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I’ve been reading a lot about cyberbullying in preparation for Tuesday night’s panel discussion. Here’s a quick link dump of a sampling of the better articles.

Colin Archer/AP Photo

* White House Ready to Rumble With Cyberbullies: President Obama takes a strong stance against cyberbullying at a White House Bullying Prevention summit.

It’s something that we care about not only as president and first lady, but also as parents,” Michelle Obama said. “It’s tough enough being a kid today, and our children deserve the chance to learn and grow without constantly being picked on, made fun of, or worse.”

But according to a new survey released Wednesday, the issue simply isn’t getting enough attention.

The report, released by the National Cyber Security Alliance in collaboration with Microsoft, claims that just 26 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed have taught kids how to handle cyberbullying, versus 15 percent who have spoken to students about hate speech online.

* Cyberbullying and Suicide: A summary from the Cyberbullying Research Center. As summarized by Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D.:

One factor that has been linked to suicidal ideation is experience with bullying. That is, youth who are bullied, or who bully others, are at an elevated risk for suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicides. The reality of these links has been strengthened through research showing how experience with peer harassment (most often as a target but also as a perpetrator) contributes to depression, decreased self-worth, hopelessness, and loneliness — all of which are precursors to suicidal thoughts and behavior.

* Five Things Parents Should Know About Cyberbullying: Harrison Pennybaker reports:

It is unclear exactly how prevalent cyberbullying is. However, some statistics suggest that anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of youth in the United States encounter the phenomenon, although this figure varies depending on age. Since cyberbullying can be done by computers, cell phones and other devices, and since these devices are widely owned, the means to cyberbully are easily accessible.

* Cyberbullying an Epidemic, writes Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson.

Most people who read the blog already know how much I love books and how I love to talk about the writing craft.

Recently one of my new subscribers asked me what I was currently working on — so I thought I would share what I’m currently writing.

I’ve always been intrigued by the paranormal — my first novel was a middle-grade (MG) ghost story sparked by an event I had as a kid. Growing up I read a lot of science fiction and horror so I tend to be attracted to those areas as well. Basically you can hook me in a novel if it involves the supernatural.

My current writing project is a young-adult (YA) paranormal with the working title THE TWIST IN KNOWING. It originally started out as an 3rd POV MG but gradually the voice kept evolving and it turned into a YA novel.

One of the basic premises of the book is fate vs. choice. I’m a plot chick so my book ideas always come in this form first — the characters come later. These were the questions that sparked my current novel project:

• Is everything preordained or is it by your choices that set the course of your life?
• What if you could change your fate or the fate of others? Would you do it?
• How would you choose what to change or whose life is worth changing?
• How do you know what you should change? What is the right life for a person to lead?
• What are the consequences of changing fate?

This idea spark is not new nor are the questions new, but the originality comes in the answers and this is how an unique story emerges.

It has taken brainstorming and lots of drafting to come up with the structure and the rules of this novel world, but I’ve had some major breakthroughs with this current revision round and my goal this summer is to connect the dots to those discoveries.

Since I create my plot first, it’s been very rewarding creating my characters and watching them grow and tell me things that I would have never guessed when I first started. One of the things I love about writing novels.

So that’s my current writing project. What are you currently working on? I love hearing from other writers about their novels and idea sparks.

So this the final part of my Critique Group blog series. In the first part, I talked about what makes a good critique group. Last week in the second part, I gave a few tips on how to give critique feedback.

This week, I’m going to talk about how to receive critique feedback, which can sometimes be the hardest part.

And I’m going to cheat just a little because just last week, I read an excellent post about receiving critique feedback by Jennifer R. Hubbard, author of the YA novel, The Secret Year (which has a fabulous lush cover that must be touched in person). She also has other related posts about critique groups as well.

So along the lines of Jennifer’s six tips, here’s how I receive critique feedback:

Give Thanks. One summer I had a novel swap with four other writers. I really appreciated the time and energy these writers spent critiquing my work. Even if the feedback you receive is only a few pages, remember that person (especially if they are a writer) took the time to read your work and help you make it better.

Don’t Say Anything. I have a “friend” (okay it was me, LOL) who didn’t understand that it’s not your job to “explain” your writing. Readers won’t have that luxury when they’re reading your book. So especially in face-to-face meetings, keep quiet and listen. Only speak when the feedback is finished or if asked. This is crucial in a formal critique structure—by speaking you are wasting precious minutes that can be used for feedback.

Look for Trends. If you see the same comments or hear the same problems from different critiquers—perk up. There is something in your work that makes these readers stumble. This is a great indicator of where to target your focus during revisions.

Let It Sit. After a feedback session or a formal critique, it can be overwhelming to figure out what to tackle for revision. The best thing is to let it digest and think about the feedback first before trying to implement the suggestions into your work.

Try It Out. This is a valuable lesson that I’ve learned. Sometimes when I don’t necessarily agree with something, I try it out anyway. Worse case, it doesn’t work and I take it out. But you may be surprised at what you find—it may not be the exact change suggested but it could be the catalyst to making your story stronger.

Own The Words. In the end, it’s your novel. Own it. You are the only one who really knows what the story is about and what you are doing. So take the suggestions that resonate with you and disregard the rest. There are many ways to approach a novel. You as a writer have to find your way.

Sometimes receiving critique feedback can be nerve wracking—especially a formal one with an agent or an editor. But remember, the whole point of a critique is not praise. A critique is not about telling the writer how great they are (even though they could be fabulous). Critiques are not about the writer. It’s about the work. And what can be done to make it better.

