Johanna Hurwitz

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Which part of creating books comes easily to yu? what parts are most difficult?

This is a great question. The easiest part is creating new characters. Who am I going to write about? What do they do? What happens to them? It's much more difficult to decide what are these characters going to do. So I do a lot of thinking, talk to myself a lot and eventually I can answer myself and keep on writing.

Do you have a favorite book you've written? Why is it your favorite?

This is just about the most difficult question anyone can ask me. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite from among my books. I work hard to do the best job I can and when I finish, I'm proud of what I've done. However, if you read several of my books, you may quite possibly have a favorite. Let me know which one it is!

what is the point of view in the hot and cold summer

THE HOT & COLD SUMMER is written from the point of view of Rory Dunne although there are two other characters who are equally important in the story. My purpose was to show the interaction of the three youngsters and to show that three could be best friends, even if two are boys and the third is a girl. Rory doesn't like change. He doesn't want to make a new friend; he doesn't want to go to sleepaway camp. By the end of the book, he has been stretched and become open to a few new things.

what is your purpose in writing the hot and cold summer

I just finished One Small Dog. The book almost made me cry. You know, I had to go through that too. I got allergic to my puppy, Murray who I admired thoroughly but the good part is coming............. I GOT THE SWEETEST PUPPY named Duffy. He is my second true dog ( my other dog, Bogart died from cancer) and I love him! Anyways, what inspired you to create your masterpiece writing into this dramatic story? Did it happen to you?

~Sarah M:)

Did Sarah, Can you believe it that I actually cried toward the conclusion of ONE SMALL DOG. It was almost as if I was reading a story that someone else had written. I got the idea for the book by hearing a PTA mom at a school where I was visiting tell how her family had to give away their pet dog who was biting people. The son said that if the dog went, he would go too. And then the dog bit the son. There it was - the whole story. Of course, I had to add to it. Who was the family involved? where did the boy think he would run? etc.

How did you come up with the name Russell (my dad's name) for the rip-roaring character?

Russell was the name of a young boy who was our neighbor many years ago. I "borrowed" his name as well as the name of his sister, Elisa. Now both Russell and Elisa are grown adults and I am going to visit with them later this very week.

Sarah M:)

I read your book Spring Break and loved it! I am a great writer and hope to have my dream as becoming an author like you too! I attend Strawtown Elementary and am thrilled for your arrival as you are one of my favorite authors! I am in the fourth grade.

I am counting the days until I visit your school. Keep your fingers crossed that we don't have snow! (If schools are closed due to snow, I will be coming on a different date.) See you soon.
See you,

Sarah M:)

Who is your favorite character in Pee Wee & Plush and why?

My favorite character is PeeWee who shows himself to be very caring and resourceful. He figures out a way to protect his family and himself from the coming winter. I'm also very fond of Lexi who proves himself a great friend to PeeWee and Plush.

Dear Ms. Hurwitz,
We have also just finished reading Aldo Applesauce and we loved it. We have some questions for you that we hope you will be able to answer. Our first question is why did Aldo spill his applesauce on the ground instead of on someone else? Also why did you make Dede wear a moustache instead of someone else? Our last question is does Aldo get a dog in the next book? Hope to hear from you soon.

Mrs. Friedman's third grade class.

It would have been extra funny to have Aldo spill his applesauce on another student but I didn't think of it. Too bad. DeDe wears a moustache because she is the first student Aldo connects with and she becomes a mystery for him. Aldo gets four dogs in HURRICANE ELAINE. (He only keeps two.)

Dear Ms. Hurwitz,

We are third graders from New Jersey and we just finished reading your book, Aldo Applesauce. We have some questions for you. 1. Why is Aldo Applesauce and DeDe Takes Charge not on your website? 2. Why did you have DeDe wear a moustache? 3. Will you continue to write more books? 4. How many books have you written? 5. What is your favorite book that you have written? We will be writing you letters about our favorite parts so please check your mail!

Thank you,
Ms.Thorne's Third Graders

I have written 71 books and I didn't put all of them on my website because it would make the site too long. The reason why DeDe wears a moustache is answered before the end of ALDO APPLESAUCE. Perhaps you have reached that part in the book by now.

Dear Mrs. Hurwitz,
My students and I have read an excerpt from The Down and Up Fall and enjoyed it very much. We live in the Phoenix area which is very different from the rainforest and from New York where you live. Sam would like to know which of your books you have written is your favorite. My entire class would like to know if you would like to come to Phoenix to visit our school, Kyrene de la Esperanza. You are a very impressive author. Thank you for sharing your stories with the world!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Terry's 4th Grade

I would love to visit Kyrene de la Esperanza. I have a goal to visit schools in every state. So far I have been to 45 but I have never been to Arizona. It's too late for the current school year but maybe you could arrange something for 2011-2012 school year.

i lioke you books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!###########$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

thanks for helping. I am the little girl that wrote you a letter!!!!!!!!!

