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In my school visits, I often shock audiences by revealing that it took THREE AND A HALF YEARS from the day I got the idea for Shark Vs. Train until the official publication date. And then I tell them that The Day-Glo Brothers took EIGHT years, and they all lose their minds — especially those who haven’t yet hit the eight-year mark themselves.
But some upcoming books of mine — and projects that might become books — will end up having gestation periods that make The Day-Glo Brothers look positively possumlike.
The two picture books I’ve got on tap for 2015, The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch and Pioneers & Pirouettes: The Story of the First American Nutcracker, made their first appearances in my computer files in 2006 and 2003, respectively. And the picture book manuscript I’m working on revising this week dates back to October 7, 2002, but it has a way of getting new life breathed into it periodically. Maybe this latest version is the one that will take, but even if it’s not, there’s something immensely satisfying in having an editor point out potential in it that I’d never noticed before in all these years.
The thing is, such projects continue having potential for me only when I continue paying attention to them, or at least when I routinely check in on my files to see if anything about them grabs me anew. There’s a project I had pursued — a biography of trombonist Melba Liston — that I took my eye off of for too long, and I learned this week that someone else has beaten me to it. My consolation is that this summer I get to read Little Melba and Her Big Trombone, the version of Liston’s story that Katheryn Russell-Brown and Frank Morrison have created for Lee & Low, and that’s something for me and you both to look forward to.
In the meantime…
0 Comments on Two lessons in keeping an eye on your files as of 1/1/1900
Libraries and librarians have been sending some great news my way lately.
In the past few weeks, I’ve learned that The Day-Glo Brothers is a nominee for the 2011-2012 Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards Program sponsored by the Pennsylvania School Libraries Association, and that Shark Vs. Train has been named to three nifty lists:
I just wish that libraries and librarians were on the receiving end of more good news lately. I wrote about this in my Bartography Express newsletter last weekend:
We all love our libraries — even Shark and Train — but it’s never been more important that we take the time to say so. State and city and school district budgets this year include deep, shortsighted cuts for libraries and librarians and the services they provide. These are bad news for all of us and especially for the children in our society. If we want to be a better educated, better informed, better prepared people, none of us — not one — will come out ahead if these sorts of cuts go through.
The Texas Library Association has provided this tool for emailing Gov. Perry and state senators and representatives to advocate on behalf of the institutions — and the people who make them run — that are such a vital part of our society, democracy and culture. If your state library association does the same, I urge you to take advantage of it.
One bright spot for librarians, at least, is the new book by one of their own, Jeanette Larson. In her post-librarian career (though I really wonder if such a thing exists), Jeanette has written the lovely Hummingbirds: Facts and Folklore from the Americas, just published by Charlesbridge. It’s a beautiful book, and I hope you’ll all be able to find it on the shelves of your local library.
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My previous book, The Day-Glo Brothers, made all three of those lists last year, so I figured there must be a lot of overlap among them — if you’ve made one, you’ve made them all. But according to SLJ’s Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog, only eight titles hold that distinction this year:
Six months before its publication date, Can I See Your I.D.?, has gotten a big vote of confidence from Junior Library Guild, which as selected it as one of the books its members will receive next year. (Here’s a quick guide to how JLG works.)
That’s the week’s biggest news, but there’s been other good stuff as well:
Electronic versions of The Day-Glo Brothers are now available from Readeo and TumbleBooks as well as from Ripple Reader.
Janelle at Brimful Curiosities has nominated Shark Vs. Train for the Cybils award for Fiction Picture Books. The nomination period closes this week — have you spoken up for your favorite books of 2010?
The book trailer for Shark Vs. Train is in the running for School Library Journal’s first-ever Trailee Awards, and I sure would appreciate your vote. In case you haven’t seen the terrific job that Little, Brown did, here’s a look right now:
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One day during the revisions of my book The Day-Glo Brothers, I was reviewing a round of sketches while waiting in the dentist’s chair. The hygienist came in and asked what I was looking at. I gave her a quick spiel about how I had written but not illustrated a children’s book about Bob and Joe Switzer’s trial-and-error invention of daylight-fluorescent colors.
“They sound like nerds,” she said.
