As we zoom into 2015, let's have a look at beginnings and ending. Some illustrators do endpapers, others don't – but I love them. They feel as important to me as the first paragraph of a novel ... a sort of
mise-en-scène ... an artful visual placing of what is about to happen – as powerful as walking into a theatre and confronting the curtains up, on a stage already set.
So I ransacked my shelves and have come up with 15 for you to guess at... some old, some new... titles and illustrators at the end. Some have different endpapers at the front to those at the back and some I'll give a hint of, by adding an interior pic. So here we go starting with two forests:
1.
2.
And now no 3, a book from the US with two different endpapers
3
Some illustrators prefer patterns (I'll add an interior pic of the next 4 books to give a hint)
4
5
6
7.
8
Some illustrators do multiple drawings on the endpapers
9
10
11
Some do single illustrations that add to the story
12
No 13 has different endpapers at the start and finish of the book.
13
No 14, is the double spread of the endpaper shown at the beginning of the blog with us zooming into the future of 2015. Have fun! Hope its a good year for all!
14
And finally some endpapers end with 'The beginning...'
15
How many did you get?
ANSWERS:
1. Pookie in Search of a Home by Ivy L Wallace published by Collins UK
2. Little Evie in the Wild Wood Jackie Morris illustrat by Catherine Hyde pub Frances Lincoln UK
3. Zen Ghosts by Jon J Muth published by Scholastic US
4. The Big Pets by Lane Smith published by Viking US
5. Jamela's Dress by Niki Daly published by Frances Lincoln UK
6. Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora pyblished by Greenwillow books US
7. Celebration Song by James Berry illustr by Louise Brierley, Hamish Hamilton UK
8. The Magic Bojabi Tree by Dianne Hofmeyr illustr by Piet Grobler pub Frances Lincoln UK
9. Why the Sun & Moon Live in the Sky retold & illustr by Niki Daly published by Lothrop US
10. The Arrival by Shaun Tan published by Hodder UK
11. The Tree of Life by Peter Sis published by Walker UK
12. Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, drawings by Robert Lawson published by Viking US
13. Do the Whales Still Sing? By Dianne Hofmeyr illustr by Jude Daly published by Dial US
14. Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
15. Varmints by Helen Ward illustr Marc Craste published by Templar UK
Twitter: @dihofmeyr
Latest picture book: Zeraffa Giraffa – Top 100 Children's Classics List of Past 10 years
– THE SUNDAY TIMES
Beginnings hook readers. Endings create fans.
The other night when talking about readers with a writer friend, she interrupted to comment that she did not believe many writers consider their ultimate readers when writing a story. She went on to say that most writers she knows spend most of their time perfecting the beginning and usually peter out at the end.
The next day I received an email from a mighty disappointed agent friend who had just finished a 400 page manuscript she was SO hopeful for and realized "in the last 60 pages or so there must be a book in there, somewhere," but not in the shape she needs it to be.
How many of you do endings well? Not just with your stories but in other aspects of your life, too. Ending a relationship. The end of a visit. The end of any phase. Often, we just let things peter out...
All that to say, a friend and prolific writer, Penny Warner, has a terrific blog post about beginnings. Check it out. (NOTE: I just realized all the mystery writers who make up The Lady Killers are blogging about beginning. Penny's post is on May 12th)