By: Mark G. Mitchell,
on 2/16/2013
How perfect that award-winning children’s book artist Terry Widener has done the pictures for the new picture book by Jonah Winter (just released by Schwartz and Wade) about the greatest all around baseball player ever – Willie Mays. Terry brings a background of high level advertising and editorial illustration and something else to the many [...]
By: Mark G. Mitchell,
on 5/10/2012
Erik Kuntz, Amy Rose Capetta and Nick Alter made this video of the Austin Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators 2012 Regional Conference, Something for Everybody. I get a kick out of how the thumbnail on YouTube shows me in the crowd, getting a hug from illustrator Marsha Riti. So of course I had to include it here. Erik, [...]
By: Tara,
on 11/23/2011
by Shutta Crum
PiBoIdMo is about beginnings—first ideas, first notes, and then, hopefully, first drafts from the exciting tidbits we’ve jotted down during the month. While thinking about beginnings I remembered one of my first writing classes: high school journalism. I don’t remember much from the class except that a good lead should always include the answers to four important questions: the 4 Ws. These are: who, what, where, and when. After a good lead, we were taught the story could move on into the details of how, or why.
Good leads are something that the news reader doesn’t really notice, but are crucial to keeping the reader’s attention. They quickly dispense with niggly concerns and important facts so the reader can settle into the story. It is a technique every picture book writer ought to know.
Answering those four questions right up front in any story tucks the reader in. However, as with many aspects of writing the picture book, the writer for the very young has to do it faster, with fewer words, and sometimes in verse!
Better than hearing this from me—and more fun—is studying how some of our best picture book writers, and illustrators, do it. Below are some of my favorite examples, in prose and in verse.
(Prose) Rosemary Wells, from MAX’S CHOCOLATE CHICKEN.
“One morning somebody put a chocolate chicken in the birdbath.”
Let’s parse this opening line. When: one morning. Who: somebody. (We also see a picture of that somebody—Poppa?) What: put a chocolate chicken. Where: in the birdbath. (And what a great hook for a young child! Why would someone do that?)
(Verse) Karma Wilson, from BEAR SNORES ON.
“In a cave in the woods
in his deep, dark lair,
through the long, cold winter
sleeps a great brown bear.”
Where: in a cave in the woods in a deep dark lair. When: through the long cold winter. What: sleeps. Who: a great brown bear. (And she did all this with perfect meter! Note: be sure to read Karma’s earlier post, on Nov. 2nd.)
Of course, we are blessed by the illustrations in our picture books. In addition to everything else they do so well, the art carries a great deal of this initial informational load. If the setting is a farm, we see that and it may not be mentioned at all in the text. If it is nighttime, or winter, or the main character is a bear . . . these may, also, not be directly mentioned. If it is not said in the text, it is then incumbent on the illustrator to add that context. Look at Jane Yolen’s Caldecott-winning book, illustrated by John Schoenherr.
(Free verse) Jane Yolen, from OWL MOON.
By: Mark G. Mitchell,
on 8/29/2011
Children’s book illustrator Patrice Barton begins a picture book with a spiral ruled notebook that she soon fills with ideas, tactics and to-do checklists related to the project.
It’s almost as if the words come first. The drawings, which for her are a series of tireless explorations only a tiny fraction of which make it to the book, spring forth after she’s worked out the notions, notations and marching orders for herself.
In the previous post she told how she assembled her scraps of sketches on tracing paper to develop finals for Sweet Moon Baby by Karen Henry Clark (Knopf Books for Young Readers.) This time she reveals the earliest stages of her artwork for the picture book Mine! by well-known children’s author Shutta Crum.
Released in June, Mine! is Patty’s second book for Knopf.
At the end of our video interview minutes before class time at the Art School of the Austin Museum of Art Patty walked through the F&G’s for her third Knopf title, Rosie Sprout’s Time to Shine by Knopf editor Allison Wortche — due for publication in December. Here are sophisticated first graders, not babies or toddlers. With their glances, gestures and placements on the pages, Patty orchestrates a very funny elementary school drama of evil plans, remorse and redemption.
