a follow up

Hello fellow readers,

I want to thank you all for your comments on the blog and to those who wrote to me privately. Your encouraging words mean a lot!

The anonymous poster has revealed him or herself to me and explained what his or her intentions were. There was no malicious intent. I’ve come to realize (and perhaps this needed to be beat into my head) that there are certain in-house things that I just can’t discuss and/or post. It didn’t occur to me that posting part of the actual letter would be problematic especially since it was a form letter. I don’t want to come across as a snotty, hard to work with person because I really think I’m not (if my editors are out there and disagree please say so!). From now on I’ll ask before putting part of a letter on here.

My intention of the letter, as I explained to the anonymous poster, was to inform and educate those who haven’t experienced that part of the publishing process. I got my first book deal a year after graduating from RISD. I was pretty young and naive and didn’t know how publishing worked. I was DESPERATE to learn the ins and outs. But where to go? Who to ask? There wasn’t much out there in the way of books—they say the basics. Onliine forums were much better but there was still some mystery to solve. That’s why I talk a lot about some publishing things that perhaps I shouldn’t. I think people need to know!

You all have convinced me to continue posting. I will admit that sometimes I don’t trust myself. I can be very impulsive. Hopefully I can stay within limits but continue to talk about things that I think are important. Of course, I will also continue to post stupid comments because I have a talent for the stupid.

I will end by sharing this commercial with all of you. It was created by my friend Mike who used to live in NYC but moved to CA. I think we illustrators and writers can learn a lot by watching short animations such as this one. Short animations have to be clever and have the right amount of information contained just as a picture book does. Good animations also utilize unique visual perspectives to tell the story (look closely at the sideways perspective in Mike’s ad from the head’s POV). My friend Julia went to RISD as an animation major (her animation is amazing!) and now she’s crossing over to kids’ books. Look at Mo Willems who is also a cartoon guy turned book author. Then there are the kids’ books that become cartoons…

Without further ado—

Pioneer ad by Mike Overbeck

Librarians make the world go round

Today was my last day of presenting at the Hong Kong International School (I change to another venue tommorrow) and my amazing coordinator-librarian-now-good-friend Amy threw a "Dim Sum For Everyone!" brunch in the library in my honor. And as wonderful as that was, it really is just the tip of the iceberg of what she has done for me here in Hong Kong.

And when I think about it, she and every other librarian out there are incredible just by doing their job everyday. Authors and illustrators can make as many books as they want, but if their books are unread they are unplanted seeds--as useless as a packet of pebbles. It's the librarians (and others like them) who daily connect our books to the readers. They are the true caretakers and cultivators, nurturing our books to life by placing them in the hands of a child.

So, librarians and all those how strive to bring books to kids, I thank you and admire you. Your gardens are beautiful!

Money & Writing

One of my favorite writers, Anthony Powell, once said that the public would be amazed if it knew how little money writers made -- he said it more elegantly. Something like,
"I was at the stage of life when one has written two novels...." and then something elegant about what people thought he made and that his actual income from writing was about 100 pounds a year!

This was in the 1920s.

Jane Austen wrote that "People are more inclined to borrow than to buy my books."

It's not only now that most writers aren't millionaires, to put it mildly. I think that probably the only people who make a living from writing (just writing, not doing school visits) are the people whose books are in airport bookstores....everyone else has savings, a working partner, or another source of income.

I'm in the first AND third category, though am about to be only in the third. I stave off worry by reasoning that I have ALWAYS been able to make money when I needed it. A fortune teller once told me when I was 25 that I would never really need to worry about money because when I needed it "money would just sort of come." So far, this has been true for me--the other day I was starting to get a little panicky and then a friend called and offered me a freelance job that will pay the April rent.

But not everyone is comfortable living with this kind of insecurity; of course I'm not always comfortable with it either but (for me) it's better than the alternative: a job that makes me feel like I'm in jail. I had one of those once - I worked in one of those big office buildings where the windows don't open and the lights are fluorescent and you sit in a grey cube. When I started there I had a big office with a window but was rapidly demoted when the wild man who had hired me --and loved my work -- was fired.

On NPR once they had a story about how all the Neanderthal bones that people had found had fractures in many places, and they concluded from this that early man (and woman) lived on the edge. Maybe artists are just more at home on the edge than in offices.

I liked this quote from the New Atlantis

“…blogger, James Lileks, described the demands of the blogging routine: “This is an odd hobby. It’s like having a train set, a gigantic train set in the basement, and in the morning you not only find a derailment, you find people streaming out of the tiny houses yelling at you.”

- gloria

about my posts

Dear readers,

I think it’s time for me to take a bit of a vacation. Some of my words are misunderstood, which is clear to me thanks to “anonymous” and his or her not so nice criticism of one of my posts. Honestly, I wasn’t aware that anyone but my friends and a few other people were reading this but perhaps the readership is bigger than I’d thought. I joke around a lot but the people who don’t know me might not understand that I’m JOKING.

I think it’s sad that my posts on this blog will become dull and lifeless. That is what will happen thanks to anonymous posters. Posting anonymously allows someone to be mean, hurtful, or inappropriately blunt. Other members of this group have been bothered by anonymous comments in the past because obviously anonymous comments are rarely nice. If you think I’m a loose cannon then don’t work with me. There’s no need, however, to publicly make a comment (anonymous no less) about my career. Write to me personally if you’d like me to know something. Sign your name at the bottom.

I would now like everyone to know that I DO appreciate ALL of my current publishers AND past publishers. I highly respect my editors and designers. My books would NOT be what they are without them! There’s nothing more wonderful than being able to bounce ideas off of someone… to have someone help shape rough ideas… to have a whole team of people working and caring about YOUR book! I love publishing so much because I love the people I work with. Without the people behind the scenes my books wouldn't exist.

Perhaps the poster is right. Perhaps I’ve committed career suicide by publicly announcing that one of my books is going OP. Only time will tell. Perhaps I don't want to make books anymore anyway. I put SO much effort into what I'm doing. Late nights, no sleep, no food, teary eyed because the pressure is too much... on blood pressure medication before the age of 30 because I'm too worked up all the time. Being an author is HARD. I hate public speaking but yet I'm supposed to do it to keep my books in print. I get nauseus just thinking about speaking in front of people! I don't know how often I've gone to bed at 6 am because of a deadline yet not be able to sleep because I don't have enough money to pay the rent! I wish people could understand the pressure we authors and illustrators are under and give us a little leway. We make mistakes. We post things on blogs that we shouldn't.

Regardless, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, you have won.

meghan

How I Know Grace

Yesterday was a short but lovely visit to Libby's fabulous new apartment in Mystic, CT with fellow Blue Rose Girls Linda and Anna. We snacked on figs and cheese, and then walked through downtown Mystic to the bridge, walked along the water, and then shopped our way back to Libby's apartment where we looked at Anna's breathtakingly beautiful art for Priscilla and then had a delicious dinner (asparagus pie and a salad, and preserved peaches with strawberry ice cream for dessert). Then I had to cut the visit short to skedaddle back to New York, and on the train ride home I thought about what to write for my posting today. Spending time with the lovely BRGs makes me feels so lucky and blessed to be part of this group, and so I was remembering some of our early posts when we first started this blog. Linda (I miss your posts, Linda!) had written about how she had met both Grace and Anna, and at the time I remember thinking that I wanted to write about how I know my fellow BRGs, too.

So, I'll start with Grace, who wasn't with us because she is in Hong Kong, but was with us in spirit. Grace was the first Blue Rose Girl that I met, way back the summer before our 5th grade year in Upstate New York. For those of you who have read Year of the Dog, you know that the book is loosely based on our childhoods, and the character of Melody is really me. But did you know that how Melody and Pacy met in the book is not how we actually met in real life? (Although the lunch lady incident DID actually happen when we were in school, but not until 7th grade.)

We met at my family's house. My family had just moved to New Hartford, NY from New Jersey. I'm actually not sure how our parents met--perhaps our mothers really did meet in the grocery store as they did in the book, I'll have to ask and confirm (did they, Grace?), but at any rate, our parents met, bonded over both being from Taiwan, and Pacy's family came over for dinner. Back then, I was painfully shy, and I hid this by being kind of a snob. I was a bit of a tomboy as a kid, growing up sandwiched between two brothers, and when Pacy and her two sisters came over, I immediately thought, "Hmff. They must all be sissy girls." My parents urged my brothers and I to show Pacy and her sisters the ravine behind our backyard, so off we went. I thought my initial judgment was confirmed when my brothers and I rushed off ahead, leaving Pacy and Ki-Ki lagging behind (I actually don't recollect Lissy being there, although she must have). Pacy later said that she had forgotten my name and was calling out random names that she thought could be mine (like Penelope), asking us to wait up because Ki-Ki couldn't keep up.

Anyway, I was too shy to be friendly, but Pacy was unyieldingly so, and of course we soon became fast friends. We actually went to different elementary schools, but saw each other quite often throughout the week, and always on weekends, slept over each other's houses, and became best friends. When we started junior high, that was when we finally got to go to school together, and it was heaven. But, alas, it was short-lived, as after 7th grade my family moved away to California (which is chronicled in the sequel, Year of the Rat, coming out next January). But we were fairly faithful although somewhat sporadic penpals, and kept in touch through letter writing and the occasional phone call all the way through college, with I think two visits by Grace to CA, once in high school and once in college. We lost touch for about 2-3 years when Grace studied abroad in Italy and I left for Taiwan after graduating, but got back in touch through our parents when I decided to move to Boston. We became roommates in Boston, both starting out our publishing careers together, Grace as a children's book author and illustrator, and me as an editorial assistant.

When I was home for the holidays, I looked through my old letters from Grace, and one in particular stood out to me, and I took it back with me to New York. Grace writes about applying to art school, and then says:

I'm going to illustrate children's books, y'know. That would be so cool. One day when we're all grown up, you'll see in a book store: Illustrated by Grace P. Lin. That would be excellent. Don't you think?

Yes, I think that would be excellent.

JOSEPH BRUCHAC

In my last Poetry Friday post, I wrote about Valerie Worth, one of my children’s poetry idols. In last Wednesday’s post, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, I mentioned a number of awards bestowed upon another children’s literature idol, Joseph Bruchac, the author who was the guest speaker at the winter dinner meeting of the Massachusetts PAS North Shore Council of IRA. I had tried for three years to arrange for him to address our membership. The wait was worth it. Joe Bruchac made a wonderful presentation.

Here are some of the reasons why Joseph Bruchac is someone who I admire for his work and respect for the kind of individual he is. The following five paragraphs were taken from my introduction of Joseph Bruchac at the PAS North Shore Council Meeting:

Historical fiction can be a wonderful vehicle for helping children to understand history, to truly get a flavor and a feeling for what different periods of the past were really like, to develop an understanding of how people lived their daily lives, of what they believed, of political intrigues and wars, of how innocent people’s lives can be ruined or destroyed because of actions taken by their governments. But we should be vigilant in providing our students with different perspectives of history. We should make sure to give them both—or many—sides of the story.

Joseph Bruchac has written some fine works of historical fiction: The Winter People, Arrow Over the Door, and The Code Talker—to name three. One of the things I appreciate most about his works of historical fiction is that he includes extensive author’s notes with background information for his readers. His books also give us another side of American history. They give readers a Native American perspective. A perspective of my country’s history I didn’t get when I was in school.

Of Abenaki heritage, Joseph Bruchac has dedicated his life to bringing us stories with historically accurate depictions of American Indians. Books that we can read with our students, books that do not stereotype Native Americans, books that we can share with children in addition to—or maybe instead of—perennial favorites like Brother Eagle, Sister Sky; The Sign of the Beaver; and the Little House books that may stereotype or misrepresent those who were here before the Spanish and the Pilgrims.

Joseph Bruchac has also been dedicated to conserving Native American oral legends and myths. His wonderful retellings of these tales are great to read aloud in the classroom—tales like The First Strawberries, How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, and Raccoon’s Last Race—the last two of which he co-wrote with his older son James. The author of more than one hundred books, Mr. Bruchac has written for people of all ages. He has also published books in a variety of literary genres in addition to historical fiction and Native American tales—poetry, nonfiction, biographies, contemporary realistic fiction, and fantasy.

Having been a classroom teacher, a school librarian, and now an instructor of a children’s literature course—I have often been asked who my favorite children’s authors are. Yes indeed, Joseph Bruchac is one of my favorites—but he is more than that. He is the children’s author I have the utmost respect for—not just because he is the recipient of so many awards, not just because he writes for people of all ages, not just because he writes so well in so many literary genres—but because he is a man of substance who writes from his heart, from his beliefs…because he writes from the life lessons he learned from his Grandpa Jesse who helped raise him…Grandpa Jesse who was an Abenaki Indian who never finished grade school but who was kind and understanding and wise and an exceptional role model. I respect Joseph Bruchac because he is a grandson who honors his grandfather’s memory through his work. I respect him because of his lifelong commitment to sharing stories about a people who have too often had little voice in our society and who need—and deserve—to have their stories heard.

PAS North Shore Council Meeting (March 7, 2007)

David McPhail was the featured speaker at the PAS North Shore Council fall dinner meeting last November. I felt like kicking myself the morning after our event for not having taken notes during Mr. McPhail’s wonderful presentation. I learned my lesson. I brought a notebook with me on Wednesday evening so I could jot down all the interesting things Joseph Bruchac would say during his talk.

You’ve heard about people who can’t walk and chew gum. Well… I’m the kind of person who has trouble listening intently and writing at the same time. I really didn’t want to miss a word he said. He is such an exceptional repository of information about American Indians, their culture, and their history. (I apologize, too, for my photographs. They aren’t the best quality.)

I was able to record some of the interesting topics from his talk and from the responses he gave to questions from the audience. I am not going to use quotations marks—but I will use italics in some cases to show that I am paraphrasing his words because I am not the best note taker.

Joseph Bruchac had this to say about those who want to be writers: If you want to write…write. If you want to be read, rewrite. He had another suggestion for writers: Write from your heart, write about what you believe in, write about the things you care about.

When asked who his favorite authors were, he said there were so many he couldn’t name them all—but he did mention four: Terry Pratchett, Louise Erdrich, Gary Snyder, and William Stafford.

He told us that many of his books are years in the making and how much he feels indebted to other Native Americans who have related their stories and old tales to him. He talked about an American Indian named Swift Eagle, a man who knew Jim Thorpe, who told him stories about Thorpe. (Recently, Joe published two books about Thorpe—JIM THORPE’S BRIGHT PATH, a picture book biography that was illustrated by S. D. Nelson, and JIM THORPE, a book for older readers, which is written in the voice of Jim Thorpe.)

Joseph Bruchac talked about his book CODE TALKER and the residential boarding schools for Indians, including Carlisle, that Native children were compelled to attend—schools where they were taught menial trade skills; schools where children could be severely punished for even speaking one word in their Native tongue; schools whose philosophy was “Tradition is the enemy of progress.” Schools that felt they had to “kill the Indian to save the man.”

He spoke about the Vermont “eugenics program” that began in the 1930s. This state sponsored program sterilized people, many who were Abenaki Indians, who were believed to be unworthy of procreation. The program was considered a model by German scientists of that time.

1933
With the help of Prof. Perkins, Vermont Governor Stanley Wilson signs into law “An Act for Human Betterment by Voluntary Sterilization,” seeking to control the population of the “feeble-minded.” “Henceforth it shall be the policy of the state to prevent procreation of idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded or insane persons,” the law read in part. Two years later, an almost identical law is passed in Germany. (Taken from the website of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity at the University of Vermont.)

Joseph Bruchac told us he feels that the stories we are told help shape us. He explained how people have two ears and one mouth so we should do twice as much listening as talking. He encouraged us all to dig out our roots and to find our buried history.

Joseph Bruchac is currently working on a documentary about Jim Thorpe for PBS.
March 8, 2007
Joseph Bruchac made a visit to my children’s literature class at Boston University. I was so happy that my students, most of whom are teachers or studying to become teachers, had the opportunity to listen and talk to Joseph Bruchac, one of the most highly respected Native American authors of children’s books. Following class, I had the distinct pleasure of dining and conversing with one of the most gentle, warm, and knowledgeable people I have ever met in my life.

A Few Words of Wisdom Gleaned from a Great Author

Listen. Observe. Remember. Share.


For Further Reading

Joseph Bruchac’s Biography

NEA’s Read Across America Author Interview with Joseph Bruchac

An Essay by Joseph Bruchac

Teaching Multicultural Literature, Workshop 3: Commentary by Joseph Bruchac

Article from Morning Earth Website (Includes a Poem by Joseph Bruchac)

Cynsations: Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Interview with Joseph Bruchac about his Book CODE TALKER

A Sampling of Books by Joseph Bruchac

Books Written by Joseph & James Bruchac and Illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey





RACCOON'S LAST RACE:
A TRADITIONAL ABENAKI STORY
Published by Dial Books, 2004








HOW CHIPMUNK GOT HIS STRIPES:
A TALE OF BRAGGING AND TEASING
Published by Dial Books, 2001

POETRY FRIDAY: Animal Poems by Valerie Worth

Valerie Worth (1933-1994) is one of my children’s poetry idols. A recipient of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 1991, Worth was an incredible crafter of poems. For the most part, her poetry spoke of little and seemingly insignificant creatures and things: crickets, a slug, an amoeba, pebbles, a safety pin, a hose, weeds, potatoes, and mud. Yet, in her “small” poems, she made the mundane seem marvelous; she carved the commonplace into fine art.

I was so excited when I opened a package from Farrar, Straus and Giroux a few weeks ago. Inside the large, padded envelope was ANIMAL POEMS, the second book of Valerie Worth’s poetry to be published posthumously. It was a review copy sent to me by the publisher. Imagine a book with twenty-three new Worth poems—poems that were not published in her earlier collections. It was like a little miracle. What makes the book even more special is the art done by Steve Jenkins to illustrate Worth's poetry.

ANIMAL POEMS
Written by Valerie Worth
Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Published by Farrar Straus Giroux

2007

To quote the beginning lines of a poem by my friend, the late David McCord:

Books fall open,
you fall in,
delighted where
you’ve never been…

Yes, I fell right into Worth’s book of animal poems. I was delighted and dazzled by the way she wrote about rabbits and minnows, the gorilla and the hummingbird—by the way she perceived these animals with her poet’s eye.

ANIMAL POEMS is quintessential Worth—another tour de force of poetry writing. Its poems are imbued with rich vocabulary and the precise use of words. The images are original and fresh and the figurative language is par excellence. If words were carbon, I have little doubt that Valerie Worth would have been able to fashion flawless diamonds.


A Close-up Look at Some of the Animal Poems

Look at Worth’s use of the letter “l” in the poem Snake. As you read the following lines, you’ll see how her language slips off the tongue. With the sounds of words, she captures the fluid movement of this legless reptile.

From SNAKE

Loosed
From
Limbs to
Run like water,
Spilled to
A liquid
Silt, a
Slurry
Of scales…

She goes on to compare the snake and its movement…

To one
Glazed
Stream
Of latticed
Panes, or
Mottled mosaic
Of pebbles
Tumbled
Smoothly along,
Their slender
Landslide
Filing
Down
The narrow
Channel
Grooved by
The guiding
Head…

Look at Worth’s use of language and rhythm to describe how minnows, “glisteners that shine,” and their coordinated movements in a school make them appear to be the body of one fish.

From MINNOWS

That their slivers
Sift together

In a scintillating
Mesh,

A smooth-
Linked flesh,

Like the whole
Rushing shimmer

Of a solid
Silver fish.

Here is the full text of Bear—along with its accompanying illustration by Steve Jenkins. Note how the bear stares out at us from the page—how Jenkins captured the essence of Worth’s poem.

BEAR

The bear’s fur
Is gentle but
His eye is not:

It burns our
Way, while
He walks right

And left, back
And forth, before
Us: he

Looks, and we
Look, and his
Hot eye

Stings out
From the dark hive
Of his head

Like a fierce
Furious
Bee.

I am always surprised by Worth’s poetry, in awe of her exquisite use of language. Who else could describe a gorilla as “that/Glaring/Legendary/Ogre/Of rough/Black iron/And ebony?” Who else could imagine a porcupine to be “Held fast/In the thicket/Of its own/Thorns?”

For the book, Steve Jenkins set most of his animal collages against plain white or blue or black backgrounds. There is a simple elegance to his illustrations—just as there is an easy elegance to the words of Valerie Worth. His art is a fine and respectful complement to her poetry.

ANIMAL POEMS is an outstanding poetry book. Every two-page spread contains a gem—a finely cut, multi-faceted poem, which sparkles like a diamond in the sunlight—a poem that rests on a platinum setting carefully crafted by Jenkins. I think this will be one of the most notable children’s books of 2007.

Excerpts from ANIMAL POEMS by Valerie Worth, pictures by Steve Jenkins. Text copyright (c) 2007 by George Bahlke. Pictures copyright (c) 2007 by Steve Jenkins. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. All rights reserved.

