by Salina YoonNovember 16, 2010 10:45 am
by Salina Yoon
Toys, toys, toys! I love toys! They are often the inspiration to my novelty books—board books with interactive features. They are designed to be touched, pulled, squeezed and played with, so my books and toys are like cousins.
Colored stacking rings, the Connect Four game, wooden puzzles, rubber duckies, and even a football has inspired a book idea! And sometimes, it’s not even a toy at all. Random objects will inspire me. My husband’s toolbox, kitchen utensils, scrap fabric, a greeting card, and even a funny jack-o-lantern on Halloween! I can’t get away from ideas creeping into my head because I’m surrounded by objects. Needless to say, I develop a ton of ideas every year. About a dozen are usually good enough to publish. And the others crawl back into my deep, dark dummy closet of doom. (See photo!)
My books are concept- and format-driven, so I’m not looking for story ideas. I look for fun concepts that allow a child to interact in a meaningful way from the physical design of the book. Rock & Roll COLORS is an excellent example. The book has a hidden track within each narrow page that allow a shiny disk to roll back and forth when the book is tilted. It makes a nice, satisfying clunking sound when the disk hits the edge. Each side of the page has an image with die-cuts, so the foil comes shining through. Each spread focuses on one color, and both images on the page are that same color. It’s so simple, but effective!
So how does this help you if you’re not developing novelty books? I say keep an open mind! Even simple objects can inspire, if you let them. For the PiBoIdMo challenge, all you need are concepts.
Surrender to your imagination! I don’t actively try to create ideas as much as allowing ideas to come into my head. Allow your mind to be free! Relax. Smile. Enjoy the process. Like the Chinese finger trap, the harder you pull, the stronger it resists. Don’t stress too much about trying to think up great ideas. When they come a-knockin’, just invite them in!
Salina Yoon is the creator of over 150 innovative books for young children. She has been named a finalist for the CBC’s Children’s Choice Book Awards for K-2nd Best Book of the Year, for Opposnakes (S&S/Little Simon), received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal awards for Little Scholastic TOYS (Scholastic/Cartwheel) and Rock & Roll COLORS (Scholastic/Cartwheel), and the Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Book of the Year award for My First Menorah (S&S). An author search on B&N, Amazon or IndieBound is the best way to track Salina’s books down. There are lots and lots of new titles releasing soon! (And Salina promises to have an updated website in Spring, 2011.)
Posted by Tara Lazar
Categories: Children's Books, Children's Writing, PiBoIdMo 2010, Picture Books, Writing for Children
Tags: Baby Books, Board Books, Novelty Books, Opposnakes, Salina Yoon
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Thanks Salina. How fun to think about concept books! You make it seem easy.
Catherine Denton
By Catherine Denton on November 16, 2010 at 11:20 am
Thanks for the inspiration, Salina.
I absolutely LOVE your books and I own several of them.
They are so much fun!
By Sharon Chriscoe on November 16, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ooh, I’m gonna have to look up OPPOSNAKES! (Well, and all the others, too!)
Thanks for the reminder to relax and let the ideas come to you. I sometimes feel as if I’m chasing mine–and they keep turning the corner just ahead of me!
By Bonnie Adamson on November 16, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Oh Salina, you’re so funny with the deep, dark dummy closet of doom… I love that! Your words are very inspirational and also that your work is so prolific. I’m completely motivated to dive into more ideas and sketching out some illustrations today…thank you for the creative boost! You’re amazing…
By pam Jones on November 16, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Thanks, Salina! You’re such an inspiration! I don’t know how you come up with so many fantastic ideas. It’s incredible. I think I’ll go play with my kids’ toys, have a relaxing cup of tea, and wait for inspiration to strike. Sounds like fun! I love your closet of doom, by the way. LOL! Hey, it even has nice moldings. 🙂
By Diana Murray on November 16, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Thank you Salina! Your books are wonderful!
By Loni Edwards on November 16, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Oh.. I have to say something about my Deep, Dark, Dummy Closet of Doom. That closet didn’t exist until my hubby decided there was space beneath the staircase for a small closet if he could only make a hole into my studio wall! I reluctantly let him,… and wow. There is definitely space in there! He even carpeted the inside. Hubby built that custom door with moldings for me! YAY for new found storage spaces!
And thanks, all, for your lovely comments!
By Salina Yoon on November 16, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Hoooooray for the Handy Hubby! Boy, space is at a premium at my house, so this is such a nice gift! In my cartoon brain, I see you stuffing all your great ideas in that wonderful space, and the doors bulging out, barely holding them all in! 🙂 You may need him to get out the tools and start in on another next to it… a Dummy Closet of Doom, Jr. Haha…
By pam Jones on November 17, 2010 at 10:18 am
Oh, I think it would be so fun to come up with novelty book concepts! Thanks for the PB inspiration today!
By Megan K. Bickel on November 16, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for inspiring me to think out of the “toy box” Salina! I appreciate what you said about tons of ideas and only about a dozen being good enough to publish. The last time I said that, I heard gasps! But it’s true…so we should all be inspired to keep building a better mousetrap (or a better idea) until we find one that works! Keep building, troops!
By Lynne Marie on November 16, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I love your books, too, Salina… and your blog post is SO relevant, especially as with e-readers, it’s great for PB writers to be able to think of their stories in more than just 2D. You’re ahead of the game!
By Franziska Green on November 16, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Excellent post. Opposnakes looks like it could be a blast. Thanks for the inspiration.
Cheryl
By ccgevry on November 16, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Lovely work! The place where toys and books meet. What kid wouldn’t love to hold one of your creations and explore.
Thanks for a great post.
By Dana Carey on November 16, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Great post, Salina! Thanks for the peek into your creative process.
You’ve convinced me to rethink how I view the trail of toys my four-year-old leaves in her wake–They aren’t a mess; they’re inspiration!
By Serenissima on November 16, 2010 at 5:34 pm
I never thought to get ideas from toys, thanks for the creative insight Salina. I must check out your books too!
By Catherine Johnson on November 16, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Great post. I smiled from beginning to end.
By Lynda Shoup on November 16, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Hi Salina and thanks! Novelty books are definitely marketable, and much-enjoyed by kids.
By Heather Kephart on November 17, 2010 at 10:55 am
Salina! I interviewed you for my radio show (Literary Mosaic in Fresno, CA) years ago. I remember you sent me a box of your creative books. My second daughter is now diving into all your novel concepts. Thanks for always keeping it fresh & creative and the reminder to us writers to have an open mind!
By Dorina Lazo Gilmore on November 19, 2010 at 1:21 am
Love everything Salina Yoon, most especially SALINA YOON herself! Four simple words to describe her.
Kind
Extraordinary
Inspirational
Prolific
By Brenda Sturgis on November 19, 2010 at 5:29 am
Thanks for all the very kind words here! Oh, Brenda. You make me blush. 🙂
Dorina! YES! I remember you! Wow. That was a while back. Congrats on your second daughter. And how wonderful that you can share those books with her now.
I’ll post a little secret here that’s soon to come out (within a day or two on PM). My latest noteworthy acquisition was a book inspired by a kaleidoscope! Toys inspire children, so it only makes sense that they inspire us too, if we let it. Keep creating!
By Salina Yoon on November 19, 2010 at 11:15 am
Opposnakes looks like fun! Thanks for the reminder that inspiration could literally be right under our noses – or, if our kids haven’t cleaned up yet, our feet!
By Ishta Mercurio on November 22, 2010 at 2:19 am
I love this books. One question though, maybe this can be subject for a future post, how do you query the idea for a novelty book? Do you build a dummy first? How do you format your manuscript? Is it a manuscript what you submit or your idea for the project?
By Mariana Llanos on January 9, 2017 at 2:42 pm