Ariadna



Mrs.Hurwitz its me Ariadna Silva again,I just type you these because I found on the internet that you won the bluebonnet with your book THE HOT AND COLD SUMMER!!!!!!!
Where could I found it?Because I want to read it to put the summary next to the piture I print.Please help me!!!!!!

THE HOT & COLD SUMMER is out-of-print. That means that you won't be able to buy a copy at your local bookstore. But the good news is that you can probably find a copy at your public library. Amazon and www.alibris.com both sell used copies of books - sometimes for only a few cents + postage. So you should be able to find a copy to read.


Can you make more Monty Books?

Here's some good news. I've finished a new Monty book. Now illustrator Anik McGrory is busy working on the illustrations. The book which is called MAGICAL MONTY will be published in the spring of 2012. We'll both have to be patient.

I love your books!you vistited my school the other day and you were very nice! you are my new idol!

Thank you. All the boys and girls who read my books are my idols!

Dear Mrs. Hurwitz,
Our class is reading an excerpt from your book School Spirit and we were wondering if there was a real life inspiration for Henrietta Armstrong and a real life school closing that inspired your story. Also, you say you are most like Cricket, so who was Julio like? Thanks!

A. The elementary school in my community was about to close. Everyone said what a shame but no one did anything to protest. That was my inspiration for the story of SCHOOL SPIRIT. And although Julio Sanchez is not based on any one particular boy, he resembles many students I have met over the years: enthusiastic,
caring, helpful, warm, and clever even if he isn't the smartest boy in the class.

Question: What is your favorite holiday?

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I have memories of my childhood years when we celebrated the day together with family in New Jersey in a house filled with cousins and wonderful cooking odors (followed by a delicious meal). Nowadays, my husband and I have been invited to our son's mother-in-law to celebrate the day. There is a new generation of cousins, some of whom are our granddaughters, and more delicious odors and food. It's a happy holiday and takes place before winter snows can upset plans. Now I'm looking forward to next Thanksgiving.

In CLASS CLOWN, why did you want Lucas have twin brothers? I am also a twin and just wondered. :)

I am not a twin but I thought if Lucas's mom had twin toddlers she would be very busy and Lucas might act up to get more attention. That could explain why a bright boy like Lucas would become the class clown.


I am doing an author study on you. I really like your books.
love Avneet and Alyissa
PS. You rock!

Good luck with your author study. I hope this website is helpful and answers all your questions.

Question: where did you came up with the idea of becoming an author

Answer: I've always loved books. When I was young, about eight or so, I told stories to my little brother. He loved my stories and that gave me the idea of becoming an author.

Q.I read one of your books this year for 3rd grade called The Adventures of Ali Baba and I wanted to tell you that I like it.

A. Thank you for telling me. That's makes me really happy.

Q. Dear johanna Hurwitz what was it like when u was a little girl

If you look in your school or public library, you may find my book ONCE I WAS A PLUM TREE. That is my most autobiographical story and it tells a lot about when I was young - before there were computers and cell phones or even televisions. My friends and I jumped rope, played many games using a ball or drawing with chalk on the street. I lived near Yankee Stadium and so I got to go to baseball games and sometimes my parents took me on the subway into Manhattan to the Museum of Natural History or other interesting places.

Q.How old were you when you made your frist book?

A. I made my first book when I was about nine years old. It was not published. I was 38 when my first book was published.

Q.dear johanna hurwitz how does it feel to be a writer

A. It makes me very happy because I dreamed of becoming a writer from a very young age.

Q.Dear johanna hurwitz witch one is your favorite book that u always read.

Q. Dear Mrs.Hurwitz
What inspired you to write "The Hot and Cold Summer".

A.I was inspired by a telephone call from a friend. Her grandchildren were coming to spend the entire summer in our community. My friend was very happy but I wondered if the grandchildren were happy too. It wouldn't be easy to make friends if they weren't in a school situation. Then it occurred to me that since there were two children they could play together. However, what if only one child was coming? I started thinking about that and before I knew it I was writing THE HOT & COLD SUMMER.

Q.Dear Mrs. Hurwitz,
Our fifth grade class has been reading The Hot and Cold Summer from our Harcourt anthology as well. We are wondering who really let Lucette out of her cage. We are really curious to find out if Bolivia let her out or if she just escaped.
Sincerely,
Class 520

A.It was Bolivia. She has tamed her parrot enough to be able to let her out of the cage and catch her whenever she wishes to put her back inside. She has let her fly out the window to create some drama and indeed she does. Later in the book (in a chapter not in your Harcourt anthology) Rory attempts to do the same thing but he is less successful with some unpleasant consequences. Maybe you could find the book in your school or public library and read the whole story.

