SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Bulldozer’s Big Rescue
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.elisebroach.com/
CITY: Monroe
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 390
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1963, in Atlanta, GA; children: Zoe, Grace, Harrison.
EDUCATION:Yale University, B.A. (history), M.A. (history), M.Phil. (history).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author of books for children and young adults. Creative writing instructor at Yale University. Bain & Co., former management consultant.
AWARDS:Notable Children’s Books selection, American Library Association (ALA), Edgar Award nomination, Mystery Writers of America, Notable Children’s Book designation, National Council of Teachers of English, Teachers’ Choice Award, International Reading Association, and Connecticut Book Award finalist, all 2005, all for Shakespeare’s Secret; Best Books for Children designation, Bank Street College of Education, 2005, for both Hiding Hoover and What the No-Good Baby Is Good For; Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, 2007, for Desert Crossing; E.B. White Read-Aloud Award, 2008, for When Dinosaurs Came with Everything; E.B. White Read-Aloud Award, 2009, for Masterpiece; Parents Magazine’s Best Picture Book, 2018, for My Pet Wants a Pet.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Elise Broach is the author of books for children, ranging from board books to picture books to novels for middle-grade readers and teens. The author’s engaging characters and intriguing story lines, found in such works as Gumption!, A Trip to the Country for Marvin and James, The Wolf Keeper, and Duet, have earned praise from critics as well as honors such as the E.B. White Read Aloud Award.
In Broach’s humorous picture book Cousin John Is Coming!, Ben and his cat dread the arrival of the boy’s detestable relative, a cousin whose behavior makes a hoodlum look angelic. When Ben’s mother reveals that cousin John has developed a terrible allergy to felines, owner and cat begin to plot their revenge. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly complimented the illustrations by Nate Lilly and asserted that Broach’s “chirpy, keenly observed text acts as an effective comic foil to [Lilly’s] … vision of an all-in-the-family near-apocalypse.”
In When Dinosaurs Came with Everything a boy is bored while shopping with his mother until he discovers that store owners are giving away triceratops, pterosaurs, hadrosaurs, and other prehistoric creatures with each purchase. “This well-balanced romp packs an outsize helping of humor,” wrote a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. Gumption! concerns another youngster who joins his easily distracted uncle on an expedition to Africa in search of the rare Zimbobo Mountain Gorilla. “Broach fills this spunky story with delicious language,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer in praise of this story.
Illustrator Cori Doerrfeld brings to life Broach’s texts for lift-the-flap board books such as Snowflake Baby, which follows a playful toddler through each of the four seasons. “The endearing rhymes scan well and read quickly, a great combination for keeping little ones interested,” a writer in Kirkus Reviews stated of Barnyard Baby.
Broach teams with artist Eric Barclay on the humorous picture book My Pet Wants a Pet. After convincing his mom to purchase a puppy for him, a youngster cannot resist the canine’s request for a pet of its own, specifically, a kitten. The feline, in turn, wants a bird for company, and each animal that subsequently joins the household soon has its own pet, a seemingly never-ending cycle that frustrates the mother of the dog-loving boy. According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, Broach’s story “underscores the responsibilities and rewards of caring for another and the expansive possibilities of family.”
In the picture book Bedtime for Little Bulldozer, illustrated by Barry E. Jackson, a bulldozer is having trouble falling asleep. Mom and dad help little bulldozer with the bedtime rituals of taking a bath, brushing his teeth, and reading, but once it is time for bed, a struggle for sleep ensues. He tries moving around the room, reading loudly to himself, and going downstairs to visit his parents, but sleep does not come. After going into his sisters’ room, little bulldozer is finally able to fall asleep in a cozy spot on the floor. A Kirkus Reviews writer deemed the picture book “soothing” and described it as a “good-hearted tale.” School Library Journal critic Catherine Callegari recommended Bedtime for Little Bulldozer as “a solid purchase for most libraries.” “A traditional not-ready-for bedtime story with heavy machinery, which takes it to another level,” remarked Callegari.
A middle-grade novel, Shakespeare’s Secret follows the exploits of Hero Netherfield, whose sixth-grade classmates tease her about her unusual moniker, not realizing that Hero was named after a character in William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing. Hero learns from her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Roth, that the house her family just moved into holds the key to the mystery surrounding the long-lost “Murphy Diamond,” an heirloom rumored to have belonged to King Henry VIII’s ill-fated consort Anne Boleyn. Hero and Mrs. Roth are joined by Danny Cordova, son of the local police chief, in their search for the precious jewel, and in the process they uncover evidence regarding who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, reviewing Shakespeare’s Secret in School Library Journal, called its characters “well developed, and the dialogue … realistic and well planned,” while in Booklist Gillian Engberg suggested that “sophisticated readers … will appreciate … the revelations of many-layered mysteries” grounded in history.
