I've always been a dreamer. A few years ago, I was at my middle son's Open School Night. His fourth-grade teacher was the same one who taught my eldest kid seven years before and who taught me in the 1950s. The teacher smiled and said to the parents in the room, A long time ago, when I first started teaching, David was in my class. I went to the principal and asked, 'What should I do with Adler?' she grinned again. 'Maybe he'll be a writer one day.' That is her story, not mine.

But I know I dreamed for most of my early school years, and I did become a writer.Dreamers become writers, and becoming a published writer is a dream come true for me.I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I start with the main character in my fiction. The plot will be revealed later. Of course, since I'll be spending so much time with each primary character, why not choose someone I enjoy? He's a lot of fun to write about, and the boy who inspired him is much more so.

Cam Jansen is modeled Read More chevron_right

I've always been a dreamer. A few years ago, I was at my middle son's Open School Night. His fourth-grade teacher was the same one who taught my eldest kid seven years before and who taught me in the 1950s. The teacher smiled and said to the parents in the room, A long time ago, when I first started teaching, David was in my class. I went to the principal and asked, 'What should I do with Adler?' she grinned again. 'Maybe he'll be a writer one day.' That is her story, not mine.

But I know I dreamed for most of my early school years, and I did become a writer.Dreamers become writers, and becoming a published writer is a dream come true for me.I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I start with the main character in my fiction. The plot will be revealed later. Of course, since I'll be spending so much time with each primary character, why not choose someone I enjoy? He's a lot of fun to write about, and the boy who inspired him is much more so.

Cam Jansen is modeled even more loosely on a first-grade friend of mine who we all admired for having a photographic memory. I now admire Cam's incredible memory, especially when my children remind me of a promise they claim I made. I had a lot of fun writing about Cam Jansen and her numerous adventures. For my non-fiction books, I choose topics that interest me. Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir was my first biography.

I purchased a 1905 set of encyclopedias to conduct research for that book. I've written many other biographies in my Picture Book Biography series, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank, and many more. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades, so I published Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more about his incredible bravery than it is about his baseball skills. Youngsters encounter a variety of problems, and I hope that some of them will be inspired by Lou Gehrig's bravery.

I'm currently writing on another book about a brave man named Janusz Korczak. It's fiction, but it's based on hundreds of interviews I had with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. I was captivated by the stories I heard. One Yellow Daffodil is a glance back and a look forward, and it conveys my faith in our children's tremendous spirit and strength.I enjoy math and was a math teacher for many years, so writing multiple math books like Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! was a lot of fun for me. Simply put, write!

I try not to be concerned with each individual word, sentence, or paragraph. For me, stories develop over time. Writing is a method. Each sentence, each text, is rewritten several times.

I also collaborate with my editors. I eagerly await their feedback and assistance in the seemingly endless revision process.Well, it's time to get back to dreaming and writing, my dream job.David A. Adler has written over 175 stories for children, including the YoungCam Jansen series. He currently resides in Woodmere, New York.

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