Corinne Demas - Official Website

Books For Kids and Teens

My name used to be Corinne Demas Bliss. A while ago I changed it back to Corinne Demas, the name I had when I was young. (For a pronunciation of my name click here.) Corinne Demas Bliss was still my writing name. Sound confusing? You bet! That's why I decided to change my writing name, too. Now all my books published in 2000 and after are by Corinne Demas. All of my books published in 1999 and before, though, are still by Corinne Demas Bliss. MORE ABOUT ME

Check out the collection of ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES related to Corinne's books.

NEW PICTURE BOOKS

perfect tree cover


The Perfect Tree
Published by
Cameron Kids/Abrams
2022


Once There Was

Published by
Cameron Kids/Abrams
2023

NOVELS


Everything I Was
Published by
Carolrhoda Lab
Lerner Publishing Group
2011
Returning to Shore - cover
Returning to Shore
Published by
Carolrhoda Lab
Lerner Publishing Group
2014
If Ever I Return Again -- cover

If Ever I Return Again
Published by
HarperCollins
2000

PICTURE BOOKS AND READERS


JELLYFISH_COVER
Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter?
Co-author
Artemis Roehrig
Illustrated by Ellen Shi
Persnickety Press, 2020

the grumpy pirate cover
The Grumpy Pirate

Co-author
Artemis Roehrig
Illustrated by
Ashlyn Anstee
Scholastic, 2020

 


Do Doodlebugs Doodle?

Co-author
Artemis Roehrig
Illustrated by
Ellen Shi
Published by Persnickety Press, 2018

fiddler crab - coverDoes a Fiddler Crab Fiddle?

Co-author
Artemis Roehrig
Paintings by
John Sandford
Published by Persnickety Press, 2016
are pirates polite - coverAre Pirates Polite?
Co-author
Artemis Roehrig
Illustrated by
David Catrow
Scholastic, 2016
Here Comes
Trouble

Illustrated by
Noah Z. Jones
Published by
Scholastic, 2013
The Disappearing Island -- cover The Disappearing Island
Illustrated by Ted Lewin
Paperback published by
Off the Common Books,   2011
Pirates Go To School -- cover

Pirates Go To School
Illustrated by
John Manders
Published by
Orchard Books/Scholastic
2011

Always in Trouble -- coverAlways
in Trouble

Illustrated by
Noah Z. Jones
Published by
Scholastic, Inc.
2009
The Littlest Matryoshka -- coverThe Littlest Matryoshka
Illustrated by
Kathryn Brown
Published by Hyperion
1999
Saying Goodbye to Lulu -- cover
Saying Goodbye
to Lulu

Illustrated by Ard Hoyt
Published by
Little, Brown & Co.
2004
Valentine Surprise -- cover
Valentine Surprise

Illustrated by R.W. Alley
Published by
Walker & Company
2007
Halloween Surprise -- coverHalloween Surprise
Illustrated by
R.W. Alley
Published by
Walker & Company
2011
Two Christmas Mice -- coverTwo Christmas Mice
Illustrated by
Stephanie Roth
Published by
Holiday House
2005
THe Boy WHo was Generous with Salt -- coverThe Boy Who was
Generous with Salt

Illustrated by
Michael Hays
Published by
Marshall Cavendish
2002
Hurricane -- coverHurricane!
Illustrated by
Lenice Strohmeier
Published by
Marshall Cavendish
2000
Matthew's Meadow -- coverMatthew's Meadow
Illustrated by Ted Lewin
Published by
Harcourt Brace
1992
Paperback,
Voyager Books, 1997
Electra and the Charlotte Russe -- coverElectra and the Charlotte Russe
Illustrated by
Michael Garland
Published by
Boyds Mills Press
1997
Nina's Waltz -- cover

Nina's Waltz
Illustrated by
Deborah Lanino
Published by
Orchard Books, 2000

YUCK! Stuck in the Muck -- coverYUCK!
Stuck in the Muck
Illustrated by
Laura Rader
Published by
Scholastic, 2006
That Dog Melly -- coverThat Dog Melly!
Illustrated by
the Author
Published by
Hastings House, 1981
The Shortest Kid in the World -- coverThe Shortest Kid
in the World

Illustrated by
Nancy Poydar
Published by
Random House, 1995
Snow Day -- coverSnow Day
(a sequel to The Shortest Kid in the World)
Illustrated by
Nancy Poydar
Published by
Random House, 1998
The Perfect Pony -- cover
The Perfect Pony

Illustrated by
Jacqueline Rogers
Published by
Random House, 2000
The Magic Apple -- coverThe Magic Apple
Illustrated by
Alexi Natchev
Published by
Golden Books, 2002

Exhibit _ Making of a Picture BookA Special Exhibit
The Making of a Picture Book:
The Marriage of Text and Art
Meet illustrators and writers as they work together to create picture books.

