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by Charlotte Offsay & Abi Cushman
Thank you Tara for having us on your blog today and for agreeing to let us interview one another in celebration of the cover reveal of our upcoming picture book, THE QUIET FOREST! A big thank you to you as well for creating such an inspiring Storystorm event every year—without it THE QUIET FOREST wouldn’t exist! You are a kidlit treasure, and we are endlessly grateful for your support!
[Aww, gosh, I’m blushin’, thanks!]
THE QUIET FOREST is a cumulative picture book in which one mischievous mouse’s mishap quickly snowballs into a chain of outrageous events, causing a whole forest full of animals to have a very loud day indeed! Can the animals now find a way to bring calm and quiet back to their home?
Abi: Charlotte, this is such a fun, clever book. And it’s a Storystorm success story! Where did the idea behind THE QUIET FOREST come from?
Charlotte: Wow, thank you Abi, I really appreciate your kind words! Before I answer your question, I have to say what a treat it is to get to partner with you on this book in particular. I was already a big fan of your hilarious and huggable characters long before editor Catherine Laudone suggested partnering with you on our book–I squealed with delight when she did! I’m absolutely blown away with what you have come up with and I love it even more than I knew I would!
Now, back to your question… Where did the idea behind THE QUIET FOREST come from?
I participate in Tara’s Storystorm event every year in an attempt to mine as many story ideas as I can and fuel my writing throughout the year. Some ideas are concepts or phrases that make their way from one year’s list to the next, waiting for their turn… a.k.a waiting for inspiration to hit. I had been wanting to write a story about spreading kindness for a few years but had never quite found the right way into the story.
After reading a Storystorm post on playing with picture book structure, I wrote: kindness—cumulative structure? on my Storystorm list. One September morning when I was looking for a new writing project to work on, I decided it was time to try a cumulative story about kindness and feature animals as my characters since I had been itching to write an animal-themed picture book! I then pulled every cumulative structure picture book off my shelves and sat down to write what would eventually (after many, many revisions) become, THE QUIET FOREST!
Abi: On top of a cumulative structure, you’ve also incorporated onomatopoeia and alliteration into the story. It’s quite the writing marvel! What was the writing process like for THE QUIET FOREST?
Charlotte: You are too kind! THE QUIET FOREST was simultaneously one of the easiest and hardest books to write—allow me to explain… Writing a cumulative structure picture book has a set structure to it which made a nice frame that felt easier to start from. It allowed me to use the frame even when selecting the animals for the story, as the cumulative structure built, the animals I selected increased in size. Having the animals in place allowed me to see that onomatopoeia would help increase the fun of the read aloud and alliteration even more so. But as I moved on to editing the manuscript, my desire to have all of these pieces in place while creating a story that built logically in chaos became one of the bigger brain teasers I have had to battle in my writing. I needed all the pieces to feel natural and not forced which led to a large number of hours of my manuscript chopped up on my office floor moving pieces around while simultaneously scouring wordhippo.com for a word or phrase that would fit my strict parameters. Writing THE QUIET FOREST felt like solving a puzzle to write and it wasn’t until I saw your brilliant illustrations that it finally felt solved.
Image © THE QUIET FOREST by Charlotte Offsay, illus. by Abi Cushman (Paula Wiseman Books, 2024)
Charlotte: In the book, we get to see the mischievous mouse swinging into a pile of pancakes, a deer picking flowers, and a moose painting. How did you dream up all of the fun antics for these characters? Where did you draw your inspiration from?
Abi: When I first read your manuscript, Charlotte, I could see the potential for really fun action scenes. You left me room to explore exactly what those animals were doing when they each got interrupted, which was amazing. My first goal was to think of what action could go with each sound word that would be the most visually fun for kids. I wanted to err on the side of going BIG.
So I printed out the manuscript and made doodles in the margins with some possibilities. What goes splat? A tube of toothpaste? A bottle of ketchup?
I decided on pancakes because I thought a scene of a mouse flying into a stack of pancakes would be the funniest for kids.
Image © THE QUIET FOREST by Charlotte Offsay, illus. by Abi Cushman (Paula Wiseman Books, 2024)
But once I had brainstormed activities that would be the most fun when they got interrupted, I also had to consider how these activities might come together at the end. This story is so wonderful because just as one mischievous act can snowball into a chain of outrageous events, one simple act of kindness can also spread and change the course of the day. I really wanted to show in the illustrations how each animal’s individual activity at the beginning comes together at the end to contribute to a sense of community.
