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Neal Porter is the publisher of the Neal Porter Books imprint of Roaring Brook Press. He has been in the book publishing business for decades. His work has spanned both the editorial process and the marketing departments of the industry. Neal has worked with a number of Caldecott Medal–honored illustrators, including Eric Rohmann, Ted Lewin, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and the 2011 Caldecott Medal winner, Erin Stead, in her book A Sick Day for Amos McGee. He received an Eric Carle Honor in the category of Mentor in 2015.
Neal starts off his breakout session by saying that he's actually re-named his speech, "Three Reasons I Love SCBWI"
And tells us in some depth about publishing "The Iridescence of Birds," a picture book about Henri Matisse, written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Hadley Hooper. (The SCBWI connection? He and Patricia we speaking about it at a SCBWI Summer Conference and when he asked her what she was working on, she said 'I just wrote a picture book no one will ever publish.) Well, Neal did!
He also describes the story behind his publishing Antoinette Portis' "Best Frints in the Whole Universe."
Antoinette is actually in the audience, and Neal calls her up to to do a short interview within the session, which is proceeded by Antoinette reading it out loud to us… They discuss some of the editing process for the book - about the emotional exchange between the characters and some of the story beats.
Neal finishes his presentation about books he discovered at SCBWI and then published with Miranda Paul's "Water is Water" (he met Miranda at a 2012 SCBWI conference critique.)
Miranda is also in the audience, and Neal calls her up as well! They discuss the process and evolution of the rhyming nonfiction picture book. Neal shares Miranda's cover letter that she submitted with the manuscript, and he tells us his ultimate litmus test, the question he asks himself all the time:
"Do I have to publish this book?"
In all three of these cases, the answer was YES.
Snowflakes Fall
By Patricia MacLachlan and Steven Kellogg
Newtown, Connecticut could be every town USA where lives, families and communities intersect closely, much as they do all across our country. The good and the horrific are shared and processed – together.
This December is the third holiday season since the national spotlight of the 24/7 news cycles were turned on Newtown because of the tragic events of December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Adding to a yearly refocus on this tragic shooting at an elementary school, a report was released one year ago on November 13, 2013. As this sad second anniversary passes, here is a book you might consider looking at if your children bring up questions of the events. They are NEVER specifically addressed, but referred to in a very oblique way through the use of change in the seasons.
Award winning author/Illustrator, Steven Kellogg, was very active in the school and library communities of Newtown and Sandy Hook. He reached out to Newbery winning medalist for Sarah, Plain and Tall author, Patricia MacLachlan, and together they fashioned “Snowflakes Fall.” It is a picture book that endeavors to quietly capture the vitality, individuality and zest for living that is part of each and every child we meet in the book, with the uniqueness of a snowflake as metaphor for the life of a child.
Here is a quote from Steven Kellogg’s book Dedication:
“The changing seasons in the woodlands, field, and
streams that surround the Sandy Hook village pro-
vided an idyllic environment for raising a family.
Those scenes and memories inspired these illustrations.
It is my hope that this book celebrates the laughter, play-
high spirits and the uniqueness of the children of Sandy
Hook and of children everywhere.”
No one picture book, no one sentiment can encapsulate the uniqueness of promise, hope and beauty lost at Sandy Hook. How does one measure such loss? How do you combat such darkness?
It may seem a trivial small step, but the picture book has often been used to address feelings of such loss and loneliness in the past. Witness Maira Kalman’s, picture book called Fireboat, and its treatment of the unimaginable events surrounding 9/11 via the heroic contributions of the decommissioned fireboat, The John J. Harvey, that day!
“Snowflakes Fall” uses the metaphor of the uniqueness and the intricacy of the falling snowflake and compares it to the individuality of each child. Each is wonderfully special and set apart as they land in Steven Kellogg’s quietly beautiful illustrations, alighting on ancient churches, hilltops, a flagpole, a river’s sandy banks; all the symbols that define a town.
And, amid these symbols are snow suited children, hooting, laughing, sledding, and trudging up country hillsides as they play in the freshly fallen snow with their laughing voices echoing through the cold, clear air. At times the pictures are full of brightness and bounce, and at others, when darkness falls, the mood of the children at the windows turns quietly reflective.
It is this metaphor, the authors use of the falling snowflake melting in streams and sunlight, followed by its rebirth in the drops of water it sends up for renewal, then to be recycled as rain, that offers a feeling of hope and promise for the future.
