Writing for Children & Young Adults Takes Spunk, Voice, and a Free Spirit.
Spunk. Voice. A free spirit. These are key ingredients to successfully writing for children. It really takes tapping into our inner child, tween, or teen, and dragging a character through some pretty rough terrain before overcoming great odds to achieve a worthy goal. This isn't for wimps. It takes muscle. Strong words. Strong images. Strong characters. It really does take a kind of "letting go" in order to produce the best possible results: a story children will love.
What has fascinated me the most about writing for kids is really the picture book form. It looks easy, but is far more complex than it appears. For the art of the picture book celebrates both the words and the art. Whether the illustrator or writer, their is a shared and common goal: to celebrate the world, surprise, entertain, educate, and really pay tribute to the words on the page.
Top Picture book picks:
•
Looking for A Moose by Phyllis Root.
•
Banjo Granny by Sarah Martin Busse and Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
•
Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall.
•
Leonardo The Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.
•
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont.
•
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood.
What also fascinates me is that this same "visual" exploration occurs in the MG and YA forms as well. Writers write to paint the world for their characters. They paint in their characters one word at a time. They show us a character's landscape and build a reality around them much like performers on a stage. To paint with words, versus a brush and canvas, is a fabulous way to produce art that will reach a child's hands and, perhaps, pour into their hearts. It's an admirable trade.
When we explore the MG, new great reads for me include:
•
Saint Training by Elizabeth Fixmer. *** New release!***
•
Saavy by Ingrid Law.
•
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt.
•
Cirque du Freak Series, The Vampire's Assistant, by Darren Shan.
•
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Series by Heather Brewer.
YA Titles:
•
Going Bovine by Libby Bray.
•
Bras & Broomsticks by Sara Mlynowski.
•
Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard.
Writing for Children Takes Spunk, Voice, and a Free Spirit.
Spunk. Voice. A free spirit. These are key ingredients to successfully writing for children. It really takes tapping into our inner child, tween, or teen, and dragging a character through some pretty rough terrain before overcoming great odds to achieve a worthy goal. This isn't for wimps. It takes muscle. Strong words. Strong images. Strong characters. It really does take a kind of "letting go" in order to produce the best possible results: a story children will love.
What has fascinated me the most about writing for kids is really the picture book form. It looks easy, but is far more complex than it appears. For the art of the picture book celebrates both the words and the art. Whether the illustrator or writer, their is a shared and common goal: to celebrate the world, surprise, entertain, educate, and really pay tribute to the words on the page.
Top Picture book picks:
•
Looking for A Moose by Phyllis Root.
•
Banjo Granny by Sarah Martin Busse and Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
•
Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall.
•
Leonardo The Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.
•
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont.
•
The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood.
What also fascinates me is that this same "visual" exploration occurs in the MG and YA forms as well. Writers write to paint the world for their characters. They paint in their characters one word at a time. They show us a character's landscape and build a reality around them much like performers on a stage. To paint with words, versus a brush and canvas, is a fabulous way to produce art that will reach a child's hands and, perhaps, pour into their hearts. It's an admirable trade.
Explore Great MGs:
•
Saint Training by Elizabeth Fixmer. *** New release!***
•
Saavy by Ingrid Law.
•
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt.
•
Cirque du Freak Series, The Vampire's Assistant, by Darren Shan.
•
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Series by Heather Brewer.
Check out these YA Titles:
•
Going Bovine by Libby Bray.
•
Bras & Broomsticks by Sara Mlynowski.
•
Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard.
Art and Words Merge In The Picture Book Form
It is possible for a reader to find just as much story in the words of a picture book as in its art. The words and art both open the reader to a story. It is also possible for a reader to find a completely different story in the art, a hidden game, a twist or a presentation of material that advances the story beyond the text. How can a picture book do this all these things at once so seamlessly? The answer lies in how the art and words merge in the picture book form.
Creating a good picture book is not simple. Many elements come into play. Style, voice, pacing, tone, page turns, setting are important, but how the art and pictures interact is most important. When combined properly, a picture book becomes a whole world that opens up to the reader. Horn Book writer Anne Hoppes says, “A well-placed word can leave you elated or it can break your heart. Pictures can evoke peals of laughter or cries of outrage… And when the two forms come together, as they do in picture books, the whole is so very much greater than the sum of the parts. At its best and most successful, the skillful joining of words and pictures is nothing short of magical.” (41)
Words as well as art offer fresh comparisons, vivid sensory details, lively, engaging connectivity to a story; they both work to transport the reader into a scene. When working together, they do even more. Hoppe says, “The writer’s job is to pare a story or experience down until the essence remains, spare and shining. The writer distills. The illustrator expands.” (47)
In this fashion, one may argue that art may further the words of a story as seen in Gloria and Officer Buckle. Here the words tell the story of how an officer goes to schools to share safety tips with students only to lull students to sleep. The art shows how a new partner, a dog named Gloria, performs wild tricks behind the officer’s back while onstage. Here, the art expands the author’s story and almost makes a model for how the interaction of art and words in a picture book function.
