Willow and Bunny

Exactly seven days from today, Willow and Bunny written by Anitra Rowe Schulte, illustrated by Christopher Denise, and published by Two Lions will be released!

At its heart, Willow and Bunny is a story of friendship, community, and hope.

Bunny and Willow spend many peaceful days in friendship and safety.

But, when an angry spiraling wind whips through the wood, Bunny and the forest animals seek the safety of Willow’s wide trunk and the protection of her bowed branches.

Once calm returns, Willow, battered by the storm, needs the help of Bunny and the other woodland animals. Together, they return the love and care Willow had shown them.

WILLOW AND BUNNY by Anitra Rowe Schulte and illustrated by Christopher Denise is available for preorder!

Q&A with the author: Anitra Rowe Schulte

Anitra, I read on your website that you’ve been actively writing as early as Elementary School and that you created picture books as soon as you could spell. I love the image of you and the rest of your early writing group (see below) and wondered what drew your creative expression to the written word over illustrations.

True! Ever since I was very small, I’ve been expressing myself and working through emotions in storytelling, and I’ve always loved to draw and been captivated by visual forms of narrative.

When I was in college, I tried all sorts of storytelling, many of them with strong visual elements – courses in sketching, playwriting, screenplay writing, set design, and film studies. I loved all of them. Each felt like playing.

In the end, though, I chose journalism and the craft of writing. I suppose that’s because storytelling in words is fun to me, but not just that. It’s essential. I, quite literally, don’t know how I feel about anything until I write about it. Writing picture books is the best of all worlds! To share something big in your heart, and see it illustrated in full gorgeous color, is magic.

Anitra, you shared a list of things you’ve adored since childhood on your website. Do your picture books Dancing with Daddy and  Willow and Bunny reflect any of those favored items?

I love this question, Jan! Writing that list felt like penning my own horoscope, and I return to it every now and then to imagine myself in a place filled with those very things. It’s so human, isn’t it, for certain objects and experiences to hold weight and wonder in our imagination and to also be so personal that simply sharing our love for them can help us feel more known and understood. Naturally, those things find themselves in our stories – sometimes subconsciously.

Dancing with Daddy is definitely a story about “sisters” with a little “kitchen dancing” in the mix. And I have long adored “willow trees” and the color “yellow,” which glow on nearly every page of Willow and Bunny – a surprise and a gift! To me, this is yet another thing that makes picture books magical – they are enduring extensions of our heart’s greatest delights, yearnings, and hopes.

Anitra, first of all, I want to say congratulations on your three-book deal with Beaming Books for Starlin, a chapter-book series about an imaginative theatrical disabled girl, her family, and school-day adventures. What was your inspiration for the chapter book series? Are you interested in writing within other genres? And if so, what are they?

Thank you so much! My inspiration for the Starlin series started in the spring of 2020 when my family was at home during the COVID lockdown. My daughters were in third grade, first grade, and kindergarten at the time, and without a doubt, books got us through. My oldest was very into chapter books then, especially the Yasmin series by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Hatem Aly, and the Jada Jones series by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton.

I found myself wishing that my daughter could enjoy a series with a main character who used the same tools that she uses (such as a wheelchair, communication device, TLSO, and hearing aids) and had similar experiences (with family and friends, and teachers and therapists). Then one day, while driving in our van for a vacation, Starlin’s voice arrived. She was a little bit like me as a child, too – very oriented to processing things through the lens of performance and theater and moments spent centerstage. Starlin was born!

You mentioned that you studied and worked as a journalist. What led you back to creating picture books?

Being a curious person who has always sought threads of connection to the world and others, journalism really appealed to me as a career. I loved having professional permission to ask any question I wanted and finding my way through complex ideas. When my three girls were very young, we lived at the library and brought home dozens of titles each week. I fell in love with picture books all over again. Simultaneously, I had something on my heart that I wanted to convey to my niece. I wrote a poem and shared it with a friend, who once worked in children’s publishing. She said, “This feels like a picture book.” That aha moment sent me deep into picture book craft. I loved the focus and beauty of the 32-page construct, the art of the page turn, and so much more. Yet in the end, when I start a new manuscript, my intentions are the same as they were in journalism – to find my way through and to understand things in a way that connects to others’ experiences, too.

I enjoyed reading the blog posts “How We Talk About Disability” and “Models of Disability” you wrote for The Nora Project, whose mission is to promote disability inclusion by empowering educators and engaging students and communities. When did you first get involved with The Nora Project?

Thank you for reading those! My sister was the first person to raise my awareness of The Nora Project. The work that TNP is leading is so important. Our world has become so comfortable creating separate spaces for children with disabilities that it doesn’t even realize that this practice is segregation.

Children deserve to get to know each other and learn from and with each other at school. We have to empower disabled and nondisabled children to determine the support they need and put those in place so they can thrive together. I started as a consultant for TNP and currently serve as director of marketing and communications. I am honored to be a part of a team committed to advocating for and advancing this necessary work.

To learn more about The Nora Project click this link: https://thenoraproject.ngo/mission

Anitra, if you could meet any writer from any time period, who would be your top five choices and why?

How fun! I am very sorry that I never got to meet Eric Carle. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the only book I brought to college, and I bring it on every single school and library visit. To me, it is the perfect example of what a picture book – and only a picture book – can do and be.

Margaret Wise Brown and Ruth Krauss would be next. They distill, capture, and enliven the nuances of childhood like no other writers ever have since. I love the novels of Milan Kundera and Saul Bellow. The human experience is so up-close and examined in their worlds and turns of phrase. I hope that we all get a chance to meet for dinner one day, in a world not far from here.

I hope you do too! I’m sure that would be a dinner bursting with creative energy and lively conversation.

Anitra, thank you for sharing the exciting news about  Willow and Bunny and some insights into your personal writer’s journey.

To connect with or learn more about Anitra, see the links below.