Tri-Rivers Students Interview Author of Llama Llama Children’s books

Anna Dewdney, author of Llama Llama children’s books was interviewed via skype by the Early Childhood Education and Preschool students at TRCC Nov. 15.

Dewdney was the second author interviewed by the students this month. The first was Doreen Cronin. By using Skype—a software that allows users to make free video and voice calls over the internet—the students are bringing authors into the classroom.

Along with reading one of her books, Dewdney answered numerous questions. Liam, a preschooler, asked, “Is your family near in your heart?”  She told him, “My family is always in my heart.”  She said first and foremost she is a mom.

She told the students it takes patience to be a writer. “It took me 20 years of  hard work to convince a publisher to publish my writing.”

Along the way, she worked as a waitress, daycare provider, school bus driver, salesperson and mail carrier. “But through it all I drew pictures and wrote.”

In fact she told the students she used to draw even while in classes in school. “Drawing helps me to concentrate. I need to do it.”

Her popular LLAMA LLAMA books came about while traveling with her own children. “When we’d pass cows, I say ‘moo, moo’ and when we passed sheep, I’d ‘baaaah.’ But whenever we passed a field of llamas, I’d say llama, llama.” She explained that she didn’t know what they said, that was until “there were in my books!”