Let’s let Officer Buckle represent the words of a story, and Gloria, the art.
Officer Buckle presents safety tips but finds his audience snoring. He gains a partner; in comes the art, or Gloria, who performs all sort of tricks behind his back (like art does), and he feels he has a really good thing going. However, once Officer Buckle learns who is receiving the accolades, Officer Buckle bows out of all future performances. He sends Gloria on her own, perhaps begging the question: can the art of a picture book stand alone? (Some would argue yes, and be supported by Flosam, Tuesday, and any other successful wordless picture book.) But, here dear Gloria sits alone on stage and stares until she, and the whole room, begins to snooze. She is unable to perform alone. The biggest accident ever happens after she leaves the stage. The lights go on for Officer Buckle, and he returns to reveal his best safety tip yet, tip 101: “Always stick with your buddy!” The art makes this story work. It enriches the text. Rathmann’s words were pared down to leave room for the art to rise out of this story. One supported the other; both were necessary for the other to thrive. This is the relationship of art and words.
Is there ever a case when the art sneaks in a side story or joke the reader might be able to enjoy that the words don’t reveal? Yes, in The Best Pet of All, day after day a boy asks for a pet dog. He soon asks for a pet dragon instead. Playing along, his mother says, “If you can find a dragon, you can keep it for a pet.” The words tell the story of a boy searching the woods, the park, the beach, and a zoo before finding a dragon at the drugstore. What is most clever is that once the dragon leaves and the new pet dog enters the story, the art bends the forward momentum of the story and shows the dragon giving a thumbs-up over the fence. Was the dragon was in cahoots with the boy? The words don’t admit this. They read, “My dog wagged his tail.” It is a very small dragon shown peering over the fence holding his thumb in the air that, for a moment, carries the weight of the story.
“In the course of a picture book there may well be key moments of action and emotion,” like this, “when the text stops and the pictures carry the reader forward with a force that is more immediate, powerful, and transcendent than a thousand words,” says Hoppes. (47) Think Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. This Caldecott Award-winning book showcases a perfect merging of art and words.
Shown angry at first, Max pounds a nail in the wall to create a make-shift clothesline, jabs at his dog with a fork, and makes mischief of one kind or another as the art for the first six pictures grows from a small four by six inches to fill the entire nine by ten-inch page. And as in art grows, it also matches the story’s pace and increasing intensity. Soon, Max reaches a point when he commands, “let the wild rumpus start!” Immediately, the words stop. The art opens up to full bleed spreads and carries the story for three, double-page spreads. No text is shown until Max halts the action. “Now stop!” he says, and decides he wishes to return to a place where someone loves him best of all. And the reader then joins him on his journey back to his room in ever decreasing-sized art until the book ends on a picture-less page that reads: “and it (dinner) was still hot.” A picture-less page that supports his goal to find love; his dinner was hot.
Words and pictures meld, seamlessly.
Sendak explains, “Words are left out and the picture says it. Pictures are left out and the words say it. Pictures quicken the text; they are ‘not something just glued onto the page’ beside the words.” (62)
It is not enough for the art to simply present the story. It is all about rhythm and details. The interaction and reaction. The emotions and every little thing that can authentically grow out of the specifics presented in the words of a story, including, and perhaps most importantly, that which is left unsaid.
In picture books, an illustrator must take a critical look at what needs to be pulled out of the story and expand: what more can be done to build on the writing in a way that will facilitate a sense of place or believable landscape for the reader. It may be the addition of carefully rendered nonfiction detail that helps bring the story to life: a canteen used in a 1920s wilderness, a specific spear used for whale fishing, or careful rendering and presentation of the unfolding of an insect’s wings.
Equally important to suggest is that there is also room for a more playful relationship between art and words. Art may interrupt the flow of story, it may diverts it, even if only momentarily, in a whole new direction, perhaps representing a hiccup in the action that alerts the reader to pay attention. “This is important.”
