KN: The concept of a memory bank implies that memories are valuable. Please expand on that idea.
CC: Beyond valuable, memory and dreams are incredibly delicious phenomena, the richest territory in the universe for an author and artist to mine. I felt like I’d fallen into a tub of butter getting to imagine the places and workings of memories and dreams and forgetting and remembering. Entering The Memory Bank was like an extended journey to the back of my brain, where practically all of the good stuff resides.
RS: Wow. This question stumps me. Isn’t reading experiencing memory?
KN: Abandonment is one of human kind's deepest fears. How did you decide that Honey would be abandoned?
CC: Very little is decided consciously, at least in the beginning of creating a story. Ideas and images present themselves, and often come as a surprise. We understood, at some level, that our main characters, Hope and Honey, were up against a tough situation. And we needed something striking to jumpstart the story and get them on the road to the Memory Bank (and Dump). More than anything we played with options. When this notion of abandoned-by-the-side-of-the-road came to us, we knew we knew we had gone a little (too) far, sailed right over the top. We more or less dared ourselves to pull it off.
RS: Children feel abandoned everyday, dontcha think? A mother that we know has such trouble when dropping her daughter off at preschool that she brought an alarm clock. The mother would set the alarm for 1 minute, explaining to her daughter that she had to leave when the bell rang. I wonder what the daughter thinks now (she must be 20) whenever own clock goes off in the morning…
But that doesn’t answer your question does it? We didn’t ‘decide’ as much as follow the story.
KN: Carolyn, please talk about your creative process. Do you use outlines, or other aides? If so, how and when?
CC: The Memory Bank was my first book of true collaboration/co-creation. Rob and I made it together simultaneously, and our creative process developed and unfolded along with the book. We flew by the seat of our pants for the most part, trusted our instincts and didn’t analyze a partnership that was clearly working. The story grew out of an on-going conversation conducted in words and pictures—thousands of emails sent over a period of about 18 months. Sometimes Rob started the conversation with a picture, sometimes I did with a snippet of text or a question. Then we proceeded back and forth, building on anything that caught our fancy, that made us laugh or seemed to have juice. Bit by bit characters emerged, the places and workings of the Bank became clear. Later, editorial help from Stephen Roxburgh and Arthur Levine helped us refine the fundamental narrative drive of the story, the separation and reunion of the two sisters. Probably our main aides were the working dummies we created (with the help of ace Art Director Helen Robinson) so that we could see how the pictures and text were flowing together. Another aide for me was coffee. Rob and I tended to work at night.
KN: Rob, please talk about your creative process. Do you experiment with materials, perspective, and/or other artistic elements?
I didn't experiment so much with materials, as with layout and perspective, with the Memory Bank building dictating where to place the "viewer". Generally, I considered the page a stage and followed the text’s stage directions, although I used quick pencil sketches for the Memory Bank because Carolyn and I were having an avalanche of story. When we were working, there were three in the room: Carolyn, me, and the Bank.
KN: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
CC: Creating this book was the most fun and best time I’ve ever had making a book. I’m forever spoiled by having had simultaneous visual expression in the creation and unfolding of a story.
RS: What Carolyn wrote.
Showing posts with label six traits of writing: ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label six traits of writing: ideas. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, October 31, 2010
INTERVIEW WITH THE PERFECT PUMPKIN PIE AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR DENYS CAZET
Hi Everyone,
I just want to let you know that this was my first phone interview, and I had a blast. Denys Cazet is as whimsical and passionate as his books.
Happy reading,
Kate
1. I love the alliteration in the title The Perfect Pumpkin Pie. Did you choose to feature pumpkin over apple because of alliteration?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that the fall season lends itself to Halloween. An apple pie simply doesn’t have the same power as a pumpkin pie.
2. Mr. Wilkerson speaks in fun rhyme which balances the bitterness of his words. Could you please tell us about how Mr. Wilkerson came to speak in rhyme?
Rhyme is funny. When Mr. Wilkerson dies, he gains a slight sense of humor even though he remains aloof. He’s dead but doesn’t know it, and he reduces all the aspects of life into one thing—an insatiable appetite for pie. Mr. Wilkerson is wandering because he left something undone in his past life, and he’s lying. He’s not going to go away whether or not Jack and Grandma make him a perfect pie. In fact, I’ve thought about writing a sequel where Mr. Wilkerson becomes a part of Jack and Grandma’s family.
3. Jack’s grandma is a strong, spunky character. She’s determined not to be out done by Mr. Wilkerson. She’s not afraid of him, she’s not afraid to taste a pie he’s smashed his face into, and in the end she succeeds in baking the perfect pumpkin pie. In a biography written about you found at the following link http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1785/Cazet-Denys-1938.html , it mentions that your characters are always based off the wonderful people in your life. Is Jack’s grandma based on one person in your life or a conglomeration of different people?
I had two grandmothers. One was very sweet and according to her the sun rose and set on my shoulders. After all, I was the only boy in a large extended family. My other grandma was a very strict, no-nonsense kind of lady. She ran the show, and nobody questioned it. She had one of those looks that said, “Don’t say another word.” Even though she was strict, she still made me pancakes in the morning.
4. I also that you saw a real estate ad for an old farm, formerly owned by bakers, listed for $1 and you asked yourself what if they sell the farm and the bakers’ ghost still lives in it? At the time the work in progress was Halloween Pie. Am I correct in assuming that’s the one and only book we’re talking about, The Perfect Pumpkin Pie? Could you please tell readers about your revision process?