So now, without further ado, we are thrilled to present the cover of THE QUIET FOREST, which was edited by the incredible Catherine Laudone and beautifully designed by art director Krista Vossen. THE QUIET FOREST releases March 12, 2024 from Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster and is available for pre-order now.
Charlotte Offsay was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. Through her work, Charlotte hopes to make children laugh, to inspire curiosity, and to create a magical world her readers can lose themselves in time and time again.
Charlotte is the author of The Quiet Forest, illustrated by Abi Cushman (Paula Wiseman Books, 2024), Challah Day, illustrated by Jason Kirschner (Holiday House, 2023), A Grandma’s Magic, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, April 2022), The Big Beach Cleanup, illustrated by Kate Rewse (Albert Whitman, 2021), and How to Return a Monster, illustrated by Rea Zhai (Beaming Books, 2021).
Learn more about Charlotte’s work at charlotteoffsay.com and follow her on Twitter and Tiktok at @COffsay and on Instagram at @picturebookrecommendations. Charlotte is represented by Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary.
Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of SOAKED!, ANIMALS GO VROOM! and WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD. Her upcoming book, THE QUIET FOREST, written by Charlotte Offsay, releases in 2024. Abi has also worked as a web designer for over 15 years, and runs two popular websites of her own: MyHouseRabbit.com, a pet rabbit care resource, and AnimalFactGuide.com, which was named a Great Website for Kids by the American Library Association. In her spare time, Abi enjoys running, playing tennis, and eating nachos. (Yes, at the same time.) She lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her family.
To learn more about Abi and her books, visit her website at AbiCushman.com. If you like secrets, exclusive sneak peeks, wombats, and special giveaways, subscribe to her newsletter.
with author Charlotte Offsay
Hi Tara! Thank you for having me on your blog today and for hosting the cover reveal of my upcoming picture book HOW TO RETURN A MONSTER!
Charlotte, please tell us about the book!
If your grown-ups bring home a small monster, er, baby, don’t panic. Just send it back!
HOW TO RETURN A MONSTER is a humorous how to story about a child who can’t believe it when her parents bring home a fussy, stinky, parent-stealing monster. She hatches a plan to send it back to where it came from… and along the way, she learns that maybe siblings aren’t so bad after all.
Do you have a fun behind-the-scenes story about creating the book that you’d like to share?
I tend to get my story ideas from the things in my life that are taking up the most room in my heart. When I first began writing what would eventually become HOW TO RETURN A MONSTER, I was consumed with second-time mom guilt about no longer being able to give my daughter the same amount of attention. She was just starting pre-school and I felt terrible separating from her for the first time and spending that time with her baby brother.
I had also heard countless stories from friends of how older siblings were reacting to having a new baby at home. I heard everything from ignoring to harming, and while it was clear these children loved their new siblings, one overarching theme prevailed—it was a hard adjustment for the older sibling to no longer be the sole focus of their parents’ attention.
My worries about my daughter made their way to the written page and I began writing a story about an older sibling feeling replaced by a new baby. I first wrote a traditional narrative arc story about a train feeling replaced by a shiny new train, but the story felt too much like a sad twist on Toy Story.
I wanted to capture and normalize the emotions around feeling replaced, but I also wanted to write a fun and entertaining story that kids would be able to connect to in a positive way. After one long brainstorming (venting) session with my husband, I realized that in order for the story to work it needed humor. I kept re-envisioning characters and story structure and eventually arrived at a humorous how-to story about a child who tries to return her sibling in the mail. This is the manuscript that is being illustrated by the talented Rea Zhai and will be published this September by Beaming Books.
How did you find your publisher?
I first connected with Beaming Books during #PBPITCH on Twitter.
I was querying at the time and had just been asked for more work by my now agent, the wonderful Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary. I signed with Nicole and we accepted the offer from Beaming Books!
Any words of advice for aspiring PB authors?
Don’t be scared to take the core concept/heart of your manuscript and start over. Play with structure, try an entirely different narrator, change the setting – you may just discover the key to unlocking that stubborn work-in-progress! Happy writing!
Blog readers, Beaming Books is giving away a copy of HOW TO RETURN A MONSTER when it’s released! Just leave one comment to enter.
A random winner will be selected.
Good luck!
Credit: NataliaL Photography
CHARLOTTE OFFSAY was born in England, grew up in Boston, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two small children. Through her work, Charlotte hopes to make children laugh, to inspire curiosity, and to create a magical world her readers can lose themselves in time and time again. She is the author of, The Big Beach Cleanup, (Albert Whitman 2021). How to Return a Monster is publishing this September from Beaming Books, followed by A Grandma’s Magic, publishing in March 2022 from Doubleday Books for Young Readers.
