You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Picture Books’ category.
by Sometimes I’ll get an idea for a picture book that I know is a winner! I scramble to write the key lines, the story’s premise, its arc…and then, something goes wrong. There’s a piece that’s missing, or elements that aren’t quite gelling. Maybe the ending isn’t satisfying enough. But, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. So I save it.
I have a “Pre-pubbed Books” file in which I keep folders brimming with ideas. In these folders I’ll put sketches, various story versions, images of books I think might be similar, or reference photos that fit the story. You name it.
Of course, not all ideas come in whole. Some arrive as only a title or simple phrase. For those I have an “Other ideas” file. Inside are the years: 2004—2014. In those folders, I just save Word documents. Sometimes it can be one phrase or a character idea, but it was something that made my brain light up, so I keep it too.
And then there’s my dummies wall. Sometimes a story is so strong, I’m dying to illustrate it. Maybe I just do character sketches, or a few spreads. Sometimes I sketch out the entire dummy and even take a few pieces to final. This can lead to a lot of paperwork with no place to put it. This is when bulldog clips become my friends. I collect everything together, clip it, and hang it on the wall on a pushpin.
I’ll often sit back to look at these works-in-progress hanging on my wall and wonder if I have a new seed or tweak that might help them along.
Some of these folders, documents and dummies have been around for a while, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead. Sometimes it takes combining ideas, or swiping a phrase from one story to make another story stronger. So, I keep them organized so that I can mine them whenever I want to.
I also firmly believe some of them are ready to be published, but for whatever reason, the publishing world isn’t ready for them yet. Because of trends, word counts, a hit book that is too similar… whatever the reason, I’ll let them wait until trends circle back around and they become relevant again.
The irony is, with all these attempts at creating stories I’ve trained my storytelling muscles. I tell kids that writing is like lifting weights. The more bicep curls you do, the stronger you get. The more you write, the more those writerly muscles seem to know what to do. I’ve written so many picture book manuscripts that now, when I write, it seems stories come out of me in just the right word count and just the right number of page breaks. I’ve trained my brain to the structure of picture books.
But that still doesn’t mean they all work, hence, my folders and files and dummy wall. Sometimes a story will sit for a day, sometimes for years before I figure out the key that unlocks whatever was wrong and makes the story work. But I’ve learned to be patient with myself. Some stories, even the simplest (seeming) ones, need more time.
So, if you know deep down inside that your story isn’t there yet (don’t ignore that little voice), put the manuscript aside. Put it somewhere where you won’t forget about it, and let your brain work on it—while you sleep, or garden, or take a shower, or just get on with life. It doesn’t have to be perfect straight out of the box, few stories are.
I call it putting the clay on the wheel. You’ve got the idea down, you know its missing or lacking something. So knead it in the back of your mind, for however long it takes, until you get your story just right. You’ll know when.
And then, then you send it off to a publisher or to your agent. And maybe that manuscript that you struggled over, that you let simmer, will finally be so perfect, so right, they will buy it and publish it and you will get to share it with the world!
Elizabeth O. Dulemba is an award-winning children’s book author/illustrator with two-dozen titles to her credit. She is a Board Member for the Georgia Center for the Book, and Visiting Associate Professor at Hollins University in the MFA in Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating program. Her latest picture books are a series of books for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and LULA’S BREW. Elizabeth gives away free coloring pages and hosts interviews, guest posts, and giveaways on her website each week. Sign up for her weekly newsletter and learn more at Dulemba.com.
by Whew! You finished your 30 PiBoIdMo ideas.
Now what?
Stare at them. Admire them! Write them all at once?
Good luck with that! One of the great things about being a writer is that you are your own boss and you can do as you like!
Don’t tell anyone…I cheat a bit with this PiBoIdMo concept. For me it’s morePiBoIdMoS. The minute I hear the first whisper that PiBoIdMo is coming, whether through Tara’s tweets, Facebook page, or her blog, I start a document on my desk: “PIBOIDMO 2014.”