For in the spring, flowers are shown blooming in the very spot where a season ago, snowflakes fell. There is a hopeful spirit alive in this book that beckons young readers to look not just at the present snow that will melt and change, but also for the promise of what lies ahead and how the snow contributes to that cycle of growth and change.
The children still remember the snowflakes, and so will we in the final pages, in the imprint of snow angels that the children left in the snow, ultimately transforming into angels flying heavenward; pure spirits of love and peace. They help us all by their example to rise and renew as Newtown continues to do.
May this book comfort the community of Newtown in some small way.
And, if your child has questions concerning the tragedy at Newtown and you are wondering how, in a very general and non-specifically detailed way to address it, you may find this book helpful in sitting and reading it with your child, and let the questions arise naturally from them.
And, with the publication of “Snowflakes Fall”, a contribution will be made to The Sandy Hook School Support Fund.
…while the morning stars sang together and all the angels
shouted for joy.
Writing voice.
Hard to define.
Difficult (impossible?) to teach.
But there's nothing I love more in a book than a distinctive writing voice.
I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it. Or, more correctly, I know it when I HEAR it.
And if you think about it, that is really the literal meaning of the word "voice" - something that you HEAR.
To me, a distinct writing voice is one that sounds unique. It has a rhythm and flow and melody to it that sets it apart from another author's writing voice.
So here are a few examples of voice that I love:
From Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall (even the TITLE has a wonderful voice):
He was homely and plain, and he had a terrible holler and a horrid smell.
and...
There will be Sarah’s sea, blue and gray and green, hanging on the wall. And songs, old ones and new. And Seal with yellow eyes. And there will be Sarah, plain and tall.
From Cynthia Rylant's Missing May: Whirligigs of Fire and Dreams, glistening coke bottles and chocolate milk cartons to greet me. I was six years old and I had come home.
and... Home was, still is, a rusty old trailer stuck on the face of a mountain in Deep Water, in the heart of Fayette County. It looked to me, the first time, like a toy that God had been playing with and accidentally dropped out of heaven. Down and down and down it came and landed, thunk, on this mountain, sort of cockeyed and shaky and grateful to be all in one piece.
From Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane:
Lolly was a lumpy woman who spoke too loudly and who wore too much lipstick.
and...
The days passed. The sun rose and set and rose and set again and again. Sometimes the father came home and sometimes he did not. Edward’s ears became soggy and he did not care. His sweater had almost completely unraveled and it didn’t bother him. He was hugged half to death and it felt good. In the evenings, at the hands of Bryce, at the ends of the twine, Edward danced and danced.
From Kate DiCamillo's Flora and Ulysses:
He looked exactly like a villain.
That’s what Flora’s brain thought.
But her heart, her treacherous heart, rose up joyfully inside of her at the sight of him.
From Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic: I think that’s one of the best feelings in the world, when you know your name is safe in another person’s mouth. When you know they’ll never shout it out like a cuss word, but say it or whisper it like a once-upon-a-time.
and... Lonely had followed me around for so long. That word was always perched somewhere close, always staring down at me, waiting to pounce out my joy.
From Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting:
The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.
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on 9/10/2013
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Did you know that Patricia MacLachlan’s books are now available ebooks? Look at all of these beautiful ebooks!
To mark the occasion, Patricia stopped by to share some heartwarming thoughts about writing and reading and families. She also filmed a video interview for us, so don’t forget to check that out (below)!
From Patricia MacLachlan:
I have been a reader all my life, long before I became a writer. When I was little I read under a quilt at night, in a tree (!), and all the way home from the library, my mother’s hand on my neck, leading me safely across streets. My grandchildren are readers too, and they are becoming writers with their own voices.
What does reading mean to me? Books help me find out who I am and who I want to be. Books give me courage. Books make me smile. And laugh. And sometimes they make me cry. But always books make me think about what all the children in the world have in common even though they may live far away from each other.
Writing helps me stay close to my family; Sarah, Plain and Tall is about my step great grandmother who I always thought was brave to travel from Maine to Kansas all on her own to meet her new family. My own father’s farm is in Sarah, Plain and Tall, and his farm dogs and his horse, Jack.
