C is for Donald Crews

Born: 1938

Excellent Books:   Freight Train, Truck, Big Mamas, Shortcut, and more.  Freight Train and Truck were both Caldecott winners.

From His Life:  As a child Donald lived in New Jersey and would often take a train trip during the summer with his siblings to visit his grandma in Florida.  These trips later inspired Big Mamas and Shortcut.  Donald is an artist who illustrates his own books and often draws himself in them.

Advice for Aspiring Writers:  I love Donald's attitude about starting a new project immediately after finishing another one.  He said, "It's more than a year before you're going to know whether or not you've got something that's generally popular on your hands. The book has to be printed, it has to be sold, it has to get into the stores. People have to review it. People have to look at it. So it's a good long time. You can't wait for all that to happen until you start doing the next project." (quote from article by George Bodmer)

Website:  http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/16149/Donald_Crews/index.aspx