Gretchen Woelfle

Ten Quick Facts About Me

1. I have three cats: Jelly, Gus, and LV (Little Voice.)
2. Jelly looks just like Katje, the Windmill Cat, only fatter.
3. I once lived in a little grass hut on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I'm writing a novel about it now.
4. I've got a miniature farm at my home in Los Angeles, California, with seven fruit trees, three kinds of berries, lots of vegetables, and a tree drooping with dozens of avocados.
5. My front garden dazzles with orange California poppies every spring.
6. My son and daughter think I have a terrible singing voice, but I joined a choir anyway. As long as I don't sing loudly, I don't spoil the music.
7. I like to go boogieboarding in the Pacific Ocean.
8. If I didn't love the California sunshine so much, I'd move to England.
9. I like to write all kinds of stories for all ages of children.
10. If I come to visit your school, you can help me act out my books with props, costumes, and songs. I promise to sing quietly.


Growing Up

I grew up in Dunkirk, New York, a small town on Lake Erie. Many of my childhood memories relate to the weather. Long cold winters with heaps of snow. Sliding down the ice mounds on Lake Erie on flying saucers. Being oh-so-happy when spring came, and I didn’t have to wear an itchy snowsuit anymore. Diving through the big waves on Lake Erie during the hot summers. Eating fresh chives and strawberries from my grandparents’ garden. Watching the farmers’ trucks roll into town filled with Concord grapes just as school was starting in the fall, and snitching a bunch from the trucks. The whole town smelling of grapes cooking as they were made into juice and jam.

I read a lot when I was a kid. Here’s a picture of me reading Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer to my sister, Christine. Every summer I joined the library reading club, and one year the librarian questioned me every day when I returned to take out four new books. She didn’t believe I could read that much. I was so insulted!

I majored in English at the University of California at Berkeley. Then I did editorial work and magazine writing in London, England, New England, the Midwest and Los Angeles California. I also wrote scripts for educational interactive multimedia programs. By this time I was married and had two children, and I began reading to them. It was a happy/sad day for me when Cleo and Alice learned to read by themselves, because they wanted to read their own books, not listen to me. They have always been very independent!

Becoming A Children’s Writer

One Christmas I received a tape of family stories from long-ago Maine, told by Granny Erskine, my grandmother-in-law. Many sounded like good tales for children. It took me awhile to learn how to create a good story – not just record amusing events. But eventually I began to sell my stories to magazines and book publishers.

A few years ago I went back to school for a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children from Vermont College. Not only did I learn a lot about writing, but I made many clever writer friends. We call ourselves the Hive and email each other many times a day! I love writing for children. They are so open to new ideas, and they like to read their books -- perhaps my books -- over and over again.

When I'm not traveling around the world, I live in Los Angeles, California. My children are grown up now. Cleo is a teacher, environmental writer, and urban gardener who lives in Oakland, California. He has written a superb book called Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground.

Alice lives in London, England. She ride her bicycle all over the city and makes beautiful music on the French horn -- though not at the same time.

I've got lots of stories I'm still working on -- picture books and middle-grade novels. As soon as I sell them, you'll read about it on this website.

I'd love to come and talk to your class about how much fun it is to be a writer -- and what a challenge it is. You can email me about school visits, about my books, your stories, your cats, or anything else that comes to mind. I'd be happy to hear from you.