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Betty Bunny Loves Easter

By Michael B. Kaplan; illustrated by Stephane Jorisch

 

The picture book reflects, in a certain sense, the culture and attitudes of the time in which it was written. Its art and narrative are born of an age that speaks to that generation of readers – and many times, thank goodness, beyond. You have only to look back on the Caldecott Award winners and Honor Books that began in 1938 to the present day to see proof of that reality.

If you have the time, it’s pretty interesting to see the evolution of childhood reflected in these charming books. And sometimes, it’s even a bit unsettling to see the culture of today reflected in, and through the eyes of a child in the current crop of picture books.

Enter Betty Bunny. There is no doubt that she is an independent, challenging handful who has a mind of her own. No problem there. It’s a good thing to be independent, curious and push the limits of the status quo – at times. Betty is all of those things. A bit on the high energy, overactive range of normal, Betty is consumed with whatever new experience comes her way, whether it be shopping, chocolate cake, playing soccer, admitting mistakes, or here, in her latest adventure, taking on the tradition of egg gathering at Easter – as a competition.

Betty may typify the average young person today who is on a learning curve when it comes to adjusting expectations with reality.

Betty is determined to BE the Easter Bunny when she grows up. Sweet.

Betty sees endless days of coloring eggs, consuming chocolate and carrying chock full baskets! She is gently reminded by her mom that the specialness of anything is BECAUSE it is not the everyday. No convincing this hare, via mom’s hint.

A determined Betty avers that “I always find the most eggs..” But this year, she is quick on the uptake as she notices the help she is receiving from her family members, nudging undiscovered eggs her way. Hey, Betty! You really are beginning to notice things and an awareness of the larger reality is important. You are growing up; as she instantly insists on solo egg gathering.

But there’s the rub. For Betty, left to her own devices comes up empty and declares in high dudgeon that “Easter is yucky.” “I hate Easter.” Whoa, Nellie er Betty!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Her parents come to the rescue, reminding Betty that they are proud of her independence in wanting to find her OWN eggs and therefore will mean so much more – even if it’s only a trio of eggs. Praise from parents is good – for really important things that mean something.

Okay. Did our bunny heroine really learn anything? Maybe. But what did she learn? When her mom finds her rifling through her purse toward the close of the book in order to find funds for a BIGGER basket next year, she is told that she has to ask permission first. So Betty, the feisty finagler, replies with a smirk, “If I ask, you’ll just give it to me. It means so much more if I find it myself.” Cute.

Turning the logic table on her mom, I am fairly itching to see the imaginary page AFTER this picture book denouement. Does Betty’s behavior have any consequences? And, what will she learn from this episode, if it does not? That, to me, is the bigger question.

Redirecting children’s behavior to better choices is part of the value learning curve of childhood.

The ending of this book put me in mind of a children’s TV host long gone, named Soupy Sales. On his January 1st 1965, Channel 5 morning children’s show, he jokingly told his young listeners to go into mom’s purse and dad’s wallet. “Take those little green pieces of paper with the pictures of men in beards, and mail them to me.” Many moms and dads were sleeping in from night before New Year’s Eve parties. Soupy asked the kids to send those “pieces of paper” to him. Result? Complaints flooded in, and some to the FCC about teaching kids to steal. And a 2-week suspension was the result. And when he returned, his popularity was bigger than ever!

Now, let me be very clear on this point, I am in no way suggesting this picture book is in any way akin to Soupy’s request, but its ending is not cute by half.

Young readers see themselves in picture books many times – the good and the not so good; and that’s great. Life is for children, after all, learning about the journey through their mistakes and successes.

But just perhaps, we may want to at least have our parent/child tete a tetes in picture books, end on a note that doesn’t allow the child to have the final say as to what THEY feel is acceptable behavior – when it’s not. Not in a picture book or in real life.

I love you, Betty; truly I do. And that is why we’re going to have a little chat, sweetie, about you and mom’s purse. I’ll talk and you listen – for a minute.

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Howdy, Campers!

Creativity!