Yes, it’s the same book. The baker apparently disappeared in the late 1800’s. However, every year lo and behold around Halloween, people could smell pumpkin pie baking on the property. I love Halloween and the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead.
I write many drafts. Then, I revise more based on suggestions from my editor. After I’m holding the book in my hands, I wish I would have revised it two or three more times. Sometimes I think The Perfect Pumpkin Pie is too long to be classified as a picture book, and that the book is better classified as a story book. I love writing and storytelling, although both arts differ from one another. In this book, I tried to include an element of storytelling so that when the book is read, it feels more like a story being told.
5. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
Please read my book Will You Read To Me. A little pig writes a poem and asks his parents if they’ll read it to him, but the parents are too busy eating. So the pig walks to a lake where he sees his reflection and reads to himself. In so doing, his belief in himself is reinforced.
As a teacher, librarian, parent, and a writer, I feel that what’s happening to children’s literature is very disturbing. As mentioned in this New York Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html picture book sales are down 25-30% because parents want their children to read longer books. There’s an assumption that picture books are inferior to chapter books which means that people don’t understand what a picture book is. Picture books often have more advanced vocabulary than chapter books, and the visual clues help students figure out unknown words. When I was a school librarian, the pictures in the Tin-Tin books helped reluctant readers become fluent readers.
School testing is narrowing choices for teachers and students, which means that as a country we are drifting away from a liberal arts’ education. We need to expand choices to improve education, not narrow them. Furthermore, we are all different. When we test, we’re looking for similarities and if someone is different and doesn’t fit a certain definition, they’re labeled as deficient.
I just want to let you know that this was my first phone interview, and I had a blast. Denys Cazet is as whimsical and passionate as his books.
Happy reading,
Kate
1. I love the alliteration in the title The Perfect Pumpkin Pie. Did you choose to feature pumpkin over apple because of alliteration?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that the fall season lends itself to Halloween. An apple pie simply doesn’t have the same power as a pumpkin pie.
2. Mr. Wilkerson speaks in fun rhyme which balances the bitterness of his words. Could you please tell us about how Mr. Wilkerson came to speak in rhyme?
Rhyme is funny. When Mr. Wilkerson dies, he gains a slight sense of humor even though he remains aloof. He’s dead but doesn’t know it, and he reduces all the aspects of life into one thing—an insatiable appetite for pie. Mr. Wilkerson is wandering because he left something undone in his past life, and he’s lying. He’s not going to go away whether or not Jack and Grandma make him a perfect pie. In fact, I’ve thought about writing a sequel where Mr. Wilkerson becomes a part of Jack and Grandma’s family.
3. Jack’s grandma is a strong, spunky character. She’s determined not to be out done by Mr. Wilkerson. She’s not afraid of him, she’s not afraid to taste a pie he’s smashed his face into, and in the end she succeeds in baking the perfect pumpkin pie. In a biography written about you found at the following link http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1785/Cazet-Denys-1938.html , it mentions that your characters are always based off the wonderful people in your life. Is Jack’s grandma based on one person in your life or a conglomeration of different people?
I had two grandmothers. One was very sweet and according to her the sun rose and set on my shoulders. After all, I was the only boy in a large extended family. My other grandma was a very strict, no-nonsense kind of lady. She ran the show, and nobody questioned it. She had one of those looks that said, “Don’t say another word.” Even though she was strict, she still made me pancakes in the morning.
4. I also that you saw a real estate ad for an old farm, formerly owned by bakers, listed for $1 and you asked yourself what if they sell the farm and the bakers’ ghost still lives in it? At the time the work in progress was Halloween Pie. Am I correct in assuming that’s the one and only book we’re talking about, The Perfect Pumpkin Pie? Could you please tell readers about your revision process?
Yes, it’s the same book. The baker apparently disappeared in the late 1800’s. However, every year lo and behold around Halloween, people could smell pumpkin pie baking on the property. I love Halloween and the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead.
I write many drafts. Then, I revise more based on suggestions from my editor. After I’m holding the book in my hands, I wish I would have revised it two or three more times. Sometimes I think The Perfect Pumpkin Pie is too long to be classified as a picture book, and that the book is better classified as a story book. I love writing and storytelling, although both arts differ from one another. In this book, I tried to include an element of storytelling so that when the book is read, it feels more like a story being told.
5. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
Please read my book Will You Read To Me. A little pig writes a poem and asks his parents if they’ll read it to him, but the parents are too busy eating. So the pig walks to a lake where he sees his reflection and reads to himself. In so doing, his belief in himself is reinforced.
As a teacher, librarian, parent, and a writer, I feel that what’s happening to children’s literature is very disturbing. As mentioned in this New York Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/08picture.html picture book sales are down 25-30% because parents want their children to read longer books. There’s an assumption that picture books are inferior to chapter books which means that people don’t understand what a picture book is. Picture books often have more advanced vocabulary than chapter books, and the visual clues help students figure out unknown words. When I was a school librarian, the pictures in the Tin-Tin books helped reluctant readers become fluent readers.
School testing is narrowing choices for teachers and students, which means that as a country we are drifting away from a liberal arts’ education. We need to expand choices to improve education, not narrow them. Furthermore, we are all different. When we test, we’re looking for similarities and if someone is different and doesn’t fit a certain definition, they’re labeled as deficient.
Friday, May 21, 2010
INTERVIEW WITH ACROSS THE ALLEY AUTHOR, RICHARD MICHELSON
KN: Where did the spark for Across the Alley come from?
