Edith Kunhardt
Library member Edith Kunhardt Davis is the author of more than 75 books for children, including titles from the well-known Pat the Bunny series. Davis says she loves creating picture books because "their limited vocabulary and their rich illustrations transport me to other realms.” She says that writing interactive books is different from writing traditional books because "the activities in these books expand the young reader’s experience,” but notes that they are sometimes "a technical challenge to invent.” Kunhardt also enjoys researching nonfiction topics, including studying mummies in Egypt and "listening to whales exhaling all night” on a whale-watching trip.
As a child, Davis enjoyed the Freddy the Pig books by Walter R. Brooks, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper, and books about Joan of Arc. She wanted to be a writer, but because her mother, an author, "occupied the children’s books writer slot,” Davis turned to editing children’s books. Davis returned to writing after her mother’s death. She says she inherited from her mother the "ability to place myself in the head of another age group.”
Kunhardt advises young writers to "keep on writing…It helps if you have a mentor or teacher who will encourage you and urge you on. I had such a teacher in grade school, and it made a huge difference. Many years later, I still remember some of her comments about my work!”
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