What Kelly Says...
Interviews with the Author
South Coast Today "Author-Mom Promotes Joy of Reading" by Lauren Daley – May 8, 2011
KELLY: Reading with your child fosters a love for reading. During the act of reading with a child, the physical closeness — the warmth of being touched and receiving focused attention — combined with the mental and emotional closeness of sharing and appreciating a story, creates a three-way bond between the adult and child and books. My friend and fellow writer, Tam Smith, calls this bond the "Vibrant Triangle."
Kelly and Sarah Ketchersid, her Candlewick Press editor, discuss DAD AND POP in Judy Bradbury's article: "Who Cares? Grandparents, Step-parents, & Other Caregivers" (Children's Writer, Feb. 2011)
Kelly was able to take a subject that's often treated very seriously and make it sound like the most fun thing in the world."
This interview on Authorlink.com, “A Passion For Picture Books" by Susan VanHecke, appeared in September, 2010.
One must begin with an idea that is pertinent to children and 'big enough' to capture their attention . . .”
Kelly's TV debut on KAMU-TV, “Brazos Valley Magazine with Sharon Colson”, aired July 17, 2010.
Host Sharon Colson highlights DAD AND POP, YOUR DADDY WAS JUST LIKE YOU, with illustrations and author reading from DANCE, Y'ALL, DANCE.
(The excerpt above is presented with permission from KAMU-TV. It runs close to 7 minutes and will open in a new window.)
Christina Lewis of Kidsbookshelf.com posted an interview with Kelly on July 8, 2010.
When creating the book, I tried to look at life from the child's eye view—what does having two fathers mean to her? How does she feel about it?
To do this I had to create an imaginary scenario in which the character would be discussing and comparing her two fathers—hence the scrapbook style of the story.
Children don't—and shouldn't—have to be concerned about the "adult drama" of how their situation is what it is. They deal in the reality of now, and that's what I set out to do. To have this girl compare and contrast her two fathers as they relate to her, how she sees them, how they interact with her—beginning with differences and appearances, moving forward to similarities, and finally coming all the way inside to what's really important, the heart.”
Helen Kampion of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA) shared this interview with Kelly on July 6, 2010.
Hands down, the most challenging aspect of writing a picture book is coming up with a good idea. I read these brilliant new stories and think, 'Dang, why didn't I think of that!' or worse, 'I thought of that, why didn't I write it!'
National Writing for Children Center “Book Bites for Kids” with Suzanne Lieurance – June 14, 2010
Kelly was interviewed live on the radio at WTBQ AM (Warwick NY) by Shannon D. Sanford of “Shannon’s Corner” on June 15, 2010.
Shannon introduced Kelly as the "author of the most delicious and delightful Father’s Day books for kids and families" and warmly recommended DAD AND POP and YOUR DADDY WAS JUST LIKE YOU to her listening audience.
A Cynthia Leitich Smith’s “Cynsations” Guest Post— Kelly Bennett on Celebrating Fathers: Daddy, Father, Pop, Son, Cash and Cole— appeared June 21, 2010.
One of the most difficult (for me) decisions when writing is deciding when/where to enter a story. When I set about creating Dad and Pop... all I knew was that I wanted to write about a child with two fathers, but I couldn’t figure out where to begin.
I allowed myself to get bogged down in the myriad of 'family dramas,' which could create such a situation: Were her parents divorced and remarried? Were her dads gay? Was she adopted? Did she switch houses every Wednesday? etc.
Like a hammer, the truth hit finally me: While the 'drama' resulting in a child having two fathers could serve as the basis for a Lifetime Movie, it was of little importance to my character. After coming to this realization, Dad and Pop came easy.”
Young Adults Book Central interviewed Kelly on May 22, 2010.
Texas and Oklahoma are all about country music—and two stepping and dance halls. When Max and Lexi were in high school, our family took Country Western Swing classes. We had a grand time! The idea for doing a book about families at the dance hall came to me while we were twirling around during practices.
“Coffee with an Author” an interview with Internet talk-radio host Naomi Giroux, on Ijustfinished.com.
Info: “Coffee with an Author” is an interactive, live Internet talk-radio show that focuses on authors and writers of all genres and mediums, and a feature on Ijustfinished.com.
Host Naomi Giroux explores the careers, advice, writing style and personality of each guest. “Coffee with an Author” is live every Monday at 10am (CST). The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio, by Ijustfinished.com, and available on iTunes as well.
Author Interview: Kelly Bennett on Not Norman, an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith
Do I have a goldfish named Norman? Of course. He was named after my cat. In fact, I bought my first goldfish just to tease my cat...
I'd love to pretend there was some research or deep soul searching that went in to Not Norman, but honestly, my inner self isn't much older than eight, so it's not difficult for me to think and act like a child—my family says I do it all the time!
Interview with Author — Kelly Bennett, posted by Susan Hilliard of WritingResourceInc.com
My first published book was in collaboration with Ronnie Davidson. She and I met in a writing class when I was just beginning to learn about writing professionally. We used to get together in the morning, after taking the kids to school and before I had to go to work. We’d walk and talk and laugh and create stories together. SHERLICK HOUND AND THE VALENTINE MYSTERY was our first published book and we had a dog-gone good time creating it. We’ve been writing together [as Jill Max] ever since.