A road trip becomes a life-changing experience for three young people in Desert Crossing. While driving through the New Mexico desert during a downpour, Lucy, Kit, and Jamie hit something with their car. Getting out to investigate, they are shocked to find the body of a dead girl on the highway. They ask for help from the nearest resident, a reclusive sculptor named Beth, and she agrees to shelter the teens. When local police inform the trio that the dead body was placed on the road by persons unknown, Lucy is determined to find the killer. In her Booklist review of Desert Crossing, Engberg wrote that Broach’s “provocative, often beautiful novel … examines identity, responsibility, intimacy, and the charged, blurry divide between teenagers and adults.”
Masterpiece centers on the unusual relationship between eleven-year-old James and Marvin, a beetle living in the boy’s kitchen. Using a drawing set James received as a birthday present, Marvin creates an exquisite piece of art. James’s father thinks that James has created the work, and he notes similarities with drawings by fifteenth-century German artist Albrecht Dürer. When James is asked to copy a Dürer drawing in order to catch an art thief, the beetle obliges, although protecting the original work turns out to be more complicated and dangerous than either boy or bug imagined. A Publishers Weekly reviewer deemed Masterpiece an “inventive mystery” incorporating “perennially seductive themes: hidden lives and secret friendships, miniature worlds lost to disbelievers.”
The protagonists of Masterpiece proved to be so popular that Broach reintroduced them in The Miniature World of Marvin and James, the first installment in a series of illustrated chapter books. When James goes on vacation with his family, Marvin and his cousin Elaine are left to their own devices and court disaster by exploring an electric pencil sharpener. In James to the Rescue the boy aids Marvin’s uncle Albert when the beetle injures itself while collecting items from around the house. In Horn Book, Susan Dove Lempke described The Miniature World of Marvin and James as a “page-turning adventure, which is written throughout with emotional authenticity,” while James to the Rescue prompted a Kirkus Reviews writer to suggest of Broach’s chapter book that “the focus on unlikely alliances and mutual trust suffuses the tale with warmth.”
With Missing on Superstition Mountain Broach opens a mystery series about a trio of adventurous brothers. Having just moved to Arizona, Simon, Henry, and Jack Barker are warned by adults to stay away from Superstition Mountain, which is reputed to be a very dangerous place, the site of many unexplained disappearances and deaths. When their cat runs away, however, the boys have no choice but to follow her up the slope, where they find three human skulls. Joined by their new friend Delilah, the Barker brothers now investigate the secret behind their gruesome discovery. “Classic horror and thriller elements combine with modern touches in Broach’s page-turner,” a writer stated in appraising Missing on Superstition Mountain in Publishers Weekly.
In Treasure on Superstition Mountain the Barker brothers again join forces with Delilah, this time to search for a legendary gold mine. Broach concludes her “Superstition Mountain” trilogy with Revenge of Superstition Mountain, in which the youngsters face threats from a menacing librarian who may in fact be a ghost. Reviewing Treasure on Superstition Mountain, a Publishers Weekly critic wrote that “Broach builds on the daring escapades and eerie tension established” in the series opener, and a School Library Journal reviewer praised the entire trilogy as “fun and creepy.”
A stand-alone mystery, The Wolf Keepers was inspired by the author’s experiences in Northern California during the 1970s, when her family settled near the town of Martinez, home to a national historic site dedicated to famed naturalist and conservationist John Muir. “Questions about the human relationship to nature have always interested me,” she told Kate Feiffer of the Martha’s Vineyard Times Online. “One of the wonderful things about writing The Wolf Keepers was having the chance to explore the idea of the ‘wild’ in fiction; to think about the complexity of our interactions with nature—the risks, the joys, the obligations—and hopefully to write about all that in a way that engages young readers.”
The Wolf Keepers follows the adventures of Lizzie Durango, a twelve-year-old who lives in the John Muir Wildlife Park, where her father serves as the head zookeeper. For a summer-long school project, Lizzie keeps a journal recording her observations of the park’s newest inhabitants, seven rescued wolves that have formed their own pack. She also forms an unlikely friendship with Tyler Briggs, a youngster who has run away from his foster home and secretly taken up residence in the park. When some of the wolves fall ill under suspicious circumstances, Tyler and Lizzie join forces to investigate the matter, their inquiry taking them to Yosemite National Park on a quest to save the animals and locate Muir’s legendary lost cabin.
Writing in Booklist, Carolyn Phelan applauded The Wolf Keepers, calling it “part friendship story, part mystery, and part survival adventure.” “The dilemma of deciding what is best for the wolves lends thematic meat to the plot,” Donna L. Phillips explained in Voice of Youth Advocates, and a critic in Publishers Weekly remarked that “Broach’s characters wrestle with ethical questions throughout this gratifying, thought-provoking tale.”
In the middle-grade novel Duet, Mirabelle, a goldfinch with a beautiful voice, hovers around the home of piano teacher Mr. Starek because she enjoys hearing his music. Though initially reluctant to play, preteen Michael Jin begins taking lessons from Mr. Starek to prepare for the Chopin Music Festival. Mirabelle is curious about Michael, and she helps bring out his special talent by singing along to his performance of Chopin’s Minute Waltz. Along with bolstering Michael’s confidence, the collaboration between the boy and the bird helps reveal the truth behind Chopin’s lost piano. Additionally, Broach interweaves information about the historical friendship between Chopin, writer George Sand, and painter Eugene Delacroix. Calling the middle-grade novel “an interesting musical read,” a Kirkus Reviews writer felt that “this story illustrates an appreciation for excellence and the passion to create music just for the joy of it.” The “novel employs vivid descriptions, … unique characters, and carefully crafted suspense,” remarked a reviewer in Publishers Weekly.
Critics note that versatility is a key to Broach’s literary success. As she remarked on her website, “There isn’t one particular subject that I like to write about, but I think certain themes crop up in my books: mysteries based on real events, unexpected friendships that develop very quickly, funny situations that aren’t exactly what they seem, the bond between children and animals, moral dilemmas, and the richness of a kid-world that can’t be fully understood by adults.”
Broach told SATA: “I have always loved to tell stories, from the time I was three or four years old, when I would walk around my backyard and tell long, elaborate stories to entertain myself. As soon as I learned how to write, I began creating little books. When I entered a Ph.D. program in American history at Yale, I did a lot of nonfiction writing, but my true love is fiction. I feel so lucky that this is my full-time job.
“I am forever influenced by the books I read as a child, especially the stories of E.B. White, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Beverly Cleary. But I get a lot of inspiration on a day-to-day basis from my children, nieces, and nephews, my funny dog Truman, things that happen to me, and conversations with friends, especially my author friends.
“Sometimes there is a specific event that triggers the idea for a story. For instance, I got the idea for Masterpiece thirty years ago one night when I accidentally dropped my contact lens down the bathroom sink. I sat on the cold floor of my bathroom trying to take the pipes apart, and I kept thinking how wonderful it would be if only I had a tiny creature that could go down the drain and retrieve it for me. I wrote the first three chapters of the story that night, and then didn’t come back and finish it until twenty years later! But those chapters stayed much the same, with a beetle going down the sink to find a contact lens.
“Sometimes a story comes about from a combination of ideas. For Shakespeare’s Secret, I thought it would be fun to create a modern story that was loosely based on a Shakespeare play, much the way the movie Clueless is based on Jane Austen’s Emma, but takes place in a modern Beverly Hills high school. The play Much Ado about Nothing is full of gossip, betrayal, and intrigue, so those themes seemed like a good fit for a modern middle school. I combined that idea with the missing diamond mystery and the real-life mystery of whether or not Shakespeare wrote his own plays—and those three threads became the book.
“Once I have my idea fleshed out, sometimes I outline the novel, but the outline is just a jumping-off point, and the story usually changes substantially as I write it. Other times I just jump in. I never outline picture books, and I usually write the first draft of a picture book in one sitting, though it will take many months to get the story and the language exactly right.
“The most surprising thing I’ve learned as a writer is that I often experience something in a completely new way once I write about it. The writing itself becomes a way of seeing something new in a situation, or understanding something more deeply.
“I truly don’t have a favorite; I like each book for different reasons. Shakespeare’s Secret was my best revision; the original story had nothing about the Shakespeare authorship mystery in it. The “Superstition Mountain” trilogy was the most exciting to write because of the suspense, and all the scary things that happen to the kids in the books. I loved writing Masterpiece because it was so much fun to make up the details of the miniature world of the beetle family.
“I am so honored that my books have been so warmly received by readers. I hope children see themselves in my characters and feel companioned by the stories. People sometimes tell me, ‘My children grew up on your books,’ which means everything to me because I grew up on other authors’ books, and they changed the way I saw the world.”
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Broach launched the “Bulldozer and Friends” picture book series with Bulldozer’s Big Rescue, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. On her homepage, Broach described the book: “This story features a shy bulldozer in a human family who is worried about all the usual kid things… making friends, starting school, navigating a complex world. Early chapter books have always had a special place in my heart.”
Lonely yellow anthropomorphic Bulldozer is often on his own and he has difficulty making new friends because he’s shy. His mother encourages him to make friends with the new kids, Jay and Millie Patel, who moved in across the street by bringing over a place of cookies. Jay is a chatterbox and Millie is bossy, but the three of them manage to play together. With Bulldozer’s help they rescue a cat from a tree and move a pile of boxes. The book uses simple vocabulary, line drawings, and matte colors, making it accessible to young readers.
“Bulldozer’s monologue and the characters’ dialogue are spot-on, beautifully conveying the protagonist’s doubts and fears, irritations and resentments, hopes and wishes, and pride,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that the simple yet sweet story “addresses sometimes-challenging issues surrounding meeting new people with a light and understanding touch, and expressive b&w line drawings.”