RM: The lovely thing about writing is that sparks come from so many directions, and if you are lucky, they somehow fuse themselves into a single whole in your mind.
Prior to beginning this book, my son was practicing violin daily (under duress), and wishing he could be outside playing ball (in his case, soccer, not baseball). During that same period I was invited to give a talk in Brooklyn, and missing my turn (pre-GPS) I happened to drive though my old neighborhood for the first time in many years.
When I was born, East New York, Brooklyn, was 90-percent Jewish. A short 12 years later, less than 10 percent of those living in the neighborhood were Jews. Across the Alley, is set at the 50/50 tipping point, when Jewish kids and black children shared the streets equally, but rarely played together. In this case Abe and Willie’s bedroom windows face each other’s and they become secret best friends.
KN: You grew up in Brooklyn. Did you have a friend across the alley?
RM: I did, but not to the same extent that Abe befriends Willie, nor was I as courageous as these two boys in stepping out of my comfort zone. What fiction allows us, of course, is to reinvent our lives (less generously called, as my mother might say, “lying”), and both complicate or improve on our personal history.
KN: What would you like readers to know about violinist, Jascha Heifetz?
RM: Just listen to the music! His tonal beauty is unmatched, setting the standard against which violinists are measured to this day. But I admit that for my purposes I was mostly drawn to the music of his name—Jascha Heifetz. The four syllables roll off the tongue, and I love reading them aloud.
KN: Why did you choose to include Abe’s grandfather instead of his mother or father?
RM: Hmm. I don’t know if this has a definitive answer, as I did play with different family relationships for both boys. But I’d recently finished my books Too Young for Yiddish, which involves a Jewish boy and his grandfather; and Happy Feet, about a black child and his father; and I didn’t seem quite done with those relationship structures. Also the age range worked, as I needed a Jewish character whose mental outlook would have been shaped by the Holocaust, and a black character who was stuck in the mindset of the world at the time of the Negro Leagues. I wanted the adults to be forced to confront their prejudices and find a new zest for life through the achievements of Willie and Abe.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers?
RM: Sure. Along with Across the Alley, a number of my titles deal with racial issues and hopefully provide a good starting point for classroom discussion. Busing Brewster published this week (!!!!) is about a black child bused to an all white school and As Good As Anybody: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King’s Amazing March Towards Freedom is about the real life friendship of these two great religious leaders. You can read more about these and my other books on my site www.RichardMichelson.com;
KN: Thanks for the interview.
RM: Thank you, Kate, for providing this valuable opportunity for authors to make our books better known to educators and readers.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
INTERVIEW WITH MY HEAR T IS LIKE A ZOO AUTHOR, MICHAEL HALL
KN: My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a great blend of creativity and emotional intelligence. How did the idea for this book develop?
MH: While in San Francisco for my brother’s wedding, I was inspired by a public art exhibit called “Hearts in Union Square.” On the plane ride home, I started to put together a story about the wedding that moved from one heart illustration to another. One of the pictures in the story was an elephant seal — a sight to see in the San Francisco Bay area. From there, I instinctively began making other animals out of hearts without any idea of what they might become. Four years later, I began to picture them in a book called “My Heart Is Like a Zoo.”
KN: Why did you choose to focus on hearts instead of another shape?
MH: I have little collections of pictures made from many different shapes. The heart is particularly effective because it has circular, straight and pointy parts within it.
KN: How did you decide which animals to include?
MH: I began with about 75 animals and grouped them according to the kinds of feelings they might represent. I wanted to represent a wide variety of feelings and characteristics. I chose animals that I liked visually and that seemed unique in some way. Toward the end, as I was tweaking the text, I had to change a number of animals because the rhythm just didn’t work. For example, one of my favorite animals was a sneaky raccoon. But “sneaky as a raccoon” didn’t flow well because the beat is on the wrong syllable in raccoon.
I wrote a blog post about the animals that didn’t make the cut for the Greenwillow blog:
http://greenwillowblog.com/?p=56
KN: The sparse text rhymes and is alliterative at times. Were those poetic elements always part of the text, or did you add them over time?
MH: Initially, I didn’t plan to use rhyming text, but as the book unfolded, I could see that I needed to break the long list of animals into sections. The rhymes help to emphasize this.
The alliteration occurred naturally. I like that it is there, but I didn’t change any words in order to create that effect.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
MH: A few weeks before I planned on showing the book, I noticed that about a third of the animals were overworked to the point that they seemed lifeless. I rebuilt them from scratch so that they were less animal and more heart.
Anyone interested in learning more can visit myheartislikeazoo.com.
KN: Thanks for the interview!
MH: Thank you.
MH: While in San Francisco for my brother’s wedding, I was inspired by a public art exhibit called “Hearts in Union Square.” On the plane ride home, I started to put together a story about the wedding that moved from one heart illustration to another. One of the pictures in the story was an elephant seal — a sight to see in the San Francisco Bay area. From there, I instinctively began making other animals out of hearts without any idea of what they might become. Four years later, I began to picture them in a book called “My Heart Is Like a Zoo.”
KN: Why did you choose to focus on hearts instead of another shape?
MH: I have little collections of pictures made from many different shapes. The heart is particularly effective because it has circular, straight and pointy parts within it.
KN: How did you decide which animals to include?