Hope that this critique group series was helpful! I would love to hear what other writers do to help them manage critique feedback.

3 Comments on Receiving Critique Feedback, last added: 2/3/2010

I want to give a big thanks to everyone who submitted entries in the ‘Strangest Trade Magazine’ title contest. It was a tough, tough decision to pick a winner. Some of the titles were playful, such as Spudman for people working in the potato industry, and Sheep! for sheep farmers. Miniature Donkey Talk was right up there as a finalist, but in looking at the editorial content, I thought it was more geared to hobbyists and pet owners than professionals raising miniature donkeys as a business.

In the final analysis, I went with “Flow Control,” submitted by Baltimore-based freelance writer Ami Spencer. In her entry, Ami wrote that “Flow Control” serves process, manufacturing and engineering industries with the primary end products and services in Food & Beverage. “Sounds more like something you’ll find in the personal hygiene aisle, though,” she wrote. What I loved was that it demonstrates how narrow a niche a trade magazine can cover. And you just can’t beat the innuendo. I’ve made calls on behalf of many odd-sounding publications, but just can’t imagine myself saying, “Hi, I’m Pat Curry from Flow Control Magazine,” with a straight face.

Ami’s prize is a free premium version of my e-course on writing for trade magazines, which is a $240 value. As my way of saying thank you to those who submitted titles, everyone who entered is eligible for a 10 percent discount on either version of the course.

Thanks again, everyone.

Pat

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Written by Dave.

We just heard some good news for Pennies for Elephants! It’s one of the winners of the 2009 New Hampshire Literary Awards. Here is the complete list of the award winners:

• Outstanding Work of Children’s Literature: Lita Judge, Pennies for Elephants and Joseph Monninger, Hippie Chick
• Outstanding Book of Fiction: James Patrick Kelly, The Wreck of the Godspeed
• Outstanding Book of Nonfiction: Mimi Schwartz, Good Neighbors, Bad Times
• The Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book of Poetry: Mimi White, The Last Island
• Donald M. Murray Outstanding Journalism Award: John Walters, Collection of articles from Kearsarge Magazine and Upper Valley Life
• Lifetime Achievement Award: David Carroll

Melissa Egan is a favourite at The Hughenden. She brings her joy de vive to The Hughenden’s Victorian sitting rooms, a chardonay to the al fesco dining in the couryards looking at Queen Street, fanciful and youthful art to the hub of the arts community in Sydney’s Paddington-Wollahra.

Love Melissa and love her work. Her new exhibition at Richard Martin’s Gallery (www.richardmartinart.com.au) nearly sold out before the opening launched by ABC radio Presenter Tony Eastley.

 Her whimsical characters cavort around the Italian countryside in a lyrical, imaginative fantasy within the landscape of the romantic Italian landscape. Melissa’ Egan’s art is rich with colour, character, multiple layers of imagery.

A narrative artist, like illustrators of children’s books, she brings story into her works.

It’s that time of year again!
The teens are gearing up for back to school and YALSA is gearing up for a new round of committee appointments. As YALSA’s new President-Elect, one of my duties is to appoint people to YALSA committees. This is a huge process that I am just beginning to get a grasp on. Thankfully I have great predecessors who have shared much appreciated helpful advice to smooth my way as I begin by making Selection Committee appointments. These will be made by October 30, 2009.
While I continue to fit the pieces together and make my lists and check them twice there are a few steps that YOU should take if you are a member interested in serving on a committee: First, please remember that I can’t consider you for a committee appointment unless you have filled out a volunteer form. Even if you are already ON a selection committee, if you are eligible to serve another term you MUST fill out a new volunteer form. If you aren’t sure, just fill it out anyway. 

This year there are TWO volunteer forms, one form to fill out if you are interested in serving on a selection committee and one form to fill out if you are interested in serving on a process committee. If you don’t have a preference, please fill out both forms. Both volunteer forms can be found at here.

Selection committee appointments are made in October each year by the YALSA president-elect. In order to be eligible to serve on a selection committee, please complete this form by no later than Sept. 30. Please be aware that selection committees carry a high work load. If you are not sure you can commit to the time required, please visit the YALSA Get Involved site for more info. And lastly, while we are all great at multi-tasking and juggling many different duties, YALSA has a rule that a member may only serve on three committees at atime. Also, if you are serving on an award committee (Printz, Edwards, Newbery, Caldecott, etc.)  you will not be able to serve on a selection committee at the same time. Thank you to all of our hardworking volunteers! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

YALSA’s Next Online Chat! Join YALSA on July 1 for our second online chat! President Sarah Debraski will lead a chat on summer reading programs in ALA Connect, starting at 8 p.m. on July 1. Details in this blog post. Can’t make it? Check the YALSA blog on July 2 to see a transcript.

YALSA Needs Usability Testers at ALA Annual Coming to ALA Annual Conference? Help YALSA and ALA improve website usability by signing up to be one of our usability testers! YALSA needs four usability testers to participate in a session on Sunday, July 12, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. in McCormick Place West W-472. Participants will receive a $50 gift card for the ALA Store. Interested? Contact Stevie Kuenn at [email protected] by Wednesday, July 1.

After the jump, read more about YALSA’s Ultimate Teen Bookshelf, the United We Serve Initiative, Quick and Popular Reads for Teens, and symposium deadlines!