Cassie Binegar is a lot about me when I was about ten years old and hid under the dining room table with the tablecloth hanging down, listening to stories people at the table told. Seven Kisses in a Row was written after listening to my young daughter Emily and my husband talk one evening. In fact all my children are in Seven Kisses in a Row, my oldest son John and his younger brother Jamie, who had a great dirt collection!
I played the cello in elementary school and so The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt is about a group of players in a string quartet.
I notice that many of my books are about old people and young people. I like the aunts in Unclaimed Treasures (“unclaimed treasures” being my mother’s name for unmarried women) Old Pepper is another character in the book, wise and kind. My children had a wonderful relationship with my father and mother. My father, who lived to be 102, had respect for children and thought that old people and young people were connected in many ways.. That has gone into many of my books. The old and young are close in all of my stories.
My books often begin because of something a child of mine said, or a grandchild’s question. In some ways writers are watchers and listeners. Spies maybe! One day my oldest son said to a school friend, “watch out what you say in this house. You may appear in a book.”
My books are personal for me.
I truly hope they become personal for you, too. And I am happy to know that children read my books in whatever form – in hard copy books or in ebooks as well.
Enjoy!
—–
Thanks so much, Patricia!
"Come, come," yelled Uncle Wrisby. "We'll have something to eat. Then we'll talk about the world and its workings." He took hold of Arthur's hand. "What would you like to talk about?" Arthur stared at Uncle Wrisby. Here was someone who wanted to talk about things! With him! Arthur opened his journal. "Moles!" he cried happily. "Let's talk about moles!" His pencil poised, the summer began. Overview: Ten-year-old Arthur's summer isn't starting out so well. His parents are arguing. And a new baby is coming. And nobody seems to be listening to him. But then one day, his parents take him to stay with Great-Uncle Wrisby and Great-Aunt Elda for the summer. When hard-of-hearing Uncle Wrisby grabs Arthur's hand and yells, "What would you like to talk about?" summer starts looking much more interesting. Arthur meets Pauline - a chicken who loves French, and Bernadette - a pig who loves to be sung to. Aunt Elda introduces him to a mockingbird with no name, and Uncle Wrisby takes him to bargain with a trader named Yoyo Pratt. He finds new friends in Moira - a scrappy little girl who calls him "Mouse," and her grandfather - a veterinarian whom everyone calls "Moreover." As he spends his summer days and nights with this motley group, Arthur begins to see life in new and unexpected ways. For Teachers and Librarians: Arthur, For the Very First Time is a quiet book with a host of off-the-wall characters that work together to bring close-to-the-vest Arthur out of his self-imposed shell. But don't let this story's quietness lull you into thinking it's not powerful. As Arthur meets each of these characters, he's faced with decisions and situations he's never seen before, forcing him to look at things from a point of view other than his own, and letting him discover there are whole other new and exciting sides of himself that he never knew existed. Arthur learns to be brave enough to try new things, and to trust in himself and his ability to do what must be done. Moira who trusts only herself, learns that she can trust other people, too. Uncle Wrisby tends to keep some parts of life at a distance, to save his heart from possible hurt, while Aunt Elda prefers to embrace life closely, even if it means her heart may be broken. Each character in this book has their own ways of looking at life, and their own flaws that they're forced to examine. And each of them comes away from their trials with a new understanding of themselves and others. Students of all stripes will find connections with this story, and so will you. For Parents, Grandparents and Caregivers: Arthur, For the Very First Time is one of those books that, after you've finished reading it, you just sit and hug it to your chest. It is a story about family, and friends, and love, and he
Patricia MacLachlan's parents were teachers who encouraged her to read when she was a child. Her mother told her "read a book and find out who you are." And read, she did. A lot. She also had a vivid and active imagination. But, she did not write stories then. "I was afraid," she says, "of putting my own feelings and thoughts on a page for everyone to read." It wasn't until she was 35 years old that she began writing - something she realized she'd always wanted to do. Yet even then, writing still felt scary for her. She began with a picture book: The Sick Day (1979). Then she wrote her first novel: Arthur, For the Very First Time (1980). And she continued to write. Since then, she has written more than 20 novels and picture books for children, some of them co-written with her daughter Emily. She has also written a series of journal articles on adoption and foster mothers, teleplays of some of her books, and short fiction pieces in anthologies. She says of her work, "Each time I write a new piece, whether a novel, a picture book, a speech or anything really, it has so much to do with what I’m going through personally or a problem I’m trying to work out."
After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1962, Mrs. MacLachlan taught English for 16 years. She has also been a social worker, a lecturer, and a creative writing workshop teacher for both children and adults. She was a board member of the Children's Aid Family Service Agency from 1970-1980, and currently serves on the board of the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance. She has been a visiting lecturer at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts since 1986. Born March 3, 1938, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Patricia (Pritzkau) MacLachlan was raised in Minnesota. She is an only child. She married John MacLachlan in 1962, and they have three grown children. She now lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts with her husband, and two border terriers - Charlie and Emmett.
Sources: Patricia MacLachlan - Simon & Schuster Authors and Illustrators - Patricia MacLachlan - HarperCollins Children's Series Books: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan - Author Information, KidsReads.com
0 Comments on Author Spotlight: Patricia MacLachlan as of 1/1/1900
Newbery Award winner Patricia MacLachlan (pictured, via) has signed up with Albert Whitman & Company to write a prequel for Gertrude Chandler Warner‘s popular kidlit series, The Boxcar Children.
The not-yet-titled project will be released in September 2012 for the 70-year anniversary of the book’s debut. An eBook version will be published simultaneously from Open Road Integrated Media.
MacLane gave this quote in the press release: “Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are kind to one another and embody the true sense of family. They are resourceful and positive. I find them both true children and true heroes at the same time. It occurs to me that perhaps their parents were the same. I’m looking forward to exploring that idea and more.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By Patricia MacLachlan
$14.99, ages 9-12, 128 pages
When an author in feather earrings and wild hair comes to talk to a fourth-grade class about writing, the students half expect her to fly around the room, depositing words on them like bird droppings.
Ms. Mirabel isn't like any teacher they've known. She tells them in a soft, hushed voice that words are magical things. They come when the time is right, whispering to you -- "word after word after word."
In this lovely little book, Newbery Award-winning MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain & Tall) goes to the heart of what she feels about writing -- that words are amazing things that can help you discover how you feel and what you need.
As the class's regular teacher sits quietly in the back of the room, Ms. Mirabel tells the students that everyone has powerful words to write and words can even change lives.
Over the course of six weeks, five friends in the class learn to express what they couldn't before -- feelings welling up inside of them or moments that are meaningful to them but they've never shared.
Lucy, Evie, Henry, May and Russell meet everyday after class under a lilac bush in Henry's yard, as the sweet smell of pie drifts from the kitchen where his mother Junie is cooking. There they can lower their guard, lean on each other and think back on the strange and wonderful things Ms. Mirabel's has said.
At first the friends are mystified by Ms. Mirabel's frankness and her unconventional way of looking at writing. She says that what is real and unreal are the same and dismisses story outlines as "silly."
A story can't be laid out in advance, she tells them. "You write to participate…to find out what is going to happen."
At one point, Ms. Mirabel pours dirt from the prairie where she grew up on Miss Cash's desk to express the importance of setting to a story, what she calls, "landscape."
Still thinking about my list of twelve books every kid should read (see post below). All day there’s been a list of my favourite children’s books scrolling through my head. I haven’t narrowed it to a list of twelve yet, but I’m getting closer.
In the picture book category, I’d love to include Ca-a-r Ca-a-a-a-r by Geoff Havel, because it’s the book I most often recommend to people. It is simply
By: Gina MarySol Ruiz,
on 8/9/2007
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My four year old granddaughter Jasmine loves pigs. She loves pigs so much she's asked me to start a whole new theme on AmoXcalli - a reviewing the pigs of kidlit series. Being utterly helpless where Jasmine is concerned and being quite fond of pigs myself, I agreed.
I never knew much about pigs before Jasmine. Her obsession with them started with Pig, the very old and venerable Pig who was won by her Auntie Bernie (my daughter Bernadette) in the claw game at Carrows over a family out for dinner night when Jasmine was only six months old. Jasmine immediately fell in love with Pig and he has rarely Extreme Pig Makeover at Christmas and soon his shredding and threadbare material will be patched with my crochet hook and pink yarn because the material just can't survive being sewn yet again. I've bought replacement pigs and Jasmine loves them but Pig is Pig and nothing else will do. I've learned more techniques in stitches because of Pig and for that I am grateful. Pig must survive at all costs because the alternative is a broken hearted little girl and that I just can't handle.
