Halloween Farm Dance: Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!

One of the best parts of being a children's author is building community with other authors and illustrators, which can happen in both expected and unexpected ways. I actually met Kelly Conroy, author of the new picture book Here a Creak, There a Shriek!, when we attended the same high school in Pennsylvania. We lost touch for many years but recently reconnected when we found out we are represented by the same literary agent...even though I'm living on the opposite coast now! 

What are the chances we'd reconnect that way? Super slim! But the chances the little ones in your life will connect with the familiar rhythm and rollicking rhyme in this adorably silly and spooky story? Super high!

"Let's explore a haunted farm. Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!"

Here are a few reasons I think kids will love exploring the haunted farm inside the pages of this book:

• The story is set to the rhythm of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Familiarity with this nursery rhyme will have kids immediately singing along, especially to the "Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!" refrain.
• The color palette of illustrator Nikolas Ilic -- black mixed with bright colors that fade into darker colors -- really sets the tone. The darkness provides some spook, and the bright colors accentuate the silliness and moments of surprise in the story.
• The rich and rhyming text, full of interesting movement-inspiring words (both adjectives and verbs) provide endless opportunities for using this book not just at home but also during group story times or in creative dance classes. 

While exploring the haunted farm, the three main characters in the book encounter scary beasts, a scarecrow's maze, a rusty truck, a spooky forest of twisted trees, and a group of dancing skeletons. 

Words like sneak, bend, dash, leap, twisted, floating, crooked, and shaking invite readers to move along with the rhymes and offer a starting point for exploring these words using different body parts and different levels (low to the ground or up on tiptoes), and even through improvisation to expand the storyline if you're feeling adventurous.

One last thing I love about this book is the surprise ending -- which isn't going to be a surprise anymore once I tell you what it is! As the main characters peek inside a spooky barn at the end of the book, they are surprised to find all the creatures they encountered earlier in the book. And they're having a dance party. 

Eeek-I! Eeek-I! Oh!

An Abominable (and ADORABLE) Snow Dancer!

One of the really fun parts of being a picture book author is that you start to get to know other picture book creators in your area. And one of the perks of knowing other picture book creators is that you find out about a lot of book events. Last weekend I got to see author/illustrator Steph Lau in action as she shared her debut picture book, The Abominable Snow Dancer, with a full storytime crowd at California indie Linden Tree Books. 

If you compare the cover of the book with the photo of Steph drawing during the event, you'll see she's dressed (adorably) as the book's main character, Otto. Halloween just passed, but I can TOTALLY imagine little kids running around in their Otto costumes next year, can't you?

In the opening scenes of the book, Otto appears to be a typical abominable snowman...

...but we soon find out that he has a secret desire to do something he's never seen other yetis do. Otto might be a little clumsy (or in fact IS a little clumsy, and hilariously so), but it doesn't stop him from following his dream. And his dream? You guessed it! Otto longs to...

This is such an adorable premise for a picture book, and it only gets better. One day, as Otto is climbing to the top of a mountain near his home, he accidentally trips and falls down the other side and discovers a world of sparkly dancing unicorns. At long last, he sees other mythical creatures who share his passion! The story doesn't end there, though. It's just the beginning of Otto's journey to figure out how to fit into this newfound world.

Aside from the kid-friendly premise, other features of this book add enormous kid appeal. The graphic novel style, use of speech bubbles, and exaggerated emotions of the yetis and unicorns are just a few. 

Kids will also love exploring the illustrations. Maybe they'll notice the subtle change in color palette, from the dominance of white and grayish blue hues at the beginning of the story to the addition of colors when Otto meets the sparkly unicorns. If they look closely, they might also notice cameos by additional mythical creatures like a mermaid and a young Medusa. So fun!

I'm so happy to have met Steph and celebrated her adorable new book with others in our community (L to R: Susan Cabael, me, Steph, Cathy Cheng of Access Books Bay Area, Christine Evans) at this book event. Congratulations, Steph!

Some fun facts I learned about Steph Lau while writing this post is that she used to be a pastry chef and that she has another picture book in the works called MEDUSA'S PET ROCK, which I can't wait to read when it comes out next fall. Learn more about Steph at www.stephlaubooks.com or follow her on Instagram @stephlaubooks.

Author Interview: Sandhya Acharya

I'm so happy to have a dancing author with us today! Sandhya Acharya is the author of the new book Living Bridges: The Hidden World of India's Woven Trees (illustrated by Avani Dwivedi and published by Beach Lane Books). It's been garnering great reviews, including a starred review from the School Library Journal, and has been named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Both of these are big deals in the world of children's literature. Woo-hoo!  