Mount Holyoke College
Children's Literature Series
MHC Lit SeriesGrace Lin, Mordicai Gerstein,
Patricia MacLachlan
Panel discussion with
Leslea Newman, Barbara Goldin,
and Ellen Wittlinger

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Me

Starting Out
first bookphoto of Corinne Demas as a little girlI've been writing ever since I was little. My firstbook was a tale about a prince, a king and an "evil lady," written in a black composition book when I was six. It had lots of chapters (some of them only a sentence long), crayon illustrations, and terrible spelling. I started writing books for children when I became a parent.

 

 

photo from That Dog Melly!

 

 

My first published book, That Dog Melly was co-authored with my son, Austin. I had him re-tell me the story in his own words so that the narrator would sound like a real kid. The illustrations are photographs I took of Austin and our standard poodle, Melly.Since the story is about a dog who runs away, and Melly was a dog who really did run away, it was a trick to get pictures of her. All my books afterwards have been illustrated by other artists, including Ted Lewin, Nancy Poydar, Michael Garland and Kathryn Brown.

 

Source of Ideas
Some ideas for my stories come from my own childhood. Some come from my children and their friends, or from kids I meet when I visit schools. Electra and the Charlotte Russe is based on a story my mother told me when I was a little girl about her own childhood. If Ever I Return Again was inspired by letters written by a real girl who lived a century ago.

 

Petsphoto of pet dog
I grew up in New York City and always wanted to have a dog, but they weren't allowed in my apartment house. (I had a pet salamander named Eggbert and a parakeet named Albert Einstein.)

photo of pet donkeys
Now I live with my family in the woods in Western Massachusetts and on Cape Cod. I have a dog, and two miniature donkeys.    


-- photo by Jerry Lancourt

 

Work (and Play)Mt. Holyoke College
I teach at Mount Holyoke College. I write first thing every morning--sometimes I even eat my breakfast at my desk. On days that I'm not teaching, I write all day. For a break I go for a walk with the dog or the donkey (they both have red raincoats for rainy days) or I dig in the garden. In the winter there's cross country skiing out behind my house. I love snow! (As you can tell if you read my book Snow Day.)

Judy and Corinne

 

Mount Holyoke College professors wear academic robes on special occasions, like Commencement. Here I am with author Judy Blume, our wonderful Commencement speaker on May 25, 2003. I am wearing my doctoral hood (over my shoulders) and gown (blue, for Columbia University, where I got my Ph.D.)

Click on the picture for more from this event.

 

 

Bay State Writers Group

 

Because writing can be lonely, I like to get together with other writers in the area. Here I am with an informal group of writing friends. We called ourselves The Baystate Writers Group, and used to meet at the Baystate Hotel in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Standing (left to right): Alexander Eliot, John Bowman, Jay Neugeboren, Jane Yolen, Richard Michelson, Zane Kotker
Kneeling: Me, Robert Abel

 

 

 

writer group

 

At my children's book writing group meetings we read our work-in-progress to each other and offer each other suggestions and support.

From left to right: Ann Turner, Leslea Newman, me, Patricia MacLachlan, Barbara Goldin, Jane Yolen, and Ellen Wittlinger. Check out their websites, too!

 

 

 

Summers
I spend summers on Cape Cod, and several of my books are set there. Hurricane is a story based on what happened when Hurricane Bob hit the Cape. The Disappearing Island is set on a real island (that really disappears!) off the coast of Wellfleet. If Ever I Return Again is a novel about a girl who comes from Eastham and goes on a long whaling voyage in 1856. The Boy who was Generous with Salt tells about a kid from Wellfleet who goes to sea as a ship's cook on a fishing schooner.

 

Corinne Demas with Santa

 

To find out more about me, check out "Behind the Scenes" for each of my books. For lots more, read my memoir, Eleven Stories High, Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948-1968. It has illustrations from my family's old photo album. Also, check out the interviews at In The News.