Yes, technically I start before November 1st, and I keep going! It gets me on a roll…deeper listening, inspiration from all the posts, and a mind more opened to all those picture book possibilities. Every new idea that follows will get listed on that sheet, maybe through February, maybe until I open the “PIBOIDMO 2015” document. Then when I’m finished working on a manuscript, revision, or submission and I’m ready to start a new story, I’ll glance through those ideas. (I have a document for ’12 and ’13 that I still revisit.)
I’ve never deleted any of the less than fabulous story concepts, but I have highlighted a few that I thought had potential. Sometimes, right under a numbered idea, I start the story’s beginning. It just flows from my finger tips. I don’t have an organized plan. I go with my gut.
When I start a separate document for a numbered idea, I know I’m serious about it. I never forced the beginning of one of those ideas. I waited until the idea grabbed me and said, “It’s time. Start the draft!” I have to feel it. I’ve developed quite a few of those ideas from the past years into manuscripts. I drafted, rewrote, revised and brought them to critique groups. None of those stories have yet to be acquired. But I have faith that some will…when the time is right. Though I have gotten “the call” on one…but no contract in hand as yet.
This year there was mention of PiBoIdMo kick-off parties. A fabulous gathering spot for writers, The Writer’s Loft, had one. And though I couldn’t make it, I was there in spirit. But I think we also need AFTER-PARTIES, as a way to celebrate all that thinking, all those brilliant ideas. Perhaps gather other PiBoIdMo’ers and plan a few peer critique sit-ins—where large groups gather and break into smaller groups to share their manuscripts. (Of course, bring snacks and allow time for socializing, too!)
If you can’t do that, find another way to get other writers’ eyes on your story. This step is imperative. Once those critiques are in, it is time to polish and revise and incorporate all that you have learned about craft and about picture books. This is where it counts. This is where we water and love those seeds of ideas until they sprout into the best possible work we can create. For every story idea you develop into a manuscript, make a “sentence” document for that title. This way you can brainstorm many different ways to word each thought until you get the perfect line up of words, until each sentence sings. Don’t be lazy. Get it right. Someday, you’ll be touching a life with that story. Don’t settle for less than the best you are capable of.
Before you know it, we’ll be preparing for “PIBOIDMO 2015”. Don’t let all this creativity be forgotten. Continue to glance back at your ideas. You never know when that gem of a manuscript is ready to emerge and start its route to publication.
Carol Gordon Ekster was a passionate elementary school teacher for 35 years. Her first book, Where Am I Sleeping Tonight? — A Story of Divorce, Boulden Publishing, 2008, was an About.com Readers’ Choice 2012 finalist for Best Children’s Book for Single Parents. “The Library Is The Perfect Place”, was in Library Sparks magazine, 2010. A picture book, Ruth The Sleuth and The Messy Room, on Character Publishing’s debut list, 2011, was awarded the Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval. Before I Sleep: I Say Thank You, comes out January 1, 2015 with Pauline Books & Media. Her first e-book, Hip Hopping Books, will be out with Schoolwide Inc.’s digital library, winter 2015. Retired from teaching, Carol now spends time in critique groups, doing exercise and yoga, and working on her books. She’s grateful that her writing allows her to continue communicating with children. Find out more at CarolGordonEkster.com and follow her on Twitter @cekster.
Carol is giving away a signed copy of BEFORE I SLEEP!
This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge.
Good luck, everyone!
by Laura Gehl
In November, there are no bad ideas. You write down every single thought that comes into your brain. And that’s good. But then…December comes. And now there are bad ideas. Bad ideas that you need to separate out from your other ideas. So you can focus on pursuing your promising ideas without all the clutter holding you back.
To help categorize your PiBoIdMo ideas, I’ve created this handy diagram, adapted from What If? by Randall Monroe.
Start by putting all your ideas quickly into the “Possibly Good” or “Possibly Bad” boxes. Don’t think too hard. Most of your ideas will go into Possibly Good. But some will go into Possibly Bad.
