Q&A with Lynne Cheney
Q: Your books make history exciting to children. Were you inspired by any books that you read as a child, or read to your children, or grandchildren?
A: I remember reading a history book that I loved. It made the story of America so inspiring—but I've never been sure exactly what the book was. It might have been a book for children by Edward Eggleston. As I've gone back and looked at A First Book in American History, which Eggleston wrote, I've found it very familiar. In the course of looking at books written for children in the first half of the twentieth century, I found many that are compelling. David Hackett Fischer pointed out to me a series by Genevieve Foster, written mostly in the 1940s, I think, that are really good: George Washington's World, Abraham Lincoln's World, Augustus Caesar's World. They give a great overview and are full of memorable details.
Q: Do you think the books written then were better than the ones now?
A: There are some great books for children being written now, and I've tried to recognize them with the James Madison Book Award, which I began in 2003. This year the selection committee recognized an excellent book about Paul Revere by James Cross Giblin, and also gave a lifetime achievement award to Albert Marrin, who has written many terrific books for children and young adults. But it is true that history books assigned in school are often dull and make kids think history is that way. And it's also true that a parent trying to look through bookstore offerings for good nonfiction books for children often has a mighty tough search.
Q: Did you start writing history books for children to help parents in that search?
A: In part, but I was also inspired by having grandchildren. I wanted them to know the history of this wonderful country they are growing up in, and so in the last seven years, I've written six books for children and their families. America: A Patriotic Primer was the first.
Q: And We the People: The Story of Our Constitution is the most recent. Why did you decide to write about the Constitution?
A: It's pretty easy to make a case that the Constitution—the very framework for our country—is the most important of our founding documents, and it's undeniable that we're doing a pretty poor job of teaching kids about it. When I was chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, we sponsored a survey that showed seventeen-year-olds thinking that one of Karl Marx's famous phrases—"from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"—was in the Constitution. That is definitely a problem that needs to be addressed. Besides, the story of the Constitution's creation is such a good one. Just think of the cast of characters that gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, starting with George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. And their achievement was so monumental, not just for America, but for the world. What writer could resist such a story?
Q: You worked with illustrator Greg Harlin on We the People. What was that like?
A: Greg Harlin is really amazing, not only a gifted artist, but a serious researcher, determined to make the past as it really was come alive. I've spent enough time on the founding period that I'm pretty familiar with the attempts that have been made over the years to portray the Constitutional convention and the events leading up to and following from it, and I know of none better than Greg's. His depictions of the leading characters are spectacular, and he gets the moods and settings just right. He's very, very talented. He's produced museum-quality illustrations. Working with him was a great pleasure.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from reading We the People?
A: An idea of why the Constitution is important, admiration for the achievement of its framers, and a sense of the qualities that allowed them to succeed, although their situation was very difficult. They persisted, they kept going, even though at one point George Washington himself said, "I almost despair."
Q: As we noted earlier, this is your sixth children's book. Do you plan to write more?
A: I enjoy writing for children, no doubt about it, but I also like writing for adults. My most recent book before We the People was Blue Skies, No Fences, a memoir about growing up in Wyoming. I loved writing it, and I've loved hearing from people who enjoyed reading about life in the forties and fifties in a small town in the Rocky Mountain West. I suspect that my next book will be for adults, but I'll be doing more writing for children, too. The number of my grandchildren is growing—there are six now—so that's great inspiration to continue.
Contributor: Simon & Schuster
Reviews
We the People: the Story of the Constitution
Lynne Cheney
Illustrations by Greg Harlin
With clarity and precision, Lynne Cheney simply and succinctly outlines the obstacles faced in 1788 by the new nation in keeping it from falling apart. When the twelve delegates met in Philadelphia individual states were printing their own money, the British troops refused to vacate military posts, and the farmers of Massachusetts were rising up against the fragile government. Against this backdrop Cheney explains how leaders like Madison, Washington, and Franklin worked with those who disagreed with their proposals. Men like William Patterson of New Jersey, Governor Morris of Pennsylvania, and John Dickinson of Delaware. How diverse individuals representing diverse regions and ideas reached a compromise that yielded a document that goes to the very core of the Republic is fascinating and very readable for young readers. Harlin's watercolors capture the period and the mood of the emerging nation. His portraits of the remarkable Founding Fathers breathe life and character into them. In this year of a highly charged presidential election readers are reminded of the lasting power of the Constitution and the fractious time in which it was conceived and executed. 2008, Simon & Schuster, Ages 9 to 12, $17.99. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 978-1-14169-5418-7
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2006
Added 10/24/08
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