As the father of three girls, local author Marc Boston has plenty of fodder for stories. In fact, it was his middle daughter, Delaney, who provided inspiration for his new book, The Girl Who Carried Too Much Stuff.
Delaney, 7, would gather up as many of her possessions as she could when the family would leave the house. “This created quite a logistical nightmare, as you can imagine,” Boston says, but it was such a unique routine that he wanted to write it down to remember it in the future. “It wasn’t until later that I thought to turn it into an actual story.”
The resulting book, illustrated by Annie Wilkinson, addresses our culture of over-consumption and materialism. Through a light-hearted rhyme, a little girl decides that, in order to play with her friends, she might have to give up some of her things.
This isn’t Boston’s first rodeo. He created a blog several years ago to chronicle his life and, after the birth of his second daughter, wrote his first story, Baby Sister for Marley.
“During that time, writing grew beyond just a creative outlet into an almost spiritual endeavor,” he says. “From that point on, I chose to seriously focus on writing.”
Boston will share his book at the Virginia Festival of the Book, March 16-20. For more information, visit marcboston.com.
THE AUTHOR’S AUTHORS
Boston says there are many children’s books he holds in high regard, but he has a few favorites. Here are his top five.
Corduroy
by Don Freeman
The Way I Feel
by Janan Cain
Jazz Baby
by Lisa Wheeler
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein
