Sara Madden was raised on California’s Central Coast, where her grandparents’ Tan Top Bakery provided her with an abundance of donuts and cookies. At the tender age of six, she penned her inaugural tale called “I Love My Family,” and her passion for writing has kept her occupied ever since. Presently, Sara boasts an impressive repertoire of delightful children’s books, with one notable gem, Lucy’s Umbrella, earning her a prestigious Global Book Award.
Now residing in Utah alongside her family and beloved dogs, Sara finds solace in indulging her artistic pursuits through painting and roller skating during her leisure hours.
Children’s books seem to be bursting at the seams with creativity. Can you talk about the inspiration behind writing these?
I’ve never forced an idea or book. When the story comes to me, I write it down. Each book I have written comes from a different inspiration at a specific moment I had to write down. Most ideas have come from moments with my family and friends or my childhood experiences. It isn’t hard to find inspiration with the wonderfully crazy life and family that I have.
Did you ever have an instance where writing a children’s book was difficult? How did you overcome this?
Writing children’s books has never been difficult. However, the middle school book I wrote was emotionally taxing since it was a book I wrote for my grandpa before he passed. That book was the first time I introduced bullying in any of my stories, but I felt it was a learning experience for the main character, the bully, without her realizing it until the end.
Your book, Lucy’s Umbrella, is now a Global Book Awards Winner. What is the takeaway message from this book that children can grasp and learn from?
I needed to write a book about self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-love without her being bullied to learn these lessons.
Can you talk to us about the importance of comfort in words for you?
Being dyslexic and the anxiety it gave me, I got lost in books. Words within those stories, like hope, courage, strength, and love, brought me comfort. It made me feel like I was not alone. There was always a story I could read that spoke to my life at any given moment, and the words within those stories comforted me.
What are the current books you find yourself reading lately?
Haha. What am I not reading? I always have about six books on my nightstand and at least seventy lying around the house (just in case). But the books I am currently reading are Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, and about five random fictional WWII stories.
You can only eat one food for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner for a year straight. What are your picks for your three meals?
Oooh, easy. Donuts for breakfast, baked potatoes for lunch, and buttery popcorn for dinner.