The Ultimate Teen Bookshelf YALSA created a new document highlighting must-have teen materials, The Ultimate Teen Bookshelf, available both online and as a downloadable PDF. The list includes 50 books, five magazines and five audio books. Subscribers to the YALSA-BK electronic discussion list suggested titles for the Ultimate Teen Bookshelf, which were vetted by Pam Spencer Holley and Judy Sasges.

United We Serve YALSA is part of the White House’s summer service initiative, United We Serve, encouraging teens and others to volunteer their time this summer. Add your volunteer opportunities for teens at Serve.gov and find resources for participating in United We Serve at www.ala.org/unitedweserve.

New Book! YALSA is thrilled to announce that its latest book, Quick and Popular Reads for Teens, edited by Pam Spencer Holley for YALSA (ALA Editions, 2009) is now available in the ALA Online Store! This fully annotated guide to the Quick Picks and Popular Paperbacks lists also includes essays from top YA professionals on the lists’ history and using them in programming, displays, and readers’ advisory.  Interested in meeting the author? Pam Spencer Holley will appear at a meet-and-greet session in the YALSA Booth at ALA Annual (#3034) from 3 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11. See you there!

Propose a Symposium Program or Apply for a Symposium Stipend YALSA is currently accepting proposals for full or half-day preconferences at the symposium, programs at the symposium, or paper presentations at the symposium. Applications, as well as guidelines, can all be downloaded at the symposium website. Proposals are due to the YALSA office by Oct. 1, 2009 and applicants will be notified of status by Jan. 15, 2010. In addition, YALSA will again provide two stipends to members to attend the symposium: one for a student who will be enrolled in an ALA-accredited MLIS program as of Nov. 5, 2010 and one for a library worker who has worked directly with teens for 1-10 years. Each will receive up to $1,000 to attend the symposium. Applications are available at the symposium website and are due to the YALSA office by Jan. 4, 2010.  The 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium will take place Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is funded in part by the William C. Morris Foundation.

That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

Sherri L. Smith’s Flygirl recounts the story of Ida, a light-skinned girl of African descent with an intense love and passion for flying. Although she lives during World War II, in a world where whites are dominant and males hold all real power, Ida is a clever, witty and compassionate character who passes for white to chase after her dreams of becoming a pilot for the military - the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Flygirl sends a powerful message to all types of people. It sends a message to young girls who wish to fulfill their dreams when the world they live in says they cannot do it. It sends a message to minorities living in communities with hate toward their own people - it tells them that, despite all the cruelty and discrimination, they can achieve endless possibilities. And most of all, I think this book serves as a good lesson for our future generations. This book reminds us all - boy, girl, black, white, old, young, poor, rich - that, in times of hardship, we have to unite together for the greater good, no matter what our differences our. It also exemplifies the sacrifice and struggles of previous generations.

- Angelica PeBenito, San Leandro Novelteens Book Review Club

Had a great day with the Society of Women Writers where I gave a workshop to enthusiastic writers. 

Susanne and the smart, creative SWW writers

I had lunch with Tania Hayes and her husband Warren Hayes. Tania spoke about their book ‘Love has no limits’. Warren has a massive brain tumour which left him disabled. The books is the emotionally powerful story of Tania being there beside Warren.

Hilary Lindsay, author and former president of the Society of Women Writers announced the Henry Lawson Award at teh Society of Women Writers’ lunch at the State Library of NSW, Sydney.

Purdy, Director of Publicity

A recent study out of Harvard confirms Twitter is all vanity. This is not a big surprise to the dictionary team at Oxford University Press. OUP lexicographers have been monitoring more than 1.5 million random tweets Since January 2009 and have noticed any number of interesting facts about the impact of Twitter on language usage. For example the 500 words most frequently used words on Twitter are significantly different from the top 500 words in general English text. At the very top, there are many of the usual suspects: “the”, “to”, “as”, “and”, “in”… though “I” is right up at number 2, whereas for general text it is only at number 10. No doubt this reflects on the intrinsically solipsistic nature of Twitter. The most common word is “the”, which is the same in general English.

Since January OUP’s dictionary team has sorted through many random tweets.  Here are the basic numbers:
Total tweets = 1,496,981
Total sentences = 2,098,630
Total words = 22,431,033
Average words per tweet = 14.98
Average sentences per tweet = 1.40
Average words per sentence in Twitter= 10.69
Average words per sentence in general usage = 22.09

Other interesting tidbits include:

Verbs are much more common in their gerund form in Twitter than in general text. “Going”, “getting” and “watching” all appear in the top 100 words or so.

“Watching”, “trying”, “listening”, “reading” and “eating” are all in the top 100 first words, revealing just how often people use Twitter to report on whatever they are experiencing (or consuming) at the time.

Evidence of greater informality than general English: “ok” is much more common, and so is “f***”.

And that is how we roll here at OUP, monitoring new social media and the changes in the English language up to the minute.  Tweet on.

The celebration has come and gone. We had a great turn out at the NYPL last night. My friends and family came out strong to share in my moment. Many thanks go to all committee members, the New York Public Library, and to the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation for such a wonderful honor. For those who couldn’t make it to the ceremony, here are a few pics from the night.

Dr. Deborah Pope presenting the award

my agent, Lori Nowicki and my Lee and Low family

Stain Hole, EJK author award recipient

painting the town red!

my art homies, Lauren Castillo and Taeeun Yoo

art homies part 2, Paul Hoppe, Christopher Myers, and Jonathan Bean

the lovely Zetta Elliott

it’s all about the bling

Thanks again everyone. Time to get back to work!

