Author/illustrator Jan Brett to share love of storytelling with Utah children

No one else in the world has a fingerprint like yours. Even identical twins have fingerprints that can be readily distinguished on close examination. And just like those fingerprints, each story or drawing is unique.

That's the message author/illustrator Jan Brett will share with children Tuesday evening at Woods Cross High School when she comes to Utah on her "The 3 Little Dassies" fall book tour.

Brett has illustrated, written and retold classics like "The Mitten," "Beauty and the Beast," "Town and Country Mouse" and "The Hat." During her 30-plus years in the book industry Brett has sold more than 33 million copies and garnered fans of all ages worldwide.

People always ask Brett if children give her ideas. It's a natural assumption, she told the Deseret News, but it's a wrong one. The only kid for whom she's writing is herself, though nothing pleases her more than when other kids enjoy her books, too.

Drawing and writing for yourself, Brett says, is the key to being creative. "If you're always thinking about your reader," she said, "I don't think you're going to have as an authentic piece as if you're thinking about your own sensibilities and your voice that's inside you."

When on tour, Brett's goal is to explain to children that process with the hopes that they might say, "Hey, I could do that."

"Some kids are creative and they're just going to do it anyway," Brett said. "But what about the kid who is like that but is kind of getting pushed in other directions, and they might not have a chance? The best advice I have is just give yourself some time."

The reason for Brett's fall tour is the release of her new picture book, "The 3 Little Dassies," which is a retelling of the "The Three Little Pigs."

It was from Brett's own experiences traveling in Namibia, a country near the southern tip of Africa, that "The 3 Little Dassies" evolved.

Brett and her husband, Joe, went to Africa to see the rock carvings, but it was the little rock dassies — small, plump, guinea-pig-like animals — running around, ducking in and out of their holes that caught the illustrator's eye.

And in her eyes, the rock dassies became the three little pigs, darting into their homes whenever an eagle would pass.