Molly lives and works with her fabulous family in Tempe, Arizona- where she can be found with a cup of espresso in one hand, and a pencil in the other, scribbling away on her next book. She is also the creator of Tea Rex, and the mermaid tales Pearl and Coral. Heck, it can be tough to figure out when you’re 35! And it occurred to me how much the give-and-take in a friendship is like the back and forth of a dance. Molly Idle is the Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of Flora and the Flamingo. It’s a tough business to figure out when you’re five. A few years went by then, my oldest son started kindergarten and was trying to figure out the whole process of making friends. I had my characters and I knew that I wanted to tell their story through dance but I didn’t know what their story was. A little girl, Flora, drawn as an homage to my sweet nieces (whom my sister made wear matching suits and swim-caps every summer when they were little). So I drew a dancing flamingo, but he needed a partner. Endearing Flora in swimsuit, bathing cap, and flippers admires a pink flamingo. One such was “flamenco dancing”-which I long believed was pronounced, “flamingo dancing.” I remember being puzzled that there were no flamingos involved. Every little ballerina dreams of her turn as a dancing diva. At the time I thought of it, my sons were learning to talk, often with giggle-inducing results, and it got me thinking about words or phrases that baffled me as a kid. The first idea was the title, which was originally Flamingo Dancing. MI: It was the culmination of a few ideas. CL: Where did the inspiration for your Flora books come from?
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