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 The
man whodiscovered Mary Alice at the movies. |
"I began writing my first children's picture book, Mary
Alice, Operator Number Nine, in 1975. I had become friends with James
Marshall, who, about a year earlier, started to receive acclaim for his work as
a children's book author and illustrator. We both were living in Boston where I
had a job as an editorial assistant with the Boston Globe.  One day Jim and I
planned to see a movie matinee, but neither of us was wearing a watch. I called
the time service to see what time it was exactly. When I hung up I jokingly
mentioned that a duck answered and said, "At the sound of the tone, the
time will be three fifteen and five seconds, Quack!" We were both amused by
the idea of a telephone-answering duck, so I decided to write a little story
about this duck and Jim did some illustrations. We took the proposal to Little,
Brown and Mary Alice was born -- or hatched." |
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Unfortunately Jeffrey Allen's books are all out of print. Try this link to find help locating his books. |
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