In the next book in the series, Bulldozer Goes to School, shy bulldozer is nervous about starting school and afraid he won’t fit in, but he’s comforted when he sees his new friends Jay and Millie Patel there. Although things start to go wrong, everything works out in the end, and he makes the first day of school special for everyone.
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2005, Gillian Engberg, review of Shakespeare’s Secret, p. 1541; May 15, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of What the No-Good Baby Is Good For, p. 1663; June 1, 2006, Gillian Engberg, review of Cousin John Is Coming!, p. 58; September 15, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, p. 73; February 1, 2009, Linda Sawyer, review of Masterpiece, p. 62; February 1, 2010, Gillian Engberg, review of Gumption!, p. 50; May 1, 2011, Carolyn Phelan, review of Missing on Superstition Mountain, p. 46; September 15, 2016, Carolyn Phelan, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 54; March 1, 2018, Connie Fletcher, review of My Pet Wants a Pet, p. 55.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, October, 2016, Elizabeth Bush, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 66.
Horn Book, January 1, 2008, Robin Smith, review of When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, p. 69; November-December, 2008, Megan Lynn Isaac, review of Masterpiece, p. 697; July-August, 2011, Roger Sutton, review of Missing on Superstition Mountain, p. 141; May-June, 2014, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Miniature World of Marvin and James, p. 81; November-December, 2016, Susan Dove Lempke, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 70; July-August, 2017, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Trouble at School for Marvin and James, p. 127.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of Shakespeare’s Secret, p. 469; June 15, 2005, review of Hiding Hoover, p. 678; April 1, 2006, review of Desert Crossing, p. 342; August 15, 2007, review of When Dinosaurs Came with Everything; March 15, 2010, review of Gumption!; May 15, 2011, review of Missing on Superstition Mountain; December 15, 2011, review of Snowflake Baby; December 15, 2012, review of Treasure on Superstition Mountain; January 1, 2014, review of Barnyard Baby; January 15, 2014, review of The Miniature World of Marvin and James; July 1, 2014, review of Springtime Baby; August 15, 2015, review of James to the Rescue; February 15, 2018, review of My Pet Wants a Pet; December 15, 2018, review of Bedtime for Little Bulldozer; March 15, 2022, review of Duet;November 1, 2024, review of Bulldozer’s Big Rescue.
Kliatt, May, 2005, Janie Flint-Ferguson, review of Shakespeare’s Secret, p. 8; September 1, 2008, Janis Flint-Ferguson, review of Masterpiece, p. 8.
New York Times Book Review, March 15, 2009, Barbara Feinberg, review of Masterpiece, p. 12.
Publishers Weekly, July 31, 2006, review of Cousin John Is Coming!, p. 75; August 6, 2007, review of When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, p. 187; August 25, 2008, review of Masterpiece, p. 74; April 25, 2011, review of Missing on Superstition Mountain, p. 137; December 3, 2012, review of Treasure on Superstition Mountain, p. 77; August 1, 2016, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 69; December 2, 2016, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 70; December 18, 2017, review of My Pet Wants a Pet, p. 125; April 11, 2022, review of Duet, p. 68; October 7, 2024, review of Bulldozer’s Big Rescue, p. 133.
School Library Journal, June, 2005, Suzanne Myers Harold, review of What the No-Good Baby Is Good For, pp. 105-106, and Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of Shakespeare’s Secrets, p. 152; July, 2005, Linda M. Kenton, review of Wet Dog!, pp. 65-66; August, 2005, Susan Weitz, review of Hiding Hoover, p. 86; July, 2006, Catherine Threadgill, review of Cousin John Is Coming!, p. 68; September 1, 2007, Marge Loch-Wouters, review of When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, p. 158; October, 2008, Beth L. Meister, review of Masterpiece, p. 140; February, 2010, Wendy Lukehart, review of Gumption!, p. 78; July, 2011, Caitlin August, review of Missing on Superstition Mountain, p. 93; October, 2014, review of Revenge of Superstition Mountain, p. 72; April, 2018, Nicole Detter-Smith, review of My Pet Wants a Pet, p. 103; April, 2019, Catherine Callegari, review of Bedtime for Little Bulldozer, p. 56.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2005, Lucy Schall, review of Shakespeare’s Secret, p. 212; December, 2016, Donna L. Phillips, review of The Wolf Keepers, p. 56.
ONLINE
Book Dutchesses, https://thebookdutchesses.com/ (May 10, 2022), author interview.
Cynsations, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (August 1, 2005), Cynthia Leitich Smith, author interview.
Elise Broach website, https://www.elisebroach.com (August 22, 2022).
Kait Plus Books, https://www.kaitgoodwin.com/ (May 12, 2022), Kait Goodwin, author interview.
Martha’s Vineyard Times, http://www.mvtimes.com/ (July 20, 2017), Kate Feiffer, “A Conversation with Children’s Book Author Elise Broach.”