A Little More Worth

Valerie Worth was an artist who worked in a medium of words—and with words, she was able to create distinctly defined images that a reader could picture in his/her mind’s eye. She saw—and showed us how to see—the wonder of the “small” things. She could make the most mundane objects, insignificant creatures—and even garbage—seem like treasure.

From EARTHWORMS

(This poem first appeared in MORE SMALL POEMS.)

Put on the palm,
Still rough
With crumbs,
They roll and
Glisten in the sun
As fresh
As new rubies
Dug out of
Deepest earth

Some people think that young children don’t like poems with lots of imagery and figurative language. Some people believe that young children only enjoy humorous poetry or poetry that rhymes. I do not agree with them. Children often come to value what the adults in their lives value. If children are exposed to fine poetry like that of Valerie Worth, most will come to understand and appreciate it. I shared Worth’s poetry with my second grade students often. Some of them came to appreciate her poetry so much that they tried to emulate her writing style when they were creating their own poems.

I believe there is no better way to teach children how to write well than to read them fine literature—especially poetry. And Valerie Worth was—and always will be—one of the finest writers of poetry for children.

For those of you who may doubt my words, I provide the following:

STARS
by Valerie Worth
(This poem can be found in STILL MORE SMALL POEMS and ALL THE SMALL POEMS AND FOURTEEN MORE, both published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.)

While we
Know they are
Enormous suns,
Gold lashing
Fire-oceans,
Seas of heavy silver flame,

They look as
Though they could
Be swept
Down, and heaped,
Cold crystal
Sparks, in one
Cupped palm.


BURNING STARS
by Shaina, Grade 2
March 25, 1996

When I look up in space
at night
I see stars
that look like cold silver crystals
so small they could fit
in my hand.
But I know
the stars are giants
exploding gases
and bubbling with red flames.


I hope I proved my point!


Other Poetry Books by Valerie Worth

ALL THE SMALL POEMS

AND FOURTEEN MORE

Illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994

PEACOCK AND OTHER POEMS

Illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002

Learn More About Valerie Worth

Valerie Worth Biography at Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Books for Young Readers

Profile of Valerie Worth at the NCTE website


Happy Poetry Friday!

FOR A GOOD LAUGH...

I've been worked up about some things lately. What do I do to cope? Run and... I like a good laugh. From now on, when my workload gets too much I'm going trolling for videos. Funny videos. Everyone needs a good laugh, right?

Go to www.meghan-mccarthy.com/firesidechat.html for a few.

I'll be adding more as the weeks pass. Also, if you know of any good ones, send them my way!

What does this have to do with kids' books? Hmmm. I'm not sure. It might have everything to do with the way my mind works and how I brainstorm and create.

meghan

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner!

I am getting really excited. Tonight’s the night. The PAS North Shore Council of the International Reading Association will hold its winter dinner meeting in Salem, Massachusetts. I have been trying to arrange for tonight’s guest speaker to address our membership for three years. This guest speaker is one of my favorite authors. He has published more than one hundred books. He has written books for people of all ages. He has also written books in a variety of literary genres—including poetry, biographies, nonfiction, historical fiction, and fantasy.

Over the years, this superman has had a profusion of honors bestowed upon him. He is an award-winning Native American storyteller. He was the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Virginia Hamilton Award for his body of work. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas. His other honors include a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, and the Hope S. Dean Memorial Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature.

I will have the honor of introducing this distinguished gentleman. I have been working diligently on my introduction. I want to get it just right.

Don’t you wish you could join us this evening?

Can you guess who’s coming to our council dinner?

far far away

It's Wednesday here in Hong Kong and that means it is my day to post. I've been doing most of my travel blogging on my personal blog, but I thought I'd share this experience for those who don't read that.

I'm doing school visits here at the Hong Kong International School, an enormous English speaking school on the mountain. This is their library:



which I just thought was so neat. The kids made all those bugs!

As I was wandering around, I stopped in my tracks when I saw the magazine rack:

because, low and behold! There was fellow bluerosegirl Linda! Linda had been featured in a magazine in the States and it had made its way here, all the way to Hong Kong. WOW! She's an international cover girl.

What's even neater is that the HKIS library has a lot of books by my author friends (I'll post picts & details later). It's something I never really thought about when I make a book-- where will your book end up? It might travel far far away and touch a child on the other side of the world.

My radio interview is up!

I just posted my recent radio interview on Portland, Maine's WMPG radio show CHICKENS R PEOPLE 2 to my web site! Click here if you want to sneak a listen.

I hope it doesn't take too long to load!

Out with the old, in with the new

I was chatting with Linda the other day about how when we finish a project, we have the urge to go through all our stuff and purge things we don't need, then go buy new things to usher in a new phase, the next project that will absorb our attention... so today I am posting one thing I am getting rid of, and one I bought, now that I'm done painting my next book.



This bright pink suede yoga bag has been sitting in my closet for 2 years, never used once. It was given to me, but alas will never accompany me to yoga class. Any takers?



These little lovlies I've had my eyes on for months... and they just went on sale! Why does finishing the illustrations for a children's book make me want to buy shoes? I can't answer that question. I just don't know.

dry erase animation

This must have taken this guy forever - meghan

Golden Kite Award

The SCBWI has announced the 2006 Golden Kite Awards, and two of the books I've edited have been honored:

Firegirl by Tony Abbott has won the fiction award!

and

Hippo! No, Rhino by Jeff Newman has been named an honor recepient for picture book illustration!

