Barb & Josh: Susan, in homeschooling/education, non-fiction writing is often seen as more valuable than fictional literature. Some view non-fiction as the only "real" way to learn about a subject. Do you agree with this assumption? If not, as a fiction writer, what could fiction bring to education that non-fiction might not?

I love to read non-fiction, and yes, it certainly has an important value. But as a reader first (a writer only second!) I love fiction for the way it teaches me. Of course, facts are important, and we have to have a good grounding in facts. But fiction, when it's done right (it isn't always), brings the facts of the world to life. Fiction tells stories, while non-fiction gives us the facts, usually without the stories. Stories capture our attention, hold our interest, keep us turning the pages, and light up our imaginations. Just one example: kids may enjoy reading histories of the American pioneer movements, but they'll be absolutely captured by the Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

There's something else going on here, too. Lots of "factual" accounts—particularly in histories and biographies—are full of fiction, sometimes deliberately, often quite unconsciously. (History, after all, was written by the victors, wasn't it?) I think it's especially important for young readers to learn to spot a fictionalized version of a fact.

B&J: What are some ways you could envision that a homeschooling family or teacher in a traditional setting could incorporate fiction books, such as your Cottage Tales Series, into their studies?

Beatrix Potter is a good example of how this could be done, because she led such a wonderfully rich life—there's enough different kinds of material for all sorts of studies!

For science, you could begin with several of the little books, perhaps The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and The Tale of Mr. Tod (which is darker not so widely known), and then read some natural histories of hedgehogs, foxes, and badgers, all of whom are characters in the books. I love a well-written, entertaining book called Badgers, by Michael Clark, which is full of interesting facts about this fascinating creature. You might also look at Beatrix's drawings of fungi and encourage the student to try his or her own hand at painting mushrooms.

For art, you could study Beatrix Potter's drawings in the books, and compare them to the drawings of other children's illustrators of her period: Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott, John Tenniel (who illustrated Alice in Wonderland) There's an interesting discussion of Caldecott's influence on the Victoria and Albert museum site. And a wonderful book called The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration, by Richard Dalby, has lots of pictures and informative text.

For geography and ecology, Beatrix Potter's life in the Lake District offers some wonderful possibilities. When Potter moved from London to the Lake District, she became a farmer—but more than that, a conservationist. Linda Lear's remarkable new biography, Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature makes clear what a strong commitment Potter had to preserving the landscape and the way of life in the Lake District. Parts of Lear's book could be read in conjunction with a study of the Lake District's natural history.

For social studies, there's the question of why Potter's parents were opposed to her marriage to Norman Warne, and yet, she bought a farm—a very odd thing to do, wouldn't you say? Were there other women who became farmers? (There were.) What can we learn about the women of the day from studying one woman's life?

And then, of course, there's the film, Miss Potter, which is a blend of facts (some of them wrong) and fiction, all of it very beautiful. The settings are absolutely gorgeous, and the characterization of Beatrix's life is always entertaining.

Omigosh, I could go on and on! But maybe this gives you some idea of the possibilities. I think any good work of fiction that is based on real people living real lives would offer the same kind of enriched learning activities.

B&J: You've been talking about ways to structure a study of Beatrix Potter—but what about your own work? For instance, are there parts of The Tale of Hawthorn House that might reward further study?

Oh, yes! You could read my version of the relationship between Jemima and the fox, and then Potter's The Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck, to see how she handled the story. And then you could study animal trickster fables from other cultures, to see how trickery is presented. There are some good resources here. Students could write their own animal trickster stories and discuss how stories like these teach us something about human nature, as well.

And then there are the Thorn Folk in the book, who are related to the nature sprites of many cultures, reflecting the care, concern, and respect native peoples have for the natural world. It would be interesting to see explore the way Celts and Druids, ancient people of the British Isles, treated their sacred trees. This idea is at the heart of modern eco-consciousness.

There are also gypsies in this book—traveling Romany people who lived a colorful life throughout England in the nineteenth century and into the present. The Internet has a great many resources, from photographs of their caravans to essays about their itinerant way of life. You might also raise the question of why the gypsies (at the time of this book) were beginning to be seen as a threat to private property owners, and how they were affected by the various anti-gypsy laws.

Many novels lend themselves to these kinds of explorations, and with the Internet as close as our computers, we have a great many resources to choose from. We're really only limited by our imaginations!

B&J: Susan, I know that Joshua and I will always hold a special place in our hearts for the second book in the series, The Tale of Holly How. Anytime we hear or see a reference to St.Crispian's Speech in Shakespeare's Henry V, we will forever smile and think of Professor Galileo Newton Owl. We were reading your book at the same time we were studying Shakepeare's Henry V and the connection that was made was just one of many examples of how a fictional book we are reading may relate to our homeschool studies.

Your series is fictional and yet based on the very real person of Beatrix Potter. Did the idea for the series come first and then become "fleshed out" by research or had you researched Beatrix Potter and then the idea for the series developed?

My husband Bill and I, writing as Robin Paige, wrote a mystery called Death at Gallows Green, which featured Beatrix Potter. That book came out in 1996 or so—and I knew then that I wanted to use Beatrix as a character in her own series. I had researched her just enough for Gallows Green to give me an idea of the kind of in-depth research I would have to do for the series. But of course, as I went along, more possibilities opened up. Then I met Linda Lear, Beatrix Potter's biographer, and that friendship opened even more avenues into Beatrix's life. There are four more books remaining to be written in The Cottage Tales, and I'm still learning about her life, her work, and the places and people of the Lake District.

B&J: In our family, reading together, whether it be reading aloud to each other or just sharing something we've read individually, has always been important even as the children have grown older. How important do you feel the sharing of literature is to families?

I can't begin to say how important this is. The most important gift my father gave me was his love of reading and his absolute addiction to libraries. On Saturdays, Dad and I would head to the library and come home with a couple of shopping bags full of books. He read aloud to us—Dickens, Agatha Christie, the Bible, the funny papers, whatever he happened to be reading at the time. His reading made me a writer, I am convinced. And reading aloud to my own children, I think, gave them their love of words. It's something we pass down to future generations. It's a heritage to be treasured.

But I think it's harder these days than it was when I was a child, or even when I was a young mom. There is so much competition for everyone's attention. Homeschooling parents can control this more effectively than families in the public schools, but reading aloud with Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters should be a part of every child's education. I'm always happy to hear from homeschooling families, or from teachers in the schools, that The Cottage Tales are being read aloud. That's wonderful. That makes me feel that all the work is worth it!