Justyna Zajac, Publicity

In honor of National Library Week 2009, OUP will be posting everyday to demonstrate our immense love of libraries. Libraries don’t just house thousands of fascinating books, they are also stunning works of architecture, havens of creativity for communities and venues for free and engaging programs. So please, make sure to check back all this week and spread the library love.

As promised, here are the answers to our Library Love 2009: Scavenger Hunt so you can see how your library trivia stacks up, no pun intended.

1. Who was the founder of the Junto Club, predecessor to the Library Company of Philadelphia, created in 1731 and considered to be America’s first public library? (Benjamin Franklin)

2. What 18th century English poet said, “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book?” (Samuel Johnson)

3. The library of the Supreme Court of the United States was created by a congressional act in what year? (1832)

4. Who was named the first librarian of Congress in 1802? (John Beckley)

5. In what city is the Newberry Library located? (Chicago)

6. The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America began at what academic institution? (Radcliffe College)

7. Under which pope was the Vatican Library established in 1450? (Nicholas V)

8. The largest research library in Ireland is located at what university? (University of Dublin, Trinity College)

9. The manuscript division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C houses White House papers and documents of all Presidents from George Washington through which president? (Warren Harding)

10. Name two of the three individuals whose private collections formed the basis for the British Museum and Library, founded in 1753. (Cotton, Harley, Sloane)

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Story Admirer 34%
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Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
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Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
(One participant may check more then one choice.)
Professional Storyteller 43%
Educator 43%
Parent 41%
Storytelling Organizer 34%
Story Admirer 34%
Audience Member 31%
Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
Librarian 18%
Amateur Storyteller 16%
Storytelling Coach 16%
Faith Based Storyteller 15%

This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
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Did you read about the Florida woman who sued another woman for refusing to return her parrot that had flewn away only to be adopted by the other woman who found him? Read the story here.

Even the parrot was called to court in this highly emotional case. But in the end the judge ordered that the original owner was the rightful owner, and that the parrot had to be returned to her. Both parties shed an awful lot of tears.

What does this prove? Pets are as important to people as people are important to people. I’d fight for my smart poodle if she ran away and someone else was claiming her. Do you blame me?

Press Play to hear Catherine Burns who is Artistic Director of The Moth speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

The Moth is America’s #1 storytelling podcast with over 600,000 downloads a month and at least 100,000 listeners. Catherine Burns is one of the minds behind the curtain at The Moth storytelling main stage in NYC and LA.

The Moth storytelling website.

Brother Wolf said, on 3/13/2009 6:10:00 PM

Press Play to hear Catherine Burns - Artistic Director of The Moth - speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers. on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

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21. The Tiger’s Bookshelf: The Pleasure of Giving a Book

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By: Aline Pereira, on 12/15/2008
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Children's Books, The Tiger's Bookshelf, reading aloud to children, Book Chat, give books, Add new tag, Add a tag

Yesterday I received a message of thanks from a friend, whose two-month-old son offered me the pleasure of giving him his very first book. “He didn’t take his eyes off it the whole time I was reading it to him,” his father announced, with pardonable pride– and I felt an immense happiness, knowing that he chose to read it to his son right away, rather than waiting until “he was old enough.”

The book my friend read to his child is not a typical first book for a baby, but it has bright, vibrant, full-page illustrations and short, bouncy verses which make it a first cousin to Mother Goose, that venerable choice for an infant’s introduction to the world of books. It’s the color,the music and cadence of the words, and the closeness and reassurance of being held that makes the experience of reading be a special time for a very new person who can’t yet speak for himself. And as far as understanding goes, who really knows how much–or how little– an infant can comprehend?

Snuggling with your father, hearing his voice directed especially toward you, seeing the glow of colors and the excitement of new shapes as the pages turn, what could be better than that? Nothing, except perhaps for the delight of choosing a book that can help this experience be as good as it can   be–and then hearing about it later from a happy parent.

Reading aloud to children is an act that needs all the encouragement it can get. We may not all be lucky enough to have children we can read to, but we can all give books so that other people can do this–and as early in a child’s life as is possible. When we give books, we give love.

0 Comments on The Tiger’s Bookshelf: The Pleasure of Giving a Book as of 12/16/2008 1:47:00 AM

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22. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Aboard the ‘Black Sark’

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By: Mark G. Mitchell, on 12/15/2008
Blog: How To Be A Children's Book Illustrator (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Disney, Dutton, Pictures worth a thousand words, Barcelona, Add new tag, feature interview, Philip Yates, "The Night Before Christmas", A Pirate's Night Before Christmas", anapestic tetrameter, Clemment Moore, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Pirates. Johynny Depp, Santa Knows, Sebastia Serra, Sterling, Tenggren, Add a tag

 

'Sir Peggedy' visits the pirate ship in "A Pirate's Night Before Christmas"

My two all-time favorite Holiday Season  picture books are by members of my own children’s writing group!

One is Santa Knows by Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, illustrated by Steve Bjorkman (Dutton).

 The other is the new  A Pirates Night Before Christmas, by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra (Sterling .)  

"A Pirate's Night Before Christmas" by Phillip Yates and illustrator Sebastia Serra

I guess there would be one more, and that would be the classic  A Child’s Christmas in Wales by the poet Dylan Thomas, but that’s because of the fascinating wash illustrations by the great Edward Ardizzone. (David R. Godine, Publisher)

 

 

 But how amazing is that when the two quintessential (modern)  Christmas picture books you can think of are by writers from your own tribe,  in your own town?