This playful relationship is never more evident than in the Caldecott Award-winning story, The Three Pigs. Wiesner breaks his third-person narrative with a first-person trajectory that reads, “Hey, He blew me right out of the story!” The art immediately breaks from convention and shows the first pig being blown out of the framed picture by the wolf onto the white space of the page itself. After a page turn, pig one invites pig two to walk out of his scene, and the pictures begin to break and bend at new angles, in new-fangled ways until the three pigs begin to physically explore the story itself to create their own adventure. And ZOOM! Off they fly on a paper airplane over and through the next four spreads until they crash down on the fifth. Here, the three pigs find many familiar stories and a dragon that helps them regain their story and combat the wolf and live happily ever after. Readers experience a powerful and playful journey between art and words certainly worthy of its Caldecott.
Of course, art doesn’t always need to be playful and loud to garnish attention. There is room for a more quiet relationship between the art and words. Remaining more consistent with a reader’s reality, the art may still serve up a twist that stretches beyond the depth of a story. Consider Emma Kate. In this story, the reader experiences an imaginary friendship between a girl and an elephant. Presented in black and white pencil renderings with splashes of color, the art shows this duo interacting over the course of a normal day, yet is it is never revealed to the reader exactly which of the two characters is Emma Kate. So, the reader actively considers both until… a set of parents step in to say good night and the magic of this picture book opens up a whole new level of story with a double trunk twist.
“The expert illustrator…goes beyond anything that can be articulated or guessed at in words. She positions two figures conversing in a way that informs us of their feelings for each other, or uses an unexpected close-up of a minor character to tell us the impact a piece of news has on a community…” (49) In Emma Kate, it isn’t until elephant heads to bed and the reader is shown parents with tusks tucking their child in that the reader realizes just who the imagined one is. Very, very clever.
Words and art can also tell competing, or different, stories within the same picture book. In My Cat, The Silliest Cat In The World, Gilles Bachelet, an author/illustrator, packages a hilarious story about a pet cat, which is actually a pet elephant.
Spread after spread, the art show his elephant performing many cat-like antics. The words describe cat-like behavior, while the art shows how his “cat” stands up to them. The words read, “They say that when a cats fall, they always land on their feet. Not my cat.” The left hand page art shows an elephant falling down the page to land on his feet in a series of spot illustrations, while the left-hand side art shows an elephant falling from a loft bed to land on his back, hooves in the air. From this, the reader learns true cat behavior, while also learning how an elephant is not a cat. It’s all the compare/contrast antics that makes this book sing. Had Bachelet illustrated this book using a cat for the main character, the story would be flat at best. Instead, readers understand how the “pictures give excitement and vitality to the text, resulting in a new composite whole.” (63) For even after someone offers a cat book in a mad attempt to convince this poor fellow of his pet’s true breed, Bachelet remains loyal to his story and ends with “…but I wasn’t able to determine my cat’s breed.”
Picture books are not simple. They are complex, and challenging creative outlets, which utilize both art and words to compile a completely believable world for the reader. As Sendak says, It’s the “Liveliness, conviction, vitality, ‘the touch and smell and hold of a cook,’ the ‘zing’ and the animation of the whole… is what the illustrator’s job is all about.” (62) He definitely knew what he was talking about. For art and words share a relationship similar to the one Officer Buckle and Gloria share. It is good for both art and words to perform in, around and through and under one other, shaking hands, bowing out now and again to let one or the other carry the weight of the story while the other remains silent. For the excitement of a good picture book is the constant tension between the moments isolated by the pictures and the flow of words. It’s the rhythm created between the pictures and words that create a seamless picture book. It’s the moments when the words and the art merge and rise out of the flow of story to become more that gives the picture book its power and its magic.
Works Cited
Hoppes, Anne. “Half the Story: Text and Illustration in Picture Books,” The Horn Book Magazine, January/February 2004.
Lukens, Rebecca L. A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature. New York: Pearson, 2007.
Bachelet, Gilles. My Cat, The Silliest Cat in the World. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2006.
Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1995.
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper Collins, 1963/1991.
Weisner, David. The Three Pigs. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Tuesday. Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
LaRochelle, David. The Best Pet of All. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 2004.
Art and Words Merge In The Picture Book Form
It is possible for a reader to find just as much story in the words of a picture book as in its art. The words and art both open the reader to a story. It is also possible for a reader to find a completely different story in the art, a hidden game, a twist or a presentation of material that advances the story beyond the text. How can a picture book do this all these things at once so seamlessly? The answer lies in how the art and words merge in the picture book form.