Q.How many kids did u have?

A. I have two "kids" but now they are grown adults: a daughter Nomi and a son Beni. They in turn have children of their own (my grandchildren!). There's Ethan who is Nomi's son and Juliet and Fiona who are the daughters of Beni. Lucky me!

Q. Hi Johanna,
My students and I have just read an excerpt of your book The Hot and Cold Summer from our reading anthology. Since we only have exposure to part of the book, we are having trouble deciding if Rory and Derek are just friends or if they are brothers. We also find reference to a Mrs. Curry but are wondering who she is.
The excerpt appears in the Collections series from Harcourt.
We would really appreciate some help.

A.I guess I wrote a mystery book without even knowing it if there are so many unanswered questions. Rory and Derek are best friends. And Derek's last name is Curry so Mrs. Curry is his mother. The editors of text books select individual chapters because they feel certain points are covered in them. I always hope that the students who read these chapters will be inspired to look for the complete book in their school or public library.

Q.what was your insperation for writing one small dog

A. My inspiration for ONE SMALL DOG came when I was in the faculty room while visiting at a school. One of the teachers spoke about the trouble her family had with a newly adopted dog. The dog bit the money and she said, "That's it. We have to get rid of this dog." However, her son said that if the dog went, he would go too. Then the dog bit the son. With those pieces of information, I created a story about a family and a dog with problems.

Q.Would you recommend that students read books that have the same characters in them in the order in which you wrote them or can they jump around if they so choose?

A.Because I worked for many years as a children's librarian, I know that you can't always find books in the order they were written. Therefore, when I write books in a series, I try hard to make the story understandable and enjoyable regardless of the order in which they were written.

Q. How old are you? You seem old.

A.Do I seem old from my photograph or from my date of birth? I don't feel old.

Q. How long have you been doing your writing job?

A. I wrote my first "book" when I was about nine years old. It was never published but a friend illustrated it and I attached all the pages together with a paper fastener. If you read it, you'll see it's not very good. However, it is proof that I started out writing books a long, long time ago. I still have my copy of that first book and the little girl who illustrated it, who is now a grown woman like me, is still my good friend.

Q. Why on the list of books you wrote is Once I was a Plum Tree not there?

A. I have written more books than I can fit into this website. I omitted ONCE I WAS A PLUM TREE because it is out of print at this time. However, it is available at many libraries and can be ordered through book dealers selling older books on line (such as www.alibris.com)

Q.How many books have you written? As of today, 71.

Q. Are there any interesting facts about you?

A.If you read my entire website, I think you may find some interesting fact

Q.What is your favorite book to read?

A.Nowadays I love reading British novels. My all-time favorite novel is CRANFORD by Mrs. Gaskell. I discovered it long before Masterpiece Theatre on PBS-TV. I also love the Mapp and Lucia books by E.F.Benson. In addition, I read autobiography and travel books. The books I read when I was young are listed below.

Q. Are you in any of your stories?

A. Of course. Authors are always in their books. Sometimes I write about myself (Gerry Flam in ONCE I WAS A PLUM TREE; Cricket in TEACHER'S PET and the other books in the CLASS CLOWN series; the mother in BASEBALL FEVER and Nora and Teddy's mom in THE RIVERSIDE KIDS) and sometimes I write about the way I would or should have reacted had I been in the situation in which I've placed my characters.

Q. How many books do you plan to write?

A. I think that's like asking a baseball player how many home runs they plan to hit. I don't have a specific goal, but like the baseball player who wants to hit as many home runs as he can, I want to write an many books as possible. Maybe one of those future books will be your favorite.

Q. Have your books won any awards?

A. My books have been the winners of the Children's Choice award in nine states. Children in Texas, Wyoming, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, New Mexico and New Jersey (two times)voted for books of mine as their favorite. In addition, my books have been honored as ALA Notable Books, Parents Choice Award, Junior Library Guild, Weekly Reader Book Club, and National Christian Schools Award. Also, as a result of my writing, I was made an honorary citizen of Topeka, Kansas and a day was named after me in Tonawanda, New York.

