Terry Miller Shannon (1951-)

Terry Miller Shannon told SATA: "I began writing at age forty-three when I realized my life was whizzing by Part of the "From Sea to Shining Sea" series, Shannon's Oregon offers a thorough discussion of the state through its history, commerce, natural resources, people of distinction, and other topics. (Illustration by Susan Hunt Yule.) and I hadn't attempted my lifelong dream of being an author. I absolutely love children's books (I'll never stop reading them); I'm still age twelve, no matter how many candles I find on my birthday cake. I hope my readers will think, 'What a great story!' when they've read one of my books." She continued, "My working habits are sporadic—I tend to follow any inspiration beckoning to me. Tub Toys, the picture book I wrote with my son Tim Warner, was inspired by his toddler's fascination with his bath. Writing and then publishing the book with him has been an amazing adventure—so much more fun shared!"

In Tub Toys, the little boy who narrates the book is fascinated primarily with the many toys he puts in the tub with him. He runs around his house rounding up the usual bath toys, such as a rubber duck, and more unexpected ones, like an eggbeater, until the tub is so full that he cannot fit in. His mother and father, exasperated with his toy-gathering, turn into an octopus and a shark, respectively. Illustrating the rhyming text are Lee Calderon's digital pictures, which are comical and highly stylized, displaying influences of 1950s and 1960s art and design. "Children will get a laugh out of this story," commented Maryann H. Owen in School Library Journal, while a Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book "energetic."

Tub Toys is aimed at preschoolers through first graders; Shannon's work also includes nonfiction books for the middle grades, New Hampshire and Oregon, and many nonfiction and fiction books and readers for the educational market. She advises aspiring writers to "read everything, especially in their chosen genre. They should write through their fear and not be intimidated by rejection. Try to concentrate on the pleasure of creating."