My next stop that morning was at the auto mechanic’s. When he handed me an invoice printed on what would commonly be described as neon-green paper, I pulled out the sketches and said, “I’ve written a book about the guys who invented this color.”
His reaction? “Wow!”
The story of how I turned the Switzers’ obscure, chemistry-intensive, entrepreneurial tale into an award-winning picture book has everything to do with those two reactions. It was all about my belief that, unlike the hygienist, the children I was writing for had the capacity to respond to the invention of Day-Glo with “Wow!” rather than with “They sound like nerds.”
0 Comments on My essay in First Opinions, Second Reactions as of 1/1/1900
There’s been some great interstate news of late for both The Day-Glo Brothers and Shark Vs. Train.
Yesterday’s mail brought an envelope with a return address of “Executive Residence, State of Wisconsin.” I last visited the state for the wedding of a cousin who had both Metallica and Lou Reed played at his reception. A great time was had by all, but that was five years ago this weekend, so I was reasonably sure that the statute of limitations had expired.
Sure enough, the mail was entirely unrelated. It was a letter from First Lady of Wisconsin Jessica Doyle informing me that Shark Vs. Train has been picked as September’s featured Primary book for the Read On Wisconsin! online book club. (See this post from Rebecca Hogue Wojahn for more on this year’s selections.)
On its own, that would have been terrific enough, but it’s coupled with news that The Day-Glo Brothers is a nominee for the Land Of Enchantment Book Award (sponsored by the New Mexico Library Association and the New Mexico Council of the International Reading Association) and has also made the 2010-2011 Reading List for the Maine Student Book Award (sponsored by the Maine Library Association, the Maine Association of School Libraries, and the Maine Reading Association).
Many thanks to the folks in Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Maine for their recognition of Bob and Joe and Shark and Train!
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I’ve cooked up a new presentation combining elements from both Shark Vs. Train and The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors.
If you want to see it, and you’re in Austin this week, you’re in luck. I’ll be debuting the Shark and Train and Bob and Joe Show this Thursday afternoon at a “Meet the Author” event put on by the Writers’ League of Texas and the Austin Public Library.
The details:
Thursday, June 10th @ 2PM
Ruiz Branch
Austin Public Library
1600 Grove Blvd., 78741
FREE and open to the public!
0 Comments on Join me (and Bob and Joe and Shark and Train) this Thursday! as of 1/1/1900
When I visit schools for a presentation on The Day-Glo Brothers, I wear a daylight-fluorescent green tie, just to make sure there’s visual example right up front of what the book is about. Well, imagine my surprise and delight this week at Barton Hills Elementary when the “Guest” sticker I received in the school office matched my tie exactly. (I’m glad I didn’t go with the Fire Orange tie.)
I enjoyed more of those same feelings this week when I saw two new blog posts about the book. I’m so grateful that this book resonates with folks enough for them to take the time to write about it. It truly is an honor.
The Switzers created something that drastically changed the way we live all because of natural curiosity and experimentation. If that’s not a story we want to tell our children, then I don’t know what is.
One reason I thought The Day-Glo Brothers stood out even more from other good nonfiction picture books is that it’s the first popular book on its subject. It required original research from private sources and old articles. It had to explain unfamiliar science about “daylight fluorescence.”
Thanks, Margaret and John!
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A neat piece of news about The Day-Glo Brothers came my way yesterday: Korean publisher Munhakdongne has bought translation rights. I don’t know how long it typically takes for a translated version to become available, but it’s a pretty safe bet that you’ll get to have a look at it here just as soon as I get my hands on a copy.
Shark Vs. Train had some great news of its own this week, in the form of its first review — and a starred one, no less, from Publishers Weekly:
This is a genius concept … Just when readers will think the scenarios can’t get more absurd, the book moves into even funnier territory. … Lichtenheld’s watercolor cartoons have a fluidity and goofy intensity that recalls Mad magazine, while Barton gives the characters snappy dialogue throughout.
(You should know that Tom Lichtenheld supplied lots of snappy dialogue himself.)
Finally — and I do mean “finally!” — it looks like my young-adult nonfiction project with Dial has a title that will stick, after having had several that turned out not to be so sticky. Can I See Your I.D.? True Stories of False Identities is scheduled to publish in spring 2011. I’ve spent the past week responding to final edits, and soon I’ll get to see sketches from illustrator Paul Hoppe.
