Simonetta Carr was born in Italy and has lived and worked in different cultures. A former elementary school teacher, she has home-schooled her eight children for many years. She has written for newspapers and magazines around the world and has translated the works of several Christian authors into Italian. Presently, she lives in San Diego with her husband Tom and family. She is a member and Sunday School teacher at Christ United Reformed Church.
You can pre-order Simonetta Carr’s children’s biography on John Calvin from RHB here.
As an introduction, can you please tell us a bit about yourself? (work, hobbies, family, etc.)
I will start with my family because it is the biggest part of my life. My husband Tom and I have had eight children, seven boys and one girl (the youngest). Four of my children are still at home. The oldest one is married and he and his wife are expecting their first baby. I have been teaching Italian part-time and translating from English to Italian for many years. I also teach Sunday School at my church, Christ URC in Santee, CA. I would say that my hobby is writing, because it’s something that I enjoy very much.
Have you written books before this? If so, can you tell us a bit about them?
This is the first book I have written. I have also written many articles for newspapers and magazines, and have translated several books from English into Italian, for example, part of Matthew Henry’s Commentary, part of The Treasury of David by Charles Spurgeon, and Putting Amazing Back into Grace by Michael Horton.
What made you decide to take on the project of writing a biography of John Calvin for young readers?
When I home-schooled my children, I noticed that there was a great abundance of books for young readers on the lives of presidents, artists, musicians, and other historical figures, but very few on the lives of great men and women of Church history. I felt that most children were not even aware of the concept of “Church history,” as if we jumped from the days of Paul to today. Also, I noticed that most Christian biographies written for young children are usually limited to the exciting stories in the person’s life. I know that children are capable of understanding why these men and women are important for us now, including their historical background and some of their theological views.
What kinds of resources did you use to prepare for this project? Would you say you spent as much time (if not more) researching Calvin’s life as you did actually writing the book?
I have definitely spent more time researching than writing. Some of my resources were The Humanness of John Calvin by Richard Stauffer, John Calvin by William Bouwsma, Reformation Sketches by Dr. Robert Godfrey, The Life of John Calvin by Theodore Beza, and Calvin in Context by David Steinmetz. I was especially careful to study any of John Calvin’s autobiographical notes, such as the Introduction to the Commentary to the Psalms, and his Letters. I was also privileged to attend a class by Dr. Robert Godfrey on his upcoming book on Calvin (John Calvin, Pilgrim and Pastor).
It is difficult to quantify the actual time I spent writing. For instance, I would take a portion of Calvin’s life, or a concept to be explained, and then try to formulate it for children, until I felt satisfied. That’s something I could do while driving, doing dishes, or when I woke up at night and couldn’t go back to sleep. Later, I would write it down and try it out on my own children, who have been my greatest critics and advisers.
What was the biggest challenge of presenting the material in a way that young readers can understand?
For me, the biggest challenge was condensing all the research I had done to a few pages. After I understood the magnitude and depth of Calvin’s thought, commitment, and impact on the Church and the world, I tried to communicate it with the same intensity in few, simple words. I guess my experience as a translator helped somehow. Calvin himself has been a great inspiration to me, because throughout his life he tried to communicate sound theological doctrine in clear, accessible terms.
Why do you think it is important for young readers to learn about John Calvin in particular?
John Calvin is a central figure in Church history. I don’t think the Reformation can be understood correctly without learning about Calvin.
How was it decided that Emanuele Taglietti would do illustrations for the book? What was the process like for you as a writer, working with an illustrator who was putting pictures to your words?
Emanuele is a good friend of mine from Italy. He works mostly with watercolors and is well known as a set-designer and painter of traditional frescoes. I didn’t think he would be interested in this type of book illustration, so I asked him if he could recommend anybody. That’s when I found out that he had done illustrations in the past. He sent me a sample drawing, and it was just what I needed. Working with him has been very easy because he is especially sensitive to the character being portrayed and does a lot of research on his own. You can see it in the details in his illustrations.
I translated the text into Italian because he doesn’t speak much English. I also sent some notes on what illustrations I would like to see and some ideas. Translating the text actually helped me a lot. Whenever you translate a text in another language, you discover all the inconsistencies, repetitions, and imperfections. Most of the time, Emanuele’s illustrations were exactly what I had in mind, and sometimes he pleasantly surprised me. For example, the illustration about Calvin’s Treatise on Relics was entirely his idea.
Do you have any plans to write future books of Christian Biographies for Young Readers?
Yes, I am planning a whole series. Since these books can also be a great tool for home-schooling families, I want to introduce characters from different time periods. The next book will be about Augustine of Hippo.
Filed under: John Calvin, Simonetta Carr, interviews