Creating a good picture book is not simple. Many elements come into play. Style, voice, pacing, tone, page turns, setting are important, but how the art and pictures interact is most important. When combined properly, a picture book becomes a whole world that opens up to the reader. Horn Book writer Anne Hoppes says, “A well-placed word can leave you elated or it can break your heart. Pictures can evoke peals of laughter or cries of outrage… And when the two forms come together, as they do in picture books, the whole is so very much greater than the sum of the parts. At its best and most successful, the skillful joining of words and pictures is nothing short of magical.” (41)
Words as well as art offer fresh comparisons, vivid sensory details, lively, engaging connectivity to a story; they both work to transport the reader into a scene. When working together, they do even more. Hoppe says, “The writer’s job is to pare a story or experience down until the essence remains, spare and shining. The writer distills. The illustrator expands.” (47)
In this fashion, one may argue that art may further the words of a story as seen in Gloria and Officer Buckle. Here the words tell the story of how an officer goes to schools to share safety tips with students only to lull students to sleep. The art shows how a new partner, a dog named Gloria, performs wild tricks behind the officer’s back while onstage. Here, the art expands the author’s story and almost makes a model for how the interaction of art and words in a picture book function.
Let’s let Officer Buckle represent the words of a story, and Gloria, the art.
Officer Buckle presents safety tips but finds his audience snoring. He gains a partner; in comes the art, or Gloria, who performs all sort of tricks behind his back (like art does), and he feels he has a really good thing going. However, once Officer Buckle learns who is receiving the accolades, Officer Buckle bows out of all future performances. He sends Gloria on her own, perhaps begging the question: can the art of a picture book stand alone? (Some would argue yes, and be supported by Flosam, Tuesday, and any other successful wordless picture book.) But, here dear Gloria sits alone on stage and stares until she, and the whole room, begins to snooze. She is unable to perform alone. The biggest accident ever happens after she leaves the stage. The lights go on for Officer Buckle, and he returns to reveal his best safety tip yet, tip 101: “Always stick with your buddy!” The art makes this story work. It enriches the text. Rathmann’s words were pared down to leave room for the art to rise out of this story. One supported the other; both were necessary for the other to thrive. This is the relationship of art and words.
Is there ever a case when the art sneaks in a side story or joke the reader might be able to enjoy that the words don’t reveal? Yes, in The Best Pet of All, day after day a boy asks for a pet dog. He soon asks for a pet dragon instead. Playing along, his mother says, “If you can find a dragon, you can keep it for a pet.” The words tell the story of a boy searching the woods, the park, the beach, and a zoo before finding a dragon at the drugstore. What is most clever is that once th
Words and Art: the Picture Book is a Complicated Form of Collaborative Art
Words and art come together in the picture book form. When you look at a story you have written and all the information you have at hand, and you look at the blank canvas of a picture book, writer/illustrators can’t help but ask, what should I include? What is the best way to tell my story? At least, that is how it was for me in creating a working dummy for Lucky Mantis And Me.
This was a story that presented itself to me at 3 a.m. It came to me in 67 words.
It was 3 a.m. But what started this was the fact I had turned in my artwork with my nonfiction article on praying mantises for workshop, but it wasn’t until a few days before I was to be workshopped that I realized the artwork I sent in wasn’t included in the shared packets. I struggled with this a little. No one else noticed it missing. But what became clear to me was that the art was equally as important to me as the words.
This is true of picture books, especially when the author and illustrator are the same person. Rosemary Wells explains, “I knew right away that, even though I was an illustrator, the stories were important, and I wanted to do them.” (Ways of Telling, p 203)
Later that night, around 3 a.m., the 67-word story fell out. I woke up and wrote in across a blank page in the dark.
A few days passed, and I realized the fact my art separating from the words actually helped me move my manuscript forward.
The artwork was equally important to me, but I needed to fully understand why. I also realized my nonfiction story, as written, wasn’t really working.
I kept picturing mantises in friendly ways. Raising an arm as if to wave. (Sketch 1) Babies gently tucked inside an ootheca, I saw them with bonnets all tucked in. I drew a picture of what it might feel like to be inside and see a tiny pinhole of light stream in. These images kept coming back to me.
I fleshed out my ideas for this project. I wrote a nonfiction version with sidebars. I expanded my 3 a.m. mini story into a 171-word manuscript. I merged the two manuscripts together to see if it would work better at 750 words.
I remembered what author, M.T. Anderson said during a talk. If writers want people to save the turtles, he said, they should write a nonfiction book about it. He also mentioned needing to learned enough about each of his characters he could write a whole book about them.
By now I certainly could write a whole book about praying mantises. I had already written an article, Opt To Adopt A Pet Mantis, that was accepted by Guidepost For Kids, but I still needed to figure out how to best tell my story.
I recalled what I said during workshops: “When it comes to picture books, I see what key words or phrases I am continually drawn to and try to figure out why I am drawn to them. Then I try to develop my story further using these key phrases in a fresh, new way.”
