Having written over 50 children’s books, Sutherland is no stranger to entertaining young audiences. Her favorite age group to write for is the middle grade range, from ages 8 to 12 or 10 to 15. “They’re the best age… I just love them. They’re like the best kids and I’m so happy right now because my children are there. They’re 10 and 12. They are so fun to hang out with. I just find them endlessly entertaining. I also feel like that’s when you can change the world… as the writer affecting those kids…in terms of shaping me as a person, most of that happened when I was a kid reading children’s books. They’re also just the best kids to meet… and ask you any kinds of questions with no fear!”
Starting out, Sutherland never imagined how successful she’d become. Her hope from the beginning was simply to write books that did well enough for her to continue writing more books. She also wanted to write books that made kids happy. “I think that’s why I write, is for those moments where you meet a kid and they’re like, ‘This is why I read, because I started with your books’ or ‘your books helped me through something that was stressful’ and so I feel that’s why I became a writer and then it’s just been this amazing experience to have the books succeed the way they have and get to meet more kids like that.”
I feel like the books I read at that age shaped me as a person. I am who I am because I read Anne of Green Gables, you know? And so I feel like the the books that I want my kids to read and the books that I want to put in the world for those kids… they can read them and be like, ‘oh this is who I am. This is what I want to be like. I see myself before I see the person I want to be.’ “
If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons.
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
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