Living Bridges is an engaging narrative nonfiction book that follows a boy in Meghalaya, India, as he learns about the living bridges in his village, including how to care for them and the importance of keeping them strong and healthy for his community and the environment. 

I'm really interested in the creative process so have decided to interview picture book authors and illustrators from time to time to specifically learn about their creative processes. I'm excited to hear more from Sandhya about how this book came together. And, since I know she studies dance, I'll have to squeeze in some questions about that, too!

So happy you're here with us today, Sandhya! To start off, how would you describe your creative process while writing this book?

My creative process was to first read and learn as much as I could about the subject, then sit back and really feel the emotions and look for an entry point into the story. I kept drafting lines without worrying too much about the arc or where they fit into the story. Sometimes it’s a line or a word that’s the key to finding the right voice and unlocking the rest of the story. And once you do find that opening, it’s so exciting because everything begins to neatly fall into place -- like it was meant to be!

From initial concept through publication (including everything in between), what was your favorite piece of the process?

My favorite part was traveling to Meghalaya to witness these extraordinary bridges for myself. Imagine entering a misty wonderland full of clouds, trees, insects, and birds, walking across a bridge a hundred feet tall and long in the middle of a forest over a gushing river. It felt like I had crossed over into an alternate world. I was IN the story. I am also grateful to the locals and experts on the ground for sharing their knowledge and experience with me. 

What if anything did you learn about yourself along the way?

I played with multiple points of view and versions for this manuscript. Every time when it was clear something wasn’t working -- either by my own instinct or suggestions from my editor -- I learned to take a step back and try something new. Once I understood what the problem was, I could approach it in different ways -- sometimes the original suggestions morphed into something even better!

Ok...so now I'm super curious about your dance background. Can you tell us a little bit about the type of dance you're doing now, how you got involved, and what it means to you?

I learn Bharat Natyam. It is a classical dance form that has been practised for ages. It was a childhood dream that I fulfilled while well into my adulthood! Goes to show, it’s never too late! I love the art form -- the skill, the beauty, the challenge, the discipline it requires, the history hidden in its stories, the music that has been passed on through generations. More than anything, it brings me joy.

That's wonderful! I'm also curious if you've noticed any major similarities or differences between the process of publishing a picture book and the process of preparing for a dance performance?

Classical Bharat Natyam is not just the final performance we see on stage. It takes years of preparation as we train our bodies to move a certain way, follow complicated rhythmic patterns, and learn to express and emote. As I spend more time in the writing world, I realize it needs the same practice, discipline, and patience!

Thank you so much for sharing your process with us, Sandhya!

Sandhya is also the author of 10 Gulab Jamuns: Counting with an Indian Sweet Treat, illustrated by Vanessa Alexandre. Learn more about Sandhya and her books here.

Author Interview: Debra Kempf Shumaker

It's been a while since I've interviewed an author on my blog, so I'm thrilled to have Debra Kempf Shumaker here with us today to talk about her new picture book Wind Is a Dance, published this month by Kids Can Press. The text, with its lovely cadence, compares the wind to a dance, and the inviting, whimsical art by Josée Bisaillon allows you to almost feel the wind dancing on every spread. Small, unassuming sidebars describe different types of wind, and the back matter includes scientific details about how wind speed is measured and what effects different wind speeds have on the environment. I can see this book being used at home, in the classroom, and even in a dance or creative movement class. It's beautiful, educational, and versatile! 

Welcome, Debra. We're so happy you're here! I'm always interested in where story ideas come from, so I wanted to start off by asking you how you decided to write this book. 

First, thanks so much for having me on your blog! I’m exited to be here. Growing up on a diary farm with 120 acres as my playground, I loved being outside. And I loved that feeling in the air when the weather was changing. I’d sit on our porch, a rock, or anywhere and just listen to nature as a storm brewed. Fast forward to 2015 and I was in the middle of doing “PiBoIdMo” (Picture Book Idea Month by Tara Lazar, now knowns as Storystorm) and brainstorming picture book ideas. I was awed by Miranda Paul’s WATER IS WATER and how it showed water changing with the seasons. I decided I wanted to write a lyrical book about weather and wrote down “Lyrical NF book about wind—different types?”

 

Thanks for sharing that! I'm also curious how you decided to use the metaphor "wind is a dance" as a through line in the book. Was that the plan from the beginning, or did it evolve as you were writing or revising?

