Interviews

Judy Blume Discusses Double Fudge

Q. So what's this book about, Judy?

A. In this one Fudge is obsessed by money. He has plans to buy Toys R Us as well as the entire city of New York. His family is so embarrassed, especially his older brother, Peter, who's starting 7th grade. Besides that, the Hatchers meet their long lost relatives, including twin cousins and their weird little brother. When Fudge discovers he's not the only Farley Drexel Hatcher in the world -- well, watch out!

Q. Let's go back to the beginning for a minute. Where did Fudge come from, anyway?

A. When I began to write, our babysitter brought me an article from the newspaper about a toddler who swallowed a tiny pet turtle. This was in the late sixties, when you could still buy turtles for pets. I was intrigued by the possibilities and scribbled out a story for a picture book the next day. I called it "Peter, Fudge and Dribble." I submitted my manuscript to several publishers but they all rejected it. Two editors wrote personal notes saying they found the story very funny but one was concerned that it could lead to small children swallowing turtles, and the other found it too unbelievable to publish.

Q. What did you do (aside from going into your closet for a good cry)?

A. A few years later, my first agent submitted the story to Ann Durell, editor of children's books at E.P. Dutton. Ann invited me to lunch. I was so nervous I could hardly eat but she was so warm and friendly I finally relaxed. Ann liked my story but she suggested, instead of a picture book, I consider writing a chapter book about the Hatcher family, using "Peter, Fudge and Dribble" as one of the chapters.

Q. How did you feel about that?

A. I loved her idea and went home fired up and ready to write. That summer I wrote the book, loosely basing the character of Fudge on my son, Larry, when he was a toddler. I set the book in New York City, in the building where my best friend, Mary, lived with her family. I changed the address but the elevator I describe in the book with its mirrored wall and upholstered bench is exactly as it was, and still is, in Mary's building.

I proudly sent the finished manuscript to my agent but after reading it she said, "I don't think this is anything like what Ann had in mind." I was stunned and asked her to show it to Ann anyway. She did and Ann offered to publish it just as it was (I think it was the only book I ever wrote that I didn't revise over and over). I was ecstatic.

Q. Did you plan to write a series of Fudge books?

A. No, absolutely not! When I finished writing Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing in 1972, I sat right down and decided that Sheila Tubman, Peter Hatcher's nemesis, deserved her own book. So I wrote Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great but I never expected to write about any of the characters again.

Q. What changed your mind?

A. My readers. Over the years I received thousands of letters from children begging for another Fudge book. Eventually I decided that if I got the right idea I'd give it a try. Then one day when I was in the shower an idea popped into my head. (The shower is a good place for ideas!) It seemed like such a simple idea I couldn't believe it had taken eight years to come to me. I would give the Hatchers a new baby and move them out of the city for a school year. I sat down and began to write the book that became Superfudge. And that was it!

Q. But that wasn't it?

A. This is getting embarrassing. No -- that wasn't it. My readers still wouldn't let Fudge go. So I thought, Okay -- if I get an idea I'll do one more book. This idea came to me about ten years later, during a summer vacation in Maine. I knew it the moment we pulled up to the old house we'd rented. This time I'd reunite all of the characters from the previous Fudge books and send them to Maine for a summer vacation. Then I'd never have to write about them again. That book became Fudge-a-Mania.

Q. Since you never expected to write another Fudge book...

A. I know, I know. But then I had a grandson and guess which character of mine became his favorite? You got it! When Elliot was younger (he's almost 11 now) we used to play "The Fudge Game," a game he invented where I had to play the part of Fudge and he got to be Peter, the older brother. This game drove everyone in the family crazy except Elliot. He kept asking for another book about Fudge. I told him, When and if I ever get another idea.... I feel really lucky that just when I least expected it, an idea came to me.

Q. So this time he's the inspiration?

A. Yes. When he was small he believed that all you had to do to get money, was put a card into a machine and money would come pouring out. At the time, he also loved to look in catalogs and make X's beside all of the things he wanted for future birthdays and holidays. Of course, Double Fudge is dedicated to him.

Q. How long does it usually take to write a Fudge book?

A. The thing about funny books is, they have to spill out spontaneously, or they don't work (at least that's how it is with me). Unlike a novel, which can take me three years and up to 20 drafts, Fudge books either come or they don't. Maybe that's also why I write so few of them. But, you know, it could be that I need to be away from the characters for a long time before I get the itch to revisit them. I'm a person who thrives on changes. I could never write about the same characters over and over. But with ten years in between...

Q. So, should we expect another Fudge book any time soon or will we have to wait another 10 years?

A. Please! At the end of writing every book I think, I'm never doing this again! But when it's published and I sniff the pages (something I did as a pre-schooler at the public library) I'm awfully glad I did! And if the bug bites...

Q. Why do you think the Fudge books are so enduring?

A. That's a tough one for me to answer. Maybe it's that some things, like family life, never change. Also, the humor seems to be enduring. Both parents and children seem to relate to the stories. Parents enjoy reading them to their kids just as much as kids enjoy listening. Am I lucky, or what?!