Bianca with Gregory Maguire on Cress Watercress

In this episode, Bianca talks talk with bestselling author Gregory Maguire about his latest novel for kids, Cress Watercress.

Gregory is the author of the incredibly popular books in the Wicked Years series, including Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which inspired the musical. He is also the author of several books for children, including What-the-Dickens, a New York Times bestseller, and Egg & Spoon, a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year. He lives outside Boston.

Order a copy of Cress Watercress on Bookshop.org, Amazon, or Audible.

Transcription:

You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review.

Resources:

https://gregorymaguire.com/

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy

Egg & Spoon

https://www.davidlitchfieldillustration.com/

The Once and Future King

The Sword in the Stone

The Diamond in the Window

The Wizard of Oz

Wind in the Willows

Harriet the Spy

Discussion Topics:

• About Gregory Maguire
• About Cress Watercress
• The feelings and success of the Wicked Years series
• Writing for children versus adults
• The seed of the idea for Cress Watercress
• Exploring emotions in children's books with forest and woodland animals
• The character development of Cress Watercress: Lady Agatha Cabbage, Mama, and Cress Watercress
• Working with illustrator David Litchfield
• The books Gregory Maguire read as a child and the moment he identified as a reader
• Writing rituals and exercising the writing brain
• The literary parents Gregory Maguire would pick for himself—hint, it's not Virginia Woolf
• Gregory Maguire's hopes for Cress Watercress
• Chapter One: Cress Watercress (Audiobook sample used with permission from Recorded Books)