“Wind is a dance” was not initially my through line. The book literally started out as a string of poems about various types of wind. When I tried to string the poems into a picture book, it was very disjointed. I had written a few poems using metaphors to describe a wind type and I really liked the imagery it created and decided to use metaphors for each wind. (And boy, some of those metaphors changed a lot!) I also needed an opening and closing and something to tie it together. Initially, my opening mentioned that wind was air in motion—sometimes with a few words, sometimes with a lot. But all of those openings felt dry. I decided to try using a metaphor to explain that wind changes and tried “wind is a chameleon,” but that didn't work very well. As I visualized warm air rising and cold air going low, the idea of a dance metaphor popped in my head. It took a lot of trial and error to tie all of the metaphors together with the overarching dance metaphor, but I’m so thrilled with the end result. Revision took YEARS, lol.

Wow! How fascinating to hear the whole process and all the work that went into it. I am a bit biased, but I am also thrilled that the dance metaphor prevailed. It works so well! How did you choose which types of wind to include, and possibly exclude, from the book?

 

I started with individual poems about winds from all around the world. But when I started stringing them together, I knew the book needed some kind of “arc.” Initially I grouped them into seasons so I had winds like the Chinook and Santa Ana winds, but the flow wasn’t working for me. I tried grouping them geographically, but that felt scattered. Then I played around with going from relative calm to faster and more destructive winds. With the dance metaphor, that arc just seemed to work. As I revised, I decided to focus on winds that kids in North America would be most familiar with since that would likely be where the book would be published. Although the derecho is a wind not everyone is familiar with, we experienced one in 2012 and lost power for a few days. The derecho fascinated me so much, that I knew I wanted it in my book.

The book's cover is so inviting, and I love how Josée Bisaillon's illustrations are full of so much beautiful energy and movement. What are some of your favorite aspects of the art?

 

Oh my gosh, Josée’s illustrations are so amazing and so perfect for this book. I am so honored that she agreed to be my creative partner for this project. I knew it would be challenging to illustrate something that is not seen. I assumed she would incorporate the metaphors, but as in most traditional publishing contracts, I had no contact with Josée while she was working on it. The day I got her first sketches, I teared up. When the color ones landed in my inbox, I literally gasped. They were so beautiful. The somewhat transparent aspect of the wind with the objects of my metaphors flowing across the pages makes me swoon. The color scheme she uses is just so perfect.

The beautiful text coupled with beautiful art in this book will make a lot of people swoon! What impact do you hope this book will have on children?

 

I hope this book encourages kids to look at our natural world in new ways. I love the idea of kids coming up with new metaphors to describe other winds or other types of weather. I want them to see that science, while factual, is also awe-inspiring, and can be imaginative, too. I also hope that learning a bit more about the various winds, even the destructive ones, helps them fear storms less and also be proactive in knowing what to do if they face any dangerous storms.

And finally, to steal a line from the ending of your book (which is an ingenious discussion starter allowing for a variety of scientific, poetic, or other creative responses)... "How would YOU describe the wind today?"

            
It’s a very sunny, still, late summer day here in Northern Virginia and I only occasionally see the leaves move in my yard. So today the wind is a feather, barely tickling my skin.

Oh, I love that! And thanks again for being here with us today!

To learn more about Debra and all of her books, visit her website here. You can also follow her on social media: Instagram @debrakshumaker, Twitter/X @ShumakerDebra, or Bluesky @debrakshumaker.bsky.social.

A BIG Congratulations to Vashti Harrison!

Today the American Library Association announced the 2024 Youth Media Awards, and author/illustrator Vashti Harrison was a BIG winner!

If you haven't yet read her gorgeous and groundbreaking picture book BIG, I hope you run to your favorite indie bookstore or local library for a copy. It's possible, however, that it will be out of stock or on loan -- not only because Vashti just won a Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor for the book but because it is, quite simply, a remarkable book! 

Ballet is part of the backdrop, but BIG is about so much more. It's a beautiful, self-affirming story for anyone who has ever received comments -- words -- that have hurt them, be those words about their size (as in this book) or about any other quality they embody. Vashti's sparse test combined with her ingenious use of size, space, and color infuse the story with so much emotion, reminding readers that self-acceptance and self-love are some of the most powerful gifts we can give to ourselves. 

BIG was published by Little, Brown and Company last May, and I picked up my copy in October while visiting friends in Portland. As I browsed the shelves of Powell's Books, I came upon a display copy with a signed print tucked inside. It was my first time in Powell's (which, by the way, is one of the most amazing bookstores ever), and finding this treasure made it a most magical experience... 

Congratulations, Vashti!

See all the 2024 Youth Media Award winners here.