Susan Paradis spends lots of time as a toddler and she couldn't be happier.
The Haverhill High School art teacher who retired four years ago after 30 years of teaching at the school is now pursuing a career in writing and illustrating children's books. She knows the best way to create them is by getting in the mindset of a child.
"When I'm working on a book, I'm 5 years old," joked Paradis, a Merrimac resident.
Except for her daily walk and trip to the gym, she spends most of her day working on art projects. "After my kids graduated college and moved out, I thought I'd have time to do what I want," she said.
Her four published works — three written and illustrated by Paradis and one written by another author with her illustrations — have been getting rave reviews from critics, parents and children for the magic she brings to the pages.
"I just hope they will maybe relate to things I enjoy," she said of her pint-size readers.
Her first book, "My Daddy," published in September 1995 by Front Street Imprint of Boyds Mills Press, is a tribute to her son becoming a dad. Paradis grew up without a father and is fascinated when watching her son parent his children.
"I always thought, 'What are they for? What do they do?' " said the mother of three. "If you don't have a father, you don't know."
The book was inspired by a simple moment of great significance. As she held her grandson, her son walked across the street to greet them, and her grandson said, "My daddy can cross the street alone." Paradis realized the average, everyday adult things her son did seemed heroic and powerful to her grandson. That moment became the first line of the book.
Paradis also authored "My Mommy," a book that honors her daughter and mother.
All of her books play with the possibilities of childhood, where reality and fantasy come together. Paradis also added her whimsical vision to "Brass Button," a book written by Crescent Dragonwagon, a project contracted through her agent in New York.
Each intricately illustrated page has a blend of usual scenes with extraordinary sights, like tigers marching down a busy city street or giraffes relaxing on a front porch.
This idea is the basis for her 2005 book "Snow Princess," where a young girl imagines a world in the freshly fallen snow. Pine trees become the spikes of a dragon tail. A drift of snow becomes a rhinoceros. A fort becomes a castle. Snowballs become a decadent feast.
Her artwork in "Snow Princess" will soon be in a nationwide travelling exhibit that will begin this year and end in 2009 at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst.
In addition to art and family, her other great love in life was, and still is, her students. She keeps in touch with many of them, meeting for lunch or dinner and exchanging e-mails if they're far away. After 30 years at Haverhill High, she became attached to the budding artists she nurtured. They influenced her artistic growth because she brought her own work in for critique. But Paradis humbly deflects the thought that she may have shaped them.
"I don't really look at it like I've influenced them," she said. "It's just enjoyable to see how much they love what they do."
Some of her harshest and most important critics are her seven grandchildren, ranging in age from 4 to 14. When she's working on a book, they point out what they like and don't like without restraint.
"I like listening to the questions children ask. A lot of them are things I hadn't even thought of," said Paradis. "It's not just about being able to draw. It's about getting an idea across. It's about getting into the mindset of a child."
Paradis says her talent blossomed when she was just a young girl.
"I think my grandmother gave me the crayons to keep me quiet," she joked. "I never thought 'I'm good, so I should keep doing this.' I just knew I loved doing it. I thought I better work at getting better because I have something to say."
She has saved some of her favorite childhood drawings and today they take her back into her young mind.
"I can still remember what I was thinking when I drew them," Paradis said. "One drawing was of the old woman in the shoe ... I was an only child, so I thought it would be so cool to have all those brothers and sisters."
Paradis, now working on her fifth book, is hesitant to release details, but it will focus on the development of conscience and empathy.
"It's about stealing — that's all I'm going to say," she said with a smile. "It goes from the Merrimack River all the way to Mexico."
