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Katherine Pryor is an award-winning children\u2019s book author and good food advocate. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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She grew up in California and Arizona before moving to Seattle to study food and farming. Her books are widely used in school garden curriculum, nutrition education, and anti-hunger initiatives and have been recognized by the Whole Kids Foundation Book Club, Ag in the Classroom, and the American Horticultural Society. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
In addition to writing, Katherine has worked to create better food choices at institutions, large corporations, and food banks. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two voracious kids. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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She\u2019s the author of 10 books, including <\/span>Hello, Snow!<\/span><\/em>, illustrated by Rose Soini (2025), <\/span>Hello, Beach!,<\/span><\/em> Rose Soini (2025), <\/span>Hello, Rain!<\/span><\/em>, illustrated by Rose Soini (2024), <\/span>Home Is Calling: The Journey of the Monarch Butterfly<\/span><\/em> illustrated by Ellie Peterson (2023),<\/span> Spring Is for Strawberries<\/span><\/em>, illustrated by Polina Gortman (2023), <\/span>Hello, Garden!<\/span><\/em>, illustrated by Rose Soini (2021), and <\/span>Bea\u2019s Bees<\/span><\/em>, illustrated by Ellie Peterson (2019). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Her newest picture book, <\/span>Attack of the Hangries<\/span><\/em>, was released on September 16th.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Tell us a little about yourself. (Where\/when do you write? How long have you been writing? What is your favorite book to write?) <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I\u2019ve been a writer since second grade, when my teacher led us in a creative writing exercise. She turned off the lights, had us put our heads on our desks, and played some classical music. Then she turned on the lights and told us to write whatever we had just seen in our imaginations. I\u2019ve been chasing that feeling ever since.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I spent a good portion of my twenties trying to be a novelist and wrote three novels I couldn\u2019t convince anyone to publish. When I got tired of waiting tables and bartending to support my writing habit, I went to grad school to study sustainable food and farming and graduated into a job I loved. But I missed writing and started waking up an hour earlier than I needed to every day just to write in a journal and be creative. Then one day, I was advocating for Farm to School funding in my state capital, and a dad told a story of how his daughter wouldn\u2019t eat spinach until she had grown it in her school garden, then ended up falling in love with spinach. For whatever reason, I thought, \u201cThat would make a great kids\u2019 book.\u201d I didn\u2019t know anything about writing for kids but workshopped my drafts at a night class at my local community college and ended up publishing <\/span>Sylvia\u2019s Spinach<\/span><\/em> a year later. I loved seeing the reaction it got from kids and families and started learning more about the industry so I could do it again. (Although truth be told, my goal for every book I write is usually something along the lines of, \u201cI hope it\u2019s good enough that they\u2019ll let me do it again.\u201d)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I used to think I needed a special space to write, but I\u2019ve learned that what I really need is time. I need to carve out space for creativity dates with myself, where I set aside time to work on creative projects. Sometimes this is at my desk, but I could just as easily be in a garden or coffee shop, as long as it\u2019s a space free of distractions and demands of daily life.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
It’s wonderful to “meet’ you Katherine. What helps you to be inspired? (perhaps a certain place, music, activity, etc.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I\u2019m most inspired when I\u2019m out in the world\u2014going for walks, volunteering in my kids\u2019 school garden, or spending time in a beautiful place. I wrote most of the Hello! board book series watching my kids play outdoors and just jotting little notes in my phone about what they were doing. I think play is an incredibly important component of creativity. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had a single idea sitting in front of my computer and waiting for something to show up, but I\u2019ve had lots of ideas pop into my head when my brain is engaged in something completely different. The trick is taking a minute to jot them down before they fly away again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
That is indeed the magic that can be so very fleeting. What was your inspiration or spark of interest for <\/span><\/strong>Attack of the Hangries<\/span><\/em><\/strong>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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As a lifelong sufferer of the Hangries AND a food writer, it was a topic I\u2019d wanted to write about for several years but had never been able to find my way into a compelling story. Then one day, I was on a ferry on my way to a doctor\u2019s appointment and read an article about why people get hangry. For some people, when our blood glucose drops, it triggers a release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. I kept thinking about the concept of our bodies being attacked by stress hormones that whole drive to the doctor\u2019s office and wrote my first draft in their parking lot.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I love it! What a great way to get inspired and a ticking timer to get a draft done before the appointment. What is the hardest or most challenging thing about writing <\/span><\/strong>Attack of the Hangries<\/span><\/em><\/strong>? And what was the most fun?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I loved writing a funny picture book. I\u2019d had funny lines in past books, but had never written an intentionally humorous book, and I loved having the freedom to just get completely ridiculous and escalate the situations beyond the point of reason. I really let myself have fun and didn\u2019t let my inner critic come out. My writing group helped me tone down a few parts and ramp up others, and the whole thing made me want to write another funny book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The hardest part of writing the book was the backmatter. Yes, I\u2019ve worked in food for years, but it was more on the production and procurement side of things. I don\u2019t have any formal nutrition training and hadn\u2019t taken biology since high school. I read a ton of books about digestion to write one page about the human digestive process and reached out to some nutritionist friends to talk me through the concept of why certain foods make us feel full longer. They answered all my questions and offered up certain things I hadn\u2019t thought of, like the important role fats can play in keeping us feeling full. I learned a ton and am super grateful for the experience, but I spent more time writing those three pages than the entire rest of the book.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Oh my goodness. Thank you for sharing this part of the book’s process. It is amazing how much research goes into humorous books – especially if they are informational fiction. Having written both, which do find easier to write \u2013 picture books or board books? Why?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Picture books and board books are completely different creatures. I think of a picture book as a mini three-act play, and to me a board book is more about the feelings language promotes and setting a foundation for a lifelong love of reading. They\u2019re meant to be read close up, often held by someone who loves us.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
