realizes that there's always enough love and fun to go around, even when there's a new baby in the house,” she says. 'You just might have to wait a couple of minutes to get it.”

She also hopes readers have fun with Gwendolyn Grace.

'I hope kids and parents get inspired to be creative and make some fun with the objects and situations that surround them,” she says. 'Gwendolyn Grace has a blast simply by adding her imagination to everyday objects and activities. Taking a bath becomes undersea exploring, playing on pots and pans is performing in a symphony, and the things she does with that dog are hilarious.”

Hannigan had fun creating the story, both as author/illustrator.

While Hannigan is not new to illustrating - she did the illustrations for her chapter book 'Emmaline and the Bunny” - this time she created the text and illustrations at the same time.

'Gwendolyn Grace is the first time I developed words and pictures simultaneously, and I'm so pleased with the unity of the book,” she says. 'Every page - including the cover, case cover, and dedication page - contributes to the themes and humor of the story.”

A detailed account of the process of creating Gwendolyn Grace is something Hannigan is excited to share with readers on her website.

'I included it so kids (and grown-ups) can see how rough my work is at the beginning, and how it improves over time and with effort,” she says. 'I wanted kids to know that it's OK to not do something perfectly when you first start out - good work happens when you care about something enough to stick with it and keep trying.”

Hannigan says the writing - especially picture books - can be challenging at times as well, but has wonderful rewards.

'The challenge is finding the words to express as truly as possible what I've imagined,” she says. 'And what keeps me writing is that sometimes the words get close enough to my imaginings that they make me laugh or cry or sigh, almost as if I didn't write them.

'Then I think they're worth sharing, and the books are the best of me let loose in the world,” she says. 'And sometimes I get to see that those stories mean as much to others as they mean to me, and that experience is beyond words.”

With 'Gwendolyn Grace” now out, Hannigan is off and running on other projects. She's currently finishing the art for another picture book called 'Dirt + Water = Mud.” And she continues to challenge herself as a writer of different genres.

'What keeps me excited is that there are still so many great stories I want to tell,” she says. 'Every story is a giant present, and a complex puzzle. I feel so privileged that I have these ideas, but then I also have to realize them.”

And I've never considered genre or format up front,” she says of her writing style. 'I just start imagining and writing the story I want to tell and, eventually, figure out which structure suits it best. There's a story I'm developing right now, and I don't even know if there is a genre it would fit into. I might have to make one up!”

For more from Hannigan, go to www.katherinehannigan.com.