Now it’s time to start moving things around.
- Type your title ideas into Amazon. Does one of your brilliant, witty titles already exist, or something too similar? If so, boot that idea out of the “Possibly Good” box. No reason to start with strikes against you. This happened to me recently with my “Possibly Good” idea of Jellyfish Loves Peanut Butter. Turned out there are several Peanut Butter and Jellyfish books out there already.
- Take a look at your “Possibly Bad” ideas. Some of them will go straight into “Probably Bad.”
Other “Possibly Bad” ideas might go into “Probably Bad” and then get resuscitated later, with a little twist.
- When you read through your “Possibly Good” ideas, there will probably be a few ideas that make you smile just to think about. Make your brain buzz like you drank a cup of coffee. Make you itch to go start writing right this second. Those ideas are the ones you want to move on over to the “Probably Good” box right away.
Once you identify some “Probably Good” ideas to start working on, keep your PostPiBo diagram handy. When you get stuck, pick out a “Probably Bad” idea and…just for fun…write a few lines of that story. Afterward, your brain may be a little bit more ready to focus. Or maybe you’ll discover a way to twist the bunny-stabbing unicorn into a “Possibly Good” idea….after all, it’s never been done.
Laura Gehl is the author of One Big Pair of Underwear, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, which released in September. She is also the author of four upcoming picture books: And Then Another Sheep Turned Up; Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel; Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching; and Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick or Treating. Laura is also the author of 57,982 Possibly Good Ideas, and 26, 444 Probably Bad Ideas. She lives with her husband and four children in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Visit Laura online at www.lauragehl.com and http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraGehl.
by First, congratulations on completing PiBoIdMo, getting all 30 of your great ideas down on paper. Or, congratulations on attempting PiBoIdMo, but only finding the time to get about 20 picture book ideas down on paper. Or, good try, you only found the time to get 5 or so picture book ideas down on paper because you’re really busy this time of year (heck, don’t kid yourself, you’re busy all year-round) but you feel like you’ve got 2 or 3 really good ideas you want to pursue. I, as usual, fall into the last group. It’s not that I lack good ideas, I just can’t get organized to write them all down on a schedule. Plus I have the added excuse of spending this November finishing my next book.
So now it’s December 3rd, now it’s time to take those 2 or 3 good ideas and start turning them into books. So let’s sit down and start writing, as soon as you go pick out a tree and decorate the house for the holidays. OK, that’s out of the way, let’s start writing, as soon a you finish that job you started in mid-November and the deadline is fast approaching. OK, that’s done, now it’s getting close to Christmas and you’ve got so many functions and last minute shopping and then it’s New Year’s Eve and I promise I’ll get around to writing as soon as the new year starts. Well, right after I do my taxes, that is. What do you mean Happy Valentines Day?! Where is the time going!
So here’s the issue, I don’t know about you, but I’m really busy. I work for myself as a graphic designer and freelance illustrator. I have a number of clients who are very demanding (especially that one who always calls at 4:30 with some emergency that requires another 4 hours of work). Add to that family stuff and general household needs, who has time to write?
So here are some secrets to finding all the time you need to write:
- Inherit loads of money so you don’t have to have a job. This also works if you win the lottery.
- Marry someone who is really wealthy so that you can have servants to take care of all the small stuff like raising the kids. This frees up a lot time.
- Become really famous for something else, like acting in movies or singing great songs, then publishers will pay you lots of money to write a book. Even becoming infamous can get you a book deal.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it sound hopeless, it’s not. We write because we have to, because we are passionate about it. Don’t ask me how I found the time to get 5 picture books out in 6 years, 4 of which are with a publisher so small they don’t pay an advance*, and I’m the illustrator as well, so I really have to work some late nights. Basically I’ve found that you just have to make the time. Find an hour here and an hour there. Get up a few hours early on the weekends and leave the dishes in the sink until later. If you are sitting in the car on a long trip, write in your head or speak it into your iPhone.