MH: I began with about 75 animals and grouped them according to the kinds of feelings they might represent. I wanted to represent a wide variety of feelings and characteristics. I chose animals that I liked visually and that seemed unique in some way. Toward the end, as I was tweaking the text, I had to change a number of animals because the rhythm just didn’t work. For example, one of my favorite animals was a sneaky raccoon. But “sneaky as a raccoon” didn’t flow well because the beat is on the wrong syllable in raccoon.
I wrote a blog post about the animals that didn’t make the cut for the Greenwillow blog:
http://greenwillowblog.com/?p=56
KN: The sparse text rhymes and is alliterative at times. Were those poetic elements always part of the text, or did you add them over time?
MH: Initially, I didn’t plan to use rhyming text, but as the book unfolded, I could see that I needed to break the long list of animals into sections. The rhymes help to emphasize this.
The alliteration occurred naturally. I like that it is there, but I didn’t change any words in order to create that effect.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
MH: A few weeks before I planned on showing the book, I noticed that about a third of the animals were overworked to the point that they seemed lifeless. I rebuilt them from scratch so that they were less animal and more heart.
Anyone interested in learning more can visit myheartislikeazoo.com.
KN: Thanks for the interview!
MH: Thank you.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Interview with Poop Happened! author, Sarah Albee
KN: The humorous voice is strong and consistent throughout the text. How did you accomplish this feat?
SA: It wasn’t always easy to remain light and irreverent, because a lot of the information in the book covers episodes of human history that weren’t very funny—like plagues and poverty and overcrowding. I didn’t want to come across as uncaring or flippant. But usually I was able to find something light-hearted to focus on. My ultimate goal was to help kids appreciate the amazing ability humans have to cope with bad situations. I also thought it was important for kids to appreciate that the field of public health has only been a priority for civic leaders for the past hundred years or so.
KN: I love the TMI(too much information) sections in the book. Did you plan those out or did the book designer come up with that idea?
SA: It kind of evolved, actually. In an early draft I had a few boxes that I had called “Probably more than you wanted to know” and my editor changed it to TMI. Then we culled out more from the body text and made a few extra TMI boxes.
KN: In order to write this book, you had to do a tremendous amount of research. How much time did you spend researching and how did you organize all of the information?
SA: I did read a lot of books, in whole or in part, as I researched. The research part took about two years, although I wasn’t working exclusively on POOP that whole time. The biggest challenge was organizing it all and then deciding what information was most relevant and/or fun for kids. A good friend of mine who is a writer read an early draft that was perhaps twice as long as the finished manuscript. She gently pointed out to me that not everyone is as excited about sanitation as I am, and that I really had to cut out some of the information. Which I did. And then my editor asked me to make further cuts. Cutting the text forced me to consider what was truly essential to me to keep, and that made it a stronger book.
KN: Reading this book made me really grateful that I live in modern times in a country which has a good sanitation system. You mention that many of the sanitation problems of medieval Europe still exist in developing countries today. Did you visit any of these countries to have a better idea of what it must have been like to live in London or Paris over a hundred years ago?
SA: I lived in Cairo, Egypt for a year, and there I witnessed a great deal of poverty and poor sanitation, both in the urban center and also in the countryside. During the course of my research I also read an amazing book called The People of the Abyss, by Jack London (the writer of White Fang and Call of the Wild). In 1903, London left his comfortable lodgings in the west part of London and traveled to the East End, purchased second-hand clothing, and went to live in a London slum, to experience firsthand what the life was like. He walked the streets, starving and homeless, and then wrote about it. Because he’s such an amazing writer, his account really helped me understand what it must have been like to be poor at that time, when there were virtually no social safety nets. Unfortunately similar situations exist today in many developing countries.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
SA: I hope this book will get kids excited about history. I’m working on a follow-up book about the history of clothes, especially some of the funkier fashions like corsets and codpieces and ruffs and bound feet and bathing costumes and arsenic wafers. I hope the next book will be another fun way for kids to learn a little history—the kind that isn’t in their social studies textbooks.
KN: Thanks for the interview.
SA: A pleasure!
SA: It wasn’t always easy to remain light and irreverent, because a lot of the information in the book covers episodes of human history that weren’t very funny—like plagues and poverty and overcrowding. I didn’t want to come across as uncaring or flippant. But usually I was able to find something light-hearted to focus on. My ultimate goal was to help kids appreciate the amazing ability humans have to cope with bad situations. I also thought it was important for kids to appreciate that the field of public health has only been a priority for civic leaders for the past hundred years or so.
KN: I love the TMI(too much information) sections in the book. Did you plan those out or did the book designer come up with that idea?
SA: It kind of evolved, actually. In an early draft I had a few boxes that I had called “Probably more than you wanted to know” and my editor changed it to TMI. Then we culled out more from the body text and made a few extra TMI boxes.
KN: In order to write this book, you had to do a tremendous amount of research. How much time did you spend researching and how did you organize all of the information?
SA: I did read a lot of books, in whole or in part, as I researched. The research part took about two years, although I wasn’t working exclusively on POOP that whole time. The biggest challenge was organizing it all and then deciding what information was most relevant and/or fun for kids. A good friend of mine who is a writer read an early draft that was perhaps twice as long as the finished manuscript. She gently pointed out to me that not everyone is as excited about sanitation as I am, and that I really had to cut out some of the information. Which I did. And then my editor asked me to make further cuts. Cutting the text forced me to consider what was truly essential to me to keep, and that made it a stronger book.