Watching her interpret Wortche’s scenes as text gives us insight into how she thinks about her characters and re-constructs a story in its most telling images.
Southern Breeze Society of Children’s BookWriters and Illustrators Illustrators Day – Friday, September 2 on the lower floor of the DeKalb County Public Library, 1 Comments on “Little toddler feet and hands all over my wall…”, last added: 8/29/2011
By: Mark G. Mitchell,
on 8/9/2011
Illustrators can now jump with both feet into digital publishing with the help of some free software and a contest launched by InteractBooks.com
“What better way to showcase all that our InteractBuilder e-book software can do on the iPad and iPhone than holding a contest to find the very best interactive book it can make?” asks the Interact Books website .
“And who better than you to produce this book by using your developer talent and our app software for the Mac and PC?”
A Youtube video doesn’t do the reading experience justice, but an actual iPad encounter with The Tortoise and the Hairpiece by Don Winn, illustrated by Toby Heflin and distributed on the Apple iTunes store demonstrates how the touch screen interactions and subtle animations of an interactive book (let’s call it an i-book) make for a whole new storytelling language.
I-books or interactive e-books aren’t quite the same as the e-books now making headlines for trouncing paperbacks in sales at Amazon.com.
They’re a new animal — maybe a new art form, and it may be months or even years before anyone knows where this fusion of interactivity and literacy is going, aesthetically or commercially speaking. Developers and a few publishers are delving into the format, but no leader for an interactive book-building engine or platform has emerged — yet.
In the meantime Austin, Texas based-InteractBooks wants to push the innovation timeline up a little by launching the first ever contest for an interactive children’s book. Entries must be built with their free InteractBuilder software.
First place prize – 16gb white or black WIFI iPad2, or $500. lnteractBooks will also publish your title and give you a three year membership in the InteractBuilder community (a $300 value)
All runners up and anyone entering the contest with an InteractBuilder-approved book will have a free year’s membership in the InteractBooks builders community.
The deadline is September 18 and the winner will be announced October 1, which doesn’t give you much time.
That’s why the InteractBook folks are encouraging illustrators and authors to mull over the books they’ve already done, published or unpublished, with pictures and text ready to go — and see how they might adapt their story to this new media
By: Greg Leitich Smith,
on 7/10/2011
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 3/7/2011
My next book, due in June of this year, is a complete departure from the fantasy novel that came out last year, THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN (Knopf), and a return to picture book format. It’s titled: MINE!
And I thought you all might be interested in seeing the wonderful artwork of the illustrator, Patrice Barton. It’s published by Knopf, and edited by the talented Michelle Frey.
MINE! is a simple tale of one-upmanship with a hero who is a VERY YOUNG child. This book is for sharing with any child who has ever laid claim to all the toys within reach. It was inspired by the Toddler’s Creed—something I always keep in mind when writing for this age group.
Love it!
And I hope you will love MINE! when it gets here. I do know that many online ordering sites are doing preorders right now.
Happy National Reading Month to all of you!
Shutta
By: Shutta Crum,
on 10/21/2010
A big thanks to all of you who visited my blog during the blog tour for THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN. You are friends, colleagues, other writers, and fans.
Using a random number generator #44 was selected to win the prize–and Carol has been notified. So if you have not heard from me . . . I’m sorry, that means you did not win the book. However, copies are available at all your favorite book outlets and in an electronic version. Also, THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN will be out in paperback next summer.
Hugs, to all!
Happy Reading.
Shutta
By: Shutta Crum,
on 9/10/2010
Thomas and the Dragon Queen is making a tour of blogs about children’s books this month. In honor of that, I’ve decided to give away an autographed copy to a reader at random. Just leave your name and an email address where I can reach you, if you win, by midnight October 12th. Kids: If you are under 13 years of age, please get a parent or guardian’s permission to enter the contest. To enter: click here or on the hand below:
NOTE: You MUST be over 13 years of age, or have a parent’s permission if you are not. And I will randomly select a winner on Oct. 13th.
Good luck, all!
Shutta Crum
By: Shutta Crum,
on 9/10/2010
I LOVE that kids (and other readers) are picking up my new book, THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN (Knopf). Here are a couple of pics folks have sent me.
This is Aiden who read through a weekend visit to family and then on the way home in the car. Thanks, Hope for sending this to me!
This is Dillon Marx who, is not quite ready to read THOMAS yet, but who is trying to figure out why his older brother is so engrossed by this book. Thanks, Sueanne, for letting me post this picture!
Finally . . . a couple of favorite pics a friend sent of Bertie “reading” THUNDER-BOOMER! Thanks, Alice!
I wish he could tell me what he truly thought of it. THUNDER-BOOMER! does have a dog in it. At least he is not trying to bury it in the backyard!
Way to go, Bertie!!
See my contact page if you have photos you’d like to send me of your family members reading my books.
Hugs,
Shutta
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 8/16/2010
Children’s authors hard at work!
I’ve enjoyed torturi . . . um, inspiring my writing and illustrating colleagues over the course of the last nine years with a short writing exercise at each schmooze. This year was no exception. It is during this time, since I get to inflict . . . um . . . lead the activities, that I have a few free moments to take snapshots of my friends giving in to the muse. (The writing prompt also gives me time to hit the dessert table once again while no one is looking.)
I was delighted by the laughter and advice freely shared, and all the good food y’all brought. (OMG: the Peruvian goat cheese! I was so glad Monica was gracious enough to leave me the leftovers. I was contemplating offering to arm wrestle her for it.) And I am so pleased at the boxes of books donated for the Martin County Library. Oh my! Five boxes full. (Diane-you are a doll!)
Finally, it was great to be able to put faces to the names that crop up on the Michigan SCBWI listserv and to welcome so many “old” hands and new faces to the playhouse. Keep on writing . . .
Many hugs from your devoted task master,
Shutta
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 7/13/2010
Today is THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN’s birth-(launch)-day! It is now available in stores. It is published by Knopf, with black and white line illustrations by Lee Wildish. THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN is an adventure story of a small knight and a large dragon.
This book seemed to pour out of me. I was stuck in the middle of a much longer book with a more complicated plot when, suddenly, I knew I had a different and very important story to tell that was short, simple, and pure. That story became THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN.
I do hope you get a chance to read it; especially in these times of so much misunderstanding in the world . . . for this book is really a book about peace. It is also humorous and full of adventure. That is good. A work of fiction is primarily meant to entertain. But if a book about peace can entertain as well as demonstrate how to get along with others different from ourselves . . . that is wonderful! And I am happy about it.
Peace
Shutta
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 5/20/2010
We are home-with some sadness at leaving new friends and a beautiful country. I will forever be indebted to the PTOs of the great schools of the Depart. of Defense who hosted my series of author visits with their students.
We took hundreds of photos. I can only share a few here. I hope you enjoy these sights as much as we did!
(Above: me with a young fan who was the proud caregiver for M.C. Perry School’s rubber chicken mascot for the day.)
(Left) My husband Gerry and I on a sail through the many islands off the coast of Kyushu while we were at Sasebo naval facility.
The “Chicken Shack!” in Iwakuni. (Near the marine base where we stayed.) We were treated to a wonderful meal in our own tea room here. No shack! Gorgeous.
The famous Kentai Bridge outside Iwakuni. The center section was built without nails so it could be pulled down if necessary during a raid. On the mountain top is the Kentai Castle.
A bullet train-the high-speed trains are super fast, comfortable, quiet. What a great way to travel!
Red Torri gate in Hakone. Wherever there is a gate there is a shrine or temple.
An elder statesman of a tree in Hakone.
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 4/4/2010
While I don’t have time at the moment to update my site, I thought I’d post some pictures of my granddaughter Chloe—-following, I hope—-in Grandma’s footsteps! The photo in the red (taken about 1 year and a half ago) lets you know that she was an independent reader from a very young age. Don’t let the fact that the book is upside down fool you!
This reading stuff is easy!