You found the time to do PiBoIdMo, you’ll find the time to write your books. You will, because you want to, you need to…because you have to do it, for you.
*Don’t get me wrong, I love Schiffer Publishing, they’re an independent, family-run publisher that has been around since the early seventies, they pay good royalties and they do an excellent job producing my books and distributing them.
Timothy Young has had a lot of fun jobs; he’s been an animator, puppet maker, toy designer, sculptor, art director, illustrator and graphic designer. Tim has designed for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, the Muppets, Disney, the Simpsons and Universal Studios. Now he is the author/illustrator of 5 published picture books including I Hate Picture Books! and his latest, The Angry Little Puffin. He lives with his family on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Visit Tim’s website at creaturesandcharacters.com. Friend him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @TimSYoung.
Tim is giving away two books–a signed copy of THE ANGRY LITTLE PUFFIN and a signed copy of I HATE PICTURE BOOKS!
These prizes will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for these prizes if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, everyone!
by Cece Bell
Several years ago I was at a really low point in my career as a children’s book author and illustrator. None of my published books seemed to be doing all that well, and every new book I submitted seemed to get rejected. I was stuck. My writing came to a standstill. I didn’t even want to draw anymore! Good grief!
Eventually, I got off my pity pot by realizing that I didn’t have to get a publisher interested in my stories and drawings in order to work. I just needed to start working again—for FUN, not profit. So I decided to hire myself. Here was the assignment: Ask friends and family for adjectives and names of animals. Write adjectives on separate slips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a cup. Write names of animals on other separate slips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a different cup.
Now for the good part: Each day, for over one hundred days (and I didn’t skip any days, not even weekends), I selected a slip of paper from the adjective cup, and I selected a slip of paper from the animal cup. What I selected was what I had to draw—in no more than two hours. I couldn’t put anything back and hope to get a “better” combination—all combinations were good. The more challenging, the better!
I ended up with pairings like “victorious chinchilla” and “lost ocelot.” “Glittery manatee” and “theiving sloth.” “Bashful anteater” and “uncomfortable ostrich.” “Maniacal anemone!” It was great fun to illustrate all these animals I didn’t normally draw; it was especially fun to come up with stories (not written, but implied in the illustration) for why the chinchilla was victorious, for why the ostrich was uncomfortable. And what would the sloth steal?
I was a cheap boss. I didn’t pay myself a cent. But the rewards of my little project were copious. My brain loosened up. I learned some new illustration techniques. I began to love being an illustrator again. I GOT OUT OF THAT FUNK. And guess what? When I decided to submit “mustachioed fly” to my agent to turn into postcards, I got hired to illustrate Diane Mortensen’s picture book Bug Patrol for Clarion. This job led to a relationship with Clarion that made my picture book with Tom Angleberger (Crankee Doodle) possible, and then that helped me loosen up to do El Deafo. Now I’ve got more work than I can shake a stick at!
My little project was focused on illustration—but it could work for writing, too. TOTALLY!
So, my humble two cents (I happen to have those cents because I didn’t pay myself earlier, remember?) is that if you pursue this line of work—or any line of work—do so because you love it. Try not to lose sight of that love. And hopefully, that love, plus a lot of hard work and little bit of luck, will get you where you want to be.
Cece Bell lives in an old church with her husband, author Tom Angleberger, and she works right next door in a new-ish barn. El Deafo, her first graphic novel, is a slightly fictionalized memoir about her childhood, her hearing loss, her first crush, and her quest for a true friend. She has written and illustrated other books for children, including the Geisel Honor book Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover; Itty Bitty; Bee-Wigged; and the Sock Monkey series. You can read more about her at www.cecebell.com. Follow along on Twitter @cecebellbooks.
So do you have 30 ideas?
YOU DO???
You can qualify for one of our AMAZING PiBoIdMo prizes just by taking the following pledge. Put your right hand on a picture book and repeat after me:
I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully executed
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into picture book manuscripts.
