Having been an English teacher who tried desperately to encourage my seventh-graders, ninth- and tenth-graders to actively write, I was really impressed with the stories produced by seven-year-old Dalton James. So, I sent him a few questions as a blog interview, and he graciously answered them. Here's the interview:Dalton James: I like to play basketball, baseball, and I take Tae Kwon Do.
Benj-O: How did you get interested in writing?
DJ: My teacher in first grade, Ms. Shoupe read "Yuck Soup" to us by Joy Callie and had us put down what we would put in yuck soup. I went home that night and told my daddy that I wanted to write a book. I wrote "The Sneakiest Pirates" and have finished four books so far and I'm working on my fifth.
Benj-O: Where do you get your ideas for stories?
DJ: My imagination and I think of things that I thing would be neat to be.
Benj-O: Do you see yourself telling stories for a long time?
DJ: Yes.
Benj-O: Do you write stories just for fun? Or do you write for school also?
DJ: Just for fun.
Benj-O: Did you make the illustrations for your books?
DJ: Yes.
Benj-O: Should we expect more stories about Pete and James in the future?
DJ: Yes. I have finished the third in the series which is called, "Super Pete Saves the Day" and the book I'm currently working on is, "The Adventures of Blankman and Noodle". I have also finished "The Mudhogs" which will be my next book out that has nothing to do with Pete and James.
From Dalton's Daddy (Cliff James) Dalton's author/illustrator talk to elementary schools is available to elementary teachers by request on DVD. We held a contest this year in which students could submit their books to us and the winner will have their book published through Outskirts Press. We are hoping to publish up to five books next year through a similar contest. We are hoping that by children seeing that an eight year old can have multiple books published that they can also.
Thanks to Dalton and his daddy.
Happy reading, all!
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