KN: Reading this book made me really grateful that I live in modern times in a country which has a good sanitation system. You mention that many of the sanitation problems of medieval Europe still exist in developing countries today. Did you visit any of these countries to have a better idea of what it must have been like to live in London or Paris over a hundred years ago?
SA: I lived in Cairo, Egypt for a year, and there I witnessed a great deal of poverty and poor sanitation, both in the urban center and also in the countryside. During the course of my research I also read an amazing book called The People of the Abyss, by Jack London (the writer of White Fang and Call of the Wild). In 1903, London left his comfortable lodgings in the west part of London and traveled to the East End, purchased second-hand clothing, and went to live in a London slum, to experience firsthand what the life was like. He walked the streets, starving and homeless, and then wrote about it. Because he’s such an amazing writer, his account really helped me understand what it must have been like to be poor at that time, when there were virtually no social safety nets. Unfortunately similar situations exist today in many developing countries.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
SA: I hope this book will get kids excited about history. I’m working on a follow-up book about the history of clothes, especially some of the funkier fashions like corsets and codpieces and ruffs and bound feet and bathing costumes and arsenic wafers. I hope the next book will be another fun way for kids to learn a little history—the kind that isn’t in their social studies textbooks.
KN: Thanks for the interview.
SA: A pleasure!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Interview with UNDER THE SNOW author, Melissa Stewart
KN: You did a fantastic job of including a wide variety of animals in all four of the habitats. You’ve been exploring nature for most of your life. Would you please describe an encounter or a real-life observation you’ve had with one of these animals?
MS: At a recent school visit, a boy raised his hand as I was discussing the page that shows red-spotted newts swimming just below the icy surface of a pond. “That’s a magic picture!” he exclaimed. It turns out at that school, teachers uses the term “magic picture” to describe a book illustration that also appears on the cover. I love that.
I told the students, for me, the newt image was a magic picture for another reason. They are the little critters that inspired the book. A few years ago, as I was hiking on a winter day, I saw newts swimming below the ice. They looked just like Constance Bergum’s beautiful illustration. Those real-life newts made me curious. I started wondering what other creatures do under the snow all winter long. How any of them stay active. I did some research to find out, and eventually, my findings developed into Under the Snow.
KN: How does a wood frog freeze solid and still survive?
MS: Incredible isn’t it. For a great explanation, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjr3A_kfspM. Please note, the last couple of seconds may not be appropriate for all young viewers.
Believe it or not, wood frogs aren’t the only critters that freeze in the winter. Check out Bugs and Bugsicles by Amy S. Hansen (Boyds Mills Press, 2010). You’ll love this book, and so will your students.
KN: When teachers instruct writing, they talk about the importance of word choice. UNDER THE SNOW has many strong verbs such as dodge, dart, whiz, and whirl. How do you choose the best words for your stories?
MS: I really wanted the text for Under the Snow to be lyrical and one of the ways to achieve that is through careful word choice, including the strong, active verbs you’ve mentioned. Studies have shown that certain sounds and combinations of sounds are particularly pleasing to the human auditory system. That’s why a writer’s tool box includes devices like alliteration, repetition, and the occasional rhyme.
When it comes to word choice, one of the most talented science writers for kids in April Pulley Sayre. The text of books like Vulture View and Home at Last is truly magical. I think all students—and all writing teachers—should read and study her books closely.
Writing lyrical text takes a lot of time and effort and trial and error. I have heard Newbery-medalist Linda Sue Park say that writers shouldn’t be afraid to play. They should experiment, try writing the same scene or passage a few different ways. Then see which one works best. I agree with her.
For me, writing a lyrical picture book is what award-winning nature writer Diane Ackerman calls “deep play.” Athletes sometimes call it “being in the zone.” I can get completely lost in the process for hours.
On really good days, I sit down at my computer at 7:00 a.m., when my husband leaves for work. The next thing I know, it’s 2:00 p.m. and I never ate lunch. The reason I was pulled out of “the zone” is because my stomach is growling. These days don’t happen very often, so I treasure them when they do.
KN: Just like the animals and the children in your story, we’re getting ready for spring in New England. What will you do outside to celebrate spring’s arrival?
MS: My husband and I go hiking just about every weekend. One of the things I like the most about living in New England is seeing the seasonal changes in the natural world. Sometimes they happen so, so slowly. Sometimes they seem to catapult out of control.
My husband says it’s spring on March 1. But for me, spring doesn’t really start until I see the trees leaf out. That usually happens in mid to late April.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
MS: Kate, I really think this blog is a fantastic resource for educators. You always come up with creative, practical activities to accompany the books you feature. I feel privileged to be included. Thanks for all your hard work.
KN: Thanks Melissa! I feel the same way about your blog Celebrate Science and your books. Our principal, Sean O'Shea, has been posting blurbs from a study which demonstrated that it is more difficult for children to comprehend and analyze non-fiction texts than fiction texts. Your books are accessible, entertaining, and provide great information for your readers. Thanks again for the interview.
MS: At a recent school visit, a boy raised his hand as I was discussing the page that shows red-spotted newts swimming just below the icy surface of a pond. “That’s a magic picture!” he exclaimed. It turns out at that school, teachers uses the term “magic picture” to describe a book illustration that also appears on the cover. I love that.
I told the students, for me, the newt image was a magic picture for another reason. They are the little critters that inspired the book. A few years ago, as I was hiking on a winter day, I saw newts swimming below the ice. They looked just like Constance Bergum’s beautiful illustration. Those real-life newts made me curious. I started wondering what other creatures do under the snow all winter long. How any of them stay active. I did some research to find out, and eventually, my findings developed into Under the Snow.
