Linda Ashman
Children's Book Author

Angry Abby

Abby's apt to argue anytime and anyplace.

She'll argue over apricots, an acorn, or an ace.

She'll argue with an astronaut, an artist or a waiter.

A shame she had to argue with that awful alligator."

I wrote this book in 2000 when Jackson was two years old and loved reading nursery rhymes. If you haven't read any lately, nursery rhymes have a lot of naughty children in them--and the worse the behavior, the more Jackson liked the poem. Since I loved writing poetry, and knew a thing or two about naughty children, I figured I could write a few poems on the subject. When it occurred to me to organize it alphabetically, "a few poems" became 26 poems, and "Alphabrats" was born.

Stephanie Lurie at Dutton bought the book later that year. And as it arrives in bookstores in July 2008, the two-year-old who inspired it is now 10 years old and reading novels, not nursery rhymes (and I have a lot more gray in my hair!). But as my mother liked to say, "Good things come to those who wait." In the case of Nancy Carpenter's wonderfully creative and hilarious illustrations, Mom was right.