I recently picked up Frankie Works the Night Shift at my local library and was impressed by Lisa Westberg Peters' newest picture book. The text of this story is less than 150 words. We often see low word count books from author/illustrators, but how did Lisa do it? I just had to know! Lisa was kind enough to answer some questions for me, and I'm happy to share them with other aspiring PB writers here on my blog.

RH: Editors are requesting low word counts, but oftentimes writers wonder if their manuscript will be understood without adding a lot of art/illustration notes. Could you tell us how you conveyed your vision of this story to your editor?

LWP: For a picture book writer who wants the art to tell part of the story, it can be a tricky journey from manuscript to published book. With this particular manuscript, I inserted art directions throughout. For example, the text says, "He cleans two counters." In parenthesis, it said "skids across the counters and pushes everything off." I wanted the text to convey straight, janitor-like tasks for the cat and the art to convey the opposite idea, that is, chaos. I thought kids would enjoy the dissonance.

It's risky to write this way because you don't know whether everyone down the line, from editor to art director to illustrator, will carry out what you had in mind. But that's true anyway -- as a picture book writer, you never really know how the book will turn out.

I try very hard not to stray into territory that's strictly illustrator territory. I have no business dictating what color the cat should be unless the color of the cat is critical to the story. In this case, it wasn't. You can't believe how many of my friends and family said, "Hey, didn't the illustrator know that the real Frankie was a gray tabby cat?" Who cares? On the other hand, the dissonance between words and art was critical to my vision of the story. I needed to communicate that.

RH: The illustrations and text work in perfect harmony in Frankie Works the Night Shift. Typically, writers and illustrators work separately on a book. Was this the case for you and Jennifer Taylor?

JWP: Yes, Jennifer and I worked separately. We did not collaborate. However, it's typical for the editor to convey and filter any communications between illustrator and author. That was true in this case as well.

I got a chance to meet Jennifer and her husband, Jeff, this spring. They came to St. Paul for a book-signing. It's clear to me that she's a brilliant photographer. I can't begin to describe how hard she worked to achieve the effect she did. I love the art -- it's very contemporary, mischievous, and full of detail that will offer kids new discoveries with each reading.

RH: Which came first, an idea to write a counting book or an idea to write about a cat that works the night shift?

JWP: Our own cat, Frankie, was always busier at night than during the day. It was during the night that he got into the trash, hunted down mice in the basement,