Stephen White

Although I write a lot of different things for audiences of all ages, the work which is most familiar to people is that which I've done for "Barney & Friends™" - the happy go lucky, singing & dancing, "say please & thank you!" dinosaur. The big purple fellow and I go way back: I wrote his very first PBS television episode, and a dinosaur-sized chunk of everything that followed.

With that out of the way, I'll give you a little biographical information. I was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and later moved to Bloomington, Indiana to attend Indiana University.

Love and a U-Haul truck eventually took me to Dallas, Texas where I wrote and produced radio and television commercials for ad agencies. I also wrote a ton of topical daily radio comedy for a syndication service (you know how funny your favorite morning DJ's are? Most get pre-written jokes sent to them every morning.)

These assignments segued into scriptwriting and audio production for the lovable, laughable robots at Chuck E Cheese for a number of years. And from there it was just a short hop to working on a little start-up project called "Barney & Friends."

Although I've enjoyed writing Barney's television episodes, home videos, live concerts, and film, I've taken special pleasure in the many Barney preschool books I've authored because I think reading is so important. Moreover, simple picture books are a great shared experience between parent and child.

Writing good books for very young readers isn't necessarily brain surgery, but it's harder than most people think (if you're doing it right). Frankly, people who say they can't write a "real" book but think they can write a children's book are revealing a complete lack of respect for both children and writers.

The fact that there are very few words on a page means you need to choose those words carefully. Moreover, it's likely that the book will be read aloud to a child, which means that the words actually need to SOUND good when spoken. Lots of things look great on the page, are spelled correctly, and are perfectly grammatical...but can become clumsy tongue-twisters when read aloud. A good children's book - and there are plenty of them - should roll off the tongue like poetry or a song lyric. The words carry their own built-in rhythm and cadence. And that makes for a happy experience for both the reader and the listener.

At last count, I think I've written over 30 books for Barney. There are sound books, shape books, books told in rhyme, and more. Whether you're reading Barney books or other books with your kids, PLEASE help them develop a love of reading early on. It's far more important than watching television (yes, even "Barney & Friends").