How did a frilly, girly character force her way into my story? I realized Amanda needed someone to push against, someone who would be her friend, someone not like Amanda. And then a character dressed in head-to-toe pink skipped into the picture. One day I woke up knowing that Amanda Panda’s favorite color was brown, that she had a rock named Hartley, and that she wanted to be a school bus driver.Īmanda was me! The hard part was over! All I had to do was tell Amanda’s story. I read lots of character-driven picture books and analyzed the texts. I paid attention to five-year-olds in stores and the library. I didn’t know what kindergarteners do! I talked to a local teacher and watched the neighborhood kids. I agreed to try, and we both decided Amanda Panda would be kindergarten age. Frances the editor warned me to avoid an overly girly character. Next I re-read the Frances the badger books by Russell Hoban ( Bedtime for Frances, Bread and Jam for Frances, etc.). I fell for Christine Grove’s marshmallowy pandas at first sight. I asked Frances if the character had a name-she did, Amanda Panda-and if I could see some of the illustrator’s sketches. a character who knows who she is, is a bit of a pistol, but still vulnerable. She told me she was looking for a “personality reminiscent of Frances the badger. I’ve known Frances for years, but we’d never worked together on a project. In 2015, Frances Gilbert, Associate Publishing Director, Random House Books for Children, approached me about writing a picture book story to go with a character an illustrator had created. When the book was finished, I’d let the movie go, knowing the illustrator would envision the story differently. I kept a little movie in my head, images of my character, setting, and the action. I’d think and write and stumble through many handwritten drafts. All of my picture books began with an idea. So it shouldn’t be that strange that I wrote Amanda Panda Quits Kindergarten backwards, at least from the way I usually write picture books. This is Candice, age 5, on the right, with her cousin.) (Photos of the artwork are from the slideshow White’s The Once and Future King, who said, “I was born at the wrong end of time, and I have to live backwards from in front.” I began by writing YA fiction and worked my way backward to books for the very young. I didn’t get my MFA in children’s book writing until I’d published over 90 books. My entire career has been based on doing things backwards. Continuing my features of fellow faculty at Hollins University, today we have my friend Candice Ransom.

Amanda by Candice Ransom