An example of creativity from morguefile.com

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New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story

By April Halprin Wayland; illustrated by Stephane Jorisch

 

Our world is indeed a small place and getting smaller by the day. Events that occur a world away affect us here at home. And our children are coming in contact via news availability, in our generation shown only on the 6 o’clock news, but now on iphones and ipads, putting the world and its conflicts at kids’ fingertips.

How can we insulate our children from this? We can’t. BUT, we can make them aware through reading of the multicultural world they will grow up in. They will meet children of differing faiths from their own and it is important at an early age to nurture a growing understanding and respect for these faiths and their accompanying traditions.

The picture book is a perfect place to start this journey as people of the Jewish faith begin the celebration of Rosh Hashanah the evening of Wednesday, September 24th. Enter “New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story.”

In my research for this particular blog, I came across some interesting information as regards the celebration. It is not merely the wishing of Happy New Year as we all do at the turning of the calendar page on December 31. It is the wishing of “L’shanah tovah” or “a good year.” And though happiness is part of the mix, the “good” that can be affected by one person towards another in the new year is the important factor. The “happiness” part is a by product of the doing of good. I like that a lot. In this “me” centered world, it’s an important reminder to our children that the accumulation of things is not at the heart of what makes us human, but our ability to give meaning to the lives we live. And part of that process is to admit our mistakes.

Author April Wayland Halprin has a particular way of observing Rosh Hashanah. Living near the sea, she tosses pieces of bread into the water with each piece representing a “regret” of something done in the year past. It is her way of “letting go” and starting the year freshly. It is the ceremony called Tashlich – naming the things we wish we hadn’t done and apologizing.

Her book opens with young Izzy and Marion writing on pieces of paper the things THEY are sorry for in the past year. While Izzy’s senses are filled with the change of the seasons and the parts he especially loves of Rosh Hashanah – the honey, apples and the sound of the shofar – he remembers the Tashlich ceremony as an equally important part of the celebration.

Kids can follow Rabbi Neil and his group of fellow penitents to the pier to toss their mistakes, symbolized by bread upon the waters.

But Izzy has one mistake he has trouble confronting. It is one he has doubts will be forgiven, as it involves the telling of a friend’s embarrassing secret. Will he be forgiven?

And Izzy has more than one person to ask for pardon as he has lost his mom’s ring, AND there’s that Mrs. Bickerson with her cohort of canines. You get the idea.

Stephane Jorisch”s soft pastel pictures of Izzy et al. make the ceremony of Tashlich a handsomely healing event for the reader.

May this be a truly “good year” for those of the Jewish faith – and for all of us.  

 

 

 

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Howdy Campers!   Welcome to another edition of TeachingAuthors'

TeachingAuthors--and most writing teachers--have taught and discussed versions of this exercise over the years—and it's worth repeating.

Last week I tweaked it just a bit and the raw results in student writing was much more personal than when I've used this exercise before--their stories were notably stronger.

In my UCLA Extension Writers' Program class on Writing the Children's Picture Book, I spend one of the three-hour classes on rewriting.  I tell my students, "the information I'm about to tell you may be a tad depressng."

Then I show them a stack of revisions of my 1087-word picture book. I read an early draft, a middle draft and the final published book.  I show a PowerPoint which details the long journey to publication:

TIMELINE OF ONE OF MY PICTURE BOOKS
•    April 2000: interviewed expert on topic; wrote first version
•    April 2002: additional interviews
•    October 2004: accepted by publisher
•    January 2005: author’s revision sent to Dial
•    July 2005: editorial notes promised
•    December 2005: editorial notes received
•    January 2006: author’s revision sent to editor
•    January 2006: line edit promised “soon”
•    March 2006: line edits promised “May at the earliest”
•    May 2006: no line edits yet
•    May 2006: illustrator accepts offer
•    September 2006: considerable line edits received
•    September 2006 (about 12 days later): edited ms. sent off with new title
•    May 2007 titles still under discussion—August 2008 projected publication date
•    September 2007—book delayed until summer 2009 because illustrator is delayed.
•    April 2008—tiny edit: five small word changes
•    Fall 2008: illustrations arrive—wow, wow, WOW!
•    June 2009: book ship—yippee!
•    Summer 2009 lots of PR
•    September 2009: official launch—bricks-and-mortar and blog tour

      = 38 versions from start to finish.

