Dream job

Our neighborhood here in San Francisco is teeming with families and the accompanying stores full of kid stuff, especially clothes and toys. I spend a lot of time taking baby on long walks and window shopping. Last week I wandered into a lovely store called Speesees a few blocks from our apartment. Everything is organic and fair trade and I just love the design. I can't wait til Tilda is old enough to wear this:

Or these:

They had some stuffed toys too:

I got to chatting with the owner and designer who is also a painter. When she found our I illustrated children's books she exclaimed that was her dream job. Its funny how the grass is always greener. I love my job but designing kids clothes sounds like a dream job to me!

This, that, and the other

This:
On Friday we hosted six Hofstra University Honors College students at the office--my assistant Bethany and I showed them a video introducing Hachette Book Group, gave them a quick tour around the office, and then came back to a conference room when we talked about our submissions and acquisitions process, and went through the basic steps of how books are made. The students were all so eager and passionate about books--exactly what were looking for when we hire interns and assistants! Perhaps there were future editors, agents, and authors in that room.

That:
Did anyone watch the Celebrity Apprentice last night? I watched because I knew that Margery Cuyler, publisher of Marshall Cavendish, was going to be a judge. And the task? Write and produce a children's book, and then give a live performance of the book to a group of four- and five-year-olds. If you're curious, you can watch the show on the NBC site, although I'm not quite sure if I'd recommend wasting your time. The books produced were not as horrible as I feared they would be, and granted, writing a book in a committee in a day or two is a pretty tough challenge. But my biggest takeaway? Who knew that Star Jones and Dionne Warwick were such egomaniac, bullying jerks? I'll never hear the song "That's What Friends Are For" the same way again. Also, I feel certain that Margery Cuyler is going to be inundated with rhyming picture books and stories about animals very soon. Oh wait, she probably already is.


The other:

Remember that photo shoot I posted about here and here? Check out Laini Taylor's blog post here to see the cover revealed! The book is Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the first in a new trilogy, coming out this October. The book is absolutely magical, but more on that later.


P.S. We're looking for more Hip Scouts--teen readers who would be excited to receive free advance reading copies in exchange for reviews. I posted about them a while ago, and the info still holds, so see this post for more info.

bemelmans

After my research at the Met, some of the BRG took me out to for some girly fun to belatedly celebrate Ling and Ting's Geisel Honor. So, all dressed up in my blue dress (this is the second time I've worn it! Yay!), we went out to a bar for drinks so I could pretend I was like one of those fashionable, sophisticates on "Sex in the City":

But, of course, the bar was children's book themed! We went to Bemelmans Bar. Does that name sound familiar? Sort of? Does this help?

Yes, it was a bar where all the walls were original murals by Ludwig Bemelmans--the author and illustrator of Madeline! The art was soo gorgeous in person, but it was so dark in the bar that none of my photos came out that well. But it was a magical experience, sipping in wine and awing at children's book genius.

Next time, I hope we get to go during the day so I can get a better look at the walls. Of course, I'll have to think of some excuse to celebrate...

POETRY FRIDAY: An Original Cinquain

The cinquain is a poem of five lines and twenty-two syllables that was developed by a woman named Adelaide Crapsey.

THE CINQUAIN
Two syllables
Four syllables
Six syllables
Eight syllables
Two syllables

Here’s a cinquain that I wrote a few years ago. I think it’s perfect for posting at this time of year.

Winter,
Weary and worn,
Wearing a muddy white
Robe, frees her icy grip, makes way
For spring.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original end-of-winter poem.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Liz in Ink.

WARPED?

Obviously I'm going through my old stuff today. I found this poem I wrote in high school. This is the first half:


Hello, welcome to my humble home.
See part of my life that’s rarely shown.
Won’t you come and sit and talk a while,
Even though you consider it vile.
We men of silence should have a choice,
Of when we speak and when we refrain,
From speaking to hide our deep pain.
We keep feelings bottled up inside,
Instead of greeting the world we hide.
For me, not so easily defined.,
Different from the rest you will find.
Enough of the chat, do step inside.
Don’t be alarmed, for nobody died.
Just a few remnants that are stored,
But they are the things I like to hoard.
I really don’t know why I do it,
But silence makes me think as I sit,
And sit, all the while craving more,
Those tasty morsels I do adore.
Sick, you think? Or do you think at all?
Do nothing, but still sit proud and tall,
But I know inside there is some fear,
But you cannot leave, you wouldn’t dare!
From the outside we are all so silent,
But my inside is o’ so violent!
You know, fear is a natural thing,
Not knowing what tomorrow will bring.
Please, be not afraid, you cannot go.
I have few memories, this is so,
Because I was not a normal child,
My evil angry thoughts are not mild.
Rosary beats and a book of prayers,
These things cannot stop my se of fears,
But feelings of sorrow and remorse,
Cannot stop my evil deeds, of course.
God, the maker of heaven and earth,
He made me this way at my own birth.