Heeding my own advice, I started fresh. I set out to write a story from a praying mantis’ point of view. How would it feel to be a praying mantis? My first packet, second semester, I gave my best attempt at an early chapter book like Frog and Toad.
My goal in writing it was to get a better idea of what it was like to be a praying mantis. What was it like to come out of an ootheca without a parent around to greet you (the female mantis dies off before the newborn mantises hatch; if the female were present, she would eat them). How would it feel to suddenly lose your skin? Would I understand why or think myself a ghost? Investigating this helped me further develop where I was heading with my manuscript
My advisor was kind enough to point out that my opening was not living up to my ending, so I scratched it (for now).
I kept picturing the sketch I made of an ootheca with tiny mantises snuggled inside, all decked out in bonnets and twirled in a circular fashion. I enjoyed creating it. I liked how it made me feel. I knew how mantises looked inside an eggsack because I had opened a few that didn’t hatch and/or had already hatched.
I hunted down my original, very rough, sketch. It didn’t amount to much. But like my 3 a.m. mini-story, it was something that stayed with me. Something that was important to me.
A second picture came to mind, a photo I took myself. (Photo 1) I found myself laughing at a bug as if he was guest at my house. I even named him Joey. I knew somehow these two pictures have to come together in order to tell my story as only I could tell it. My words. My 3 a.m. mini-story. These two images. They were my story. They were what allowed this praying mantis story to remain in my heart.
Leonard Marcus, in Ways of Telling, writes, “A picture book is a dialogue between worlds: the world of images and the world of words.” (Ways of Telling, p 3)
I thought back to what author, Marsha Wilson-Chall’s said in her talk. She said, “A picture book is a complicated form of collaborative art.” I jotted her words. “A cozy, loving room of a picture book allows a child to climb into its pages.”
Aha! I thought. This is what I need to do. I need to take children on the same journey my children and I had been on while studying them for the past four years.
I needed readers to understand how beautiful it was to watch a praying mantis slide out of his final molt garnishing pure, white wings. Or how it feels to walk around with a mantis on your finger and not have him try to fly away. And how a mantis may actually fly up to your camera because he has come to know it like a real, close friend. I needed to show them this page by page. I needed to share my story, my fascination and excitement. It needed to be fun.
I sketched some more.
I went back to my sketch of the opened ootheca with the little mantises tucked inside, and I finished it. I scanned it. Colorized it. Enlarged it. Simplified. Added nonfiction details, like the tiny cubicles each mantis egg would be placed in and completed a rough draft.
It seemed okay, but I realized my art to be true, or mock reality, so kids would understand the beauty, symmetry and magical way a female mantis creates an ootheca.
I needed to show readers she doesn’t just lay an eggsack. She doesn’t toss her eggs in and hope for the best. If I was going to live up to the wonders of nature, I needed to strive for authenticity by showing the layers of care the female takes in placing her eggs inside. Having watched oothecas being laid, I knew how to improve the illustration (Illustration 1) to show the rows of mantises, so the illustration would merge better with the text on the page that mentioned there are 300 to 400 of them.
After this, I thought about Chall’s words again. I thought of a great page turn.
What I realized was: Whenever I wrote my nonfiction versions, I began them with the female laying an eggsack. My story would flow full circle to the new mantis growing up to lay an ootheca of her own.
James Marshall explains this struggle of merging art and words. He writes, “There are certain principles that underlie the picture book as a genre. How to move it. When to stop it. How to pace it. What to leave out. All sorts of little tricks. Never to have the action going into the gutter. A picture book becomes a whole world if it’s done properly.” (Ways of Telling, p 90) Just a few certain principles to consider.
I began flipping through the hundreds of images we had taken over the years. I flipped from the female laying an eggsack to the picture of the baby mantises sliding out. I remembered the excitement watching this itty-bitty mantis hanging, upside down alone, while hundreds were slipping out of the ootheca. Kids were shouting, calling their friends. My son, Brett, ran to get the camera, so we could commemorate the occasion.
I flipped back and forth, back and forth, and decided to add a new page and new beginning to my story.
In doing this, I finally understood Chall’s wisdom. I understood, more fully, what she was saying when she said: “A picture book is a complicated form of collaborative art. A cozy, loving room of a picture book allows a child to climb into its pages.”
I knew then, I had to allow readers see the outside of an ootheca, before they turned the page to see what’s inside. Made sense. I also wanted them to see an ootheca fully before moving to the next page, which showed mantises sliding out while another little mantis climbed up a branch to hang out alone.
