Peggy Thomas
With four older brothers, a porcupine as a childhood pet, and a background in anthropology, how could this writer not have something to interesting to talk about? Welcome to the author of over a dozen books, Peggy Thomas!
Q. Hi Peggy, and thank you for being here! Thomas Jefferson Grows a Nation (Calkins Creek, 2015) is your latest picture book biography. What made you choose the third President of the United States as your subject?
Thomas Jefferson was a natural choice after writing about George Washington’s agricultural pursuits [Farmer George Plants a Nation (Calkins Creek, 2008)]. But I didn’t want to just write about Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello. He did so much more for the American farmer. He was always sending seeds to farmers and even stole rice from Italy hoping it would become a U.S. export. He promoted homegrown maple sugar over foreign cane sugar, he built a plow, and he doubled the size of the nation by buying the Louisiana Territory.
Q. Both Thomas Jefferson and Farmer George Plants a Nation feature historic political figures as agricultural pioneers. Was this connection on purpose? Do you have your own green thumb?
I don’t know if I have a green thumb, but I do love to garden. I even have a George Washington boxwood in my yard, and I’ve grown several varieties of heritage veggies from Monticello. I love the idea that founding fathers were also founding farmers. It makes these two iconic men more relatable to me, and I hope it does for young readers as well.
Q. The illustrations in Farmer George, Thomas Jefferson, and For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson (Calkins Creek, 2011) are very different. Do you have a preferred style?
I love them all. I think each style of illustration fits the character of the book as well as the personality of the subject. Layne Johnson’s rich colors and fish-eye lens effect capture the vista of Mount Vernon and the monumental impact Washington had. Jefferson’s story on the other hand is quirkier, which is reflected in Stacy Innerst’s illustrations. I’m proud to say that Stacy recently won a SCBWI Golden Kite honor for the illustrations in that book.
As for For the Birds? Well, I can’t imagine having to illustrate a book about another illustrator, but Laura Jacques did it beautifully. She managed to find a balance between her own style and that of wildlife artist Roger Tory Peterson. I love the way she included scanned in images of Peterson’s diaries and notebooks.
Q. Snow Dance (Pelican, 2008) is a picture book about a topic many of us in upstate New York can relate to: hoping for a snow day! Do you have any other fiction picture books in store?
I don’t have another fictional picture book in the works at the moment, but I always have ideas swirling around, so you never know.
Q. In your travels, which vacations have been your favorites, and how have these trips influenced your writing?
My favorite trip so far was to Thailand. My husband and I spent two weeks at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation helping to research the cognitive behavior of elephants. Everything I learned there is going into the book I am working on now. I hope it can bring some attention to the Asian elephant, which sadly is ten times more endangered than its African cousin.
Q. What is your favorite part about teaching writing classes?
My favorite part about teaching writing is seeing that spark of confidence grow in an aspiring writer. Writing is such a personal thing. It takes guts to put yourself out there and let others read your work. But when you do, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Q. You have written non-fiction books for tweens and teens. Do you foresee yourself writing fiction for this age group?
I do have a mid-grade adventure stewing on the back burner. Unfortunately, I’m not a good multi-tasker, so I have to find time to work on it in between other projects.
Q. What non-fiction topics are you writing about next?
I am currently working on a book about elephant intelligence, but I just finished another biography, which will be out in a year or so. It is about Henry Ford, and it also has an agricultural theme. Ford loved soybeans, and one of his last creative projects was building a car out of soybean plastic.
Visit Peggy at her website (www.peggythomaswrites.com) or on FaceBook (www.facebook.com/peggy.thomas.14473).
Deena Viviani is a Rochester-based Young Adult Services Librarian. Read her book reviews at www.deenaml.livejournal.com or send her a note at DeenaViviani@hotmail.com – she loves to hear from readers!