Publishers Weekly, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (May 2, 2011), Sue Corbett, author interview.
Read to Them, http://readtothem.org/ (August 12, 2018), author interview.
Stuck in Fiction, https://stuckinfiction.com/ (May 13, 2022), author interview.
Watch. Connect. Read., http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/ (February 17, 2022), John Schu, author interview.
YA and Kids Books Central, https://www.yabookscentral.com/ (May 16, 2022), Connie Reid, author interview.*
Elise Broach
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Elise Broach is the author of the acclaimed novel Shakespeare's Secret, as well as several picture books. Ms. Broach lives in Easton, Connecticut, with her family.
Genres: Children's Fiction
New and upcoming books
January 2025
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Bulldozer's Big Rescue
(Bulldozer and Friends, book 1)July 2025
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Bulldozer Goes to School
(Bulldozer and Friends, book 2)
Series
Masterpiece Adventures
1. The Miniature World of Marvin and James (2008)
aka Masterpiece
2. James to the Rescue (2015)
3. Trouble at School for Marvin and James (2017)
4. Marvin and James Save the Day (2019)
5. A Trip to the Country for Marvin & James (2020)
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Superstition Mountain Trilogy
1. Missing on Superstition Mountain (2011)
2. Treasure on Superstition Mountain (2013)
3. Revenge of Superstition Mountain (2014)
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Bulldozer and Friends
1. Bulldozer's Big Rescue (2025)
2. Bulldozer Goes to School (2025)
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Novels
Shakespeare's Secret (2005)
Desert Crossing (2006)
The Wolf Keepers (2016)
The Zookeeper's Daughter (2016)
Duet (2022)
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Picture Books hide
Wet Dog! (2005)
What the No-good Baby Is Good for (2005)
Hiding Hoover (2005)
Cousin John Is Coming! (2006)
When Dinosaurs Came with Everything (2007)
Seashore Baby (2010)
Snowflake Baby (2011)
Barnyard Baby (2013)
Springtime Baby (2014)
My Pet Wants a Pet (2018)
Bedtime for Little Bulldozer (2019)
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Chapter Books hide
Gumption (2010)
The Facts
When I was born: 1960’s, the era of JFK, flower power, and Woodstock
Where I was born: Atlanta, Georgia
Where I grew up: Georgia, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, England, California, and Connecticut
Where I went to school: Yale University (undergraduate and graduate degrees in history)
Where I live now: The woods of rural Connecticut, walking distance from three farms, a library, a post office, and two country stores
and more . . .
The Bio
Elise Broach is the author of nearly thirty award-winning and best-selling books for young readers, including board books, picture books, early readers, middle-grade mysteries, and young adult novels. Her picture book, My Pet Wants a Pet, was named Parents Magazine’s Best Picture Book of 2018. Another picture book, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, won the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award and was Time Magazine’s #1 Children’s Book of the Year. Her middle-grade novel, Masterpiece, was a New York Times bestseller and also won the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award. Elise’s books have appeared on more than a dozen state reading lists. She lives in Connecticut, where she is a writer/editor for the Scholastic Magazines and regularly teaches creative writing classes at Yale University.
The Quirks
What I’d like to be if I weren’t a writer: There’s nothing I’d rather be than a writer, but if I had to choose, I think I’d like being a story editor for movie scripts. I love movies and I enjoy fixing plot and character problems. But that’s pretty close to writing. If it had to be something totally different, maybe an FBI agent, the director of an art museum, or a Supreme Court Justice.
Worst job I ever had: Telemarketing for NBC. I had to make phone calls to survey people on their response to new sitcoms. It was both boring and stressful, because people hung up on me. As a result, I am always nice to telemarketers, even when they call during dinner.
Embarrassing revelation: I watch reality t.v. shows with my family, and even worse, I actually like them. Not all of them—I do have some standards— but I’m fond of Survivor, Are You the One?, and any show where contestants have to create something new (a dress, a product or business, a cake) with limited time and resources.
Hidden talents: I can draw most animals and I can tell the color of an M&M by its taste. When we moved to California, we had to drive a rental truck 3,000 miles cross-country and I entertained myself for the entire state of New Mexico by doing this. I wasn’t foolproof at it, but I had an excellent record on greens and browns.
Writing ritual: Chocolate chips and hot tea. The chocolate is energizing, the tea is soothing. The tea has to have milk and sugar in it, which my sister and I call “Britty tea” because it’s what we drank after school when we lived in England.
Fictional character I most identify with: Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.
The Story
I was born in Georgia and lived in the South until I was three, so a southern accent still makes me feel immediately at home. We moved every few years when I was growing up, but we went back to Macon each summer to visit my relatives and to New Haven, Indiana to visit my mother’s family, who are farmers. I have wonderful memories of big family gatherings. In all, there were 22 cousins on one side, 15 on the other, and we played endless games of tag and hide-and-seek (in the Indiana cornfields), staged impromptu plays, and spent steamy summer afternoons dealing out cards for canasta, pounce, spit, euchre, hearts, or spades.