I was now fully embracing a story I had been working on for four years. The words and images of my story were coming together in an inseparable fashion.
Sure, some words needed to change, images needed edits. Not huge chunks of words, just one or two, here and there. Not huge photo edits, just adding an extra layer of mantises or an extra membrane inside a casing. What was exciting was, each little change was making a huge difference.
Yet, I was painfully aware my journey was far from over.
My story had a long way to go. I now had kernels of a few good manuscripts (my longer nonfiction, my blended nonfiction, and my shorter version) to work with. It was a story I felt in my heart. I knew, as Anderson suggested, I could write a whole nonfiction book about.
So I asked myself once again: What was most important to me?
A third picture came to mind. I saw an illustration of a girl with flowing blond hair, wearing a mantis on her head (my daughter actually), and this image became a working cover for what I hope one day to be a book, all dummied up in my own special style, pieced together as carefully as a female mantis lays her eggs. I’ve also created a sketchy illustration for the final page. (Illustration 4)
And I realized all of this was process, the most essential part of writing journey. Much like the day I sat down and sketched out the transformation that takes place during a mantises’ final molt. I watched little wing nubs unfold into what looks like white bloomers until they straighten to pure white, transparent wings that will take the remainder of the day to dry into a brownish or green tone with a brighter streak of green along each side. I wasn't sure I'd use this information, yet I needed to understand the details completely in order for my words and images to merge together with authenticity.
For now, my effort is called Lucky Mantis And Me.
It’s part 3 a.m. mini-story. Part images I couldn’t get out of my mind. And hopefully, when I am done, it will be what all quality picture books are: 100% story, 50% words, 50% art, all merging together, straight from the heart. A picture book truly is “a complicated form of collaborative art.”
Words and Art: the Picture Book is a Complicated Form of Collaborative Art
Words and art come together in the picture book form. When you look at a story you have written and all the information you have at hand, and you look at the blank canvas of a picture book, writer/illustrators can’t help but ask, what should I include? What is the best way to tell my story? At least, that is how it was for me in creating a working dummy for Lucky Mantis And Me.
This was a story that presented itself to me at 3 a.m. It came to me in 67 words.
It was 3 a.m. But what started this was the fact I had turned in my artwork with my nonfiction article on praying mantises for workshop, but it wasn’t until a few days before I was to be workshopped that I realized the artwork I sent in wasn’t included in the shared packets. I struggled with this a little. No one else noticed it missing. But what became clear to me was that the art was equally as important to me as the words.
This is true of picture books, especially when the author and illustrator are the same person. Rosemary Wells explains, “I knew right away that, even though I was an illustrator, the stories were important, and I wanted to do them.” (Ways of Telling, p 203)
Later that night, around 3 a.m., the 67-word story fell out. I woke up and wrote in across a blank page in the dark.
A few days passed, and I realized the fact my art separating from the words actually helped me move my manuscript forward.
The artwork was equally important to me, but I needed to fully understand why. I also realized my nonfiction story, as written, wasn’t really working.
I kept picturing mantises in friendly ways. Raising an arm as if to wave. (Sketch 1) Babies gently tucked inside an ootheca, I saw them with bonnets all tucked in. I drew a picture of what it might feel like to be inside and see a tiny pinhole of light stream in. These images kept coming back to me.
I fleshed out my ideas for this project. I wrote a nonfiction version with sidebars. I expanded my 3 a.m. mini story into a 171-word manuscript. I merged the two manuscripts together to see if it would work better at 750 words.
I remembered what author, M.T. Anderson said during a talk. If writers want people to save the turtles, he said, they should write a nonfiction book about it. He also mentioned needing to learned enough about each of his characters he could write a whole book about them.
By now I certainly could write a whole book about praying mantises. I had already written an article, Opt To Adopt A Pet Mantis, that was accepted by Guidepost For Kids, but I still needed to figure out how to best tell my story.
I recalled what I said during workshops: “When it comes to picture books, I see what key words or phrases I am continually drawn to and try to figure out why I am drawn to them. Then I try to develop my story further using these key phrases in a fresh, new way.”
Heeding my own advice, I started fresh. I set out to write a story from a praying mantis’ point of view. How would it feel to be a praying mantis? My first packet, second semester,
Lines and Timing and Illustrations Starts, Oh My!
How does an illustrator break into this crazy business called Children's Publishing? Sometimes it seems like an endless road. I am in the process of supercharging my marketing efforts to see if I get any feedback or calls for work.
I certainly could use a few new feathers in my cap. I'd really like to hear how other illustrators broke in.
Help me out by sharing your story!
Lines and Timing and Illustrations Starts, Oh My!
