My mother once made the mistake of giving me a fountain pen and a bottle of ink. What a glorious mess. Of course, the library. Because I was head of the children's department of my local library before becoming an author, I know most of the librarians. If I didn't know them, I would get to know them.
Librarians are some of the best people in the world.
And they know where to find any information you want. So, I begin my search at the library. With Dr. Seuss, my search took me to a relative of his who was extremely helpful. I had worked for twenty years as a librarian before becoming an author. I wanted immediately to be able to produce a book like Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are .