Q&A with Pam Muñoz Ryan
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?
A: Iwanted to be the boss. At home I was the oldest of three
sisters, and next door to us there lived another three girls,
allyounger than me, too. Whenever we played together, I was
in charge of what we did. I was the director of the play, the
conductor of the train, the Mom in a pretend family, or
theheroine who saved the day. I was also the oldest of the
twenty-three cousins on my mother’s side of the family.
When we had a get-together at my grandmother’s house, I was
the self-appointed coordinator again. I would say, “Let’s pre-
tend this is a circus or a school or a jungle.” Then I would tell
everyone what to do and what to say. I didn’t know it at the
time, but I was already creating stories with a cast of characters.
Q: Have you always been a writer, even as a child?
A: As a schoolgirl, I never kept a journal, made a book in
class, or had an author visit my school. Curriculumwas differ-
ent then and I never knew that an author was something I
could besomeday. So, when students ask me, “Did you write as
achild?” the answer is, not exactly. But I could imagine just
about anything. I was a benevolent queen, an explorer, or
adoctor saving people from precarious deaths. It never
occurred to me to write a story on paper, but I pretended
many, right in my own backyard. Also, I come from a family
that likes to talk. It wasn’t unusual to sit around after a big
Saturday midday meal and “visit” for hours, telling stories.
This was all a great foundation for writing.
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