Now I’m not saying all 30 ideas have to be good. Some may just be titles, some may be character quirks. Some may be problems and some may create problems when you sit down to write. Some may be high-concept and some barely a concept. But…they’re yours, all yours! Give them a big, fat, juicy smacker! SMOOCH!
You have until Dec 4th at 11:59:59PM EST to sign the pledge by leaving a comment WITH YOUR FULL NAME on this post. PLEASE COMMENT ONLY ONCE.
The name you left on the registration post and the name you leave on this winner’s pledge SHOULD MATCH.
Again, please COMMENT ONLY ONCE. If you made a mistake, contact me instead of leaving a second comment.
Remember, this is an honor system pledge. You don’t have to send in your ideas to prove you’ve got 30 of them. If you say so, I’ll believe you! Honestly, it’s that simple. (Wouldn’t it be nice if real life were that straightforward.)
If your name appears on both the registration post AND this winner’s pledge, you’ll be entered into the grand prize drawing: feedback on your best 5 ideas from a literary agent. There are TEN grand prizes! Check out all the agents here.
So what should you do now? Start fleshing out your best ideas! Write them as elevator pitches. Get ready because YOU might be a CHOSEN ONE.
Other prizes include picture books, manuscript critiques, art prints—all the stuff you saw during the month. All winners will be randomly selected by Random.org and announced NEXT WEEK.
And guess what, PiBoIdMo doesn’t end here! From today through Dec 9th, stop in for Post-PiBo, which offers daily posts about organizing and prioritizing your ideas.
Plus—you can claim your first prize now: a winner badge for your website, blog or social media site, designed by Vin Vogel. You can make it larger or smaller to fit anywhere. And if you want it on a mug, don’t forget to stop by the PiBoIdMo shop where every purchase benefits Reading is Fundamental (RIF).
Congratulate yourself on a job well done, PiBoIdMo’er. Take yourself out to brunch. Buy a new infinity scarf. Browse a bookstore. Pat your head and rub your tummy. Do what you want, you deserve it.
Go ahead, sign below and cross the finish line!
And remember, stay tuned for Post-PiBo!
***To everyone who completed the PiBoIdMo Challenge, the Pledge for you to sign is coming later today. In the meantime, enjoy our first Post-PiBo guest blog with a very talented illustrator!***
When I was going to school, I attended a community school that had been created by the parents and local writers, artist, musicians, and poets. It was a special school because we could not go to white schools. We had some of the best teachers ever! One day, I met this wonderful teacher named Miss Russell. Miss Russell had the biggest, orangest afro I had ever seen in my whole entire life. It looked like a cloud. She wore the shortest dresses and the coolest shoes. I loved Miss Russell. Once she set me on her lap and shared a beautiful book that has stayed with me all these years. It was about a young boy who wore a red snow suit and lived in the hood as far as I was concerned, LOL! The thing that stood out about this boy was that he was brown just like me!
He was beautiful!! His mom and dad looked just like my parents. Even the wallpaper looked like the wallpaper in my own house. I was excited and thrilled. Surely the person was who created this book must have been watching me from his studio window. The book left me feeling some kind of way. It conveyed all my feelings and thoughts through its beautiful, colorful pictures and collage. I couldn’t remember all the words to the story, for you see I am dyslexic. There was nobody who really understood what that was. The words didn’t make sense to me but the pictures told me the story.
Everybody is now talking about diversity in children’s books. In 1963 there weren’t many books that had a black child as a main character, and when they were drawn in children’s books of old, black people were drawn very cruelly and just plain ugly. The book moved me so because it would be the first time I would see a black child that looked like me, dressed like me…might have even been me, LOL.
I loved Peter—he was my little brother in my head. Peter was beautifully illustrated and I related to his story because I had experienced the same thing. Countless other children experienced the same thing. Many years would pass and I would end up in a Barnes and Noble looking for picture books to inspire me as I began to illustrate children’s books myself. I came across “The Snowy Day”.
