Beverly Donofrio
Describe your latest project.
Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary is a story about a girl and a mouse who live in the same house. Mary, of course, is warned to stay away from mice because they're dirty and have germs, while Mouse is told to stay away from people because they're sneaky and mean and will lure you into traps. But Mary and the Mouse become friends anyway, and wave to each other through the mouse hole in the wall. And then when Mary and Mouse are grown up, their children become friends, too.
I love the pictures that Barbara McClintock drew, because the mouse house is so much like the human house, only the mice have used many things they've found around, such as an egg carton for a sofa, a tea bag for a cushion and a watch for a clock on the wall.
What is your favorite family story?
My favorite story is the first story I remember ever hearing my mother tell me. When my mother was twelve years old, she went swimming in a lake and almost drowned. She went under for the third time and saw the Virgin Mary glowing in the sky above her, holding her hands out. The next thing my mother knew, she awoke on the beach, saved. For those of you who don't know, the Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ and a saint in the Catholic church.
If you could choose any story to live in, which story would it be? Why?
I would love to live in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, so I could visit Narnia for an entire lifetime, have talking beasts and trees as friends, possess magical powers, and know Aslan.
What do you do for relaxation?
I sit at my window and watch the flocks of birds that come to my birdbath, the chipmunks running all over the place, and the rabbits nibbling the weeds in my prairie yard.
What is your idea of bliss?
Pepperoni pizza!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A princess.
Why do you write books for kids?
Because I can become a kid again while I write them, and being a kid is about a thousand times more interesting than being an adult.
Tell us about your pets.
The best pet I ever had in all of my life was a big orange cat named Cyrano. We went for walks together, almost as though he were a dog, but of course, being a cat he would dart here and there and never walk right next to me. But he did come when I called him, and he would jump up onto the railing next to my door so he could knock on the window and let me know he wanted to come in. He liked to sneak into other people's houses to try to make friends. Once he ended up at a birthday party at a neighbor's house, where I could see him through the window, sitting smack in the middle of their table next to the cake, having the time of his life.
Cyrano died two years ago, at the age of seventeen. He is buried in my yard. I miss him very much.
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Beverly Donofrio is the author of the memoir Riding in Cars with Boys, which was made into a film starring Drew Barrymore, and the forthcoming Thank You, Lucky Stars. She lives in Mexico.
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