The rest of my childhood was dominated by dogs and books. The dogs: a neighbor’s German Shepherd, Champ; our dalmatian/pointer mix, Spotty; our Brittany spaniel/terrier mix, Georgie Girl; and our dearly beloved wire-haired fox terrier, Bibby. The books: Blueberries for Sal, The Secret Garden, The Borrowers, and all the books on the Q&A page. I love to read. When I was six or seven, I started writing my own stories, mostly overwrought tales about heroic dogs rescuing people. My parents, teachers, and school librarians were kind enough to shower me with encouragement, saying they knew my books would be on their shelves one day. I feel amazed, and so lucky, that they turned out to be right.
I was twelve when my family moved to Brighton, England, a place wonderfully rich in history and literature. I first read Shakespeare’s plays in school there. For homework one night, I had to memorize the “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy from Macbeth, and I fell in love with the sound of the language. Many years later, I would return to Shakespeare for the plot of my first novel.
We moved from England to northern California, and after high school, I went to college at Yale and returned later for the Ph.D. program in American history. I briefly taught there, but eventually left graduate school to raise my three children (and now, in one of life’s strange twists, I’m back at Yale, teaching creative writing to undergraduates).
I started writing children’s books when my youngest child was a year old. Hiding Hoover, Wet Dog!, and What the No-Good Baby is Good For were written during that time. Eventually, I wanted to try a novel. Shakespeare’s Secret was my first attempt, and it brought together many threads of my life: my fascination with history, my love of Shakespeare, and my sudden immersion in small-town politics when I hesitantly ran for public office in 2003 and was elected. That experience, along with my two older children’s induction into the social politics of middle school, gave me a special interest in the struggles of Hero and her historical counterparts.
The issues of popularity, reputation, and personal integrity seem as relevant now as they were in the world of sixteenth-century England. For me, discovering those connections and bringing them to life in a book is one of the best things about being a writer.
HomeAbout MeQuestions and AnswersBoard BooksPicture BooksEarly ReadersNovelsNewsContactVisitsFavorites
Q & A
Did you always want to be a writer?
I always loved to write, but when I was little I wanted to be a cowgirl. Don’t ask me why. It had something to do with the horses, the West, and the spirit of adventure. Even as a child, I think I realized it would be hard to make a living as a writer (though not as a cowgirl, apparently). I also wanted to be a veterinarian. But that didn’t last long. When I was a sophomore in high school, my science lab partner was a cute senior boy who used to make animal noises every time I started to dissect something. I was terrible at biology (though I later married a biologist to make up for it).
What’s the best thing about being a writer?
It still amazes me—and seems an incredible privilege—to get paid for making up stories. I love being part of book culture, the world of books. I had so many favorites as a child: Charlotte’s Web, All-of-a-Kind Family, Henry and Ribsy, Charlotte’s Web, The Great Brain books, A Little Princess, Lad: A Dog, the Little House books, Mrs. Mike, Frenchman’s Creek. I think I can recall scenes from those books more clearly than some things that actually happened to me.
Can you describe a typical day?
I wish I had a typical day. Well, maybe I don’t wish that. I like the way every day is different and leaves room for surprises. On a perfect day, I might walk the dog in the woods, write for several hours, have coffee with a friend, read for a while, answer phone calls and e-mails, take care of other writing business, walk the dog again, and then spend the evening doing things with friends and family.
On a typical day, I spend way too long on e-mails, am interrupted constantly by phone calls, get distracted by business duties, rush to walk the dog, and frantically squeeze in writing whenever I can. My goal is to have more perfect days than typical days.
Where do you work?
I sometimes work at my desk in front of a window that overlooks the woods, with a shelf full of my favorite books within easy reach. But I also write in coffeeshops, in the library, in the car, on airplanes, and with my dog curled up on the couch next to me. I started writing children’s books when I had a one-year-old baby, so I used to work at the computer in the playroom with my youngest daughter crawling around at my feet. I think it’s important to write down your ideas whenever they come to you and to train yourself to write anywhere.
Do you have any children or pets? Do you write about them in your books?
I have three children: Zoe, Harry, and Grace, who are grown up now. We have a very bouncy dog named Truman, a boxer-lab mix who looks like a giant, skinny beagle, and eerily resembles our wonderful old dog Dixie… in looks but not personality. He chews on everything from DVDs to ballpoint pens, and is as noodly and bendable as a yoga instructor. Despite his many faults, he makes us laugh every day and is very much adored.
I don’t write directly about my family and friends because I try to protect their privacy. I worry that they would feel they were being used for “material.” But when you’re a writer, every part of your life eventually works its way into your books, whether you intend it to or not, so there are definitely bits and pieces of real life—and real people—in all of my stories.
