What Do Wheels Do All Day?

April Jones Prince created her first book, The Adventures of David, using markers, printer paper, and staples, when she was just five. By the time she was eight, she had decided she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. But it wasn’t until April graduated from college that she realized she wanted to write for children. “”The books we love as children affect us like no other books we read in our lifetimes,” she says. “They stay with us and shape us. Plus, they give kids the perfect opportunity to crawl into the lap of someone who loves them and listen to a good story. What could be better?”” Before becoming an author, April worked in the editorial departments of William Morrow Books for Young Readers and HarperCollins Children’s Books. Today, she works as an editor at Studio Goodwin Sturges in Providence and teaches part-time at Rhode Island School of Design. April is the author of 11 books, with three more on the way. Her books span the range from board books to chapter-book nonfiction and have been designated a New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, a CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book, an Oppenheimer Toy Portfolio Gold Seal, a Child Magazine Best Book of the Year, and Amazon Best Books of the Month and Year. She writes, visits schools, and lives with her family in Massachusetts.

The landscapes of northern New Hampshire where I was born and spent the first two decades of my life are what inspired my desire to create art and I have been doing so since I can remember. At Montserrat College of Art in the early 1980s I began experimenting with a cut paper relief illustration that involved drawing, cutting, painting, and assembly with the use of spacers to enhance the dimension. People who saw my work said “hey, you should illustrate children’s books.” I followed up on that suggestion and landed my first children’s book project in 1985. I’m lucky to have two studios to work in: one in my Salem, MA home high up on the third floor and the other in an old barn in southwestern New Hampshire. The latter has a glass wall from which I can observe moose, deer, black bears, and dozens of species of birds