Now as I told you, I am dyslexic. Reading for me sometimes can be a struggle. The words seem to dance on the page. Numbers seem to move and float around. I push myself constantly to read out loud, and while I make it look effortless and fun, it is a struggle for me still. I took “The Snowy Day” and sat on the floor of B&N and I read it through tears. Every wonderful and magnificent word.
Finally, words and pictures came together. Comforting memories from the first time that the book was read to me spilled over like warm beach waves. I looked for books written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats. I began to do my own study on his work. I copied the man. I wanted to somehow do for other children what this awesome man had done for me. Ezra Jack Keats made me feel so special because he thought that I should have been in a children’s book all along. I wasn’t an afterthought!
It is important that not only Black, White, Chinese or Indian children be seen in picture books, but that all children see themselves in picture books. That all children get to experience another culture so that their minds broaden. Diversity is needed if we are going to grow as writers and illustrators. I like to call myself “The Multicultural Illustrator”. It is reflected in my work. I come from a very blended background—African American, Asian, European, and Jewish decent—it’s all in there. So if you are thinking that diversity is not important, take it from a little brown girl who was effected by someone’s beautiful pictures.
Once Upon A Time, a little girl wished to be an artist. So, she took her fantastic box of Crayola crayons and drew on the sides of her mother’s clean white stove and white walls. When her mother prepared dinner that night, the crayons melted in a beautiful puddle of waxy deliciousness. She was thrilled! Her parents? Not so much. They made that almost-famous artist get some soap and water and remove and clean up her fantastic masterpiece. Her mom and dad got her a pad of paper and she has been drawing ever since. Vanessa is agented by Painted-words.com. She lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, daughter and a friendly cat named Stripes. Visit her at Oohlaladesignstudio.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter @nesterb.
Her latest book is ONE LOVE, based on the song by Bob Marley and adapted by Cedella Marley.
by Tara Lazar
When I was growing up, there was an entire section of my home that was roped off. Like a nightclub, a velvet rope draped across the threshold to the living and dining area, off limits to my grubby little hands. A plush sectional beside the picture window always beckoned me, and I’d sneak there to read a book. Many times I’d crawl into the dining room and sit criss-cross-applesauce under the table, where no one could find me, and where I could get a glimpse of our house the way I rarely saw it. It was wondrous, under the table and dreaming (sorry for the borrow, Dave Matthews). I could pretend I was somewhere else because the perspective I had, under that glass and chrome 70’s behemoth, was unique, unusual. I was at home, but also somewhere else.
So now, every once in a while, I sit underneath my own dining room table. To me, it’s the perfect kid’s perspective. I see the world as a child might, peering only at legs and loafers. You know how you never see an adult’s face in Charlie Brown? How they’re just an unintelligible trumpet waah-wahhh-wah-waaaa? That’s the childlike mystique I’m seeking when I sit beneath the table. I see the world a little differently, but yet it’s still familiar, as it is my own home.
This is an early Peanuts strip. Schulz later said that showing adults, even just their legs, was a mistake.
Go ahead, take up a spot in your home where you rarely sit to rest: the closet, the corner, the stair landing. Make it your nook, your secret hideaway. Look at everything as if a child might, looming larger above you. Grab a blanket and pillows and make a fort. Steal away. Remember those fantastical childhood moments when you were somewhere else, but yet safe and protected at home. It’s a feeling you can recreate to help you delve deeper into the heart of your tale. You’ll be changing your perspective to that of a child—visually and emotionally.
And, if you’d like, sneak some cookies and milk with you. I won’t tell anyone where you are.
Image via threadless.com
And now, a special announcement!
This is the final day of PiBoIdMo! I hope you have 30 ideas! (or that you’re very, very close!)
But don’t worry, the event IS NOT OVER. There’s still Post-PiBo to come–a week-long series of posts designed to help you prioritize and organize your ideas.