Yates is a poet and humorist as well as an author, and in “Pirate’s Night Before Christmas, he applied all three gifts to a sea-yarn retelling of Clemment Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas.”

“I wrote the whole story by asking questions and putting myself into this workd that is uniquely the pirates,”  he told Cynthia Leitich Smith in her children’s and YA literature blog Cynsations.

“That’s what writing successful picture books is all about — asking the right questions and letting the answers come in the most heartfelt way. “

How would pirates celebrate Christmas? Yates wondered.

They would be too bad and mean to deserve a visit from Santa come so they would need their own ornery ’sea dog’ version of Santa — and he would drive a marine sleigh pulled by seahorses!

The rhyme structure of Moore’s famous Christmas classic is  anapestic tetrameter. It’s the meter  also found in Dr. Seuss’s beloved Yertle the Turtle and Cat in the Hat, Yates said.

“It’s a breezy, whimsical, magical form that just flows beautifully and is highly contagious when read out loud,” he  told Smith. 

To prepare to put new language and new word pictures into old poetic forms, Yates steeped  himself  in pirate lore – ”the grammar, the slang, the history, the parts of the ship… ” he told Smith.

Actually composing the poem took him only two days.

He sent the ms out to five publishers and received offers from three!

He went with Sterling, who offered first, and Sterling pulled in talented Spanish illustrator Sebastia Serra, who lives in a village on the  Mediterranean coast near Barcelona.

Children’s book illustrators and pirates have a special relationship with each other  that pre-dates Disney and Johnny Depp.

Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth leap to mind, and so does Gustaf Tenggren.

Serra’s pirates evoke wooden toys, marionettes and bright-colored sea creatures.  There’s something oddly menacing about them, as there should be — particularly that  ’outlaw santa’,  Sir Peggedy. 

Serra’s  illustrations for the book were created with pencil and ink on parchment,  and then digitially colored.

Pirates — even cliche pirates —  are never cute — not in the best  depictions of them that resonate with children and the child in all of us. 

Robert Louis Stevenson knew this.  Long John Silver had us wondering up until  the very end of Treasure Island  if he was a bad guy or a good guy. We were never sure, not even after turning the novel’s last page, although he usually treated young Jim Hawkins decently.  

As in the word portraits of pirates, pictures of pirates must include some minor key sounds – disturbing elements  in the colors, details of the caricatures, or the ’spirit’ behind a scene (even when the Christmas socks are hung from the bowsprit with care.)

Pirates in children’s picture books can be poignant and a tiny bit  endearing.  But if they come off too cuddly, they’re just wrong!  Children get this.   And so do Yates and Serra.

Serra's pirate ship from "The Pirate's Night Before Christmas"

 Yates talked with us about the illustrations that appear in his book. 

 When you were writing, were you imagining the pictures in the book-to-be? Did you kind of visually  “thumbnail” the whole work in your head? 

Or did you mainly focus on the language of the poem – already sort of knowing  that the stanzas would  work as a rollicking, page turning, picture book experience.

A lot of the creation of the narrative involved inserting pictures in my head as I wrote.  I knew the structure of the poem’s anapestic meter so well that I trusted the language to guide me on the voyage. The poem already works and has stood the test of time for nearly 190 years. Since the language was already there, I just had to pop in the images that worked best.

I immersed myself so thoroughly in the pirate world that the images came first and guided the language. For example, in the opening stanzas, I couldn’t hang stockings from chimneys so I had to research how pirate ships looked and where a stocking would hang and it wasn’t until I came across a picture of a bowsprit that  I realized it was a perfect place to hang a stocking.

But with what? Well, I found illustrations of ships that used tar to make repairs and since tar rhymes with thar,the two came together in perfect synchronicity.

I’m not an illustrator, but the book truly was guided by the  ”picture” first, the “narrative” second.

From "The Pirate's Night Before Christmas"

Were you permitted any kind of  communication with Sebastia Serra during the illustration process? 

The whole discovery of Serra was simply amazing and all credit is due my editor at Sterling Publishing. Serra had submitted a portfolio to Sterling and one look at his artwork and they knew he was perfect. All the communication regarding the artwork was done between Serra and Sterling, or Sterling and me. I never spoke to him by phone,
communicated by email, or anything. It would have been heavenly to talk to him, but sometimes you have to trust your art director and this was a case where I totally put my trust in them from the start.

Were you given an opportunity to share ideas about the art. (Or did you even want such an opportunity?)

I had very little to contribute since the art was so splendid. I almost think it was eerie how perfectly he captured the world I envisioned. But there were tiny things like “I want to see more seaweed on Sir Peggedy,” or “His tooth needs to be golder,” since this was boldly expressed in the verses themselves.

I also wanted more  people of all colors and races because pirate worlds were pretty diverse, when you think about it.

Any insight into why your editor at Sterling selected
Sebastia to illustrate?

His artwork was modern, moody, had an edgy quality to it that was appealing. Similar to Lane Smith, I think. Lots of clutter, but I mean that in a postive way. Detail upon detail. He could also handle crowds of pirates in one picture, which, when you look at the illustrations, you can see this was necessary. They were also struck by the world he had created on his own with my language as the starting board—the monkey running around,
the fish hanging on the Christmas tree, the treasure map with it’s unique geography. It was all in the details. 

'Sir Peg' with the men. Illustration by Sebastia Serra

What was (is) your reaction to his art for the book when you saw it?

