A is for Autumn, Authors, and Alison

I don't know if you've noticed, but some of my WIT posts were a little off last week and the week before. I have no idea why this happens, but it seems that when I write posts ahead of time and schedule them, weird things pop up. Anyway, I apologize!

Moving on...

This week's interview is with Alison Formento. WELCOME, Alison!

ALISON FORMENTO is the author of the award-winning picture books THIS TREE COUNTS!, THIS TREE, 1, 2, 3, THESE BEES COUNT! and THESE SEAS COUNT (2013). She has written for several publications including The New York Times, The Writer and Parenting. Alison loves visiting schools and libraries and donates a portion of her book sales to AmericanForests.org.

If you love and respect nature, Alison's books will certainly make you smile. Let's hear what she has to say.

1. The book fairy transports you inside one of your books. Which book are you in, and what part do you play in the story?

Hi, Book Fairy, thanks for buzzing by. I'm so happy that you've taken me inside THESE BEES COUNT! And what's more...you've plopped me right inside a bee hive. You might have a hard time seeing me, but I'm one of the worker bees and I've just come back from a two mile trip. I visited about 50,000 flowers and I'm so heavy from all of the nectar filling my belly. Time to...BURP! Oh, excuse me, but I really needed to spit up the nectar into the honeycomb here in this part of our hive. These are the Queen's newest bee babies and they need some tasty bee bread so they'll grow. Boy, this stuff is sticky, but oh, so sweet. Some say, it's sweet as honey! Now it's time to visit some more flowers. Buzz....

2. In approximately ten words, describe a favorite setting from a book you have written.

Tip top of an old oak tree is a special spot for birds, animals, or me.

(The tree in THIS TREE COUNTS!)

3. What does your office look like?

There's a big window in my office and some of my office walls are covered with happy monster wallpaper drawn by Sandra Boynton. My shelves overflow with books and my desk is covered with papers. There's a rocking chair that I rocked my kids in when they were babies. Now I use it (a lot) to read. For me: Reading + rocking = awesome!

4. If you were a superhero, who would you be, and why?

I'd be Captain Environment! I'd be able to stop harm to our environment. Trees would be planted everywhere. Bees and other animals would be safe from pesticides or other manmade threats. Our seas would clean of litter. Our world would be safe from manmade disasters such as oil spills and fresh healthy food would be available for all. That would be a dream come true!

5. You've got the munchies at midnight. Which salty or sweet snack makes you get out of bed and head for the kitchen?

Honey graham crackers dunked in milk. Yum!

 

We surely do need a Captain Environment, Alison! Thanks for answering these questions for WIT readers.