Susan Chodakiewitz is a writer, composer, and producer. She is the founder of Booksicals Children’s Books, encouraging the love of reading through the arts. Through her company, Booksicals, she has created the Booksicals on Stage literacy program which is currently presenting musical performances of the picture book Too Many Visitors for One Little House at schools, libraries, and special events. Too Many Visitors for One Little House is Susan’s debut book.
Susan will be on virtual book tour in July and November ‘09 to promote her latest children’s picture book, Too Many Visitors for One Little House. We interviewed her to find out more about her wonderful new book.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Susan. Can we begin by having you tell us why you chose to write children’s picture books?
A: I absolutely love picture books and the way they express complicated emotions and ideas in simple and whimsical ways. Years ago I decided that one day I would be a children’s book author. I put that idea on the back burner for many years and dedicated myself to writing musical theater.
About four years ago while attending the Academy for New Musical Theater in Los Angeles I decided to write a children’s musical. I selected to write a musical based on one of my favorite children’s picture books.
I optioned the theatrical rights to the book and two years into work shopping the musical the option rights ran out. Renegotiating the rights became complicated and the option expired.
It was at that moment that a light bulb head went off my head—it was time to start writing my own children’s books!
Writing picture books for me is a lot like writing songs for musical theater. The sound of the words and how they roll off the tongue is critically important in both art forms. In both songs and picture books you have to develop a character and tell a story with very few words and in a very short time frame.
I write, re-write, and keep cutting words until I feel that the sentences “sing” and the words fall on all the right beats. To me I find this challenge exhilarating.