I was overwhelmed, to be honest.  As I said earlier, it felt like some telepathic thing had been going on between us. After seeing all the illustrations together for the first time, it almost felt like he had been looking over my shoulder the whole time I was writing it, it
was that spooky. But mostly, to be honest, was the feeling that I had accomplished what I set out to do—I had given him enough of this world so that he could go off on his own and expand it and give it his own twist.

At one reading recently, a parent came up to me and she thought I had done the illustrations and was surprised when she saw Serra’s name on it.

She said that the language and the visuals so perfectly meshed and how did it manage to come out without me even being in the same room with him. I was also proud because now he has several illustrator offers on his table, thanks to the Pirate’s success.

Have you done any kind of teamed promotional activity with Serra? Or are there plans to team the two of you somehow on the promotional circuit?

Well, Sebastia’s in Barcelona, Spain and here I am in Austin. He has been promoting it as best he can, but I imagine that  it’s difficult to translate Clement Moore’s poem from English into Spanish without messing with the rhyme or meter in some way. I imagine the story can be told successfully in Spanish because the pictures are so great. I do hope to meet him some day and he is eager to team up again on another project, but right now it’s difficult for both of us to get together.

Author Phil Yates

 

 

 

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23. Ian Beck - Multi award winning illustrator to bestselling author

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By: jrpoulter, on 12/4/2008
Blog: Jrpoulter's Weblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  books, illustration, Fiction, picture books, young adult fiction, teen fiction, Writing, fantasy, children's literature, children's illustration, writing for children, children's stories, picturebooks, Add new tag, Ian Beck, story books, Add a tag

Jennifer: Hi Ian,

Thanks for agreeing to the interview!

I’ve had a ball tracking through the amazing adventures you’ve had with pen and ink! You have a wealth of

Ian Beck

experience in other arty areas, from designing album covers (including the cover for “Yellow Brick Road”), to advertising, from cards and calendars to murals.

What do you feel this more commercially driven art brought to your work as a children’s book illustrator?

‘Marketing’ is something that seems almost a dirty word to purists but it is an essential part of any saleable product in a competitive marketplace – does the ‘selling’ aspect play any part in your creative process? Should it?

IAN: I began my career as a ‘commercial’ illustrator, making drawings and paintings for anyone who asked, I just wanted to make a living from illustrating. That had been my goal since I was very young and I had noticed ‘spot’ drawings and the like in newspapers and magazines. My ambition had been to do something similar. I spent a very varied and happy twenty years or so in that illustration world. I learned a great deal technically through the trial and error of making drawings for difficult and or demanding clients. I learned patience, and the ability to redraft, remake, remodel, with a smile and good grace. This all helped when I was offered my first children’s book to illustrate (Round and Round the Garden) in 1982. It helped me to be consistent in my coloring, to get the mood of the book as demanded by the editor and designer, a process I was by then very used to. The selling part is obviously important. No publisher wants to make a book that does not sell, nor does any author. I certainly built on my experience in commercial illustration to make my pictures ‘appealing’ if that is the right word. I tried to bring tenderness and charm to my depiction of babies or animal characters. That was how I worked anyway, my commercial work had been influenced by the world of children’s illustration from the word go. I collected illustrated books from my time at Art School, and I still do.

Jennifer: With Heroes like Edward Ardizzone and Harold Jones and a teacher like Raymond Briggs one could say you were always going to end up illustrating children’s books.

What were your favourite books as a child? What images stuck in your mind - were they from books, films or somewhere else? How have these influences shaped your approach to your art?

IAN: I grew up in a house with very few books. Ours was what you would call a ‘blue collar’ family. My father was a milkman, (as was Raymond Briggs’ father) we had a patchy library of mostly old novels, I remember we had volume two of Gone With the Wind, no sign of volume one. The printed images I saw were either in comics, magazines or newspapers. I began my interest by trying to copy those images, often on to the endpapers and flyleaves of the old books that were lying around. Later I joined my local library and began my life long love affair with books and the pictures in them. I started with Hugh Lofting’s Dr Dolittle books. I read all of those in sequence and often reread them too. Later I moved on to Richmal Crompton’s Just William books, and I still read and laugh over those. I think however if there is a single illustration that I remember, that opened my eyes and mind, it was the one by Pauline Baynes, in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, it is of Mr Tumnus out in the snow with his parcels and the street lamp. It still gives me the shivers. I think my own illustration work has been made of so many influences it would be hard for am to untangle them all, but they are all there in some way even if the result is recognizably ‘me’.

Jennifer: The ability to tell a story inside a story as with your book “Five Little Ducks” –How did you set about that now classic ‘Beck’ book?

Was the other story of the fox there from the outset or did it ‘occur to you’ in the way the speaking crow did in Tom Trueheart?

Five Little Ducks by Ian Beck

IAN: As so often happens, Five Little Ducks began as a quite different book. I was discussing with Judith Elliot, then the overall editor at and founder of Orchard Books, the possibility of a book about night time. I had made some roughs, written out some ideas, but it had stalled. Jill Slotover who was an editor there suggested the rhyme of the five little ducks. I saw it complete at once in my mind, the fox, the brave duckling etc etc. I drew some thumbnail sized color visuals in a sketch book, and that was it, go ahead, and I did. It seemed to flow very naturally and was a very positive experience.

Jennifer: This brings me to the ‘right brain’ process present in much of creativity.

In one interview, you spoke of ‘trusting’ an inner nudge that told you to go with the talking crow, even though never envisaged as part of your original idea for Tom’s story.

How does this work in the illustrative process and is it different to that in the writing process?

How do the two creative processes compare?

