Title: Choices
Author: Vanessa Lyman Withers
Illustrator: Bradford Trent Lyman
Publisher: Osw Productions
ISBN: 978-1088088159
Pages: 34
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book
Author Interview with Vanessa Lyman Withers
Today, Pacific Book reviewer Beth Adams is talking with Vanessa Lyman Withers, author of Choices.
PBR: Tell us a little about how you, Vanessa and Bradford found commonality to work together. Bradford is my nephew. I have enjoyed and appreciated his artistic talent for many years. I sincerely hope that we are able to collaborate on future books.
PBR: How did you decide to create Choices? During my years as a school nurse in an inner city district, I witnessed a number of children who could have improved their situations in life by making better choices. That position inspired me to offer suggestions on how to help make that happen.
PBR. What particular age group have you targeted for your reading audience? The targeted age group is preschool through middle school.
PBR: The rhyming is very much a main element in the book. What were your challenges in drafting the narrative text? The purpose of using rhyme was to make the story fun and engaging. The selection of words often requires some manipulating to drive home the message. At times it is difficult to find age appropriate words to keep the rhyming flow and the concepts easy to understand.
PBR: The illustrations are very creative. What were your goals in achieving the spectrum of children’s ages, race, clothing, etc? I tried to stay simple, to the point and add a hint of comedy to the characters in order to reach all children regardless of race, age or socioeconomic backgrounds.
PBR: Are there other projects in the works? Absolutely!!! There are many aspects of life that children must address to succeed in life.