There's more, but I'll spare you the end...

How is it that I manage to write non-insane children's books? I'm holding back! There are some ideas that I have lately that involve the darker side of me, but they are for older kids. Only time will tell!

FIRESIDE CHAT

Since I have two places to talk "shop" my fireside chat has been lonely. So it's back. If you want to know the real me, and probably more than you want to know, check out the new "Fireside Chat."

It will be minus the kids' chatter. Eeek. Dare I do this. More filler. Less books. Oh well. Everyone needs an outlet, right. And if people want to know what some authors are like - or rather THIS author, they will find out!

I think I may do this one weekly. This week's topic is odd things that i have that I don't know why I have them.



(I'm a little nuts)

A CHILDREN'S STORY CREATED IN COLLEGE...

Now you know why I'm nuts. I just know how to restrain it.

Two things

Last week one of my best friends -- someone who's been, literally, like a brother to me since we were 17 -- died suddenly and unexpectedly. Of course, I've been crying and thinking about him and going over my memories -- and regretting how many times I COULD HAVE seen him, but didn't, because I thought it would disrupt my writing.

Grace has been saying for years that I need to learn to write "on the go," and it's time to do it-- to say YES AND (yes, I can go, I can do that, AND write), not "No because."
"Thank you, I'd love to come!" -- to NY or London or wherever I'm asked; and I'll bring my laptop with me, get up early, and write. (Tips for writing when away from home eagerly solicited!)

If I don't learn to do this, the only time I'll ever see my adult friends is when people come here--which happens once a month at most.

The people I mostly see here, where I live, are 11 and under; and I love the time I spend with them. It's different from time with adults, because when I'm with children, I am completely present, focused on being there for them -- meeting their needs -- something that is probably all too familiar to those of you who are mothers. I don't think about myself at all. If you're not a mother this is unusual, I think.

Sometimes I am rewarded by a glimpse of the world through their eyes, as in this photograph, taken by an eleven-year old with his ipod touch: I called it Trafffic on Tower Bridge in my Patch piece about him and his Legos.



When I look at this photograph, it looks so real -- the angle of vision, the distance between the cars, everything. It looks exactly as it would look if you were in a car, driving over the bridge. He's created a world he believes in -- I'd love to do that in my own, on the go, writing.

First books

This weekend I was delighted to receive the first copies of A Photo for Greta, my new book due out in May.

I completed the illustrations last summer, though it feels like a million years ago since so much has happened between now and then. It was great to hold the book in my hands at last. We tried reading it to baby, but as the pages are not chewable she was a little less than interested.

YA Mafia, reviewing books, and relationships/friendships in business

Last week (well, I think it was last week) the hashtag "YAmafia" started appearing on Twitter. (see some of the #YAmafia tweets here) I was having a particularly busy week and wasn't online that much, and so didn't have time to figure out what it was referring to, but when someone tweeted this wrap-up of the whole "controversy," I was able to get a handle on what was being discussed.

I just wanted to touch on the fact that it's the nature of social media that furthers things like this. In an age where "one in five U.S. divorces are fueled by Facebook" and Facebook and social media are making it harder to get over your ex, when people's interactions are more public than ever before, it's perhaps unfortunate but somewhat natural that suspicions and jealousy and paranoia increases as well. When I first got on Twitter, I remember feeling a little weird and jealous eavesdropping on authors and editors and agents banter and reply to each other. Are they really such good friends? I wondered. Of course, as I got more in the swing of how Twitter worked, and I "bantered" with other Tweeps myself, I realized that in some cases, yes, and other cases, no--in many cases, people only know each other via Twitter.

