Before They Were Authors: Famous Writers as Kids, by Elizabeth Haidle. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Raincoast. 2019. $22.99 ages 10 and up

"When a screenwriting job was canceled, Roald found time to finish an old idea he'd had for a children's book. Wishing to avoid stereotypical heroes, he wrote about a timid boy who befriends giant insects. Sales were initially slow in the United States because of bad reviews. However, a later reprint in England immediately sold out, and Roald's reputation as a writer received a boost."

In her introduction, Elizabeth Haidle talks a bit about what makes a writer. Her observations are telling and diverse. This helps young readers (and aspiring writers) to see that their are many paths to a writing life.

"Determination was crucial, as the road to fame was never smooth. Encouragement from a mentor or teacher often made the difference when it came to braving the toughest years. Most authors endured rejections. Some got their books published only to have them banned. More often than not, day jobs paid the bills while writing was squeezed into early mornings and late nights."

She continues by telling the stories of ten authors: Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Dr. Seuss, Sandra Cisneros, Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling, Gene Luen Yang, Beatrix Potter, C. S. Lewis, and Madeline L'Engle. From diverse cultures, different countries, and varying backgrounds, each has found success in writing and bringing their stories to a wide audience.

I turned first to Roald Dahl. His funny, irreverent, often heartrending stories were (and still are) family favorites. We loved to snuggle up together and hear about the adventures, trials and triumphs of James, Matilda, Danny, Charlie, the Fantastic Mr. Fox and the BFG. I know we read them all. I shared them with my students, my brother shared them with his students, and my daughter is beginning to read them to her little ones.

His chapter begins with a quote from Matilda and a depiction of Mr. Dahl. A timeline is placed at the bottom of the page, and what follows are four pages of brief vignettes from his life. The narrative paragraphs that caption the artwork are chatty and tell of the circuitous path taken from early childhood to a famous and often-used quote: Writing is mainly perspiration, not inspiration.

As readers might do ... I went on to read about authors whose work I knew. That was quickly followed by learning more about each of these fine writers. There is much to learn from each and every one of them as the navigated the path to success.

The design for each page is appealing and does a commendable job of sharing intriguing events from a writer's life. I found myself slowing down and taking time to really consider each panel and its accompanying text.

"You just have to resign
yourself to wasting a lot
of trees before you write
anything really good.

That's just how it is."

                 J. K. Rowling