Marilyn Singer
By Lee Bennett Hopkins

Born October 3, 1948 in Bronx, NY, Marilyn Singer credits her mother and grandmother with giving her a lifelong love of reading.

"I developed an appreciation of books and language very early in life," she says. "My mother constantly read to me. And my grandmother, whom I shared a room with until I was 12 years old, would tell me incredible stories, filling them with such detail that I felt I could see and smell every aspect of them."

After teaching high school for four years, her writing career began in 1976 with the publication of The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't (Dutton). She's now the author of over 70 books, including picture books, young adult novels, non-fiction works and many volumes of poetry. Turtle in July (Turtleback Books, 1994), was her first book of poems.

Getting a grip
"I am emotionally wrapped up in poetry," Marilyn says. "Poetry lets me get a grip on my thoughts, my life. When I write poetry I am stimulated and soothed at the same time. Poems to me become echoes that perpetuate echoes. A good poem will continue to haunt you for months, for years, forever!

In creating poetry, one must use words wonderfully to capture specific moments in fresh ways to make the reader exclaim with delight, 'Yes, that's it! That's right!'"

Singer and her husband, Steve Aronson, share life with a standard poodle, three cats and a variety of birds. Marilyn is an avid theatre-goer and an enthusiastic Star Trek fan. She also enjoys speaking to educators about the many delights, and sometimes pangs, of being a writer.

Her website, www.marilynsinger.net will lead you to a bibliography of her work, photographs, a link to her e-mail address and a wonderful page of "What Makes A Good Poem?" where many "book people" respond to the question.

Recommended books
Creature Carnival (Hyperion, 2004). The first verse of this clever collection beckons, "Come along, children of all ages./See fabled beasts not found in cages." Twenty-two more poems include subjects such as a sphinx, gargoyles and a frog prince.

How to Cross a Pond: Poems About Water (Knopf, 2003). There's an "Ocean Checklist," a "Babbling Brook" and a "Rain Forest" where "treetops are ablaze with private ponds/each no bigger than a flower's cup" in this slim volume of 19 lyrical verses.

Lee Bennett Hopkins is a distinguished poet and anthologist. Recent collections include Hanukkah Lights and Christmas Presents (HarperCollins, 2004).