Good Conversations!: A Talk with Clare Vanderpool

Gr 5–8—Host Tim Podell makes for a folksy and friendly interviewer as he chats with award-winning children's author Clare Vanderpool. Vanderpool exudes warmth, intelligence, and a nurturing calm as she invites viewers into her study, where she does much of her writing. She talks about her process and then flips through a stack of rejection letters, informing viewers that the road to "overnight" success can be a long one. (Vanderpool won the Newbery Medal for her first published book, Moon over Manifest, in 2011, although she had been writing for 16 years prior to that time.) Podell chats with Vanderpool as they visit her favorite bookstore, stroll along a riverfront pathway, swing at her beloved grade school playground, and walk in a park she has visited for many years. She reads a short passage from Manifest, looks back briefly on her childhood, and discusses her daily writing routine. She notes with a smile that when her four children were young, she would sometimes write in a bookstore after it had closed to the public. Vanderpool also chats about her favorite books and offers words of encouragement to young writers. This 22-minute video is similar to an author visit experience.