Learn more about Charlotte’s work at charlotteoffsay.com and follow her on Twitter at @COffsay and on Instagram at @picturebookrecommendations.
Charlotte Offsay is celebrating her picture book debut with a cover reveal of THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP, illustrated by Katie Rewse, publishing in March 2021 with Albert Whitman. This book also happens to be a Storystorm Success Story!
THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP is about Cora, a young girl who joins hands with her local community to clean up plastic litter along the seashore and save the local sandcastle competition.
Congratulations on your debut picture book, Charlotte! Do you have a fun story about the making of the book you’d like to share?
THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP was the result of a few Storystorm ideas colliding. (As many of you reading this already know, for the month of January Tara Lazar runs Storystorm, where a number of kidlit creators help the writing community get their creative juices flowing and develop picture book ideas, which many of us then use to fuel our picture book writing for the rest of the year.)
During Storystorm I write down anything and everything that inspires me. My three-year-old son had just begun his superhero phase (which two years later is still going strong—maybe not a phase?) and I wanted him to clean up his toys before school. I attempted to motivate him by pretending we were superheroes who needed to clean up to save the world (whatever works right?!). Unfortunately, he saw right through my plot and responded with “I don’t feel like being a superhero today.” My first thought was “yea, I don’t feel much like a superhero today, either.” This thought stuck with me as I had to jog with the stroller uphill to get him and his five-year-old sister to pre-school on time. I added “I don’t feel like a superhero today” to my Storystorm list.
Later that month on one of our walks back from pre-school (which were always more leisurely that our walks to pre-school), as we paused to inspect whatever flower/leaf/bug my kids had spotted, I casually picked up a piece of trash and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. My kids immediately wanted to know what I was doing. Why was there trash outside? Who had put it there? Why was it important to throw it away? Their inquisitive nature lead to a series of environmental discussions, which resulted in their relentlessly pointing out garbage everywhere we went and “doing our part” eventually made its way onto my list.
Stay with me—this is the final puzzle piece, I promise. As part of my Storystorm process, I also look back to my lists from previous years for ideas that I still wanted to pursue. For a couple of years in a row I had written “how many hands.” This stemmed from my passionate belief that if we can convince enough hands to join together, we can change the world. I hadn’t found a path forward for this idea so I added it to my 2019 list.
These three Storystorm ideas…
- not feeling like a superhero
- doing our part to clean up after ourselves
- and small hands joining together to change the world
…collided and I wrote what will be my debut picture book: THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP.
Tell us more about the story!
THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP is about Cora, a young girl who plans to be a sandcastle-building champion. When the contest is canceled due to litter at the beach, Cora’s plans come to a halt. Cora and her Mama pull on gloves and get to work, but soon Cora realizes it will take more than two pairs of hands to solve a big problem.
THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP introduces young readers to the impact of human trash on the environment. With practical solutions for tackling the plastic problem, this heartfelt story demonstrates that a person doesn’t have to be a superhero to make big change. By joining hands with those around them and doing their part, they can change the world.
A portion of the book’s proceeds will be donated to Heal the Bay.
How did you find your publisher?
THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP is being published by Albert Whitman. I was fortunate to connect with my editor, Christina Pulles, during an Inked Voices workshop. My agent, the wonderful Nicole Geiger at Full Circle Literary then submitted THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP to Christina when it went out on submission last summer.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring PB authors?
The journey to publication is a rollercoaster—don’t get off the ride before you get your yes!
Charlotte is giving back to the PB community by offering a critique to one lucky blog commenter.
Leave a comment below to enter.
A random winner will be chosen next month.
Good luck!
When Charlotte Offsay isn’t busy building sandcastles with her husband and two small children, she can be found dreaming up and writing picture book manuscripts at home in Los Angeles, California. She passionately believes in the power of small hands joining together to make big change and wrote this book with the hopes of empowering young readers to follow in Cora’s footsteps. Her second picture book HOW TO RETURN A MONSTER is publishing in Fall 2021 with Beaming Books. Read more about Charlotte and her books at charlotteoffsay.com or follow her on Twitter @COffsay and Instagram @picturebookrecommendations. Her debut picture book THE BIG BEACH CLEANUP from Albert Whitman can be pre-ordered at BAM.
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 