What is your favorite thing to write about?
My favorite thing to write about is the idea that has just occurred to me, the idea that seems wonderful, different, important, new… until I actually start putting it down on paper. There isn’t one particular subject that I like to write about, but I think certain themes crop up in my books: mysteries based on real events, unexpected friendships that develop quickly because of a shared adventure, funny situations that aren’t exactly what they seem, the bond between children and animals, moral dilemmas, and the richness of a kid-world that can’t be fully understood by adults.
Where do you get your ideas?
This is the hardest question to answer. Ideas come in so many different ways… from an experience, memory, or dream; from seeing something or reading about something and having it click perfectly in some distant part of your brain; or even just from a funny word or phrase. I’ve written whole stories based on a good idea for a title. When Dinosaurs Came with Everything (published by Atheneum in 2006) began that way.
I think John Steinbeck was right when he said, “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” That’s why it’s important to pay attention to your ideas and write them down. If you do, you’ll start having more and more of them. It’s almost as if your imagination suddenly realizes it’s being taken seriously.
What’s your process for writing a picture book? A novel?
For me, picture books come from inspiration and novels from discipline. A picture book tends to arrive in an imaginative rush. I know the whole story at once. It always needs revisions—sometimes months and months of revisions—but it’s a fun process. I’m really happy afterwards, because even if the picture book ends up not being published, I feel like I’ve made something new. A story exists in the world that wasn’t there before.
Novels take longer, about a year usually. Individual scenes are often thrilling to write, and I love going deeper and deeper with my characters. But overall, a novel is a long, hard journey. It demands steady devotion and patience, the willingness to “show up at the page” day after day, no matter your mood. When I start a novel, I always have a good sense of the characters. I know the beginning and I have a general idea of the ending, but the events in between are a total mystery. I don’t tend to outline my books. That can be unsettling when I’= am faced with a blank page and am trying to decide what comes next, but it also keeps me interested in the story. I get very attached to my characters, and the only way to find out what will happen to them is to write it. I have to add that with my Superstition Mountain trilogy, I did outline the story, because it was so important to keep track of – and solve – the various interlocking mysteries by the end of the last book. After that experience, I’ve started using a general outline as a roadmap, but I still make up plenty of stuff as I write, and the story can take a hard turn in an entirely different direction just because that’s where it needs to go.
“To tell the truth in all its substance you must have quiet, and a comfortable chair away from all distraction, and a window to stare through; and then the knack of seeing waves when there are fields before your eyes, and of feeling the tropic sun when it is cold; and at your fingertips the words with which to capture the vision before it fades.”
–J.M. Coetzee, Foe, pp 51-52
Can I write to you?
Elise_deskphotoOf course! I would love to hear from you. It’s much easier for me to respond to e-mails than regular mail. You can e-mail me by clicking on the Contact button at the top of the page, or by e-mailing me at hidinghoover@optonline.net. Barring travel interruptions, I always try to respond within three weeks.
If you would like to mail a regular letter, my address is below. I had some issues with lost or returned mail at my p. o. box address, so if you haven’t heard back from me, I am truly sorry! I do read and enjoy every letter I receive. Thanks for writing!
Elise Broach
P.O. Box 24
Redding, CT 06876
What’s New
Bulldozer’s Big Rescue, the first book in my new early chapter book series, Bulldozer and Friends, comes out on January 21! It was edited by the fabulous Christy Ottaviano (right) and illustrated by the wonderful Kelly Murphy, and it was just named an Amazon Best Book of the Month. This story features a shy bulldozer in a human family who is worried about all the usual kid things… making friends, starting school, navigating a complex world. Early chapter books have always had a special place in my heart. I reviewed some of my favorites here: https://shepherd.com/best-books/early-readers-with-funny-animal-friendships
My picture book Bedtime for Little Bulldozer, which first introduced this character, is coming out in paperback, also on January 21.
Trouble at School for Marvin and James, the third book in the Masterpiece Adventures series for young readers, is now a One School, One Book selection of the national literacy organization Read to Them! I’ve had so many wonderful school visits based on the One School, One Book program, and I love visiting schools to talk about Masterpiece with readers in grades 3-5 and the Marvin and James books with K-2 students. Please contact me or visit www.readtothem.org for a list of suggested activities for both books; you can find out more about my experience with the One School, One Book program here in their newsletter.
For the past few years, I’ve loved doing freelance writing and editing for the Scholastic magazines. Look for my stories and plays based on historical figures and events, folk tales, and classic literature in the Storyworks magazine for Grades 4 – 6.
My latest novel, Duet, is out in paperback with a brand new, beautiful cover by the gifted Kelly Murphy.
Above is a picture from ALA with my beloved editor and friend, Christy Ottaviano, holding my mystery, The Wolf Keepers. You can see a short video of me talking about the book here.