But it’s Paul Hoppe, so really my only question is just how terrific they’re going to be…
0 Comments on That book, this book, and the next book as of 1/1/1900
You can have your Valentine’s Day chocolates. For me, nothing today could be sweeter than the fact that the Cybils (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards) have given the 2009 prize for nonfiction picture books to The Day-Glo Brothers.
Well, actually, what makes this award sweeter still is seeing my friend Liz Scanlon’s All the World right there above The Day-Glo Brothers on the list of this year’s winners. Congratulations to Liz and to our books’ illustrators, Marla Frazee and Tony Persiani, and to all of this year’s winners and finalists — and a huge “Thank you!” to all the Cybils panelists and judges. I hope you’re all savoring today and getting tomorrow off.
It includes the story of how I found out — and almost didn’t — about the Sibert Honor won by The Day-Glo Brothers a few weeks back.
Speaking of which, if you’re one of those folks who isn’t sure whether it’s pronounced “SY-bert” or “SEE-bert,” there’s always the option suggested by a friend of mine: “see-BEAR.”
Or maybe “sy-BEAR.”
0 Comments on A mysterious Sunday-evening phone call, and more as of 1/1/1900
And that was great, absolutely. But it wasn’t the best part.
The best part has been hearing from so many people — by email, phone, Facebook, Twitter, blog post, and hugs and kisses (thanks, Darlin’) — who are so happy to share in this good news (and to laugh about this). Some are lifelong friends, some I met only in passing last week, and one was someone I had lost track of years ago and never expected to hear from again. Many are themselves writers and artists, and some had great news of their own to be congratulated on today, which I was only too happy to do.
The sense of community that I have cherished ever since I first realized that there was a children’s literature community has been in overdrive today. I haven’t gotten any (OK, much) work done today, but I haven’t minded a bit. Without that community, these past nine-plus years would not have been nearly as fun, and today would not have been one of the best of my life.
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea, by Steve Jenkins
Faith, by Maya Ajmera, Magde Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon for the Global Fund for Children
Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual Size Animal Encyclopedia, created by Teruyuki Komiya with photographs by Toyofumi Fukuda
Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!, by Shana Corey
In Barton’s description of the breakthrough moment, which can stand for all such moments, you can almost hear the echo of Moses and the burning bush: “When the billboard came into view that afternoon, what the brothers saw astonished them. From more than a mile away, it looked like the billboard was on fire!”
As someone who spent eight years shepherding this book along, I really thought I had considered every possible angle on the Switzers’ story. Not the Moses one, though.
We’re more than two days into the holiday shopping season, so you’re pretty much done, right?
No?
In that case, why don’t you wait a few days before wrapping things up for the year?
This coming Saturday, Dec. 5, I’ll be signing copies of The Day-Glo Brothers at Austin’s Arboretum Barnes & Noble. I’ll be there between 12 noon and 2 p.m as part of the Brentwood Christian School Holiday Book Fair, and if you drop by to say hi during that time, you can also get yourself in the running for a free advance copy of Shark Vs. Train.
***
“Almost four years.” It says here, that’s how long it took author Phillip Hoose to convince civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin to participate in the book he wanted to write about her arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1955 — nine months before Rosa Parks was arrested for the same.
That not only shows some serious patience and persistence, but it also suggests quite a bit of diplomacy on Hoose’s part — otherwise, it seems Colvin would have been plenty sick of him after all that time. It all paid off pretty well, I’d say.
When I saw my first-ever jet-black squirrel on the campus of the College of Wooster yesterday morning, I didn’t have my camera with me. But that’s OK — it was only the second most impressive spectacle I witnessed during my two-day trip to Ohio for the Buckeye Book Fair.
My research for The Day-Glo Brothers had never taken me there. The story I tell in the book pretty much leaves off at the point when Bob and Joe Switzer founded the company that exists today, and so my fact-finding had focused on how the brothers had gotten to that point.
But as much fun as it had been getting to know the Switzer brothers on paper, through their original notes on their early experiments, there’s a lot to be said for getting a firsthand look at what continues to this day to result from that experimentation.
It made for one brilliant afternoon.