Hmm . . . what to write? If Grandma can do it, I can. We’ll start out with a hook . . . It was a dark and stormy night .. .
Grandma, you made a mistake right there!
Enjoy! Shutta
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By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 2/8/2010
By: Shutta Crum,
on 1/26/2010
Sometimes we need a little imbalance in our lives to make us think about how to get centered again. Writing a picture book in verse is like that, too.
When writing in poetical stanzas (With all those good things that any picture book needs-characterization, setting and a plot, for goodness sake!) the writer has an additional concern. That is, a sense of balance. Oftentimes we can sense imbalance but we are not quite sure why something doesn’t work. For example, the magical number in most western literature is three. Tasks, bad luck, good luck, etc. come in threes. (Unless you come from a Native American background, then four is usually the special number.) If this is violated, somewhere down deep we readers feel a bit uneasy. Things are not quite what they should be.
Most picture books are thirty-two pages in length. (Some are forty, or twenty-four; all are a number of pages that can be divided by 8.) Working with thirty-two pages, a writer of picture books has to be able to envision action for approximately thirteen double spreads (26 pages), and two single pages (first right-hand page and final left-hand page). The remaining four pages are front and back matter. One of the jobs for the verse writer of picture books is realizing how the stanzas, with or without a chorus, play across these pages in a balanced way so the reader feels, yes! This is right.
Early in my writing career I wrote a book from which my editor wanted me to remove one stanza so we could get it into a twenty-four page format. But which one should I remove?
This manuscript also contained a repeated chorus at precise points in the story. In my mind it was designed like one might a beaded necklace. There was an opening, three strands (stanzas) of a certain rhyme pattern and rhythm, a chorus strand with a different rhyme and rhythm, three more of the basic strand, another chorus, three more of the basic, and then a closing. So the original pattern went: Opening, 3 stanzas, chorus, 3 stanzas, chorus, 3 stanzas, closing.
How could I remove just one and keep the whole thing working in a balanced way? Well . . . obviously, I had to remove the center stanza so the central strand of the basic pattern contained only two stanzas. Now my pattern was Open, 3, C., 2, C., 3, Close.
Now, you might think at this point that I am being just too fussy. But am I? Certainly a reader sometimes is not aware of all the work a writer does behind the scenes to make a story flow as though it were effortless. However, if we jarred the reader rudely at a point in the flow-he/she would certainly feel it, even though the reader might not be exactly sure why it didn’t work for him/her.
For example lets look closely at this title from a friend of mine’s manuscript (Hope Vestergaard) that will be out with Greenwillow in the next year or two: Digger, Dozer, Dumper. Obviously, this is a book of large machines for little readers. And the title is perfect. Why is that?
First, we have the very descriptive words that tell exactly what each machine does. Second, we have the wonderful alliteration so beloved in children’s books that helps the title just roll off our tongues. But there is more . . . a third thing. This is something an author would think about and deliberately design, something that just feels right.
Notice the vowels? Each one progresses down in tone and where they said in the mouth. The “i” is higher, said using the tongue up near the roof of the mouth. The “o” is said in the round chamber of the middle of one’s mouth, while the “u” is said more in the lower back of the mouth near the throat. It feels good in our mouths to say it. It’s memorable, it’s musical. It’s perfect!
Now you know a little about why I fume when someone comments, “Oh it must be so easy to write those books. They’re so short.” When t
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 10/5/2009
I’m highlighting Andrea Beaty’s FIREFIGHTER TED book (see sidebar). What a hoot! When the principal’s pants catch on fire we see exactly why a caring bear has to do his best. Lots of heart and humor in this one! Way to go, Andrea.
A wonderful NY Times article about Jan Brett and the chickens she raises at her summer home can be found here.
And, after getting to meet editor Harold Underdown this past weekend at the Michigan SCBWI fall conference, I just want to remind folks what a wealth of information is at his website: The Purple Crayon. This is a great spot for beginning writers of children’s books to start. He covers all the basics of publishing and writing for children.
Enjoy!