As Jasmine has gotten older her love for all things pig has grown. I have watched Babe and Babe, Pig in the City more times than I can count. I wish I could find a copy of the wonderful Babe, The Gallant Pig on which these movies were based. We've watched Charlotte's Web - the animated older version with the wonderful Paul Lynde as the rat and the new Dakota Fanning Charlotte which was charming. Being book lovers (and oh boy does Jasmine love books!) first one pig book drifted into her shelves and now there are at least 40. I do believe she is amassing the largest Pig book collection in California. If you know of any Pig books, please do tell us and we will hunt them down for her library.
I think children's book authors and illustrators must love pigs as much as Jasmine does because we sure find many wonderful books about them! Pigs do seem to be quite well thought of. They even have a patron saint of swineherds - St. Anthony. They get their own literature category.
I asked Jasmine which books to start her Pig book series with and she chose the following two books. I do hope you enjoy them as much as we have! We're also coining a term which is kind of a pun. Piglit. Not piglet. Piglit.
Piglet and Papa
Author: Margaret Wild
Illustrator: Stephen Michael King
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 081091476X
ISBN-13: 978-0810914766
Piglet and Papa is the charming and warm sequel to Piglet and Mama. It's a perfect book for the little ones with it's simple and beautifully told story. Piglet has hurt feelings after misunderstanding Papa's gruffness and distraction. She sets off believing he doesn't love her and encounters one animal after another and asks each if they love her. Each replies that they do love her but that there is someone who loves her even more. Tired, discouraged, hungry and in desperate need of a hug Piglet heads home to find not only Papa waiting for her but that he loves her best of anything in the world.
Stephen Michael King's simple yet evocative watercolors capture the farm animals and make the pigs something really special and fun. He manages to convey so much emotion in the faces of his pigs. Jasmine laughed with delight at Piglet who is sweet then forlorn. Her little face is unbelievably funny as she jumps on Papa's belly. Her joyous little smile will charm little children as will the story of the love between a Papa and his Piglet.
About the author
Margaret Wild is Australia's leading picture book writer, with wide acclaim in countries across the globe. She was born in Eschew, a small town in South Africa. Her brother's death at the age of seven inspired Jenny Angel, Margaret's picture book with illustrator Anne Spudvilas, which won the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award in 2000. Margaret has written over forty books.
About the Illustrator
Stephen Michael King's first picture book won the Family Award for Children's Books in Australia. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
The next book isn't about a pig - it's about a princess, another of Jasmine's favorite things. She does prefer pigs to princesses but this story has both and that makes it special to her. What makes it special to me is Cornelia Funke and darned goo storytelling.
Princess Pigsty
Author: Cornelia Funke
Illustrator: Kersten Meyer
Translated by Chantal Wright
Publisher: Chicken House (Scholastic)
ISBN-10: 1905294328
ISBN-13: 978-1905294329
Isabella is a real, honest-to-goodness princess as are her sisters. The thing is Isabella would much rather be doing something else besides wearing fancy dresses and having her ladies in waiting well waiting on her. In fact, Isabella is so sick of her life that she sits in front of the window looking at the moon and sighing. One day she gets so fed up that she hides under the bed and refuses to be a princess anymore. As a punishment for various things, her father sends her to work in the pigsty where she learns quite a bit about pigs and how things are done. She can even educate her father!
Princess Pigsty is wonderful story about a strong willed heroine who teaches by example that doing is so much better than just sitting around having people do things for you. It shows little children that we can make our own path in life if we're just brave enough, determined enough to do it. Jasmine cheered Isabella on in her quest to work with the pigs. I loved that Isabella loved doing chores over being waited upon.
The illustrations are wonderful. Bold, deep colors and regal strokes of the brush covey the lush life of the palace with a comedic flair. The pigs are wonderfully illustrated as well with quizzical and sometimes surprised faces. Isabella's angry face as she screams that she is bored is classic.
I also loved the bold faced type with words like Yuckety Yuck. Jasmine loves this story told out loud over and over. There's something about the rhythm of it that she loves. It's very bouncy, happy and upbeat.
We hope you enjoy our piglit. Look for more soon!
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Gosh, Kim! I love this book. It's the only book I worked on (as an editorial assistant) that's still in print! That means I wrote the original flap copy -- the best part of being an editorial assistant. Plus, I got to meet Patricia MacLachlan.
Great review! Very thorough. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes I get too caught up in the latest releases and forget about the good books from a few years back.