Imagine how Bob and Joe must have felt to see this color for the first time.
As they say at DayGlo, the dirtier the factory gets, the brighter it looks.
Inside the bright pink belly of the manufacturing process.
Note the footprints; I found this stuff still on the soles of my shoes hours later.
If you’re a book lover within driving distance of Wooster, Ohio, I hope you’ll consider spending next Saturday at the Buckeye Book Fair. I’ll be there signing copies of The Day-Glo Brothers, and I’ll be in good company. The day’s lineup of children’s/YA authors and illustrators includes:
Anne Kennedy
Anne Ursu
Betsy Snyder
Bobbie Hinman
Carmella Van Vleet
Dandi Daley Mackall
David Catrow
Ellen Schreiber
Jane Morris Udovic and David Udovic
Jeannine Garsee
Lisa Klein
Lynda Durrant
Marcia Christensen
Marlane Kennedy
Michael J. Rosen
Michael Salinger
Michelle Houts
Pat McCarthy
Sara Holbrook
Tammie Lyon
Tiffany Laufer
Tim Bowers
Tony Abbott
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Will Hillenbrand
Join us, won’t you?
0 Comments on Come to the Buckeye Book Fair! as of 1/1/1900
When I showed up for my first school visit this past Wednesday, I don’t think I’d even shut my car door before I heard that holler of recognition. There was a class and their teacher sitting outside reading The Day-Glo Brothers, and my daylight-fluorescent green tie gave me away as the author. What a welcome! And what an omen for the great day that lay ahead.
I delivered a brand-new presentation — Me? Write Science? — to three groups of seventh-graders who had just begun their own writing projects for an upcoming science fair, and it was easily the highlight of my week. (The highlight of the highlight? Hearing my tie described as “beast.”) But there’s been other good stuff lately, too:
The 2009 Teddy Award nominees have been announced by the Writers League of Texas. Congratulations to Dotti, Jenny, Kathi, and Xavier!
Cynthia Leitich Smith posted this IndieBound list of books by Austin authors and illustrators for young readers.
I heard from a friend that my recent SCBWI presentation on biography writing inspired her to get going on one of her own. I had hoped to have that effect on at least one person who was there, but you just never know.
The publication date for Shark Vs. Train has been moved up, from June 2010 to next April. In a business where things always seem to take longer and move more slowly than you hope and expect, this is especially nice.
Finally, the Cybils are back! Those are the Childrens and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, and they’re taking nominations in several categories through this Thursday.
Since The Day-Glo Brothers came out in July, author-appearance opportunities have loomed before me like a really, really good buffet, and I’ve been sampling a little bit of everything: one bookstore event, one presentation to other authors, one public library visit, one school visit (this coming Wednesday), and one homeschool workshop (next week).
Next month, I’ll make it to the dessert cart, with my first out-of-state trip since publication. On Saturday, November 7, I’ll be signing books at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, Ohio — just down the road from Cleveland, where Bob and Joe Switzer invented their daylight-fluorescent colors.
Once, before I was published, I gave some thought to one of the most common — and potentially intrusive — questions that children’s authors get asked by members of their target audience.
In the past few weeks, I’ve frequently received a variation on that question — from adults.
“How are the book sales?” they ask.
This question strikes me as genuinely curious, rather than nosy: Amazon.com sales rankings are just one of the many real-time popularity measurements we’ve gotten used to seeing for contemporary cultural artifacts, and my questioners (correctly) assume that I’ve got a better idea than they do of where The Day-Glo Brothers currently ranks.
It’s also a very sensitive, fickle metric — a book’s ranking can jump or fall frequently within a single day (or so I’ve heard) — which makes it hard to get a clear view of the trend, at least if you have anything else going on in your life. What’s more, sales through one giant online retailer in no way reflect sales of the book through the local, independent retailers to which I prefer to steer would-be buyers.
So, how am I going to answer that question about book sales, assuming that I don’t just choose to deflect it entirely? I think I’ve found my answer in FirstSearch. A week ago, that service told me that 56 US libraries had copies of The Day-Glo Brothers. Today it says the count has climbed to 83.
Is 83 a lot, considering the official publication date was July 1? I have no idea. I do know how that figure compares to the other picture book biographies that I mentioned during my presentation at BookPeople a couple of weeks ago:
I also know how to do basic math, which tells me that this week’s library count is 48% higher than last week’s. And in this economy, a measurement in my favor that’s heading in that direction is one I sure don’t mind telling folks about.
One young attendee checks out The Day-Glo Brothers under black light. Photo courtesy of Donna Bowman Bratton.
Last Saturday’s BookPeople party celebrating The Day-Glo Brothers was one of the best days of my life. Donna Bowman Bratton and Christy Stallop have already documented the event nicely with kind words and lots of photos, but I’d just like to say a couple more things about it:
1) I had way more fun than I ever would have thought possible — and my expectations were running pretty high to begin with.
2) Thank you! To everyone who showed up, took pictures, bought books (the store sold out!), asked me to sign them, ate cookies, made daylight-fluorescent crafts, listened to what I had to say, spread the word, hosted me, introduced me, or otherwise helped out — you made my day. You made my year.
I hadn't had this many people paying attention to me since my wedding day. Photo courtesy of Christy Stallop.
I was on vacation all the following week, and I had no reason to suspect that the story of this book would get even better while I was out. I was essentially offline for the entire time, so I figured that even if things did get better, I wouldn’t know about it until I was back in front of my computer.
Then on Wednesday I got a call from my editor at Charlesbridge: The Day-Glo Brothers had received its third starred review, this one from School Library Journal (”The story is written in clear language and includes whimsical cartoons. … This unique book does an excellent job of describing an innovative process.”), following stars from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.
Wow.
Some might possibly wonder — OK, at least one person has already stated as much — whether this book’s warm reception will give me a swollen head. I’m not too worried, though, as the universe has shown that it has ways of keeping me in check.
Immediately after the party at BookPeople, I headed up the street to have a late lunch with a fun assortment of relatives, children’s literature peers, and college friends. As it has been for every day these past few weeks, the temperature in Austin was north of 100 degrees, or heading that way. Still, the outdoor seating area was shaded, and with fans and misters blowing on us, sitting outside was quite bearable — even for me in the bright green necktie you can see in the photo at the top.
I almost never wear a tie these days, but for some reason the old reflex kicked in, and when my lunch arrived, I flipped my brand-new, first-time-being-worn tie over my shoulder. I then grabbed the bottle of ketchup, gave it a shake and a twist of the cap and –
FOOMP!
Ketchup everywhere. Everywhere on my equally brand-new white shirt, at least, and some on my aunt, too. Not on the tie, though — the daylight-fluorescent tie came through without a spot.
Now, if you have a copy of The Day-Glo Brothers handy, turn to the spread in which Bob Switzer is in bed recuperating from his head injury. See those objects that he’s hallucinating? They aren’t marked with a brand, but they’re clearly identifiable to anyone who’s ever sat at an American restaurant table.
Care to guess which brand of ketchup I wore home from my big day?
The table stocked with daylight-fluorescent craft materials was a hit. Photo courtesy of Carmen Ramirez McFarlin.
These went fast. Glad I wasn't counting on leftovers. Photo courtesy of Carmen Ramirez McFarlin.
0 Comments on A big thank you, a third star, and an exploding bottle of ketchup as of 1/1/1900
Before you go there, though, here’s another reminder of how great BookPeople is: They’re hosting two local-children’s-author events tomorrow (or you could look at it as one big event with an extra-generous intermission).
So while you’re waiting for this Saturday’s party at BookPeople, get on over to Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog and look for the book-giveaway guidelines at the bottom of the interview she conducted with me. (Thanks, Cyn!)
0 Comments on Five copies of The Day-Glo Brothers up for grabs… as of 1/1/1900
Over the years, WIRED magazine has run its share of daylight fluorescent ink, so I guess it’s as fitting as it is thrilling that the July issue (not yet online) includes a little bit of ink about The Day-Glo Brothers.
Coming in at #4 on the monthly Playlist feature, just after Manhattan’s West Side High Line, right before isthisyourluggage.com, and several notches above the new Spinal Tap album, the writeup on page 57 notes how Bob and Joe Switzer’s “enlightening story … shows how basement tinkering can lead to scientific discovery.”
That’s some glowing praise coming from some folks who know what they’re talking about. Thanks, WIRED!
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