Tomorrow I will post the PiBoIdMo Pledge. If you have 30 ideas, you sign it and YOU WIN! Don’t worry, you’ll have a few days to sign it.
In the meantime, if you enjoyed PiBoIdMo, may I ask that you nominate this blog for the Top 10 Blogs for Writers?
Head on over to Write to Done to make the nomination.
Every nomination counts!
And thank you for your support!
by Before there were words, human beings communicated with pictures. In pre-verbal times, stories were drawn out in picture form. So, the picture book, which uses pictures and words, touches something deep within all human beings, regardless of age.
I think the picture book is a most unique art form. It brings together both the visual and the literary. Children who cannot read words yet will be reading the pictures. That is why this unique art and writing genre deserves our highest efforts, our most original thoughts and ideas, and our most sincere work. Picture books are teaching the next generation to read!
Of the over 30 books that I have published, the one which fits the picture book genre best is The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate The Wash, illustrated by Steven Kellogg.
Because I am also an illustrator, I write visually, and Steven’s art fit my story perfectly. It is included in the Houghton/Mifflin Readers that are used throughout the country to teach reading to second graders.
When I first started in children’s literature, books for young children were divided into two categories: the picture book and the storybook.
In a storybook, the story was all there and the pictures just enhanced and embellished the story. In other words, I could read you a storybook over the radio, without seeing the pictures, and you would understand it. A good example of a storybook of mine is The Orange Shoes, illustrated by Doris Ettlinger. [Insert photo of cover here] And, Apple Tree Christmas, which I both wrote and illustrated, will show you how organically the art and the story are intertwined, mainly because one person created it. 
However, in a picture book, the story is told in both the words and in the pictures. If I read you a picture book over the radio, you wouldn’t understand it without the pictures. Now, all books for young children are called picture books.
So, my challenge for you on this 29th day of PiBoIdMo, and I hope it is an inspirational challenge, is to think of your story idea in pictures. Think of the first page as a picture, and then imagine the next picture and the next. See if you can string together several pictures, almost like a movie, in your mind before you write any words. Or, if you are about out of ideas on day 29, perhaps using your favorite idea for this month and start seeing is visually, in pictures. Hopefully, by giving the visual center stage, you will capture the very essences of the picture book before you get involved in words. There might be a certain rhythm, a beat, and an energy that will find its way into your words by starting with the pictures first. Try to see it in your mind’s eye. Let it play, dance and flow across you visual imagination. No words, just pictures…and see where it takes you.
Best of Luck!
Trinka Hakes Noble is the award-winning author of numerous picture books including The Scarlet Stockings Spy (IRA Teachers’ Choice 2005), The Last Brother, The Legend of the Cape May Diamond, The Legend of Michigan and Apple Tree Christmas, which she wrote and illustrated. Her newest titles are The Orange Shoes (IRA Teachers’ Choice 2008), The Pennsylvania Reader, The New Jersey Reader, Little New Jersey and The People of Twelve Thousand Winters. Ms. Noble also wrote the ever-popular Jimmy’s Boa series and Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, both featured on PBS’s Reading Rainbow. Her many awards include ALA Notable Children’s Book, Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice, IRA-CBC Children’s Choice, Learning: The Year’s Ten Best, plus several state reading awards and Junior Literary Guild selections.
Her latest title is The Legend of the Jersey Devil, and forthcoming in March of 2015 is Lizzie and the Last Day of School.
Ms. Noble has studied children’s book writing and illustrating in New York City at Parsons School of Design, the New School University, Caldecott medalist Uri Shulevitz’s Greenwich Village Workshop, and at New York University. She is on the board of The New Jersey Center for the Book and a member of the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature. In 2002 she was awarded Outstanding Woman in Arts and Letters in the state of New Jersey for her lifetime work in children’s books, along with letters of commendation from the US Senate, the US House of Representatives and the US Congress. Ms. Noble currently lives in northern New Jersey. Learn more by visiting her website at www.trinkahakesnoble.com.
