Fredrick McKissack, Jr. Answers Your Questions

This week we had three questions for Writer in Residence Fredrick McKissack, Jr.

Dear Mr. McKissack: Do you like baseball? Sincerely, Tom

Yes! I am now and I will always be a St. Louis Cardinals fan. We--my family--also love going to Tin Caps games and the new ballpark is aces. I wasn't a very good player, but I had fun.

Dear Mr. McKissack: How old were you when you "knew" you were a writer? Sincerely, Lettie

I "knew" I wanted to be a writer in college, although I had inklings as early as grade school. Having a parent as an editor and writer had something to do with it, but I just liked the idea of creating characters, scenes, and dialogue. My son is doing this with toys now, although he says he wants to be a rock-and-roll-artist-astronaut-fireman.

Dear Mr. McKissack: What were your favorite books as a child? Sincerely, Lettie

As a kid, my favorite books were Yertle the Turtle, The Cat in the Hat, Where the Wild Things Are, and anything with the Peanuts characters. My mom and dad used to read us Aesop's fables and they'd tell us stories from Greek mythology. When I was a little older, my aunt, a social studies teacher, gave me a set of social studies and geography books. I loved those books. I read encyclopedias, too. Also, The Pushcart War remains a strong influence with me today. It's an amazing, fun, and compassionate story.

Do you have a question to ask Mr. McKissack? Email me and I will be sure that he gets it. Answers will be posted on the blog.