How does an illustrator break into this crazy business called Children's Publishing? Sometimes it seems like an endless road. I am in the process of supercharging my marketing efforts to see if I get any feedback or calls for work.
I certainly could use a few new feathers in my cap. I'd really like to hear how other illustrators broke in.
Help me out by sharing your story!
Three Silly Chicks, An Imagination-Cafe, and One Busy Illustrator, Oh my!
I've been really excited about what's available online to feed hungy minds... everything from Three Silly Chicks to an all new Imagination-Cafe, to a busy, buzzing, very productive author and illustrator. WOW!
Readers have a whole cafeteria of tasty treats to munch at http://www.Imagination-Cafe.com. Open 24-7, this cafe is one you will want to savor one nibble at a time or swallow whole; it's just a whole lot of fun. And be sure to bring your doggy bag. Try the open mic, pitch your favorite book, test out the game room, or enter a contest! Whew, no matter what, this site is sure to have you rolling over, begging for a tummy rub.
Three Silly Chicks' site at http://www.threesillychicks.com is, well, silly. It's a fun, high energy look at how giggles can improve the world. Ever hear that laughter is good medicine. I think these gals believe that—an more. I can tell by their glasses. Aren't they the cutest chicks on the planet? And if you haven't checked them out, opened them or purchased them, then head directly to your bookstore, do not go passed go, do not collect $200, and get your eyes on When Giants Come to Play and Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty; Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, Boris and Bella, Louds Move In!, Outside, Inside, Get Busy, Beaver! and Tessa's Tip-tapping Toes by Carolyn Crimi; Angels Watching Over Me, Cha-Cha Chimps, and Icky-Peck, Architect, and Dream Hop by Julia Durango. What an impressive list, Silly Chicks!
And speaking of impressive, each week I try to search out my favorite authors and illustrators. This week's top author pick is Esme Raji Codell for her personal bookshelf, which includes Sahara Special, Diary of a Fairy Godmother, Viva La Paris, Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, and not to mention, (bell ring here) her "big book of great reading picks and how to get small noses inside. Cheers to Esme for all she does as a readiologist with a small flying squirrel in her pocket. And, PSST! If you happen to see her in cyberville at http://www.planetesme.com, ask her when her two new picture books are coming out—and beg her to reveal titles!
This week's top illustator pick is Holli Conger, whose whimsical way with colors and play is a delight for the eyes and soul! How can children not love her? Her attention to little things she calls junkadoodles, her attention to detail, and the amount of energy to brings to a page is extraordinary! Curious what a junkadoodle is? Log onto: http://www.junkadoodles.com. Remember how much fun you had squishing Playdough? Check out Holli's dough art on her portfolio page: http://www.holliconger.com/portfolio.html. And if you are just a tad curious. like I was, check out her story about how she is living the creative dream at (drum roll here, because you can guess the site name—wink):http://www.livingthecreativedream.com. What a fabulous set of URLs!
Happy playing, happy reading, happy writing —may we all stretch and grow!
Three Silly Chicks, An Imagination-Cafe, and One Busy Illustrator, Oh my!
I've been really excited about what's available online to feed hungry minds... everything from Three Silly Chicks to an all new Imagination-Cafe, to a busy, buzzing, very productive author and illustrator. WOW!
Readers have a whole cafeteria of tasty treats to munch at http://www.Imagination-Cafe.com. Open 24-7, this cafe is one you will want to savor one nibble at a time or swallow whole; it's just a whole lot of fun. And be sure to bring your doggy bag. Try the open mic, pitch your favorite book, test out the game room, or enter a contest! Whew, no matter what, this site is sure to have you rolling over, begging for a tummy rub.
Three Silly Chicks' site at http://www.threesillychicks.com is, well, silly. It's a fun, high energy look at how giggles can improve the world. Ever hear that laughter is good medicine. I think these gals believe that—an more. I can tell by their glasses. Aren't they the cutest chicks on the planet? And if you haven't checked them out, opened them or purchased them, then head directly to your bookstore, do not go passed go, do not collect $200, and get your eyes on When Giants Come to Play and Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty; Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, Boris and Bella, Louds Move In!, Outside, Inside, Get Busy, Beaver! and Tessa's Tip-tapping Toes by Carolyn Crimi; Angels Watching Over Me, Cha-Cha Chimps, and Icky-Peck, Architect, and Dream Hop by Julia Durango. What an impressive list, Silly Chicks!
