When Glenda Mathes recently interviewed her for Christian Renewal, she discovered that Simonetta Carr is more than an author. She’s a 
teacher, translator, and busy mother. She and her husband, Tom, have seven sons and a daughter; four of their children still live at home. The family resides in Santee, a suburb in East County of San Diego, and attends Christ United Reformed Church.
CR: Simonetta, I believe you are from Italy, is that correct? How did you happen to come to the United States?
SC: Yes, I am from Italy. I met my husband there (he is American). It took us many years to decide to come to live in the United States, because he preferred to live abroad. After many children, we realized that economically (at least at that time) living here was a better choice, because obviously my husband could find better opportunities to work.
CR: Do you have any connection to Rev. Ferrari or the church in Milan from the time you lived in Italy?
SC: I have been translating Christian books from English to Italian for many years, so I first contacted Rev. Ferrari about 7-8 years ago when I discovered that his publishing house, Alfa e Omega, specialized in Reformed books. I have since translated for them until recently, when Rev. Ferrari left his position as publisher to concentrate on his ministry as pastor and church planter. My schedule was already full anyhow, because — besides being a wife and mother — I translate for another company and spend a lot of my spare time doing research for the books I write.
CR: What led you to begin writing biographies of theologians for children?
SC: I just saw a need for simple and factual books for younger children with an emphasis on the importance these men and women bear on Christian thought and the church in general. There are, of course, Christian biographies for children, but when I started to write I found that most of them were geared to older children and didn’t usually include much information on these people’s theological contributions. I wanted to show children, for example, that our historical creeds and confessions have been compiled with much careful thought, study, and prayer and have been confirmed throughout the centuries, and that Reformers like Luther didn’t wake up one morning with a theological revelation, but rested on the exegetical work of others before them and on historical councils.