Shutta
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 10/5/2009
It’s the time of year when I feel a bit like Leo Lionni’s grasshopper. Fall has well and truly come upon us in Michigan. The soy fields are dry and golden, the Virginia creeper wound round our trees is scarlet and we’ve had our first frost. Yesterday I heard sand hill cranes and assumed I’d see them in the neighbor’s field as I walked by. Nope. Twenty-two of them were forming a flying wedge and heading south.
It’s the time of year to be sure your larders are stocked. I’ve made my jellies and juices. And now, I have to collect as many bright and shiny words as I can and store them up against the day deep winter decides to accost us. To do this, I read and write (especially poetry). Sometimes it’s enough just to find a line I like. I keep those jotted down in my journal.
I keep my eyes and ears open. And, oddly enough, my sense of smell is truly alive at this time of year. Yesterday, in addition to the sand hill cranes and the soy fields I was particularly attuned to that tang–that smell–that is always in Michigan’s air in October. You know the one; overripe grapes small, dark, and pungently grapey smelling, and apples that have fallen on the dirt road to be smashed by cars and eaten by deer producing that sweet, sharp “appley” smell.
Well . . . you can see that I’m having a problem here. Just how does an author describe a smell? How do you get that into a poem or story? In fact, my book MY MOUNTAIN SONG (Clarion) deals, in part, with this issue when the main character wants to get the smell of the green dampness of the mountain holler into her song. I initially wrote that book more than twenty years ago . . . and I still wonder how it’s done. I do my best . . . but it never seems quite enough.
It’s easy to describe things you see, touch, hear, and to some degree taste (salty, bitter, etc.). But smell? And the funny thing is, I’ve read that the sense of smell can trigger our strongest and most emotional responses. And we humans have powerful reactions to pheromones.
Perhaps it’s just that smell is so personal. Does the smell of ripe grapes smell the same to me as to you? Juicy apples? Hot chocolate and cinnamon? Wet dog? And what about that other smell for people of my generation? The one that said, yep, school is back in for the season. It was a combined smell of wet galoshes lined up along the walls, and that red rubbery stuff that the custodians used to sprinkle down before they swept the hallways. (What is that stuff called?). That smell has had such a hold on me for all these years that it is easy to bring a sense of it back to the foreground of my memory–but how, as a writer do I write about it?
In the Torrey Pines park in California there is a path for blind walkers. It stops at spots along the way where the smells are particularly strong. I LOVED it! I loved the sage smells, the salt from the ocean, the pine smells. What a wonderful idea for sighted walkers, as well.
I don’t have any answers here for you. (If you have one for me, please let me know!) But I do have a thought for you: while you are squirreling away all those golden summer words and stories for the deep winter, store away some of those smells that have been important to you. Perhaps, one day, you can find a way to share them with others in your writing.
Happy autumn!
Happy writing (and smelling)! Shutta
By: Shutta Crum,
on 8/21/2009
Wow! When it rains, it pours. I just got word that the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books will be giving THUNDER-BOOMER! an “R*” in its September issue. (Recommended, and an asterisk for “exceptional.”)
A writer friend asked if I knew that this book (my tenth) would be exceptional? And how did it feel writing it? Hmmm . . .
Good questions! I remember I felt good writing it. I live on a farm now and I love how “the air smells sweet as butter” after a storm. And I LOVED the editorial process with my editor at Clarion, Marcia Leonard. But of course, I had no idea it would generate such good reviews. I truly believe that with a picture book, a good portion, if not MOST, of the weight of the book is carried by the illustrations. And Clarion had the great good sense to hook THUNDER-BOOMER! up with Carol Thompson-a truly talented and knowledgeable illustrator.
Carol’s use of drippy gray watercolors, collage, and pencil over textures brings the storm to life. And the pale pale green of the after-math—my favorite spread—is picture perfect. In fact, most of the reviews speak to Carol’s inspired illustrations. Thanks, Carol!!!
Enjoy,
Shutta
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By: Shutta Crum,
on 8/18/2009
Several friends have sent links to this wonderful video of the song AFRICA. It starts with creating the sound effects of a rain storm. Click here or on the sidebar. I can just see doing this with a whole group of kids! Music teachers?
