Former librarian's passion for books goes step further

Children's book author Suzanne Williams knows what kids like to read.

In the more than 20 fiction books she's written in the past 17 years, she's created funny, fascinating characters that speak to children's sense of self and their environment.

For example, Williams' first book, "Mommy Doesn't Know My Name," details the frustration of a preschooler whose mother uses pet names like "chickadee," "pumpkin" and "monkey" to call her daughter.

"I'm not a monkey! I'm Hannah!" shrieks the child.

In "My Dog Never Says Please," Ginny gets frustrated with common courtesy and begins to use her dog's table manners, much to the consternation of her family.

"There can be a lesson or a moral to the story, but you don't want to hit them over the head with it," Williams said. "And you don't want it to dominate or destroy the entertainment of the story."

A Eugene, Ore., native, Williams grew up being entertained by the stories that her mother, a first-grade teacher, read to her every day.

After getting her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oregon, Williams married a musician and moved to Renton in 1976.

During her 24 years as a school librarian in Kent and Auburn, Williams read a variety of children's literature that inspired her to write.

"My experiences as a school librarian enabled me to get published faster," she said. "I was familiar with what was already being published, and I felt I could add something different."

She wrote a short story called "Dear Tom: A Thanksgiving Fable" that was published in 1989 by Cricket, a children's magazine, and soon after sold "Mommy Doesn't Know My Name" to a publisher.

After she had written eight popular picture books, children's book publisher Scholastic contacted Williams about writing a series of chapter books for kids 8 to 12, and Williams responded with four books about Hillary, a girl who is "terribly disorganized and consistently tardy."

"I quickly discovered that writing several books at once made writing more financially viable," she said.

These days, Williams is working on a series about flower fairies.

She said she usually writes on her computer for five hours a day and spends the rest of her time outlining future novels or visiting schools, where she leads writing workshops and interactive readings of her books.

Williams also speaks at teacher conventions and librarians conferences all over the U.S.

Williams wants to inspire kids to love reading.

"I want to motivate kids to read, but I also want them to chuckle at the allusions to classic children's literature sprinkled throughout my books, like an inside joke," she said. Her children's books have been successful, and they're keeping her busy, so other types of books will have to wait.

"I could see myself doing historical young adult fiction someday, but I'd have to have the luxury of time to do it," she said. "I always have plenty of ideas for future books, but right now I don't have time to write about anything but flower fairies."