Trinka is giving away a signed copy of THE ORANGE SHOES!
This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, everyone!
by “Where do you get your ideas?”
This is the question that kids and aspiring writers ask me the most. And the answer is kinda lame: I have absolutely no idea.
I recognize that many people think about ideas as elusive endangered species that love to play hide-and-go-seek with us writers. But I disagree. I think ideas are everywhere! They fill the air around us like hyperactive dragonflies, just waiting to be snatched out of the air, captured, and put to work. Our job is to collect them. The problem is…we don’t always.
Instead…
We JUDGE our ideas. And then we DISMISS them.
How many times have you done it? An idea buzzes your way at the most unexpected time. Maybe during breakfast. You’re happily eating away on your raisin-crunch oatmeal, not thinking about picture books at all, and suddenly you find yourself thinking,
“I wonder what would happen if this spoon….ATTACKED ME???!!!”
It’s just a blip on your imagination, and in the micro-second that it takes you to think “That’s stupid.”, you dismiss it and continue chomping.
HELLO? THAT’S A PICTURE BOOK!
(Not yours though. Hands off…that one’s mine.)
That little dragonfly of a idea buzzed into your head for a reason…it wants to be used. It wants to be put to work, to be brought into being. Your job was to capture that little sucker, but instead, you judged it and dismissed it as inconsequential. And then, horror of horrors, you forgot about it.
And the idea dies. Unused. And unwritten.
When I first got the idea for a story about a bunny being stalked by evil root vegetables, don’t you think my first thought was “Dumb idea”? It totally was. But that didn’t stop me from capturing the idea that later became CREEPY CARROTS.
A lion, a wolf, and a shark all feel terrible about their meat-eating ways. Until they get some great advice from a wise old owl…who then meets a grisly death at their hands. What a TERRIBLE IDEA for a picture book! But when that idea showed up in my brain, I was on it like a fat kid on Cinnabon (and being less-than-svelte myself, you’d be surprised how quickly we can move when frosting-drenched cinnimon is around). That idea became my book CARNIVORES.
I am a collector of ideas. And so are you. Every idea you can get your grubby little mitts on.
How you keep them is up to you. I don’t keep my dragonflies in a cage. Or even a journal. I put them under a rock. Literally. (I know…weird. Maybe it’s a boy thing.)
I have something in my office called an Idea Rock.
And EVERY idea that flits my way gets captured, no matter where I am, no matter what I’m doing. You can see in the picture…there are ideas captured on 1000-Island-Dressing-stained-napkins that I got while eating rueben sandwiches. There are post-it-note ideas. There’s even a wedding program with an idea on it under there (man, that wedding was boring). I go through life with the assumption that every idea holds book-worthy potential, that no idea is inconsequential, therefore, they all get captured. They get put under the rock, and from there, they’re going nowhere (that rock is really heavy). And so, even if they do get momentarily judged (as ideas and dragonflies will), they never get dismissed, so they never get forgotten.
I have hundreds of ideas under there…more than I’ll ever be able to write in ten lifetimes. They’re not all gold. They won’t all become books. But they are all CAUGHT.
So put your judgement away and get your net ready. Because that buzzing you hear may just become your next book.
Aaron Reynolds is a New York Times Bestselling Author and has written many highly acclaimed books for kids, including Here Comes Destructosaurus!, Carnivores, the Joey Fly – Private Eye graphic novel series, and the Caldecott Honor Winning Creepy Carrots! He has a passion for kids’ books and seeing kids reading them. He regularly makes time to visit schools where his hilarious hands-on presentations keep kids spellbound. Aaron lives in Chicago with his wife, 2 kids, 4 cats, and anywhere between zero and ten goldfish, depending on the day.
You can visit him at www.aaron-reynolds.com.
Aaron is giving away one signed copy each of CREEPY CARROTS, CARNIVORES and HERE COMES DESTRUCTOSAURUS!
These prizes will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for these prizes if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, everyone!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 