Johanna Hurwitz

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what was ur insperation for writing one small dog

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.

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?

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.

how many awards do u have?

Ten Children's Choice Awards from different states, the Weekly Reader Book Club Award, three Notable Book citations, two Parents' Choice Awards, and the Lamplighter Award from the National Christian Schools Assoc. But the best award is a letter from a reader who really liked one of my books. I have received hundreds and hundreds of those.

How old are you? You seem old.

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

How long have you been doing your writing job?

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.

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

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)

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

Are there any interesting facts about you?

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

How many books have you published and how long have you been writing ? This is answered on the first page of the website.

What is your favorite book to read?

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.

1) Are you in any of your stories?

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.

2) Do you have a favorite among your books or characters?

That's much too hard to answer. It's not unlike you asking your parents who is their favorite child in your family. Each child is different and each is special in their own way. That's how I feel about my books and characters. No two are the same, even when they are in the same series. Each book is the result of hard work on my part and in the end, I'm proud of my accomplishment. I can't select a single title or person as my favorite. However, it's quite possible that my readers will like one book more than the others. That fine. (Let me know which one it is.)

3) How many books do you plan to write?

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.

4) Have your books won any awards?

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.

5) What were your favorite books when you were young?

HEIDI by Johanna Spyri I loved the fact that we 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

6) What is your favorite color?

Blue-green. Sometimes it's called turquoise.

7) What is your favorite food?

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

8) What is your favorite sound?

My husband, children or grandchildren laughing.

9) Do you have any pets? What are their names?

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.

10) If you were an animal what would you like to be?

A duck so I could both swim and fly.

11) If you could meet a story book character, who would it be?

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

12) How old are you?

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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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.