My board books were certainly simpler to write, because I got really lucky that my publisher invited me to create a four-book board book series after <\/span>Hello, Garden!<\/span><\/em> won a national award. I modeled the next three books on the first in terms of rhyme scheme and length, and they became more like a puzzle to assemble than a completely new concept. I developed such a great working relationship with the illustrator, Rose Soini, that I could trust what she would do with different spreads. It gave me a freedom to focus on language knowing she would make the art vibrant and alive.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
But just because my board books were simpler to write doesn\u2019t mean they were easier in any other way. It\u2019s harder to market a board book, and they don\u2019t get quite the same fanfare a picture book does. Like everything in writing, you have to really love what you\u2019re working on and should pursue an idea or a passion rather than a market.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Very well said. Thank you. When you first saw Thiago Buzzy\u2019s illustrations did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Because I had worked with this editorial team before, they were really great about bringing me into the process early on and allowed me to look at the art from the different illustrators they were considering. I immediately loved how Thiago portrayed the Hangries\u2014they were scary when they needed to be, but they look really sweet and harmless when they\u2019re fed. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Text \u00a9 Katherine Pryor, 2025. Image \u00a9 <\/span><\/span>Thiago Buzzy<\/span>, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The page that sold me on Thiago was the scene where one of the characters is yelling \u201cthe number one bad word on your do-not say list\u201d\u2014 he let the kid be a little naughty and also completely loveable and relatable. It felt like a real classroom to me, not some perfect, polished imaginary setting, which was exactly the feeling I wanted for the book. Just because a kid is misbehaving, it doesn\u2019t make them a bad kid\u2014they likely have a need that hasn\u2019t been met and don\u2019t know how to fix it on their own yet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I have to admit that the first time I’ve seen swearing represented in a picture book. How many revisions did <\/span><\/strong>Attack of the Hangries<\/span><\/em><\/strong> take from first draft to publication? How does this compare to your other picture books?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I have seven drafts of <\/span>Attack of the Hangrie<\/span><\/em>s on my laptop, plus a handwritten first draft. I think I went through a few additional revisions with my editor, Peggy Schaefer, after she acquired it and once the final art came in. Peggy and I had worked together on <\/span>Home is Calling<\/span><\/em>, so we already had a good working relationship, and she was able to help me take the text farther than I could have on my own.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
All of my books vary drastically in the number of drafts they need to stand on their own. My second picture book, <\/span>Zora\u2019s Zucchini<\/span><\/em>, took about 40 drafts before I got it right. By the time I got to my third and fourth books in the Hello! series, I was able to send my editor Ann Charles my third or fourth drafts because we had such an established model. I make it a point never to send out a new picture book draft before I\u2019ve revised it at least twice, because it always takes me at least that many to focus on what it is I really want to say.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Two drafts! Wow, that’s impressive. What\u2019s something you want readers to know or learn about <\/span><\/strong>Attack of the Hangries<\/span><\/em><\/strong>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I hope parents and schools learn a little about how what and when kids eat affects their lives. I think we too often make the mistake of thinking kids can eat anything and thrive, but they are just as influenced by what they eat as adults are. Some kids (like mine) really do go a little bonkers with a lot of sugar, and we\u2019ve learned to feed them a savory breakfast before school rather than the sweet cereals we grew up with. School is hard, and we should be feeding kids snacks and meals that fuel their ability to think and play and grow. I also hope the book highlights the importance of things like universal school meals and food assistance programs because kids can\u2019t do well in school or life if they\u2019re hungry. Making sure no child goes hungry should be a fundamental goal for every society.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I totally agree and I hope that the Hangries do make adults pay attention and think. Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us? <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I\u2019m working on a couple different picture book drafts, but don\u2019t have anything official in the pipeline. I also keep wanting to try my hand at writing a middle grade novel but haven\u2019t been able to get past the murky middle in either of the drafts I\u2019ve started. Writing is hard! But it\u2019s also so much fun I don\u2019t ever want to stop.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Best of luck with your projects. Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you\u2019re longing to visit. Why?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Courtesy of California State Parks, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I moved home to northern California this year, and the place that always fills my cup is Sonoma Coast State Park. It\u2019s ten gorgeous miles of coast with more little pocket beaches than I\u2019ve been able to visit so far. I grew up going there, and it\u2019s a place that still inspires a childlike wonder. As an adult, I\u2019m so grateful places like this have been preserved, because it\u2019s easy to imagine what it would have been like if people had been allowed to develop it. Instead, it\u2019s a stunningly gorgeous coastline accessible to anyone who needs to feel a beach beneath their feet, smell the sea, and ponder the vastness of our beautiful world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Thank you, Katherine, for sharing with us a bit about yourself and your new book.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n