Laura Numeroff is the author of the bestselling, classic children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, first published in 1985 and now in its 62nd printing. She’s authored five additional books in the If You Give… series, plus What Mommies Do Best/What Daddies Do Best. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up as the youngest of three girls, surrounded by art, music and books. Laura now lives in Los Angeles, California. Laura will headline this year’s ScholarShare Children’s Book Festival the weekend of September 26 and 27. She’ll read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie plus her new book, Raising a Hero, and sign copies of her books.

What was your inspiration for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie?
I was on a long boring car trip and started to visualize animals eating my favorite foods. I pictured a zebra eating Cheetos (the crunchy ones) and getting orange all over his beautiful black and white face. (If they can put a man on the moon, why can’t they figure out how to make Cheetos not leave orange around your mouth?) I pictured an orangutan eating pizza, getting his long, gangly arms tangled in the long cheese strings that you get when lifting a piece of hot pizza up from the plate. And, then I pictured a little mouse eating a big chocolate chip cookie. But, I didn’t stop there! I figured he’d want milk! I kept going with the napkin, straw, the whole magilla, and when I got home, I typed it on my fifty-dollar typewriter that I got at a flea market, with a wonky “W”. I first sent it to Harper & Row, because they had published one of my favorite books, Stuart Little, but they rejected it. I sent it to nine other publishers, one of them sending it back saying they only did series. After the ninth rejection, I heard that there was a new editor at Harper & Row, and her name was Laura. I sent it to her and got a phone call saying she wanted to publish it. The timing couldn’t have been better because I had just broken up with my boyfriend and was miserable! That’s why my motto is “Never give up!” And, that’s the story of my inspiration,which led me to talking about trying to sell it. (Yes! I am the mouse!)

Tell us about your latest book, Raising a Hero?
I’ve always wanted to write a book about service dogs! They are the most inspiring, amazing, smart and sweet dogs and know over fifty commands, including, taking off someone’s shoes, turning the lights on and off and helping with laundry. I met Sean Hanrahan when I was looking for help with my archaic web site. It turned out his brother, Devin, used a service dog because he has cerebral palsy. That was my first meeting with Miss Ellie, Devin’s service dog. It was love at first sight! I wrote the book, doing research at Canine Companions for Independence, located in San Diego, which is where Miss Ellie came from. Sean and I raised the money to publish it on Kickstarter. We were very lucky that Lynn Munsinger, who illustrated Ponyella, was on board. Her illustrations are so endearing! Raising a Hero, is my first independently published children’s book, and I’m truly excited about it!

For many, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a beloved childhood book. What was your favorite book to read as a child?
I have two favorite books, both inspired me to be a writer! I absolutely loved Stuart Little, written by E.B. White, and published by Harper & Row (they’re now HarperCollins), is about a mouse in New York City, and yes, I’m from New York! Brooklyn to be exact. My other favorite book was Eloise, written by Kay Thompson and published by Simon and Schuster. It’s about a little girl who lives in a hotel in New York. The cool thing is, I’ve now been published by Harper AND Simon and Schuster! As for a fairytale character, it would have to be Cinderella! One of my books was inspired by the story. It’s called Ponyella! Cinderella as a pony!