Elizabeth Shreeve
If you wondered where the name Hector Fuller came from, it has a most unusual origin. It was the "lady's swearword" that Elizabeth's grandmother made up. As a child, Elizabeth was an avid reader and was read to by her mother. Her first story came to her based upon her memory of her mother making a cozy "bug hole" for her when she was sick. The story came to her in an instant-the tale of a bug leaving his home and setting out on a heroic journey. After she wrote it she had a family friend who is a literary agent take a look. At the time Elizabeth didn't even know that she was creating chapter books, they were just stories for her own children, then aged six and nine. One year later, after joining SCBWI and taking time to read about the craft of writing and attending conferences, Elizabeth received interest from an editor at Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, who asked her to rewrite and expand her story from 2,400 to about 7,000 words
To get the bug out of his home more persuasively, Elizabeth decided to have a flea circus take over Hector's home. In addition to the entertaining plots, Elizabeth also included a bit of science in the Hector books. Now there are four books in the series, which reflect the different seasons and also different themes such as home, friendship, bravery and hope, and the importance of family and community. The books include a full-page illustration for each chapter, and Elizabeth is very happy with the art created by Pamela Levy. You can see samples if you visit Elizabeth's home page.
Elizabeth enjoys visiting book fairs, bookstores and schools, where she talks to kids about the writing process and shows them her first draft-only one of her original sentences made it into the final book. Depending on the audience she will often get more into the science that is a part of her books. She encourages kids to read and to connect with the natural world. Her books have a lot of appeal with librarians and teachers because they can be used with newly independent readers, including those who are not reading at grade level and might be embarrassed to read books featuring younger kids. If you happen to be in Sausalito, California, stop in at her husband's toy store, Games People Play. He had bags printed to promote her books and as well as a t-shirt featuring Hector. Since we met, Elizabeth has developed a lesson plan for the Hector Fuller series.
For even more information about Elizabeth-her education, family and school visits, check out her web site at www.elizabethshreeve.com
Contributor: Marilyn Courtot
Added 10/01/04
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