IAN: In writing a longer story there is naturally a certain amount of planning but as you work on something the imagination creeps up behind you occasionally and goes, ‘boo, weren’t expecting that were you’? This is just what happened with the talking bird, it seems meant and obvious to me now that Jollity the crow should be there, but he was meant at first just to be a target for Tom to throw a snowball at. Once the notion popped into my head that the bird would speak the book opened up for me there and then. My drawings were always planned more rigorously, I was very much in control of them, I can’t imagine the same leap occurring during the making of a drawing.

Jennifer: I’ve checked out http://www.tomtrueheart.com/ and encourage readers to

Tom Trueheart: The Secret Adventures of Tom Trueheart by Ian Beck

do ditto! The silhouettes perfectly suit the darker story, but are very different to your style say for example used in “The Teddy Robber” and again from “Puss in Boots”.

How do you decide on your approach to each project?

IAN: The silhouettes were not in the planning of the book at all. I was working on some ideas for the cover of Tom Trueheart with the designer Molly Dallas at Oxford University Press. We had a lot of ideas scattered about on a table, when she remembered that the endpapers I had made for a previous book (The Oxford Nursery Story Book) had used silhouettes. I turned the image of Tom walking with his packstaff into a silhouette and it seemed to click into place at once. It was a short step from that to illustrating the whole book with silhouettes. It was quite a discipline to learn, but a very enjoyable one. So I suppose this approach was unplanned but seemed right. Most of the picture books would be planned with the designer and editor together. They have a valuable input as well after all, quite rightly. Sometimes an editor will say, ‘it would be nice if this book were some thing like this’, and refer to a past book or approach, that certainly happened with The Little Mermaid, I went for the sad and the romantic, the lavish and the wide screen in that book very different to much of my other more graphic output, I imagine for the first and last time.

Jennifer: Any career path is a journey and one might have predicted that having the story teller gift (as demonstrated in “Five Little Ducks”) you would eventually arrive at the point where you wrote your own stories.

Did you always want to do this, or is this a new adventure?

Why now?

IAN: I was encouraged to write my own original story to illustrate by my first editor David Fickling. This became The Teddy Robber, a book still held in affection by readers twenty years later, as I am constantly reminded by teachers and children on

The Teddy Robber by Ian Beck

school visits.

The urge to write narrative though has been with me from the beginning. When I was a young commercial illustrator I went to creative writing classes. It was my intention to write adult fiction. I wrote a couple of short stories, began a novel, but it all ended in a drawer unresolved, unfinished. The urge was still there, the itch, the frustration if you like, but all necessarily suppressed under my busy drawing schedules, the need to earn a living, growing family life etc. Then the seed for Tom Trueheart was planted and grew a little in the potting shed inside my brain. He lay dormant for a while until, sadly, one of my best friends died. This was a big wake up call, as he was younger than me. ‘Come on’, I thought, ’finish that idea, grow that seedling, do what you really want to do, life is too short’. So then Tom actually got finished, with the encouragement of my agent Hilary Delamere. The publisher liked him and so did several other publishers. He is in ten languages now I think, so sometimes trusting your instinct is the way to go.

Jennifer: Tom‘s second book of adventures “Tom Trueheart and the Land of Dark Stories “ is darker by your own admission. The same applied to the progression of J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

What led to this?

What were the influences at work when you realized a second book needed to be written?

IAN: The second Tom Trueheart adventure came about by chance. I had not intended to write more than one book while I was busy writing the first, it seemed both

Tom Trueheart and the Land of Dark Stories by Ian Beck

contained, and complete. The first draft ended with Tom confronting the villain Ormestone in a wood and Ormestone turning him into Tom Thumb, ie Tom finally had his own story to complete. My editor Liz Cross read it and said that she didn’t think it was the end of book one, rather she felt it could be the beginning of book two. I was delighted to think that there would be a book two as I had enjoyed writing about Tom so much. Book two needed a new set of stories and characters, there was the unresolved business of Tom’s missing father, maybe he would make an appearance and so on, it all just slotted into place. I used some of those darker fairy story elements, wolves, castles, bats spiders, skeletons, and so on, imagining that the villain would go to where he would be appreciated, and all this with Tom shrunk down to the size of Tom Thumb. It was great fun to do, and I have now nearly finished the third book, provisionally called Tom Trueheart and the Land of Myths and Legends. As you may know Suppertime Entertainment are developing animated films based on the books, so we wait to see what happens next.

Jennifer: How did you feel as an illustrator about someone else doing your illustrative work, as with the book covers for paperback edition in UK [Adam Stower] and the USA edition [Brandon Dorman]?

IAN: It is something of a luxury and a delight to see other artist’s interpretations of my characters and stories. As an illustrator myself you might expect me to be hyper critical, but no, I am very relaxed about it and I very much like what both Brandon Dorman and Adam Stower have done in relation to Tom Trueheart. Just recently, I saw the jacket for Pastworld which is far better than anything I might have done, completely spot on, designed by John Fordham and with an illustration by Paul Young, full of texture and mystery. It was sent to me as a ‘fait accompli’, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Jennifer: What do we expect to see next?

What about film scripts [ I noted the trailer on your site.]?

What about your own totally Beck picturebooks?