Anyway, to my knowledge, there is no YA Mafia (and yes, I know personally and have worked with many of the authors who have been mentioned as possible "members"). There are, however, authors who are friends, and these friendships can seem cliquey on occasion, especially from the outside. Just as friendships in the workplace can seem cliquey. And yes, authors (and editors and agents and, well, people) can be thin-skinned and sensitive, and sometimes hold grudges. But that's just part of the business. Any business.

As it is with pretty much every other industry, networking is important, and relationships matter. However, just as in every industry, it's not the end all, be all.

I don't want honest, negative reviews to go away. I read bad reviews of the books I edit all the time. I have Google alerts for my books, after all. Bad reviews don't really bother me all that much any more, although of course any kind of bad review can sting, and a mean-spirited review, whether it's from Kirkus or on a blog, stings even more. But negative reviews can be helpful in terms of editing--if I'm seeing the same criticism over and over, I know what to watch out for in future books. When I'm trying to acquire a book, if a colleague on our acquisitions meeting isn't in support, I do have to hear them criticize the book--but of course the criticism is said in such a way because they're telling it to my face. And at that stage, it's constructive criticism, because if I do end up acquiring the book, I can work towards addressing the concerns. Anyway, if for whatever reason it's your mission to review books, for better or for worse, then by all means, be honest. You don't have to be especially nice about it, but you don't have to be mean about it either.But keep in mind that more likely than not, the author, editor, and agent of the book will read your review.

The problem with social media is that it's public, but people don't seem to remember that. If I discuss a book in my book group and criticize it, that's where it would end. It's doubtful that someone in my book group would go running to the agent of that book and tell him/her how much I hated it, and that the agent would then tell the author that I hated his/her book. And if I knew the author of agent or editor of the book personally, I wouldn't diss the book to their face. It's just not good manners. If they ask my honest opinion, I'd be honest, but would be professional about it, too. Let's say a friend asks you how you think she looks in her wedding pictures, and you honestly think she looks terrible, you wouldn't tell her that to her face, would you? (Well, I wouldn't). It's called manners. And common sense. Just as someone shouldn't make fun of a colleague's appearance on a public blog, one shouldn't make fun of a colleague's book on a public blog. And if you do, you have to accept the consequences that you've perhaps damaged your relationship with that person, whether temporarily or permanently. This isn't a threat, this is just business advice. Venting and criticizing something on a blog or Twitter or Facebook shouldn't be different from doing so in person.

Grace, I know, posted what she did about judging books last week before she even heard of the controversy. I also stopped rating books on Goodreads a while back. I know it's a small industry. I critique books in person, to friends, in my book groups, within my publishing company. I don't criticize them online anymore. Who knows which author, editor, or agent I'll end up working with. I wouldn't want to start things off on the wrong foot. That's just my decision. Other editors give negative ratings to books. That's their decision.

Sorry for the rambling post! What do all of you think of the whole shebang? Or is this old news and you're already sick of the whole thing?

from the BRG archives: Done Done Done Done Done

This is me, and the finished illustrations for Priscilla, which has been officially delivered to the art department at Charlesbridge publishing. Hurray! Its such a strange feeling, looking over the dozen or so pieces of paper that occupied my attention for every waking moment for the past several months, and then leaving them in someone else's hands. When I come down to my studio in the morning, it takes a minute before I realize there is not a painting on my desk, burning for attention, and although its nice to have my free time back, it is a little disorienting.

Maybe one reason certain personality types are drawn towards becoming artists (or writers), is that we have the burning desire to simplify life. When a painting or manuscript becomes your focus every waking minute (and I don't mean that you work constantly- but that even when you're not working you're somehow engaged with the creative process, that some part of your brain is still mulling over what color to choose, what composition to build...), everything else gets swept aside into a less important "deal with it later" spot. And when you finish that project, it is so deeply satisfying that the surface ups and downs going on around you don't affect you as much. It is stabilizing to operate this way.

But you can't always be that involved in your work. Groceries need to be bought, floors need to be swept, and cars need to be dug out of the snow. Which for now is fine with me. I missed having a food in my fridge!

Originally posted February 26th, 2007

Book Flavors!

So, I've decided to start a new little series that I'm calling Book Flavors, where I ask children's book author/illustrators,"If your book was an ice cream flavor what would it be and why?"

As I mentioned earlier, I try not to review any books on this blog (I do, however, recommend books on my personal blog) but I'm still interested in highlighting work of my colleagues. So I thought doing these small, short and silly "interview sprinkles" would be a fun way to do it!