KN: How does a wood frog freeze solid and still survive?
MS: Incredible isn’t it. For a great explanation, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjr3A_kfspM. Please note, the last couple of seconds may not be appropriate for all young viewers.
Believe it or not, wood frogs aren’t the only critters that freeze in the winter. Check out Bugs and Bugsicles by Amy S. Hansen (Boyds Mills Press, 2010). You’ll love this book, and so will your students.
KN: When teachers instruct writing, they talk about the importance of word choice. UNDER THE SNOW has many strong verbs such as dodge, dart, whiz, and whirl. How do you choose the best words for your stories?
MS: I really wanted the text for Under the Snow to be lyrical and one of the ways to achieve that is through careful word choice, including the strong, active verbs you’ve mentioned. Studies have shown that certain sounds and combinations of sounds are particularly pleasing to the human auditory system. That’s why a writer’s tool box includes devices like alliteration, repetition, and the occasional rhyme.
When it comes to word choice, one of the most talented science writers for kids in April Pulley Sayre. The text of books like Vulture View and Home at Last is truly magical. I think all students—and all writing teachers—should read and study her books closely.
Writing lyrical text takes a lot of time and effort and trial and error. I have heard Newbery-medalist Linda Sue Park say that writers shouldn’t be afraid to play. They should experiment, try writing the same scene or passage a few different ways. Then see which one works best. I agree with her.
For me, writing a lyrical picture book is what award-winning nature writer Diane Ackerman calls “deep play.” Athletes sometimes call it “being in the zone.” I can get completely lost in the process for hours.
On really good days, I sit down at my computer at 7:00 a.m., when my husband leaves for work. The next thing I know, it’s 2:00 p.m. and I never ate lunch. The reason I was pulled out of “the zone” is because my stomach is growling. These days don’t happen very often, so I treasure them when they do.
KN: Just like the animals and the children in your story, we’re getting ready for spring in New England. What will you do outside to celebrate spring’s arrival?
MS: My husband and I go hiking just about every weekend. One of the things I like the most about living in New England is seeing the seasonal changes in the natural world. Sometimes they happen so, so slowly. Sometimes they seem to catapult out of control.
My husband says it’s spring on March 1. But for me, spring doesn’t really start until I see the trees leaf out. That usually happens in mid to late April.
KN: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
MS: Kate, I really think this blog is a fantastic resource for educators. You always come up with creative, practical activities to accompany the books you feature. I feel privileged to be included. Thanks for all your hard work.
KN: Thanks Melissa! I feel the same way about your blog Celebrate Science and your books. Our principal, Sean O'Shea, has been posting blurbs from a study which demonstrated that it is more difficult for children to comprehend and analyze non-fiction texts than fiction texts. Your books are accessible, entertaining, and provide great information for your readers. Thanks again for the interview.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Interview With Unnameables Author, Ellen Booraem
KN: On your website, http://www.ellenbooraem.com/evolution.html, you have a fantastic description of Medford and Goatman’s development from paintings into characters. However, there are many other outstanding characters in The Unnameables. What did you do to bring each character alive?
EB: When I’m starting a book, I have a form I fill out for important characters, asking questions about their hopes and fears, even what they have in their pockets.
When characters first appear in a rough draft, I let them speak and act for themselves, doing whatever is required of them to move the plot along. When I’m ready to delve deeper—later in the rough draft and certainly during the revisions—I open a new document for each important character and write a brief life story, including his or her fears and goals, and often a journal entry in that character’s voice. When I was writing THE UNNAMEABLES, I did this at least once for Earnest, Boyce, Essence, Twig, Clarity, Arvid, and Deemer—and repeatedly for Medford, Prudy, and the Goatman.
I had a separate document telling me what everyone looked like. For a few characters, I had other documents tracking their mood changes throughout the book—especially important for Earnest, Prudy, and Twig, whose intentions and activities were hidden until the end.
KN: What a fantastic answer! I'll have to use those techniques to strengthen my characters. Why did you choose to have the island stuck in the colonial period versus another historical era?
EB: As a purely practical matter, I needed the original settlers to take over a distant, empty island and then be ignored or forgotten long enough to figure out their needs and obsessions on their own. That wouldn’t have happened as easily with a later settlement, especially after transportation became easier and faster.
In my head (not stated in the book), the original settlers were disaffected members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They’d be adventuresome by nature—having uprooted themselves once to sail from England to Massachusetts, it wouldn’t faze them to do it again. It made sense to me that they would have tired of the religious and social restrictions in Massachusetts, and would have tried to find a place where they could live according to their utopian ideals. And of course they ended up creating a society that was even more restrictive than the one they’d left.
I drafted a sequel that offered an explanation of why the Islanders continued to be left alone to the modern day. That draft is pretty much dead now because of changes in the first book, but I hope to revive parts of it someday so I don’t want to give much away. If you look at the map in THE UNNAMEABLES, though, you can see that the shoals around Island make it inhospitable to the casual visitor.
KN: In addition to the tremendous amount of historical research to inform your language style in the book, what else did you do to make sure the character’s voices were consistent throughout the book?
EB: Every morning before I started to write, I would read a chapter of one of Jane Austen’s books, which were written in the early 1800s. That set me up for the narrator’s voice and the way Islanders talked when they weren’t using Book Talk. Before writing dialogue in Book Talk, I’d dip into Samuel Pepys’s diary, written in the mid-1600s, and maybe the King James Bible or some plays from the mid- to late 1600s.
