Deborah Underwood: Writing Dynamic Dialogue
KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today we’re talking with picture book author Deborah Underwood.
I met and became friends with Deborah Underwood in 2016 when she presented at a conference I helped organize. Deborah is a gifted storyteller, combining humor and kindness with a deep empathy for children, animals, and nature. Two of her most recent titles, The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals and A Mouse Family Christmas, are my two-year-old grandson's current favorites. Imagine my delight when The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals won the prestigious Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite for Picture Book Text (2025). Deborah lives in San Francisco with her beloved cat, Bella.
Welcome, Deborah!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
The fact that I’m a six-year-old trapped in the body of a grown-up! Rather than writing what I think some random kid might want to read, I write what I want to read, and that serves me pretty well.
Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?
The graphic novels I’m working on are written in screenplay format, so they’re mostly dialogue. You can communicate so much using dialogue alone. One thing people might try is telling their story in dialogue only and seeing what happens. Even if that doesn’t work for the final version, it might help you to find a character’s voice or learn something new about them.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
I’d tell myself that there’s no “there” there. When I started out, I thought that if only I got an agent, all my problems would go away. Then I thought that if only I sold a book, all my problems would go away. Then if only I got a contract for a series. Then if only I won an award. Then if only I had a bestseller.
These things are all great, and some of them open doors. But at no point does the actual hard work of being a writer end. We still get rejections. We still lose our way. We still have manuscripts we can’t figure out. We still have life knock us off our feet. We still have to begin again, and again.
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
Lately I’ve been inspired by the natural world—my walks in the park, the birds who visit my yard, the ocean. I recently visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the comb jellies, propelled by tiny hairs that fracture light and surround the jellies in rainbows, took my breath away. Writers—and humans in general—need awe, especially now.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
I’ll give you my top-of-the-head answer: I loved Press Here by Hervé Tullet. It’s so simple and such a delight—I was actually playing with it as I walked home from the library with it, as I recall—and such a clever way to engage the reader. Before I saw it, I’d been working on an interactive book, but mine was way, way more specific and complicated. Press Here was a lesson for me in the power of simplification. An important lesson for a picture book author!
Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
The Fairy Tale Fixers: Cinderella, my first graphic novel, is out in August 2025. It has amazing illustrations by Jorge Lacera, and I’m so excited to get to genre-hop!
Deborah Underwood is the author of more than 30 picture books, including The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals, Outside In, and the New York Times bestsellers The Quiet Book and Here Comes the Easter Cat. She lives in Northern California with her feline muse, Bella.
You can find her online on her website and on Instagram: @underwoodwriter
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