Patricia MacLachlan is the author of more than 20 books, including Newbery Medal winner “Sarah, Plain and Tall.” Her latest book for young readers is “The Boxcar Children Beginning: The Aldens of Fair Meadow Farm.” Below is a complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.
You’ve been a successful writer for quite some time now. Did you always want to write?
I have loved books all my life. My mother would walk me to the library and walk me home, her hand guiding me across streets as I read all my books, one by one. I also always wanted to be a writer or storyteller. I made up stories and acted them out. I see my grandchildren doing the same, and they have become readers, too.
Why do you write for young people?
I have great respect for children and how they experience life. As the great educator Maria Montessori once said “the child endures all things.” They are aware of the world around them and they are honest and direct about how they feel. They also read with a true belief in the truths they read. They are believers and take up each book with the hope that they may find something there to carry along with them in life. When I write I see the child in front of me daring me to be honest and not condescending. I love that challenge.
How did you come to write The Boxcar Children Beginning?
I agreed to write the Boxcar prequel because I liked the children, Henry, Jesse, Violet and Benny. I admired their kindnesses and the way they cared for each other. I also admired how they survived, with courage and imagination – and part of their survival showed their courage. I also knew in my heart what kind of parents they might have had – who the people were who nurtured and taught them. This was, of course, the daunting part of writing the story – to create parents I loved and then have them die. That was very hard.
Had you read the Boxcar books prior to writing the Beginning? The Boxcar Children books are very popular. Were you concerned about writing a prequel to the series?
I had read some of the Boxcar books before writing the prequel, and I listened to my son read to my six year old grandchild at night, so I heard the books as well as read them to myself. That was wonderful, as was listening to my granddaughter Ella’s response to the stories. I felt a true kinship with Gertrude Chandler Warner…I respected her efforts, how she came to write the books, and why she wrote them. I felt a responsibility to connect with her in my writing.
Looking back, how has your writing evolved over the years?
I think my writing has been fed my children and their children. Children are wonderfully inventive and optimistic…I love that. I’ve followed many of the roads they have created for me. It is almost as if they have dropped bread crumbs for me to follow. This, of course, has changed my writing. Perhaps my writing has actually grown because of these relationships.
Why do you think your books appeal to young readers?
Perhaps my book appeal to children because I am so careful not to preach or teach. I respect the readers and they know it. Also, I am a bit of a child still in my grownup body. I share secrets in my books and when I talk to children in the classroom. Because I tell them my secrets children tell me theirs. But I’m not telling!
Why are books so important?
Books and story are essential to our lives, like food and drink and breathing. And loving! We live in a big world and often books tell us that we are more alike than different. And books teach us how to think and decide how we want to live our lives. That is truly my belief.
Is there a particular book from your own childhood that stands out?
I loved all books when I was a child. I lived near a library when I was in third grade and I thought the library was MINE! I read every single children’s book there, and then read them over again. I particularly remembered The FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS AND HOW THEY GREW and other stories about families. I always loved family stories, and because I didn’t have brothers or sisters I think I invented them in my stories. Then, much later, when I became a writer I invented them in my books.