To make sure I had individual characters’ voices right, I would occasionally break away and read the journal entries I’d written for them, or maybe write a line or two more in a journal. After a while, though, I had each character so firmly fixed in my mind that their voices came naturally to me.
These were great questions, a lot of fun to answer. Thanks so much for asking them!
KN: Thank you for answering them.
EB: When I’m starting a book, I have a form I fill out for important characters, asking questions about their hopes and fears, even what they have in their pockets.
When characters first appear in a rough draft, I let them speak and act for themselves, doing whatever is required of them to move the plot along. When I’m ready to delve deeper—later in the rough draft and certainly during the revisions—I open a new document for each important character and write a brief life story, including his or her fears and goals, and often a journal entry in that character’s voice. When I was writing THE UNNAMEABLES, I did this at least once for Earnest, Boyce, Essence, Twig, Clarity, Arvid, and Deemer—and repeatedly for Medford, Prudy, and the Goatman.
I had a separate document telling me what everyone looked like. For a few characters, I had other documents tracking their mood changes throughout the book—especially important for Earnest, Prudy, and Twig, whose intentions and activities were hidden until the end.
KN: What a fantastic answer! I'll have to use those techniques to strengthen my characters. Why did you choose to have the island stuck in the colonial period versus another historical era?
EB: As a purely practical matter, I needed the original settlers to take over a distant, empty island and then be ignored or forgotten long enough to figure out their needs and obsessions on their own. That wouldn’t have happened as easily with a later settlement, especially after transportation became easier and faster.
In my head (not stated in the book), the original settlers were disaffected members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They’d be adventuresome by nature—having uprooted themselves once to sail from England to Massachusetts, it wouldn’t faze them to do it again. It made sense to me that they would have tired of the religious and social restrictions in Massachusetts, and would have tried to find a place where they could live according to their utopian ideals. And of course they ended up creating a society that was even more restrictive than the one they’d left.
I drafted a sequel that offered an explanation of why the Islanders continued to be left alone to the modern day. That draft is pretty much dead now because of changes in the first book, but I hope to revive parts of it someday so I don’t want to give much away. If you look at the map in THE UNNAMEABLES, though, you can see that the shoals around Island make it inhospitable to the casual visitor.
KN: In addition to the tremendous amount of historical research to inform your language style in the book, what else did you do to make sure the character’s voices were consistent throughout the book?
EB: Every morning before I started to write, I would read a chapter of one of Jane Austen’s books, which were written in the early 1800s. That set me up for the narrator’s voice and the way Islanders talked when they weren’t using Book Talk. Before writing dialogue in Book Talk, I’d dip into Samuel Pepys’s diary, written in the mid-1600s, and maybe the King James Bible or some plays from the mid- to late 1600s.
To make sure I had individual characters’ voices right, I would occasionally break away and read the journal entries I’d written for them, or maybe write a line or two more in a journal. After a while, though, I had each character so firmly fixed in my mind that their voices came naturally to me.
These were great questions, a lot of fun to answer. Thanks so much for asking them!
KN: Thank you for answering them.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Interview with The Year the Swallows Came Early Author, Kathryn Fitzmaurice
KN: Did you use any organizational tools such as an outline or graphic organizers before you started writing Groovy's story?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Typically, I am a very organized person who writes a lot of lists and outlines. But with this story, I did not use either. I knew what the beginning and ending would be, but not the middle. I just wrote the story as it came to me, which is probably why it took three years to complete. I find if I do use outlines, though, my writing goes more quickly and is more organized.
KN: The Year the Swallows Came Early has beautiful metaphors, many of which relate to food. Did you have a list of food metaphors before you created Groovy, or did the metaphors stem from Groovy's character?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you for this very nice compliment. I did not have any lists of food metaphors as I wrote. I suppose they came as I was writing the story. I’m not a very good cook, so luckily, with Groovy only being eleven; I didn’t have to think up elaborate things.
KN: Migration is a theme in your book. Did the migration of swallows inspire you to think of how people relocate, or did you think about the mobility of people first?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The migration of the swallows has always fascinated me. How do they know the exact place to come back to? How do they arrive the same day each year? I like to think that no matter what else is going on around us, we can always count on the swallows to be here each spring. It’s one thing that never changes, almost like a promise that can’t be broken. I knew I wanted to put that in the book, and when Frankie needed something to believe in, it was the swallows’ return.
KN: Have you seen the swallows return home to San Juan Capistrano in the spring?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I go every year to the area around the mission in San Juan Capistrano to see the swallows return. We call it St. Joseph’s day. Unfortunately, because of the construction that has occurred since the mission was built and all the people who now live around there, including a big freeway, the swallows have scattered to the surrounding areas, but we can still see a few each year. A lot of them go to the undersides of the canal bridges lately because it’s much more quiet and away from the people.
KN: Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you for interviewing me, and for reading the book.
KN: It's been a pleasure.
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Typically, I am a very organized person who writes a lot of lists and outlines. But with this story, I did not use either. I knew what the beginning and ending would be, but not the middle. I just wrote the story as it came to me, which is probably why it took three years to complete. I find if I do use outlines, though, my writing goes more quickly and is more organized.
KN: The Year the Swallows Came Early has beautiful metaphors, many of which relate to food. Did you have a list of food metaphors before you created Groovy, or did the metaphors stem from Groovy's character?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you for this very nice compliment. I did not have any lists of food metaphors as I wrote. I suppose they came as I was writing the story. I’m not a very good cook, so luckily, with Groovy only being eleven; I didn’t have to think up elaborate things.
KN: Migration is a theme in your book. Did the migration of swallows inspire you to think of how people relocate, or did you think about the mobility of people first?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: The migration of the swallows has always fascinated me. How do they know the exact place to come back to? How do they arrive the same day each year? I like to think that no matter what else is going on around us, we can always count on the swallows to be here each spring. It’s one thing that never changes, almost like a promise that can’t be broken. I knew I wanted to put that in the book, and when Frankie needed something to believe in, it was the swallows’ return.
KN: Have you seen the swallows return home to San Juan Capistrano in the spring?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I go every year to the area around the mission in San Juan Capistrano to see the swallows return. We call it St. Joseph’s day. Unfortunately, because of the construction that has occurred since the mission was built and all the people who now live around there, including a big freeway, the swallows have scattered to the surrounding areas, but we can still see a few each year. A lot of them go to the undersides of the canal bridges lately because it’s much more quiet and away from the people.
KN: Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Thank you for interviewing me, and for reading the book.
KN: It's been a pleasure.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Interview with THE LION'S SHARE author, Matthew Mc Elligott
KN: Where did you come up with the idea for THE LION'S SHARE?
MM: I was having a birthday party a few years ago and we were having cake. Everyone had a piece. When we were done, there was still a big slice left over, but no one wanted to take the last piece. So someone – I don’t remember who, but it might have been me – cut it in half and took half. Someone else cut the remaining piece in half. Someone else cut that piece in half. It was really funny, and the cake kept getting smaller and smaller. I thought: there’s got to be an idea for a book in here somewhere.
KN: So halving the cake came from real life. Did your party guests proceed to offer to bake you numerous cakes, too?
MM: The idea of doubling the cakes was strictly from the book, I'm afraid. The idea was to set up a kind of symmetry between the halving and the doubling in the story.
(I really wish everyone had volunteered to make more cake. I love cake.)
KN: How long did it take you to write the first draft?
MM: It's tough to say. Since I illustrate my books too, I'm often tweaking the text as I'm working on the illustrations. The first finished draft - the one I submitted to the publisher - took a couple months and many, many rewrites.
KN: Describe your revision process.
MM: I write a draft, get away from it for a day or so, give it another look and realize it stinks. I repeat this for a few weeks. Finally, when I feel like it's not too bad, I show it to some trusted friends and get their feedback. They always notice gaps and inconsistencies that I missed, so I go back and do some more drafts, then show it around again.
When it finally hits a point that I'm satisfied, and my friends are too, then I'll send it in to my publisher. If they like it, there are always more revisions that they'd like to see, and I rewrite the text a few times more.
KN: Why did you choose an ant to be the heroine?
MM: Mostly because of her size. She's the end of the line. The animals start with the largest (the elephant) and get smaller as each slice of cake gets smaller. What I really wanted was for each animal to be about half the size of the one before, but that just wasn’t possible in each case.
KN: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
MM: I have lots more information about how I wrote and illustrated the book on my website, and I encourage you all to stop by and check it out. I have some sample projects, an explanation of the math behind the book and how it affected the design, demonstrations of how I drew the pictures, and lots more.
It’s all at www.mattmcelligott.com. Hope to see you there!
KN: Thanks Matt!
MM: I was having a birthday party a few years ago and we were having cake. Everyone had a piece. When we were done, there was still a big slice left over, but no one wanted to take the last piece. So someone – I don’t remember who, but it might have been me – cut it in half and took half. Someone else cut the remaining piece in half. Someone else cut that piece in half. It was really funny, and the cake kept getting smaller and smaller. I thought: there’s got to be an idea for a book in here somewhere.
KN: So halving the cake came from real life. Did your party guests proceed to offer to bake you numerous cakes, too?
MM: The idea of doubling the cakes was strictly from the book, I'm afraid. The idea was to set up a kind of symmetry between the halving and the doubling in the story.
(I really wish everyone had volunteered to make more cake. I love cake.)
KN: How long did it take you to write the first draft?
MM: It's tough to say. Since I illustrate my books too, I'm often tweaking the text as I'm working on the illustrations. The first finished draft - the one I submitted to the publisher - took a couple months and many, many rewrites.
KN: Describe your revision process.
MM: I write a draft, get away from it for a day or so, give it another look and realize it stinks. I repeat this for a few weeks. Finally, when I feel like it's not too bad, I show it to some trusted friends and get their feedback. They always notice gaps and inconsistencies that I missed, so I go back and do some more drafts, then show it around again.
When it finally hits a point that I'm satisfied, and my friends are too, then I'll send it in to my publisher. If they like it, there are always more revisions that they'd like to see, and I rewrite the text a few times more.
KN: Why did you choose an ant to be the heroine?
MM: Mostly because of her size. She's the end of the line. The animals start with the largest (the elephant) and get smaller as each slice of cake gets smaller. What I really wanted was for each animal to be about half the size of the one before, but that just wasn’t possible in each case.
KN: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
MM: I have lots more information about how I wrote and illustrated the book on my website, and I encourage you all to stop by and check it out. I have some sample projects, an explanation of the math behind the book and how it affected the design, demonstrations of how I drew the pictures, and lots more.
It’s all at www.mattmcelligott.com. Hope to see you there!
KN: Thanks Matt!
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