Also, I thought doing this might be a good icebreaker at publishing events. I'm horribly scared of approaching people but this is a good excuse...and hey, if you'd like to be featured in one of my Book Flavors and you see me at a conference or someplace, just ask!

In the meantime, enjoy!


Author: Mary Newell Depalma
Book: The Perfect Gift
Book Flavor: Strawberry

CROCUS: An Original Acrostic

More than fifteen years ago—while I was still teaching second grade—I began writing acrostic poems. I’ve continued experimenting with the form—and have even written some rhyming acrostics.

Last year, I read through all the acrostics that I had written over the years. I discovered that quite a number of them were “spring-themed” poems. That’s when I decided to compose an entire collection of acrostics about the season. My collection opens with a poem about March and the end of winter/beginning of spring and closes with a poem about June and the end of the season.

Here is one of the acrostics from my unpublished collection titled Spring into Words: A Season in Acrostics.

Coming up, I’m coming up,
Reaching through the softening soil, poking my petals
Out of the earth,
Collecting sunlight in my purple cup.
Up, I’m coming up.
Spring is on the way!

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have two different versions of a rhyming acrostic poem about March that I wrote recently.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at The Small Nouns.

judgement

So, I'm a judge for this year's SLJ's Battle of the Books! Not only does it give me an excuse to read (and listen to) some of the year's best books, I was quite honored to be asked.

But while I have no regrets, I do feel some twinges of anxiety when I realize that I am suppose to chose which one I think is better. There is kind of an unwritten rule that an author should not criticize a fellow author's work publicly.

I learned this rule rather belatedly, and through experience. When I first joined GoodReads, I used it as a book journal--writing my honest opinions on what I had read. And, since I have a personal dislike of anonymity (I feel that one of the reasons people are so mean and rude on the internet is because they can hide behind "anonymous") I used my real name. Some books I liked better than others and I didn't think too much of what I wrote.

However, going to GoodReads also let me see reviews of my own books. Some reviews were good, some reviews were...not so good. Mostly, I felt I could handle what was said, the unfavorable comments made me a little sad but were digestible-- even though they left some unpleasant aftertastes. However, it was when I saw a negative review written by a fellow children's book author, the feelings transformed from rueful glumness to something else. Betrayal.

As LM Montgomery wrote, "Human nature is not obliged to be consistent," and my indignation went deep. How could a fellow author, who knew all the suffering and effort and trials and tribulations that goes into making a book, write something so belittling? That was so mean!

But I finally realized I was doing the same thing with my own reviews. I had no right to be hurt. And even beyond the hypocrisy, an author is also a reader and all readers are entitled to their opinions. The sting still lingered, though.

Since then, I've learned that most authors have a "no-negative review policy," which has encouraged me to delete my non-glowing reviews from GoodReads and try to keep any negative book opinions to myself. Sometimes they slip out, especially when I think it could be something fixed, but mostly I've vowed not to judge.

Until now!

Gulp.

Editorial Suggestions

Last weekend, Grace suggested that I write a non-fiction book about _________________,* a topic that's long been dear to my heart. I was really excited and when I got home, instead of taking my usual time to re-adjust after having been away, I got started. I finished a rough draft in one day.

Why hadn't *I* thought of writing this book? I don't know....maybe some of us don't know ourselves that well, or maybe some things are so obvious we don't think of them. I don't know and it doesn't matter.

The point is, sometimes other people do know best. Think of these books:

Grace has told the story of how she sent some illustrations to a publisher, and he wrote back asking if she had a story to go with them -- the result was THE UGLY VEGETABLES.

A publisher suggested that Louisa May Alcott, who up to that point had been writing trashy melodramas for adults, write a story for girls. She did -- the bachelor publisher to whom she sent it (maybe not the same one?) found it incredibly boring, and was going to reject it....until he came downstairs to find his ten-year old niece sobbing over the ms. (LITTLE WOMEN).

One of my childhood favorites, THE TREASURE SEEKERS came into being when an editor asked E.Nesbit to write a story about her schooldays....she did, and that led to THE TREASURE SEEKERS, which was first published in PUNCH. People weren't sure if it was for adults or children, but they finally decided -- kids, and it came out in book form around 1900. It hasn't been out of print since.