I am so incredibly proud and happy for these two wonderful books, and a little humbled because for both of these, I made very few edits on the actual book--both came to me virtually perfect. So I felt even more unworthy when I received a little more good news, both for me and Tony. This is from the May 2006 press release:

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators has just announced that The Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children's literature, will, beginning with the 2006 competition, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. SCBWI's Board has also made the unprecedented decision to recognize the work of editors and art directors who play pivotal roles in shaping the Golden Kite-winning books. Editors of winning books will receive $1,000, and for the winning book in the Picture Book Illustration category, an additional $1,000 will be given to the book's art director. Authors and illustrators will also receive an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI's Summer Conference in August.

Now that was a surprise for me! I've never heard of an award where the editor received a cash prize as well, but hey, I'm not going to complain. My computer has been barely hanging on for the past year, and I've been wondering how to afford a new one. Well, now I know. So, congratulations Tony and Jeff! And thank you, SCBWI for this more-than-generous award. The news couldn't have come at a better time for me. I've been sick (yes, I've already whined on my personal blog), and feverish, and in the middle of it all, this news was the best medicine ever.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Readergirlz!

Well, I kinda missed the boat on this one and was going to help announce the readergirlz press release last Thursday (March 1) when they launched their site, but in my fever and delirium I missed it (yes, I'm blaming everything on my sickness!). But check out the Readergirlz Issue #2. Not only do they have a kick-ass soundtrack (I'm addicted to KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See), but they introduce a Gutsy Girl, librarian Josie Watanabe who was the inspiration behind readergirlz, and also celebrate Justina Chen Headley's first novel Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies), which, if you're a regular Blue Rose Girls reader (or Bloomabilities reader), you know is near and dear to my heart. Here's a sneak peak at the site:

Happy National Women's History Month!

Truth: March is the perfect time to launch readergirlz, because today's girls will make tomorrow's history.

Truth: Our world needs more gutsy girls.

Truth: Last spring on her book tour, readergirlz diva Justina Chen Headley made a special effort to visit urban areas that couldn't otherwise afford to bring in authors. One particular afternoon in Seattle's International District left a profound impact on Justina . . . and inspired readergirlz!

Truth: It took 9 months, 3 additional readergirlz divas (YA authors Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey & Lorie Ann Grover), 1 superstar webdiva nicknamed Little Willow, and the advice of countless children's lit librarians and bloggers to create readergirlz.

It a wonderful site with a wonderful purpose. Here is their manifesta:

So here's our official readergirlz Manifesta: what we stand for, what we believe, what we promise YOU:

* Readergirlz is about having serious fun while talking about books with the author and your friends!

* Readergirlz is about getting the inside scoop about why the novel was written, the tears and joys and real-world angst that the author has lived and layered into her story.

* Readergirlz is about reading great books to get to know yourself, your friends, and yes, even your mother, better.

* Readergirlz is about celebrating strong girls in books who've got the guts to dream.

* Readergirlz is about reaching out to others based on what you've read.

* And most of all, readergirlz is about inspiring girls to make history of their own!

Check them out at www.readergirlz.com.

Great, weird animation

Why can't I make books like this? I'm going to try!

meghan

Grace is in Hong Kong!

That's Grace in Hong Kong -- you can read about it in HER words at her personal blog.

Grace's first posts from Hong Kong

Yes, posts plural -- the irrepressible blogger and picture taker has posted twice since her arrival there yesterday.

And sorry I didn't post yesterday: these posts of Grace's will I hope more than make up for nothing for me this weekend.

--Libby

SNEAK PEEK: Janet Wong & Julie Paschkis

If you haven’t read my interview with Janet and Julie yet, I suggest you check that out before you read today’s post.










Interview Addendum

Elaine: Does either of you have any other books that will be published in 2007?

Julie: I am very excited about a book I illustrated that is coming out later this year from Henry Holt. It is called GLASS SLIPPER, GOLD SANDAL: A WORLDWIDE CINDERELLA and it was written by Paul Fleischman. It weaves together Cinderella stories from all around the world. It will be released in September.

Janet: Do you know about BEFORE IT WRIGGLES AWAY, my Meet the Author book (Richard C. Owen Publishers) that came out in January of this year? It's still not available through amazon.com (groan), but RC Owen sells it directly:
http://www.rcowen.com/MTA-JanetWong.htm




A Sneak Peek at a “Potential Project” from Julie and Janet

Elaine: Do the two of you have any plans to collaborate on a fourth book that you'd be willing to share with us?

Janet: Julie and I currently aren't actively working on a new collection but on a possible collection. Let's see if Julie is interested in "going public" with that, though, since it's still very tentative...

Julie, do you want to share an image from your Liberty Notes along with one or two of my DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE poems?

Julie: I'm happy to talk about this possible project! I've attached two of the images illustrating the 1st amendment (freedom of speech) and 4th amendment (freedom from unreasonable search and seizure) from a series of cards I made and sell to benefit the ACLU. The National Endowment for the Humanities recently used one of the images (The Pursuit of Happiness) in a library program they have.