Q. What were your favorite books when you were young?

A. HEIDI by Johanna Spyri I loved the fact that the author and I shared the same first name and there it was on the cover of a book.
THE LITTLE HOUSE BOOKS by Laura Ingalls Wilder
THE BETSY-TACY BOOKS by Maud Hart Lovelace

Q. What is your favorite color?

A. Blue-green. Sometimes it's called turquoise.

Q. What is your favorite food?

A. Anything made with cheese: lasagna, pizza, grilled cheese sandwich, feta cheese omelet, cheese cake, etc.

Q. Do you have any pets? What are their names?

A. Despite my stories, I don't have a dog (THE LAW OF GRAVITY, ONE SMALL DOG), guinea pig (PEEWEE'S TALE), bird (THE HOT & COLD SUMMER, AMAZING MONTY)or a llama (A LLAMA IN THE FAMILY, LLAMA IN THE LIBRARY). However over the years I have owned several cats. Currently I own a large black male cat with green eyes. He is named Ollie.

Q. If you were an animal what would you like to be?

A. A duck so I could both swim and fly.

Q. If you could meet a story book character, who would it be?

A. Babar the Elephant. I've loved him since we were first introduced when I was a child.

Q. How old are you?

A.I'm too old to tell and too young to brag about my age.

Is there anything else that you'd like to find out about me?

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what made you write books

If you could be an animal instead of a person, which would you choose? I would choose to be a cat because they are playful, cuddly and they can be moody like me. Especially when they hiss. Sometimes I feel like hissing at my brother.

And I would chose to be a duck. See above for my reasons.


Dear Johanna Hurwitz,

I like your Elisa books, and I was wondering . . . where you like Elisa when you were younger?

No. I don't think I was like Elisa. She acts the way she does in reaction to many things that her older brother Russell does. She is also the middle child. Unlike Elisa, I was the oldest child in my family.

what point of view is your book Hurricane Elaine in ?

HURRICANE ELAINE is written from the point of view of Aldo's older sister Elaine. I wanted you to see Aldo from her point of view.

What is the title of the first book you wrote? How many pages did it have? How long did it take you to write it?

BUSYBODY NORA is the title of my first published book. It has 64 pages. It seemed to take my whole life until it was written and it drew on events from my life too.

Where do u live?

I have two different addresses: during the autumn, winter and spring, I live on Long Island in a community called Great Neck. I spend my summers in Wilmington, Vermont. I also live inside whatever story I am working on.

Dear johanna hurwitz
I am a student of class 520 and I want to know if Rory and derek become good friends with Bolivia?

At first Rory intensely dislikes Bolivia. Derek tends to listen to Rory and act accordingly. However, in time, both boys come to like Bolivia and they are sorry when she has to leave town.

do you like your job as a writer? and do you still write books for kids my age like 10 and 9 even if your that old

I love my work. If I didn't, I would do something else. And yes indeed. I write books for 9 and 10 year olds because even though I am so old, I can remember what it felt like when I was a kid.

what are your hobbies?

I love to spend time browsing in second hand bookstores. I never know what I might find but almost always there is an old, out-of-print book that I never heard of that strikes my interest. It was discovering a British book called MR. FOTHERGILL'S PLOT which was published in 1931 (years before I was born!) that gave me the inspiration to create BIRTHDAY SUPRISES and I FOOLED YOU.

Other hobbies are knitting, baking, picking wild berries in the summer and then making my own jam (so I can spread a bit of summer on my toast in the middle of the winter), following baseball, playing with my grandchildren, traveling, writing paper letters and keeping in touch with old friends (I have four friends who I've known since first grade), etc.

What are important events and people in your life?

My marriage and my husband Uri; the birth of my children Nomi and Beni; the publication of my first book which was the start of my writing career, the birth of my grandchildren Ethan, Juliet and Fiona and lots more.

Are you working with the Hartford Children's Theater?

Yes. I've written a play version of CLASS CLOWN which is tentatively scheduled for production March 11-20, 2011 at the Hartford Children's Theatre. It's an exciting venture and I can't wait to see my characters on stage.

Who are the main characters of The Hot and Cold Winter?

The main characters in THE HOT & COLD SUMMER are Rory, Derek and Bolivia. They are also in three other books: THE COLD & HOT WINTER, THE UP & DOWN SPRING, and THE DOWN & UP FALL.

I'm a fourth grade teacher. We're currently doing an excerpt from teachers pet - the imperfect/ perfect book report.
my students want to know what made you include this chapter in your book? what were you thinking when you wrote this section? was there any particular indecent that inspired the chapter? (a story you heard, or something that happened to you?)

This chapter grew out of the memory of always making posters and charts on oaktag paper when I was in elementary school. Because I was very neat, and had good handwriting teachers probably thought I was brighter than I actually was. Cricket is blowing up her book report by making an unnecessary cover for it.

how old are you NOW? also how old is this website?

This website was "born" in November 2009. I was born in 1937. Do the math and you can figure out how old I am.