Surprising Myself

by Jean Fritz, Andrea Fritz Pfleger (Photographer)

Fritz, a well-known author of books for young people, describes her daily life and the way she writes.

Genres: Biography

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Jean Guttery Fritz was an American children's writer best known for American biography and history. She won the Children's Legacy Literature Award for her career contribution to American children's literature in 1986. She turned 100 in November 2015 and died in May 2017 at the age of 101.

Reviews

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice series, "Meet the Author". I read this one because Jean Fritz has recently died. It's a nice simple account of the author's life and her favorite books and how she gets her ideas, etc., together with a great selection of photographs taken by her daughter and some of the illustrations from her books. Fritz unselfconsciously shows off chubby knees and writes her first drafts in longhand. I don't know how popular her books are with children now, but it's not a bad way to remember an interesting author. Now to read her adult autobiography, Homesick.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. Interesting that she stores her writing drafts in her fridge when she leaves her house for vacation...

-Talk about exploring
-Motivation to write

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a literary child, who loves to read this is a good book to use as an introduction to the author. It is for a primary reader. In it she introduces herself and her writing.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy books where authors tell about how they write and where they get their ideas. This is just such a book. Jean tells us a bit about her life, past and present, and how exploring and keeping oneself open to surprises can be wonderful ways to find stories and ideas for stories. She explains how she finds ideas by reading, by vacationing, by playing and a little about what her process is. With wonderful large photographs of what she is doing, taken by her daughter, and sparse words, this book could be used with all ages to learn about what another writer does to be an author.