Janet: Here's the text of the poems "Liberty" and "Declaration of Interdependence," both written to go with Julie's Liberty Notes (and hoping that they will be part of a fourth book called DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE):

Freedom of Speech

Declaration of Interdependence
by Janet Wong


We hold these truths to be not-so-self-evident

(but think about them a while, and hopefully you might agree):


all men are created equally a puzzle, made up of so many parts;

each of us makes up part of the greater puzzle that is our nation.


Lose one piece and the picture is incomplete. Recognizable, but

what happens when too many pieces, one by one, become lost?


Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness: do your best to find

the pieces that fit, that need you, as much as you need them.

Freedom from Unreasonable Search and Seizure

Liberty
by Janet Wong


I pledge acceptance

of the views,

so different,

that make us America


To listen, to look,

to think, and to learn


One people

sharing the earth

responsible

for liberty

and justice

for all.

Elaine: Janet and Julie, Thank you so much for the wonderful interview and for an inside look at your collaborative process that brought us TWIST: YOGA POEMS—your third fine book of poetry and art. I do hope the “possible” project that you two have been working on gets published in the not-too-distant future. It looks like a great book in the making!

A Few More Words

I’d like to tell everyone how much I enjoyed conducting my “interview via email” with Janet and Julie. They responded promptly to all my questions and were so forthcoming with information about their author and illustrator process for TWIST: YOGA POEMS that writing up the interview for Blue Rose Girls was easy—easy once I color coded their responses in my Word document draft.

I should tell you, too, that it was Janet who suggested I include Julie in the interview. I had originally planned to write a blog interview with Janet about her poetry books. When I saw a copy of TWIST, I wrote Janet to tell her how much I liked the book—and Julie’s gorgeous illustrations. So Janet asked Julie if she’d participate with her in an interview about the book. How lucky can a blogger get?

Two Other Great Poetry Books by Janet and Julie

NIGHT GARDEN: POEMS FROM THE WORLD OF DREAMS (2000)

















KNOCK ON WOOD: POEMS ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS (2003)

(Both of these books were published by Margaret K. McElderry Books.)

POETRY FRIDAY: Yoga Poems

TWIST: YOGA POEMS
Written by Janet Wong
Illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Margaret K. McElderry
(2007)

What a gorgeous book! Julie Paschkis outdid herself with her art for TWIST, a poetry collection written by Janet Wong. I thought YELLOW ELEPHANT was one of the best-illustrated children’s books of 2006. I know it’s early March—but I think TWIST may well be one of the best-illustrated books of 2007.

This is the third book of poetry written by Janet Wong that Paschkis has illustrated. NIGHT GARDEN: POEMS FROM THE WORLD OF DREAMS, the first collaboration between Wong and Paschkis, was a stunner. It was designated a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2000 and a National Council of Teachers of English Notable Children’s Book. Their second book, KNOCK ON WOOD: POEMS ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS, was a Riverbank Review Books of Distinction Finalist. Needless to say, I waited with anticipation for my review copy of TWIST to arrive from the publisher. As soon as I looked at the front cover and read the first poem, Breath, I knew I had in my hands another wonderful pairing of art and poetry from these two talented and accomplished women.

TWIST is a collection of poems about different yoga positions. There’s nothing fussy or pretentious about Wong’s poetry in this book. With well-honed writing and lyrical language that is accessible to young children, she captures the poetic essence of the yoga poses and creates tangible images of sixteen different body positions—including Warrior, Tree, and Crow. Paschkis’s vibrant watercolor illustrations are striking and meld into a visual harmony with Wong’s fine text.

This is an attractively designed book. The format of TWIST suits the subject matter of the poetry perfectly. Each two-page spread includes a poem that explains the meaning of a particular yoga position and a painting that illustrates that position. Both the illustration and the poem are set inside frames of the same size—with the illustration on the left-hand page and the poem on the right-hand page. This gives the effect of the poem and the painting being mirror images of each other. The framed paintings are set inside larger border-like illustrations, which also mirror each other. These larger illustrations include design details that extend the yoga theme of each of Wong’s poems.

Here are three examples from the book to show you how the art and text work together so beautifully to provide us with a unique artistic and literary interpretation of yoga.


From BREATH

Breath is a broom
sweeping your insides.

Smooth and slow:
You pull scattered bits of dream fluff
And heart dust into neat piles…

Breath is a broom
sweeping you fresh.


From TREE

Trees watch.

This is why
they grow tall,
this is why they bend
and sway,
so they can see around
a house, over a hill,
beyond a fire…

At the tip of each branch
there is an eye.


LOW CROW

Crow depends on his elbows.

You cannot always fly.
You need to rest
the weight of yourself.


TWIST has the elements that I look for in an illustrated poetry book for children: well-written poetry with a new “twist” and art that not only adds visual interest to the book, but also adds another dimension to the author’s text.


An Interview with Janet Wong & Julie Paschkis

Janet and Julie were kind enough to let me interview them about their most recent collaboration on TWIST. Here’s a little background information first: Julie and Janet are friends. They met through Laura Kvanosky, author of ZELDA AND IVY: THE RUNAWAYS. Each of their three books has been submitted as an author/illustrator package, which is pretty unusual in the publishing world.


Elaine: Janet, in your Author's Note at the end of TWIST, you tell readers that you wrote the poems for Julie, who loves yoga and loves to stretch. Did you just sit down one day and decide you were going to write these poems for Julie...or was there something in particular that inspired you to so? I’d also like to know if you practice yoga.

