Smack Dab in the Classroom by Dia Calhoun: Better Author Reports.

When I was a kid, we were required to do reports on the authors of our favorite books. I often thought the questions my teachers wanted us to answer were boring. So here are a few questions I 'd have found more interesting.

• If the author were lying in a hammock, what would she daydream about?
• If the author could take a trip anywhere in the world (or universe) where would she go and why?
• If the author could choose between waltzing in a glittering ballroom, or riding a horse through the hills, which would he choose and why?
• What do you think the author's favorite childhood book was, and why?
• If you could do one thing with the author what would it be, and why?
• If the author could only hang one object on the wall of his house, what would it be and why?

You get the idea. How I would have loved to have answered questions like those, questions that engaged me imaginatively with the author. And how I would love to answer such questions, now, as an author myself.

Happy Imagining!