IAN: I have a big novel (in terms of length and ambition) coming out in the summer of 2009. It is called Pastworld. It has taken me four years to develop and complete, Bloomsbury will be publishing. It is a much darker book, aimed at older readers, twelve years and up. A complex book, and hard to sum up in a few words, it is a dark adventure set in what appears to be Victorian London. I suppose you would perhaps categorize it as ‘Steampunk’, there are airships, and murders, and strange passions. It has grown out of my obsession with London, the city I have lived in for forty years, with the science fiction novels of H G Wells, and movies and all sorts of other things muddled together. It may surprise some of my readers, even shock them. It is intended as an older read, it is nothing like Tom Trueheart, and it is not at all cute.

After that I am writing a novel for Oxford provisionally called The Hidden Kingdom, in which the hero is thrust into a sudden drama and the reader discovers the truth as the story develops and at the same time that the hero does. It is set in a mythical place and time and will I hope explore love as one of the subjects.

As to films, I wrote a short story for adults called The Summer House. A young film maker read it and wanted me to adapt it as a screenplay for a short film. I did the adaptation and the film was shot in France two summers ago. Through the magic luck of casting the director Daisy Gili, got Talulah Riley, fresh from the film of Pride and Prejudice as the young female lead, and a boy called Robert Pattinson as the young male lead. Rob of course is playing Edward Cullen in the film of Twilight which just opened ‘big’. So our little 13 minute film now has the added bonus of two rising stars. My son has a film making company and he kindly makes book trailers for me, we are looking forward to making the trailer for Pastworld plus a website where further mysteries can be developed.

As to Picture books, I very much enjoyed illustrating the book Winston The Book Wolf written by Marni

Winston the Book Wolf, illustrated by Ian Beck

McGee, but whether I will ever make another one of my own I don’t know, the longer form seems to have taken over.

Jennifer: You’ve had a lot of interviews that have covered a lot of ground.

Is there a question you wish you had been asked? Okay, now’s your chance! Question and answer – over to you!

Q. What would you have done if you hadn’t made books?

IAN: I would like to have been a ‘café concert’ cabaret entertainer in the mythical Paris of the 1900’s, singing in a tux with a cane, and hanging out with Ravel and Erik Satie and perhaps even having a passionate affair with Colette!

Jennifer: Yep – I can see you doing a Maurice Chevalier complete with top hat!

Maybe that is more than just a dream??????

Now here’s a tantalizing tease - Hidden Kingdom and Pastworld are coming up AND, with one shorter film under his belt already and two animated feature version of the Tom Trueheart books under way, can we expect Ian to be off to Hollywood next with a blockbuster in his sights? Stay tuned!!!!!

      

5 Comments on Ian Beck - Multi award winning illustrator to bestselling author, last added: 12/26/2008

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Ian Beck - Multi award winning illustrator to best said, on 12/4/2008 4:39:00 AM

[good interview] Ian Beck - Multi award winning illustrator to bestselling author … [ta]

Mariana said, on 12/5/2008 10:35:00 AM

A wonderful and inspirational interview. Thank you, Jennifer and Ian! Cheers.

theartofpuro said, on 12/6/2008 10:56:00 AM

I agree with Mariana,wonderful interview,thank you both

Marcia said, on 12/7/2008 9:55:00 PM

Delightful interview. Thank you so much. I’m most eager to read Pastworld.

Marcia Calhoun Forecki
Better Than Magic
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/BetterThanMagic.html

mermaid said, on 12/21/2008 1:37:00 AM

[...] Vote Ian Beck - Multi award winning illustrator to bestselling author [...]

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24. Poetry and the Seasons

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By: Aline Pereira, on 11/28/2008
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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There’s a lovely haiku by Basho about the first snow where he awaits the event with great anticipation, returning to his hut every time the clouds gather in the sky in early December.  He wants to be ready to write the words down as soon as he experiences the moment.  When the snow first came to our city in mid November, my daughter made me fetch a pair of cross country skis we’d acquired from a friend and set out into the slush with glee.  For the last few years we have had very warm, languorous autumns in my part of Canada, and this has oddly increased our anticipation of the first snow.

The seasons are often written about in poetry of every language.  This past summer, I stumbled on a children’s poetry book at a library cast-off sale.  It is called Seasons and is edited by the master anthologist, Alberto Manguel.  Manguel has selected poetry from all over the world and of different periods and languages that note, in some way, the seasons.  The book is illustrated by Japanese Canadian artist Warabe Aska who has a playful way of engaging the childish imagination with his pictures.  Often embedded in his colorful drawings are hidden pictures of animals or people.   My daughter delights in finding these images and this activity enhances her appreciation of the book’s contents.  For winter, there is this lovely poem by eleventh century Japanese court lady Sei Shonagon:

Snow

As though pretending to be blooms

The snowflakes scatter in the winter sky.

Accompanying the text, is Aska’s picture of a popcorn vendor in the park on a snowy day.  Popcorn, blooms — all are lovely metaphors, visual and literary, for snowflakes.  And so did my daughter and I feast our eyes this year on popcorn puffs and garden blooms in the otherwise dreary skies of November.

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25. Hello, world!

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By: Aline Pereira, on 11/23/2008
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Almost exactly two months ago we introduced the ClustrMap onto the sidebar of our blog and I have to say that it is one of the high points of my day, looking to see where our visitors are - so this is just a quick hello from all of us at PaperTigers to all you people out there, all over the world! And don’t feel shy - do let us know your thoughts on the books you are reading as/with children… Are you a librarian, parent or teacher - or a combination of two or all three? Where exactly in the world are you? What are your favorite reads at the moment? Is there anything you’d like to see us feature on PaperTigers? We’d love to hear from you!

0 Comments on Hello, world! as of 11/23/2008 7:26:00 PM

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