HARRIET THE SPY was suggested to Louise Fitzhugh by the great Ursula Nordstrom.

I'm not saying my book is at this level -- I should be so lucky! But it IS interesting, how sometimes other people (especially good editors) know us and our talents better than we know ourselves.

Of course, not all editorial suggestions are good ones. When I'm the editor, I tell my clients that if (after I've explained what I mean as clearly and forcefully as I can), they think about it and decide I'm wrong -- I AM wrong. Whether I'm the author or someone else is: we, the authors, always know the truth, even if it's bured under the excuse that we're just being too hard on ourselves (or whatever). We really do know. But sometimes we can't see it until someone else says it.

If someone makes a suggestion and I instantly agree with it and get excited about it, SHE'S RIGHT.

Time well spent

I loved Alvina's post last week about people in publishing pursuing creative goals outside of their day to day work life. As a creative professional you have to find ways to re-engage with your creative instincts or you will surely burn out fast. Being home with a new baby has made me think about this all the more. Because my time to work is extremely limited at the moment its important that the time I do have is spent well. To me that means not wasting time with procrastination and self-doubt, but getting to the heart of what I want to say. I hope that spirit carries through to the time when I have more hours at the computer.

In the meantime, I will keep keep chipping away at manuscripts in the making. And when I can't get to the keyboard, I'll look for other ways to express myself. Right now that means this:

It may be 60 degrees and sunny in California (don't hate me east coasters), but knitting is something I can do a little at a time. And every stitch makes me more excited about the next book.

ARLENE SARDINE

Daniel Pinkwater loves this book. He reads the whole story and then talks about it. Listen here!



Um... I'm glad he likes a good suicide story. I've always been puzzled by this book. Puzzled and FASCINATED. I have to run out the door but more talk on this later! But listen to this story and check it out. Then we can "discuss." Or I'll discuss and you can read....

teeth and work and balance

Last Thursday I had a tooth pulled. I've been having some other teeth issues related to teeth grinding and a misaligned bite that require me to wear a mouth guard during the day for 4-6 months. I've already had a mouth guard to wear at night since college for the aforementioned teeth grinding and TMJ. (I have bad teeth in general--lots of cavities. I think it's genetic.)

Anyway, long story short, the oral surgeon said to me before the surgery, "I guess it goes without saying that you have a stressful job!"

I paused. Because the truth is, my job IS stressful. Or, at least, I get stressed by my job. Everyone in my company gets stressed out. My first assistant would grind through mouth guard after mouth guard. But I laughed and said, "Well, yeah, but it doesn't sound like it would be stressful. I'm a children's book editor."

I realized how ridiculous that sounded.

I remembered this post from about five years ago--"It's not brain surgery." Anyway, I think I take myself too seriously sometimes. I need to remind myself to keep things in perspective.

Getting a random comment such as the one from Anonymous (of course) on my post last week didn't help any. Because the comment was so ridiculous, I have to assume that it was a joke, or at least something written, for whatever reason, to make me angry. It DID make me laugh, and it DID make me a little angry. But anyway. Being a children's book editor is my job. Not my life. I value the work I do, and I dedicate way more than normal working hours to it, but I'm not a robot. I have to remember that balance in my life is important. It's important in everyone's life. Whether we ARE brain surgeons, or authors, or illustrators, or editors, designers, engineers, or teachers. We should all strive for excellence, but we need to also strive for balance. Yes, there's always something more we can do, but without balance, we'd be unstable, without balance, we burn out. With balance, we can do better jobs, and live better lives.

So, in honor of balance, let me share these quotations, all from the reliable source called the internet:

"What I dream of is an art of balance." ~ Henri Matisse

"Happiness is equilibrium. Shift your weight. Equilibrium is pragmatic. You have to get everything into proportion. You compensate, rebalance yourself so that you maintain your angle to your world. When the world shifts, you shift." ~ Tom Stoppard

"People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Living in balance and purity is the highest good for you and the earth." ~ Deepak Chopra

"Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface." ~ Confucius 

City kids, country kids, and books

I'm a big Mo Willems fan, and was delighted to be asked to read Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. In case you haven't read it: The heroine wakes up in the night and realizes that she has the WRONG KNUFFLE BUNNY. It's 2.30 in the morning, but her parents are about to call the other child's parents when BRNNG! BRNGG! The phone rings.

