Hey Kids!

Have you read one of my books? (I hope so!) Am I coming to visit your school soon? (That would be cool!) Maybe you want to know about me and my books. (I’d love to tell you!) Just click on the questions below. Have fun!

Judy Young

Where do you live?

I live in the country outside Springfield, Missouri. My house is surrounded by woods and we have a trail that winds through the trees to a little campsite. We have seen foxes, deer, coyotes, hawks, owls and eagles on our property. I have also lived in Oklahoma and Maine.

Where do you work?

I work at home. My office has a big picture window looking across our backyard and into the woods. I have a desk with my computer on it and a rocking chair. Three walls have bookcases, and my huge dictionary sits on top of a file cabinet. A fireplace makes my space warm and cozy.

Are you married?

Yes. My husband is Ross B. Young. He is an artist. He usually paints oil paintings you put in frames on walls, but he illustrated my books S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet and Show Me the Number, A Missouri Number Book.

How old are you?

I was born the day before Valentine's Day, six years after the half-century mark in the 1900s. Can you figure it out?

Do you have kids?

Yes! This is my daughter, Brett, and her cat, Chaps.

This is my son, Reid, holding a rainbow trout he caught in Idaho.

Do you have any pets?

We have six dogs: Roca, Trip, Sport, Knucklehead, Hobo and Pip. Each has a special story about how it got its name. One dog is named after a favorite candy of mine, Almond Roca. We took a Trip to get our English Setter. Our English Pointer is always a good Sport, and "Knuck," a German Shorthair, is a big, goofy Knucklehead. One summer day, a Labrador Retriever showed up at our house, just like a Hobo might show up somewhere. And our new puppy is a Pipsqueak. She was the runt of a Brittany litter. What's the story behind your name or nickname?

When did you become a writer?

When I was about ten, I showed my grandma a poem I had written. She encouraged me to keep writing, and I have been writing ever since. I had some poems published in magazines when I was grown up, and became a published author in 2001 with my first book, S is for Show Me, A Missouri Alphabet.

Have you ever been in a movie?

Yes! Basil B. Barnwhitten from my book The Hidden Bestiary starred in a video and I had a bit part at the end! Haven't you seen it yet? Just click on "Meet B.B.B." on the sidebar menu.

Where do you find ideas?

Ideas are everywhere, even under rocks! Look around! You'll find ideas at school, at the store, in paintings and photographs. They are outside and inside, come from real experiences and from your daydreams. Ideas float by in the wind, swim in the bathtub and hide in conversations. Sometimes my dogs help me find ideas!

Is it hard to write a book?

Some people confuse "hard" with "having to think." Writing isn't hard, but you do have to think. A lot! Writing takes effort, thought, choosing words carefully, rereading, rewriting, revising, and editing. The hardest part is taking time to do these things, taking the time to think. Thinking isn't hard, is it?

What do you do when you're not writing?

I take a walk almost everyday, with Roca, of course. I like to fish, camp, hike, and travel, mainly to places where I can fish, camp and hike. Roca comes, too. I always have a good book to read and I love to play games.