Say Hola to Spanish

• My 7-year-old daughter asked me to teach her some Spanish so I ended up writing the book!

Say Hola to Spanish, Otra Vez!

• The page about confusing peas and worms really happened: I accidentally ordered worms in a Venezuelan restuarant once!

Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus

• This book has whole phrases in Spanish, so it's the most difficult one to read for non-Spanish speakers.
• I wrote "Say Hola to Spanish at Camp" but the illustrator quit the series.

Geez Louise

• Was originally called "Carolyn Clutterbug".
• It's out of print in the US, but it's still in print in Korea!
• One of its pages is dedicated to the actress Sally Field.

Cowboy José

• This book took 8 years to be made.
• The idea came from a comment by a museum docent on my son's 2nd grade field trip to Mt. Diablo near Danville, CA.

Bebé Goes Shopping

• The "paper or plástico" line came from my kids.
• Bebé originally spoke, but I changed my mind and made him younger.
• I asked that Mamá be modern and good-looking with a pony tail (usually the author has no say in how a character will look).

Oh No, Gotta Go

• Was originally titled "Where is un Baño?".
• A friend suggested I write the sequel, Oh No, Gotta Go #2 (and I did! It's coming summer 2007).

Fairy Trails

• Lots of Spanish was cut out of this book.
• I wrote a sequel about Humpty Huevo, but haven't sold it.

Eight Animals on the Town

• Was originally called "Eight Animales".
• The cow character was originally brown.

Eight Animals Bake a Cake

• There's a mistake in the recipe: the pan size should be 9 x 9 inches!

Eight Animals Play Ball

• The illustrator originally drew all the animals with baseball gloves on their right paws, making them all left-handed!

F is for Fiesta

• The illustrator originally subsituted the fox (el zorro) with a zebra (una cebra) but that didn't work for the Z page!

Sophie's Trophy

• Sophie came out cuter than I expected (she's supposed to be ugly).
• The editor wanted Vince to be good-looking and mean, too. I refused to make him mean.

Home at Last

• Was originally called "Coming Home" but there are too many books with that title already.
• The editor wanted the story set in New York City, but I wouldn't go for it.