After depressing them with the timeline, I did something different this time.  I read them the touching picture book, I Remember Miss Perry, written by Pat Brission, illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch (he's also the illustrator of New Year at the Pier).  It's about the death of a beloved elementary school teachers and how her students work through it by sharing happy memories of her.  It's a delicious book about a topic no one wants to talk about--the kind of book that every school needs in its library, because when you need it, you need it immediately.
I want my students to feel they can tackle any topic in a children's picture book as long as it's written honestly.  As long as it rings true.

So, here's the exercise:

1) Have your students brainstorm for five minutes, writing a list of experiences from their childhood that rocked their world. 

Tell them to jot down whatever comes to mind, writing quickly. They don't need to worry about neatness or spelling or complete sentences--they're making notes for themselves.

Here are some possible topics:

When did you do something that made you feel grown-up?
Maybe you helped paint the kitchen.
Maybe you did something that helped someone older than you solve a problem.

When did something scary happen to you?
Maybe your dog ran away.
Maybe your parents separated.

When did something joyous happen to you?
Maybe your family moved into a nice home for the first time.
Maybe you learned how to skateboard or read.

2) Give them just five minutes to circle one of the things on their list that they want to write about and then write a brief outline of the whole story. 

3) Tell them to change one thing about this story.
Tell them: BE WILD!  
Tell them: STAND ON YOUR HEADS AND BALANCE SAUSAGES ON YOUR TOES! 
They might change:
~ Point of view.  Instead of first person, try third person.  Or perhaps the family dog tells the story.
~ Time period.    Instead of the present, try setting it in ancient times, in the 1920s, in the future.
~ Place:              Instead of on a farm, try setting it underwater, in a volcano, on an island, in New York.
~ Characters:      Instead of people, try ground hogs, lightning bugs, elevators, a jar of pickles or cows.
~ Plot:                Instead of the cricket finding his home at the end, perhaps he gets even more lost.  Or instead of the bully getting her comeuppance, throw a party for her and see what happens.

As I said, this is the first year I've read my students that book before we launched into this exercise; the stories were more heartfelt than in the past.
I hope you try it--either in your own writing or with students.  Then let me know what happens!
And, hey--thanks for reading this!
April Halprin Wayland

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Why is a raven like a writing desk?*   More on topic, how is a bad query sent to an editor like a personal ad?  Last April The Rejectionist sought to answer this very question in Love is Like a Bottle of Query and I couldn’t help but figure that it would make a superb Valentine’s Day link for you all.

That seems insufficient fodder for today’s post, though.  So just for the heckuvit, here is a list of my favorite romantic picture books.  Howsoever you wish to interpret them.

The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Seve, illustrated by Peter de Seve – Not only was it written by a husband and wife team (an inherently romantic proposition) but it also features one of my favorite love stories.  You have a Duchess who is only interested in whimsical things and the practical fellow who loves her.  I’m a fan.  Plus it’s a real treat to the old eyeballs.

The Marzipan Pig by Russell Hoban – The saddest Valentine’s Day book on this list and long out of print.  Nevertheless I love that book, and I love the little film that was made of it long long ago.  You can catch a section of it here if you like:

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch – I understand that there are as many different picture book versions of this book as there are drops of water in the sea.  Everyone from Hilary Knight to James Marshall has adapted this poem at some point (probably because it’s the rare standalone poem that converts to the picture book format so easily).  My personal favorite amongst these versions, however, is Jorisch’s.  This isn’t just a story about two different species getting together.  No, in Jorisch’s world it’s two different lifestyles.  The owl is all buttoned up business suit and the cat this Greenwich Village, thick soled boot-wearing artist.  Yet impossibly they get together and wed.  How awesome is that?!

Henry in Love by Peter McCarty – A love story appropriate for the schoolyard set.  More of a crush really.  In this sweet tale a little cat has a crush on a rabbit in his class.  They reach a mutual understanding all thanks to a bright blue muffin.  Aside from making me hungry for muffins (particularly those of irregular colors) McCarty employs a really gorgeous pen to the illustrations in this book.  Little wonder it appeared on the 5 Comments on Happy Valentine’s Day!!, last added: 2/15/2011