TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE! How a Few Words Can Make a Big Splash by Tammi Sauer

August 17, 2017 in Author Interview, Picture Books | Tags: Tammi Sauer, Truck Truck Goose

When writing picture books, I like to challenge myself to try new things. With TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE!, for example, I wanted to tell a real deal story for the younger crowd that incorporated a wide variety of trucks and as few words as possible. I also loved the idea of framing a story using the familiar kids’ game “Duck, Duck, Goose.”

Three things in particular helped me to create this 45-word story about a silly goose who, unbeknownst to him, creates—then fixes!—a terrific truck traffic jam. Those three things were mentor texts, art notes, and flexibility.

Mentor Texts:

I studied the books RAIN! and NO DOGS ALLOWED! by Linda Ashman. Linda is a master at creating books with limited text. She even shared the manuscripts for these books on her website, lindaashman.com.

One thing I learned from Linda’s examples was that it was helpful to paginate my limited-text story. Not only did paginating my story allow me to better visualize each spread, but it pushed me to establish the necessary pacing of the story and provide compelling page turns as well.

Art Notes:

In TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE!, the pictures convey the bulk of the storytelling. Many spreads contain only one word. Three spreads are wordless. But here’s the thing. Each spread in this 40-page book is necessary for the story to build to a climax and an eventual resolution. This means Zoe Waring, the oh-so-awesome illustrator, had to present a truckload of information in her art.

Typically, I only include a few art notes in my manuscripts. This was not the case withTRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE! In my notes, I had to share what was not readily obvious in the text…which was A LOT.

These are the original opening spreads for TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE! (The art notes are presented in brackets. The text is presented in boldface type.):

End Pages
[A roundabout is filled with bustling traffic. Its central island is a lovely area.]

Title Page
[Goose is packing a big picnic lunch for himself. A map shows his intended destination is the center of a roundabout. It looks like the perfect spot for a picnic.]

4-5
[At roundabout.]
Truck . . . [pickup truck]

6-7
Truck . . . [dump truck]
Truck . . . [mixing truck]

8-9
GOOSE!
[Goose interrupts the flow of things to get to the center of the roundabout. He’s holding a picnic blanket, umbrella, goose crossing sign, etc. He has so much stuff he can’t carry it all at once.]

Flexibility:

After Zoe completed the first couple of rounds of sketches, it was obvious that some things weren’t quite working. Jill Davis, the editor, Rachel Zegar, the art director, Zoe, and I did lots of brainstorming to make this seemingly simple story less complicated.

One suggestion I made, for example, was to set up the story a bit more specifically in the very beginning. Now, before we even see the first truck, we see Goose holding a to-do list.

This is the new text addition:

PICNIC TO-DO LIST:

Choose picnic spot.

Pack a big lunch.

Take everything I need.

Not only does this addition clearly let us know what Goose’s goal is from the start, but we know a little bit about his personality right away, too. He’s a guy who tends to go a little overboard. The art shows that he packs everything from bananas to a swim floatie to a giant red piano for his picnic that takes place just a few feet from his house.

TRUCK, TRUCK, GOOSE! sold in a two-book deal to HarperCollins. Goose and company return for more mayhem next summer in the companion book, GO FISH!

Tammi Sauer is a full time children’s book author who presents at schools and conferences across the nation. She has sold 29 picture books to major publishing houses including Disney*Hyperion, HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling. Tammi and her family live in Edmond, Oklahoma, with one dog, two geckos, and a tank full of random fish. She wants you to know that no geese were harmed in the making of this book. Visit herr at tammisauer.com.