The rock band Toto scored their biggest hit with this song in 1982.
But it has been reinvented. Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. Group members simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands.
Turn up the volume to high …. and close your eyes! Be patient as it starts softly before the vol really picks up. Enjoy!
Ciao!
Shutta
Click here for some great thunder sound effects!
(*Clip art by: http://www.designedtoat.com)
By: Shutta Crum,
on 8/10/2009
I have a wonderful little thunder stick I take with me when I visit schools. Many teachers and families have asked about where to get one. Below are some links and photos. I like getting a nice array of instruments together to make storm sounds and then read THUNDER-BOOMER! I point to each child to indicate when he/she is to play his/her instrument. I’m sure an upturned bucket would also suffice for thunder. But the thunder tube is so much more unexpected and exciting. They come in various sizes and are fairly inexpensive. And the frogs are fun, too. Enjoy!
For the rain: rainsticks. Available at:
For the thunder: thunder tubes/sticks.
Available at:
For the hail: clappers, jingles, tambourines, shakers, gourd rattles. Make your own, or many inexpensive ones are available at:
For the frog/toad sounds after the rain: percussive frogs. Available at:
Enjoy your classroom thunder storms!!
Shutta
By: Shutta Crum,
on 7/24/2009
Lots of things are happening, and I haven’t updated this site in a while. So . . .
First, THUNDER-BOOMER! has garnered three starred reviews so far. (Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Horn Book Magazine) YAY! The reviewers are blown away by Carol Thompson’s amazing art-and so am I. (Pun intended.)
Second, A FAMILY FOR OLD MILL FARM (Clarion, 2007) was chosen to represent my native state of Kentucky at the National Book Festival in Washington, D. C. this fall. Each state picks one title to represent it at the festival, and I am so pleased that a book of mine will have that honor. Yay, Kentucky!
Third, I’ve been busy working on edits for THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN, which will be out next summer. (Knopf) Here is an early peek at the cover done by artist Lee Wildish . . . don’t ya just love it? I am always so awestruck by the talent of the wonderful illustrators working in children’s books today.
Finally, thinking about illustrators, etc. I do have news that David Catrow will be illustrating an upcoming book of mine for Clarion (HMH). I don’t have a pub date yet. The tentative title is: DOZENS OF COUSINS: A Beastie Holler Reunion. You can tell by the subtitle that there will be lots of mayhem present–just like there always was when my siblings and I got together with my cousins at our family reunions in Kentucky. YAY! (again) for the sheer pleasure of it, and for the joy of getting to work with some of the best illustrators in the business. Could there ever be a better job?
Here are some of my favorite books illustrated by David Catrow.
I hope all of your news will be happy news! Enjoy the summer, a good time to spend curled up with a favorite book, or two, or three . . .
Ciao!
Shutta
Wonderfully informative interview. Always love seeing the process behind a successful and brilliant work of art.
Thank you Mark for interviewing Terry Widener here on this latest book. It’s so good to hear Terry say, that if you want to learn to draw, you need to practice, practice, etc. And to go to your local education area and take a life drawing class or two, or as many as you can. He is so right that the people who stylize their drawings can also draw the traditional way. I don’t know if many people realize that today, who do not follow art or illustration. It’s so fundamental to just sketch every day. I also appreciated his comments about the old wool uniforms and the baggy pants, socks, etc. Also how he makes smaller drawings of different scenes, and slips them under the work he’s doing to see if he will change it – or not. One of my profs taught us how to make our own graphite paper by rubbing a thick graphite stick solidly on vellum paper, and then taking rubber cement thinner on a cotton ball all over it, smear it up, let it dry, and then you’ll have any size graphite tracing paper you want. Glad to see Terry from your photos also. He’s a favorite illustrator of mine. Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview.
Thank you, Theresa. You’ve written some wonderful things and done some great process posts for this blog, too!
Virginia, I was struck by the same points Terry made as you were! So basic. So “where the rubber meets the road. Terry is such a great role model for practice, due dilligence, patience and creating true beauty in his work.