Meet Wendy Orr, Author of Nim's Island, The Rainbow Street Shelter Series and more
What inspired you to become a children's author?
I started school in France, so learned to read and write in French. One night just before we moved back to Canada, my parents left two ‘Dick and Jane’ readers by my bed. I woke up and read them, and then realized they were in English. I can still remember the huge thrill of mastering a whole story, and in my own language, and I think that’s why I started writing stories almost immediately. I also had great models in my parents: my mother read us classic children’s literature for bedtime stories until I was about twelve, and any time we were in the car, my dad used to make up crazy stories about our dachshund’s great-great-great-grandfather, who had apparently invented or built pretty well everything we saw.
I went on writing stories right through school, and was determined to be an author till I got to Grade 12, and just couldn’t imagine doing it for a living. Then when I was 32, practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist, with two small children and helping my husband on the farm, I suddenly decided that it was time to start writing seriously. I didn’t set out to be a children’s author, and have written Young Adult and adult fiction as well, but middle grade seems to be where my heart is. Maybe a case of arrested development?
How do you come up with the ideas for your books?
Usually I don’t know till after they’re finished. My YA novel Peeling the Onion was an exception, as I deliberately used my own car accident and injuries, though for a very different character to me.
Nim’s Island, which in 2008 became a film with Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin & Gerard Butler, was sparked by young fans writing to me as if I knew them, but didn’t come to life till I remembered the story I’d written when I was nine, about a little girl running away from an orphanage to live on an island.
Of my more recent books, The Rainbow Street Shelter series, with Henry Holt, began with a story that I’d wanted to tell (LOST! A Dog Called Bear) of our dog Bear jumping out of my husband’s truck the day we moved. When my publisher suggested a series, the other stories just fell into place. Usually there’s a bit of one of my pets in there somewhere: the latest is WANTED! A Guinea Pig Called Henry, and I did have a guinea pig called Henry when I was in college.
Facing the Mountain, with Scholastic Canada, started when I visited my parents, on an island near Vancouver, BC, after the premier trip for Nim’s Island. I was ready to start a new adventure, and I think that being with my family brought up memories of childhood, so that I started thinking about the time my younger sister and I climbed Pikes Peak in Colorado with my dad and his work friends. Once that idea seed takes hold, life seems to send lots of different things to germinate it.
How many books have you written?
Probably about 35. I’m not sure why I don’t like counting them – some sort of fear of disturbing the magic, I guess.
Do you have a favorite topic to write about?
Adventurous girls seem to keep appearing. And animals – there are nearly always animals in my books, even in the ones that aren’t specifically about them.
What was your favorite book as a child?
There were so many! Winnie the Pooh; Swallows and Amazons, Anne of Green Gables.
What do you hope children will learn from your books?
I tend to write more to find out something for myself than to teach any sort of moral, but I hope children will take away a sense of being able to find strength in themselves when they need it, and a sense of integrity.
Are you currently working on other books?
Always! I’ve just proofread ABONDONED! A Lion Called Kiki, and am still in the process of editing STOLEN! A Pony Called Pebbles, the 4th and 5th Rainbow Street books. The edits for the 6th, DISCOVERED! A Beagle Called Bella, will no doubt be back soon, but in the meantime I’m working on something completely different and so brand new I haven’t even shared it with my editor or agent yet.
You can find out more about Wendy Orr and her books by visiting www.wendyorr.com.
I started school in France, so learned to read and write in French. One night just before we moved back to Canada, my parents left two ‘Dick and Jane’ readers by my bed. I woke up and read them, and then realized they were in English. I can still remember the huge thrill of mastering a whole story, and in my own language, and I think that’s why I started writing stories almost immediately. I also had great models in my parents: my mother read us classic children’s literature for bedtime stories until I was about twelve, and any time we were in the car, my dad used to make up crazy stories about our dachshund’s great-great-great-grandfather, who had apparently invented or built pretty well everything we saw.
I went on writing stories right through school, and was determined to be an author till I got to Grade 12, and just couldn’t imagine doing it for a living. Then when I was 32, practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist, with two small children and helping my husband on the farm, I suddenly decided that it was time to start writing seriously. I didn’t set out to be a children’s author, and have written Young Adult and adult fiction as well, but middle grade seems to be where my heart is. Maybe a case of arrested development?
How do you come up with the ideas for your books?
Usually I don’t know till after they’re finished. My YA novel Peeling the Onion was an exception, as I deliberately used my own car accident and injuries, though for a very different character to me.
Nim’s Island, which in 2008 became a film with Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin & Gerard Butler, was sparked by young fans writing to me as if I knew them, but didn’t come to life till I remembered the story I’d written when I was nine, about a little girl running away from an orphanage to live on an island.
Of my more recent books, The Rainbow Street Shelter series, with Henry Holt, began with a story that I’d wanted to tell (LOST! A Dog Called Bear) of our dog Bear jumping out of my husband’s truck the day we moved. When my publisher suggested a series, the other stories just fell into place. Usually there’s a bit of one of my pets in there somewhere: the latest is WANTED! A Guinea Pig Called Henry, and I did have a guinea pig called Henry when I was in college.
Facing the Mountain, with Scholastic Canada, started when I visited my parents, on an island near Vancouver, BC, after the premier trip for Nim’s Island. I was ready to start a new adventure, and I think that being with my family brought up memories of childhood, so that I started thinking about the time my younger sister and I climbed Pikes Peak in Colorado with my dad and his work friends. Once that idea seed takes hold, life seems to send lots of different things to germinate it.
How many books have you written?
Probably about 35. I’m not sure why I don’t like counting them – some sort of fear of disturbing the magic, I guess.
Do you have a favorite topic to write about?
Adventurous girls seem to keep appearing. And animals – there are nearly always animals in my books, even in the ones that aren’t specifically about them.
What was your favorite book as a child?
There were so many! Winnie the Pooh; Swallows and Amazons, Anne of Green Gables.
What do you hope children will learn from your books?
I tend to write more to find out something for myself than to teach any sort of moral, but I hope children will take away a sense of being able to find strength in themselves when they need it, and a sense of integrity.
Are you currently working on other books?
Always! I’ve just proofread ABONDONED! A Lion Called Kiki, and am still in the process of editing STOLEN! A Pony Called Pebbles, the 4th and 5th Rainbow Street books. The edits for the 6th, DISCOVERED! A Beagle Called Bella, will no doubt be back soon, but in the meantime I’m working on something completely different and so brand new I haven’t even shared it with my editor or agent yet.
You can find out more about Wendy Orr and her books by visiting www.wendyorr.com.
Stacie Theis / beachboundbooks@yahoo.com / copyright 2012