It's the other parents, calling to say THEIR child has the wrong knuffle bunny.

A dramatic exchange follows, with both sets of parents and their children rushing out into the night to return the knuffle bunnies to their rightful owners.

The child to whom I was reading (4) accepted all this as a matter of course, but I was horrified. Is this how parents are now? WIth some trepidation, I asked the parents if THEY would call someone up at 2.30 a.m. to exchange stuffed animals.

"Absolutely not," the mother said firmly. She said she too had been appalled.

But -- we live in a small, gossipy town, you call someone at 2.30 in the morning, the whole town is going to hear about it. Many will make comments ("Can you believe what a spoiled brat that _____ kid is? His parents called the _____s at 2.30 in the morning to get back a stuffed animal!").

The parents in the book lived in NY. Maybe there, this is exactly how parents, or some parents, would react. Or maybe Mo is just presenting things the way to a child, they OUGHT to be and of course, are. In the book.

I don't know -- but whatever the right answer to THAT is, I do know kids are raised differently in different parts of the country (Grace and I were talking about this, since she'd just come back from a visit to Mississippi).....and maybe the more interesting question is if hip urban children are over-represented in kids' books. Most editors do not after all live way out in the country, where not so many kids are hip.

A good life

I won't spoil this by making comments beforehand: read it!

my six

Even though I've just finished up Dumpling Days, I'm already making plans for my next novel "Return to Sky." I admit I've been a bit scared to begin this one, even though I have been thinking about it for quite some time. Truthfully, I'm afraid my ambitions for it are greater than my abilities. But, I'm trying to take courage just like I did before when I first began work on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I had said I was going with Samuel Beckett's quote "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." I'm still going with the "fail better."

But a new quote has also crossed my mind. Recently, I read this post by Brenda Bowen where she excerpted Virginia Wolff's speech at the National Book Awards. In that speech Virgina Wolff talked about "Faulkner's six"--the six things writers should write about. Here's an excerpt:

Faulkner said in 1949 in the Nobel speech that if we are not writing about these six things we are not doing our job. They are love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. I think of them as Faulkner's six.

I thought that was interesting and quite moving, and it made me think of the things that are important to me write about, especially for this book. Right now, I think my six would be:

LOVE
KINDNESS
EMPATHY
RESPONSIBILITY
PEACE
JOY

But I think I'll keep tweaking and changing it. What would your six be?

Creating outside your comfort zone

On Saturday night I attending the Gallery Project, an art opening that was the brainchild of my colleague Kirk, formerly the Associate Art Director for LBYR, now an Art Director for Orbit/Yen, our science fiction and graphic novel imprint.

As Kirk says, "We come to work and interact with each other within the confines of our job titles every day. But some folks lead a double life, creating art for no one other than themselves. Knowing this, curiosity got the best of me and I came up with The Gallery Project. The Gallery Project tasked 10 artists to create 3-5 pieces in three months." 

Here's Kirk explaining the inspiration for the project:



Here are a few of the artists with their creations. Most of the artists are coworkers, from design, production, and IT. Others are friends of coworkers. The art ranged from photography, to paintings, to aprons...and Legos!

 

It was a great show, and inspirational, too. I know many of my colleagues were nervous about the show--many hadn't created art in years, let alone art meant for others to see. It made me wonder--what kind of art would I create if tasked to do this? Perhaps photography...perhaps I would sketch or draw something. For you non-visual artists out there, what kind of art would/could you create?

Creative or imaginative?

As some of you may remember, I write an article every week for my local PATCH.

This week, it's about an eight-year old artist. I included 11 photographs of things she's made, and her comments on them: the oil painting above was done when she was 6, the story-drawing below when she was 3. I wish I could draw and paint as well as she does, and create as effortlessly!



She is, literally, almost always making something. I wonder if being creative -- wanting to, or maybe even having to make something -- is different from being imaginative -- making things UP, but not feeling the need to give them physical form. This of course is not in the article, these pieces are about the kids themselves, not my thoughts!

I do wonder about it, though....maybe both start with an idea, but creative people need to form that idea into something physical? And those of us who are merely imaginative don't?

For me, physically forming something is easy and satisfying when it's something like cooking, super-hard when it's something like a novel. When it comes to writing, I guess I'm more imaginative than creative -- THINKING of the idea is fun, writing it over and over and over to get it right is just plain hard work!