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In The Story I’ll Tell a young child asks where he came from. His mother tells him fantastical tales with a kernel of truth that piece together his journey across a wide ocean to his new family. The Story I’ll Tell was released this month and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly which called it “an unabashed love letter. . . [that] many families will treasure.” In this guest post, author Nancy Tupper Ling discusses where the idea for The Story I’ll Tell came from.

I have binders that are two or three inches thick for many of my stories. They are picture book manuscripts, under 1000 words, and yet the binders are full of revision after revision of those few words. And then there are those rare stories that come to me like a gift. My poem, White Birch, was like that, and it became the winner of the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize out of 18,000 entries. Published this month by Lee & Low, The Story I’ll Tell had a similar beginning. It was a gift.

The story idea came to me in the form of a question as I was driving down the highway one day. If a baby landed on someone’s doorstep in the hills of Appalachia, what kind of story would the parents tell their child about how he/she came into their lives? The story sounded like a poem to me, as I wrote a number of far-fetched scenarios in my head. Still, there was one line that pivoted the story, and that’s my favorite line in the book today: “. . .there are times when I think I will tell you the truth, for the truth is a beautiful story too.”

With that line I came to a realization. There would be a nugget of truth in each of the fantastical stories that the parent would tell her child, and this patchwork of truths would be stitched together to reveal the most beautiful story in the end.

Somewhere along the way I began to think of The Story I’ll Tell as an adoption story. I am not an adoptive parent, but I am a parent who waited years for her first child. I know the ache and the longing that many parents experience while waiting for a child to enter their lives. My husband and I had filled out all the paperwork in order to adopt a child from Korea when we learned that I was pregnant with our first daughter, and this experience certainly influenced my story.

That said, I have several friends who had a tremendous influence on my story as well. One couple has ten children who came into their lives through domestic and international adoption. Another friend adopted her daughter through the foster care system. As The Story I’ll Tell was coming together I thought of their stories, all of which were unique, and how the parents would reveal them to their children in due time.

Certainly adoption stories include heartache as well. It was important for me to touch upon this sentiment, without making it overwhelming. One of the last lines in the story is “When we brought you home in dawn’s early light, you cried for things lost and new.” One mother’s loss is another mother’s gain. The child feels this, too. An adoption story has both longing and love. Hopefully this leads to a forever home where the child is treasured beyond compare.

In the end, it was Lee & Low who asked me to focus on a certain country of origin for the character, and since my husband is Chinese-American, I gravitated toward that heritage. As Eurasians, my own children know the push and pull of looking like one culture, and blending in as Americans. Jessica Lanan brought all these threads together with her gorgeous illustrations, so that the reader, like the child, feels the warmth of a new home and the reminder that she, too, has a story to tell.

 Nancy Tupper Ling  is the winner of the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize and the Pat Parnell Poetry Award, and is the founder of Fine Line Poets, a website for poets who live in New England. She was inspired to write The Story I’ll Tell by the multicultural background of her own family and the experiences of friends who have adopted children from all over the world. Ling resides in Walpole, Massachusetts, with her husband and their two young daughters.

I’m happy to announce that The Story I’ll Tell is well on its way to becoming a real, physical book this autumn. I can now share the cover with you (design by Stephanie Bart-Horvath.) And without further ado:

Ta-da! What do you think?

I’ve decided to kick off the countdown to publication with a series of posts about my process and the different steps along the way, from ideas and thumbnails all the way up to final art. There will be some giveaways and freebies as well, so stay tuned for more.

In other news,my  friend and fellow illustrator Alice Ratterree is celebrating the release of a middle-grade book, Lilliput. The cover art is just gorgeous. Congratulations, Alice!

Nancy Tupper Ling (the author of the Story I’ll Tell) has another book to celebrate: Double Happiness was just released and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

Does anyone else have any exciting news to share? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Just a random assortment from my TBR shelf this week folks. Enjoy!

With St. Patrick's Day coming up soon, I thought Lucky Tucker would be a good choice to have on the list this week. Tucker the dog has shown up in two other books, one about Christmas and one about Halloween, but this time he's trying his hardest to become the luckiest dog ever. Leslie McGuirk has created a fun-loving, adorable dog, that is appealing to everyone.

Waking up on the wrong paw is never fun for anyone, but Tucker is determined to change his luck. By rolling in a pile of four leaf clovers and then being told he is now the luckiest dog around by a real leprechaun, Tucker knows his luck has turned around and it boy has it! He gets a scoop of ice cream, gets to play with all of his friends, and gets a boxful of toys delivered just for him.

The Tucker books are simple enough for your younger kids and they'll enjoy the pure happiness that Tucker the dog exhibits. This would be nice book to have on your home shelves. Good for practicing reading too.

Lucky Tucker
Leslie McGuirk
24 pages
Picture book
Candlewick
9780763633899
February 2009

Sparrow Girl, written by one of my favorite middle grade authors, Sara Pennypacker, is a great example of an author branching out to different genres.

The tale of a young girl that loves the birds in her Chinese village, but finds out the farmers, including her father, want to kill all of the sparrows, as the tiny birds are eating up their grain. Devastated, Ming-Li attempts to stop the farmers, but is constantly told that she is just a young girl and that no one disobeys their leader.

When the sparrows have been run out of town, the farmers are surprised to learn that their grain is now being eaten by worms, grasshoppers, and locusts; all the insects that the sparrows used to eat and finally realize how wrong they were. Luckily, Ming-Li has a little secret to let the farmers in on.

A really beautiful story, with excellent illustrations by Yoko Tanaka. This selection would be great for older children (there is quite a bit of bird killing, but it's done subtly and gently) and would definitely do well in a library. I very much enjoyed this one.

Sparrow Girl
Sara Pennypacker
40 pages
Picture book
Hyperion
9781423111870
February 2009


My final selection this week is a title that I think every library could use a copy of. My Sister, Alicia May is an "issue" book, yes, but it's one of the best picture books written for siblings of Down's Syndrome children that I've seen yet. Enjoyable, simple, and educational.

My Sister, Alicia May is written by Nancy Tupper Ling and illustrated be Shennen Bersani and is based on the real story of two sisters just like Alicia May and Rachel. The reader is able to easily learn that Alicia May is very much like any other 6 year old girl, loving dogs and horses, and is annoying to her older sister. At times, Alicia May gets made fun of, needs breathing treatments, and doesn't like straying from her routines, but other than that, is just like any other little sister. She isn't different, she just has some amazing qualities that others lack.

Alicia May appears to be a joyful child, happy, and loving her older sister. The illustrations are nicely done and very life-like. This is a great title for libraries and home shelves and would make a great read aloud for a classroom or story time to educate children on Down Syndrome.

This one isn't being published until May, but it's available for pre-order from Amazon now.

My Sister, Alicia May
Nancy Tupper Ling
32 pages
Picture book
Pleasant St. Press
9780979203596
May 2009

To learn more about any of the titles, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon.