Back to Featured Interviews >>

MEET DOUGLAS EVANS
by Bonnie O'Brian

When did you decide to become a children’s book author?

Douglas Evans

When I was teaching in London, I had the opportunity to visit Roald Dahl at his house. I loved his life style as well as his writing style, and I bought a typewriter the next day. Years later I was fortunate to have Roald Dahl’s editor, Stephen Roxburgh at Front Street Books publish my first book CLASSROOM AT THE END OF THE HALL.

What was your first job when you graduated from college?

I studied education and taught grade school children for twenty years.

What are the topics of some of your books?

My books are mostly about the classroom. I’ve also traveled a lot, and my book MVP*: MAGELLAN VOYAGE PROJECT is about a boy who travels around the world.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

I enjoy living in Berkeley and being around creative people.

Which of your books did you most enjoy writing?

APPLE ISLAND, OR THE TRUTH ABOUT TEACHERS, because I wrote it as a homage to teachers.

When you do school visits, what question do children ask you most?

Did you always want to be a writer? I say no, a teacher, and I’m lucky today to be able to write about my classroom experiences and visit schools around the world.

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

Seven days a week, eight until noon.

Has anyone ever written you a fan letter that you’d like to share?

I enjoy receiving letters and e-mail from children. Getting an encouraging e-mail, while I’m sitting at my computer stuck on a paragraph is very rewarding. Recently, a tech savvy boy sent an e-mail telling me how much he enjoyed reading my book CLASSROOM AT THE END OF THE HALL. However, he wrote the title CLASSROOM @ THE END OF THE HALL.