Janet: Even though it has been years (and pounds) since I have practiced yoga, I did do the poses as I wrote the poems. I think my dog Nissa found it quite strange to see me typing away on the computer, then flopping suddenly down on the floor, stretching, then hopping back up to my desk for more typing. I'd be straining on the floor and she would come and lick my face in encouragement (or maybe sympathy).

I don't do enough exercise, and it was very good for me to have a reason to "have to" do yoga (apart from the health and spiritual benefits). One review suggested that this book was inspired by the "current yoga craze" but, actually, I started writing these poems in 2002, after Julie finished the paintings for KNOCK ON WOOD, and finished the poems in 2003. I was so pleased with what Julie had done in that book and wanted to give her another project, an "irresistible project." I chose yoga, knowing that she is passionate about yoga and practices it several times a week. I was a bit worried when I started seeing children's yoga books coming out. With each passing year, I worried that "the market" was disappearing. But this isn't a how-to book. I'm hoping that kids who have learned yoga will stumble on this book and feel a jolt of excitement at discovering a celebration of an important part of their lives.

Elaine: Julie, did you enjoy illustrating this book of poems that Janet wrote especially for you?

Julie: TWIST was great fun to illustrate. I do a lot of yoga so I felt like I knew the poses from the inside out (less googling than usual for reference). Janet's poems were surprising and just right. So many of the poses have animal names. She pushed those connections in ways that brought imagery to mind that was fun to paint. Now when I do yoga poses I often think of lines from her poems. I will be in cat pose and suddenly think of a pleasant bowl of cream.

Elaine: Janet, reviewers of TWIST have noted the variety of ethnicities Julie depicts in her paintings. Was this something the two of you discussed before she did the art for the book?

Janet: I like the fact that Julie varies the ethnicity of the children in our books. We have never discussed this with each other, but I feel it is very important for kids to see a variety of looks. Not just different races, but different hairstyles and body shapes. I'm happy to have inspired the roly-poly round-bellied "jelly doughnut" of a girl in the poem "Finding the Center" in TWIST. There's a secret truth in that painting that Julie didn't intend: the green apples in the foreground (painted by Julie to symbolize envy), actually (in my mind and personal history) symbolize Asians. When my grandfather learned that I was dating a white man (who later became my husband), he said, "There are green apples, red apples. We are green apples. But you need to try all kinds." My grandfather was about 85 years old when he told me this. He was quite poetic, a natural storyteller—and a very wise man.

The Jelly Doughnut and the Green Apples

Elaine: Julie, would like to speak to this diversity represented in the books you have illustrated for Janet?

Julie: I always want to include lots of different ethnicities so that children can see themselves. But also that reflects reality; on my block alone there are Indian, Chinese, Korean, Hispanic, black, white, and mixed race children.

Elaine: Julie, where did you get your inspiration for the art in TWIST?

Julie: I looked at a lot of Indian miniatures as I did the illustrations for TWIST. Since yoga comes from India it made sense for those pictures to influence the art in the book. I studied the miniatures for the colors and for the way space is divided up. I love how saturated the colors are in the Indian paintings. One interesting fact that I learned is that the intense yellow pigment in the miniatures was made from feeding mangos to the cows and then making paint from their dried urine. (I didn't use that technique.)

When I painted the clothing and the borders I looked at the Indian miniatures, at paintings of people in Indian clothing and at a Dover book of paisley patterns. I put all those ingredients in my head and painted the patterns based on those inspirations; they aren't exact copies of anything. I tried to make the patterns fit the poems. For example, in the illustration for the poem Triangle all of the patterns on the clothes are based on the triangle shape. Or in Cobra the border and clothing have lines that snake around.

Elaine: Janet, tell me about your author-illustrator relationship with Julie and why you love working with her.

Janet: Perhaps the most amazing thing about Julie is that she has made each book of ours significantly different from the last. People who look quickly might not notice the little differences, but all together they add up to something quite important.

For instance, NIGHT GARDEN: POEMS FROM THE WORLD OF DREAMS had no glossary of "dream interpretation" at the back. I thought that was fine; Julie, too, wanted to emphasize the poems and not distract the reader with psychobabble. Why, then, did we include "back matter" in KNOCK ON WOOD: POEMS ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS? Julie's curiosity about (and even, I would say, fascination with) superstitions, as well as the folkloric element of her paintings, led me to justify including a glossary (of sorts) at the end of the book. I say "of sorts" because, again, she encouraged me not to distract the reader with dry academic text, but rather to try to provide commentary that would be playful and inspire wonder. With TWIST: YOGA POEMS, I sought to replicate KNOCK ON WOOD's back matter with commentary or even instructions on the poses, but Julie was quite firm about not wanting that. I think that she has become increasingly certain with each book about how she wants it to look.

Julie is the only illustrator with whom I have this level of "back and forth"--or maybe I should say "back and back"! I like to consult her when the book is still being written, but she makes it pretty clear that I am to leave her alone to paint as she sees fit, once the manuscript is finalized.

Elaine: Julie, tell us what makes working with Janet and her texts so inspiring.

Julie: Our friendship grew out of working together. I think we spur each other on to create good work; I hope that A plus B equals more than C. I like illustrating Janet's poems because her imagery is like a diving board for my imagination. Also, her poems are subtle. When I read them over and over I notice the artistry in the construction of the poems and I find layers of meaning.


Come back on Sunday for a “sneak peek” at a potential Wong/Paschkis project!