And speaking of impressive, each week I try to search out my favorite authors and illustrators. This week's top author pick is Esme Raji Codell for her personal bookshelf, which includes Sahara Special, Diary of a Fairy Godmother, Viva La Paris, Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, and not to mention, (bell ring here) her "big book of great reading picks and how to get small noses inside. Cheers to Esme for all she does as a readiologist with a small flying squirrel in her pocket. And, PSST! If you happen to see her in cyberville at http://www.planetesme.com, ask her when her two new picture books are coming out—and beg her to reveal titles!
This week's top illustator pick is Holli Conger, whose whimsical way with colors and play is a delight for the eyes and soul! How can children not love her? Her attention to little things she calls junkadoodles, her attention to detail, and the amount of energy to brings to a page is extraordinary! Curious what a junkadoodle is? Log onto: http://www.junkadoodles.com. Remember how much fun you had squishing Playdough? Check out Holli's dough art on her portfolio page: http://www.holliconger.com/portfolio.html. And if you are just a tad curious. like I was, check out her story about how she is living the creative dream at (drum roll here, because you can guess the site name—wink):http://www.livingthecreativedream.com. What a fabulous set of URLs!
Happy playing, happy reading, happy writing —may we all stretch and grow!
Illustrations Friday: Alphabet. If an illustration career could take off when pigs sing, mine just has! Yes, this little gal didn't just request a huge rock, a book and stylish shoes, she demanded it. There's no room for silence with this little piggy. Visit her at the Chesterton Art Center the month of October 2007.
Thanks Illustration Friday! Want to see more art? Log onto http://www.jodellsadler.com.
ILLUSTRATING FOR THE YOUNGER SET
Great news for dancing gators! This illustration will be part of a the SCBWI Illustrators Network gallery show, "Children's Book Illustrators," at the Chesterton Art Center the month of October 2007.
I'm really excited to be featuring both digital and watercolor artwork along with a 7" x 10" alphabet illustration for the silent auction.
Three cheers for being given the opportunity to create artwork for children. It's truly a blessing!
ILLUSTRATING FOR THE YOUNGER SET
Great news for dancing gators! This illustration will be part of a the SCBWI Illustrators Network gallery show, "Children's Book Illustrators," at the Chesterton Art Center the month of October 2007.
I'm really excited to be featuring both digital and watercolor artwork along with a 7" x 10" alphabet illustration for the silent auction.
Three cheers for being given the opportunity to create artwork for children. It's truly a blessing!
Illustrations Friday: Alphabet. If an illustration career could take off when pigs sing, mine just has! Yes, this little gal didn't just request a huge rock, a book and stylish shoes, she demanded it. There's no room for silence with this little piggy. Visit her at the Chesterton Art Center the month of October 2007.
Thanks Illustration Friday! Want to see more art? Log onto http://www.jodellsadler.com.
Illustrating for the Young Reader
Designing for the youngest audience takes care and creativity. Careful attention to what will move the text and further the story.
Move an object from a former page to the next page by page while illustrating a story: I once spent the afternoon attempting to move an element from one page to the next throughout a rough picture book dummy. It was a great lesson in structure, and I walked away from the experience with a deeper respect for illustrators that do this with impeccable style. A portfolio illustration, "Kindergator Hugs" I took to the New York Showcase in 2005 had this quality.
Add in a game of hide and seek: I also look for opportunities to add a game to a child's journey through a picture book. As an illustrator, I am learning that play is important. I have to look at the manuscript from a child's POV in order to see the true potential in a manuscript. When I can make a hide and seek game throughout the book, it really adds to that "Read it again!" feel.
For a preview of my work, please log onto:Sadler Studios If you have a project that fits my style, I'd love to hear from you. I have over fifteen years of graphic design behind me. Tight deadlines, changes, edits are all a part of the program. Call me. 815-209-6252.
Illustrating for the Young Reader
Designing for the youngest audience takes care and creativity. Careful attention to what will move the text and further the story.
Move an object from a former page to the next page by page while illustrating a story: I once spent the afternoon attempting to move an element from one page to the next throughout a rough picture book dummy. It was a great lesson in structure, and I walked away from the experience with a deeper respect for illustrators that do this with impeccable style. A portfolio illustration, "Kindergator Hugs" I took to the New York Showcase in 2005 had this quality.
Add in a game of hide and seek: I also look for opportunities to add a game to a child's journey through a picture book. As an illustrator, I am learning that play is important. I have to look at the manuscript from a child's POV in order to see the true potential in a manuscript. When I can make a hide and seek game throughout the book, it really adds to that "Read it again!" feel.
For a preview of my work, please log onto:Sadler Studios If you have a project that fits my style, I'd love to hear from you. I have over fifteen years of graphic design behind me. Tight deadlines, changes, edits are all a part of the program. Call me. 815-209-6252.
