In 1989 I published my first book for children titled Fire Fighters ( Scholastic ). It was a very good experience, because it meant hanging out with firefighters, and the book did quite well. That was the beginning of 11 books over the next years, on a range of subjects, from Garden to Garbage. These books were an opportunity to produce extended essays about subjects like the seasons, or Tugboats, or Little Trucks ( doing big things ). By the time I made the last book, the publishers were no longer producing these kinds of photo driven books for children, and you couldn’t draw from that well any longer. It was a good experience over 20 years, and though the books are no longer in print, they live on in libraries of all kinds and in personal collections, and I run across people who know some of the titles well. Funny enough, the most challenging aspect of making these books was the writing, because making one’s writing simple, yet flowing, is not simple.