Sue Wilkowski Children’s Book Author

When I was a kid…

Well, actually, in lots of ways I still am a kid. But when I was younger, I lived in a house with my parents, Herbert and Florence, my two older brothers, Jeff and Larry, my Grandma, who I called Nanny, and my dog, Alfie. I had fun climbing the tree in our yard, riding my bike around town with friends, and making stuff — cool, crazy stuff — out of other stuff. Like once I made a traveling lemonade stand out of my brothers’ skateboards and an ironing board. I got into tons of trouble for that invention! I also spent a lot of time drawing and painting and writing. And daydreaming. I sat on the couch and stared out the window into the backyard everyday in the late afternoon. That’s when I first began cooking up fun stories in my head.

Me with my brothers, Jeff and Larry.	This is me at summer camp.	I’m about fourteen in this photo.

Now that I’m a grownup…

Hmmm, I’m not sure if I’m all grown-up. People keep learning and experiencing new things no matter how old they are. So even grown-ups are still always growing, in a way. But I am tall enough to go on the scary rides (which I never-ever do ‘cause I’m chicken.) And I am old enough to stay up really late (which I hardly ever do ‘cause then I get all goofy the next day from being tired.) So I guess officially, I’m a grown-up. I’m married to a spectacular guy named Mario, and we have three awesome kids named Hannah, Mia and Brian. We live in a house on Long Island with an enormous dog named Elvis and a little hamster named Nancy.

I love to write…

I really, really love to write. It just makes me feel good, the way running makes some people feel good and playing an instrument makes other people feel good. I write all sorts of things, but my favorite things to write are stories for kids. Exciting, adventurous, scary, funny stories. I try to write every single day, at my desk upstairs. It’s my favorite place in the house. When I sit there, it reminds me of the way I felt when I was a kid and I sat on the couch by the big window. Only now, I don’t just daydream stories, I write them down!

I also love…

to laugh. I think laughing everyday is the same as taking a vitamin – it helps keep you healthy. The more I laugh, the better I feel. animals. They make me happy. My favorite animals are dogs and birds. But I also love horses and pigs and rabbits and hamsters and hermit crabs and dolphins and whales. I guess I pretty much love all animals.

the toppings on an ice cream sundae – much more than I like the ice cream! Weird, huh? seeing movies. camp. My summertime job is to be the Art Director at Camp Lindenmere, a camp in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The air is fresh and clean, the sunsets are beautiful, and I help kids make art projects all summer long! Talk about fun!

And of course, I LOVE to read!

My favorite…

Candy is a Hershey’s Bar, made even better by dipping it into a jar of peanut butter. Smell is coconut. I have coconut soap and coconut shampoo and coconut hand cream and coconut candles and, well, you get the idea! Color is blue. A very close second is green, though.

Season is Fall. Fall means new notebooks and new sneakers and a whole new year to look forward to. Weather is wind. When I see a dog with his head hanging out of a car window, his ears all the way back and his fur blowing, I get why he’s doing that. Flower is a Daisy. They’re so cheerful and smiley.