I love doing writing workshops with students in elementary school. Since 2018, I’ve also been teaching a creative writing seminar to undergraduates at Yale called “Coming of Age: Writing about Childhood Turning Points.” In addition, I regularly teach a 3-day class, “Creating Picture Books with Humor and Heart,” for adults at the Highlights Foundation in Milanville, Pennsylvania with my friends Emily Jenkins, author of many award-winning picture books, and Sunita Apte, Executive Editor at Reycraft Books. Highlights is a terrific place to learn the ins-and-outs of writing for children–and to immerse yourself in a creative community surrounded by bucolic farmland and nourished by delicious food.
What’s Next
I’m working on a new novel called The Book Nobody Could Read. It’s about a mysterious, real-life manuscript from Renaissance Italy that is written in a language nobody has ever been able to de-code.
I’m also finishing up a new picture book about a wolverine with an insatiable appetite for all kinds of fun.
What I’m Reading
Picture book: Knight Owl by Christopher Denise. This funny, touching story of a little owl harboring the big dream of becoming a knight is full of sly humor, warm emotion, and satisfying surprises. Denise teams up with the ever-amazing Christy Ottaviano to create a character who is sure to join the ranks of picture book favorites like Frances, Pigeon, and Olivia. A charmer.
Middle Grade: The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. As my books show, I’m a huge fan of mysteries based on real-life events, and this fun, puzzly novel set in England during World War II has it all–engaging characters, a vivid setting, an unbreakable code, and legitimately high stakes. Hats off to these two!
Adult: So many in the past few months… Some highlights: Leaving by Roxane Robinson, an expertly paced novel that manages to be highly suspenseful without sacrificing its elegant restraint. The Vacationers by Emma Straub, a fun, summery romp that is brimming with insights about marriage and parenthood. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, a literary mystery set in the Adirondacks that is at once a thrilling page-turner and a deeper exploration of the ripple effects of family secrets. Happy reading!
Broach, Elise BULLDOZER'S BIG RESCUE Christy Ottaviano Books (Children's None) $6.99 1, 21 ISBN: 9780316564175
Broach and Murphy rev up for a promising new series starring a lonely anthropomorphic construction vehicle.
Bulldozer's usually on his own: His older sisters have their own social lives, and a pair of older twins who live nearby don't want to play. He worries about making friends when school starts. His mom (a human, like the other characters) maneuvers him into welcoming the new family across the street--"a terrible idea," in Bulldozer's opinion, because meeting strangers is scary and hard. He really does want a playmate for his racetrack, so he complies--then contends with shy but bossy Millie Patel and her annoyingly voluble little brother, a cat in a tree, a pile of boxes that need to be moved, and feeling underappreciated. By book's end, though, he's made a friend; he'll also garner a loyal following of readers who will eagerly anticipate his next adventure. Bulldozer's monologue and the characters' dialogue are spot-on, beautifully conveying the protagonist's doubts and fears, irritations and resentments, hopes and wishes, and pride at stepping out of his comfort zone. Murphy's graceful, two-color line drawings depict our hero as small (for a bulldozer) but sturdy, with a saffron-colored cab. He has "big black tires that get hot in the sun" and an expressively mobile mouth on his windshield. The characters are realistically portrayed against minimal backgrounds; Mom is light-skinned, while the Patels are cued South Asian.
An enthralling tale about doing the heavy lifting of making friends. (grammar activities)(Chapter book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Broach, Elise: BULLDOZER'S BIG RESCUE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A813883550/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e6764802. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
Bulldozer's Big Rescue (Bulldozer and Friends #1)
Elise Broach, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $16.99 (128p) ISBN 978-0-316-56415-1; $6.99 paper ISBN 978-0-316-56417-5
Bulldozer, an anthropomorphic machine with a human family, has never made a friend before. So when Mom suggests he take cookies to greet their new neighbors the Patels, Bulldozer worries: will his fear of strangers and new experiences prevent him from completing the task? He nevertheless persists, but things get off to a rocky start when Jay, Mrs. Patel's young son, asks for a ride ("Bulldozer feels insulted. He is so much more than a truck"). Bulldozer reluctantly agrees to Jay's request and Mrs. Patel insists that Jay's older sister Millie, who is Bulldozer's age, join them. To everyone's dismay, the trio nearly run over a cat. But after they rescue said cat from a tree, Millie warms to Bulldozer and a friendship is born. Despite his metal exterior, Bulldozer is a fully fleshed-out character; young readers will relate to his fears and conflicting desires to appease others and stand up for himself. This sweetly simple story by Broach (Masterpiece) addresses sometimes-challenging issues surrounding meeting new people with a light and understanding touch, and expressive b&w line drawings with muted orange accents by Murphy (Dakota Crumb and the Secret Bookshop) bring Bulldozer and his world to life. Ages 6-9. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Bulldozer's Big Rescue (Bulldozer and Friends #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 38, 7 Oct. 2024, p. 133. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812513526/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=af48c86b. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.