Mo Willems on "Goldilocks And The Three Dinosaurs" - The 2013 Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner Interview

The Sid Fleischman Humor Award is for authors whose work exemplifies the excellence of writing in the genre of humor. The SCBWI established the award to honor humorous work, so often overlooked in children’s literature by other award committees.

This year's winner is the remarkable (and remarkably funny) Mo Willems!

I connected with Mo to find out more...

Lee:  At this point you have a raft of well-deserved awards, with this Sid Fleischman Award the latest! I imagine with each award and accolade, you can be buoyed up in that Sally Field "you like me, right now, you like me!" way and/or you could feel enormous pressure and self-doubt about your next project.  How do you allow in the good without the pressure taking over?

Mo:  I find it easiest to be genuinely appreciative and remember the recognition is for the book, not me. The book may be proud of itself, but I have to get back to work.

A book that's quite proud of itself

Lee:  If "yucks are bucks" as they say in Hollywood, then I seriously didn't pay enough for my copy of "Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs." Just reading your alternate story ideas on the opening and closing endpapers - from "Goldilocks and the Three Mosquitoes" and "Goldilocks and the Three Whales" to "Goldilocks and the Three Accountants" I laughed out loud again and again… and again!

Were there hundreds and hundreds of these that you came up with and by a process of winnowing you picked the craziest 122? How do you judge what's funnier than what? Are you putting yourself in readers' shoes or are you choosing what YOU think is funniest and confident we'll agree?

Mo:  I write as much as I can, then take the unfunny stuff out.

Lee:  I was trying to 'figure out the funny' and put an analytical eye to what makes your book so hysterical. Two techniques stood out: Setting up expectations and then surprising us, like in the opening line,

"ONCE UPON A TIME, there were three Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur, and some other Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway."

And letting your kid audience feel smarter than the text, like when you write

"The three Dinosaurs went Someplace Else and were definitely not hiding in the woods waiting for an unsuspecting kid to come by."

While the illustration shows us the Dinosaurs sneaking off to do exactly what the text says they're not.

As you craft a story, are you conscious of the different ways you're being funny? Do you think thinking about how to be funny is helpful, or is all that thinking just over-thinking the whole thing?

Mo:  I am a formalist and a structuralist, so, yes, I am aware of the various options in the comedy tool-bag. I like to think my quarter century of work in television, film, comics, theater, and books has helped hone my skills. But if I do my job properly, my audience should think I’m just making it up as I go along.

And we'll just keep reading, and laughing, and being huge fans.

Thanks, Mo - and congratulations!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Announcing The Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award

Newbery Winner Karen Cushman

This is exciting!  Karen Cushman was 53 when she published her first children's book, Catherine Called Birdy (a Newbery Honor Book.)

She won the 1996 Newbery Medal for The Midwife's Apprentice, and has since published six more wonderful novels... and counting!

As Karen says on her website,

"It took me forty-nine years of preparation—of reading and writing and making up stories in my head—to be ready to write. Now I do not intend to stop." 

The SCBWI is proud to announce our newest grant award to, as Karen put it,

 "...encourage and celebrate late bloomers like me, who didn't start to write until age fifty. But then I bloomed, and I'd love to see others do so as well." 

The winner will receive $500 in cash, and free tuition to any worldwide SCBWI conference.  The first winner will be selected this year and announced along with the other Work-in-Progress Grant recipients.  Because this grant was started after the applications were due, SCBWI will be contacting finalists to see if they are eligible for this additional award.

For future years, you won't apply directly for this award, rather it will be chosen from among the Work-in-Progress grant entrees.  To enter you will indicate on your application that you are over 50 and would like to be considered for the award.

It's wonderful to have a luminary in our world of Children's Literature reaching out to help others bloom, too!

Make sure to check out all the awards and grants offered by SCBWI on the main SCBWI website here.

Illustrate and Write On, 
Lee

Mara Rockliff on "Me and Momma and Big John" - The 2013 Golden Kite Interviews

Mara Rockliff has won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text for "Me and Momma and Big John."

2013 Golden Kite Award Winner for Picture Book Text Mara Rockliff

I was able to interview Mara to find out more...

Lee:  Can you tell us about finding out you'd won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for picture book text for "Me and Momma and Big John?"

Mara:  It was a big surprise! The phone rang and it was Lin Oliver, which startled me enough that I babbled a while about SCBWI before she got a chance to say why she had called. I’d already found out about the Charlotte Zolotow honor for Me and Momma and Big John and the Ezra Jack Keats honor for my other recent picture book, My Heart Will Not Sit Down, so it was in the realm of possibility for me that I might be a runner-up again. But when Lin told me I had actually won a Golden Kite, I figured I had heard her wrong. I think I said something witty and brilliant like “Huh?”

Lee:  The arc of little John's understanding of his mother's contribution to building Big John (the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine) gives the story such emotional power. Was this always the narrative line, or did it evolve as you set out to write this story?

Mara:  Actually, it took me a long time to find that central conflict. The story was inspired by a real stonecutter named Carol Hazel, and she’d told me lots of interesting things about her work. For instance, she explained that every stone had to be cut exactly right, down to the smallest fraction of an inch, or else the wall wouldn’t be straight. Cutting her first stone took her two whole months—and when she finished, the master stonecutter threw it on the ground and made her start all over. I tried to write the story around that, and it was terrible. I finally gave up and put it away. Then, around six or eight months later, I pulled it out again and realized what was wrong. The story was supposed to be John’s story, but the conflict was his mother’s, not his own. I had to go back and find a problem from the child’s point of view.

Lee:  That's fascinating - and such a good lesson about finding a problem from the child's point of view.  There's a numinous, magical quality you evoke in the scene where the family visits Big John and "each voice lifts up the next, and then the next, each new one held up higher by the ones that came before. Beside me, Momma's voice joins in the song. I take her hand, and I sing, too." Were you conscious of keeping your language spiritual but not specifically religious?

Mara:  Ha, well, I guess that’s what you get when a lapsed Jew writes a book about an Episcopalian cathedral! I wanted John to have a small epiphany, a moment where he realizes it doesn’t matter that his Momma’s work on the cathedral is anonymous, that just being part of something great and beautiful can be enough. The language was meant to parallel the building of the cathedral—each voice lifting up the next, the way each stone holds up the next. It’s about community…but maybe it is spiritual too.

Lee:  Pacing is so important in a picture book. What techniques do you use to figure out if a manuscript's pacing is working out before you hand it off to an editor and illustrator?

Mara:  I just go by feel. My early drafts always feel “off” to me. Then somewhere around the third or fourth or fifth draft, the story finally snaps into place. (If it ever does—plenty of stories never do.) I know some people like to read their drafts aloud or make a dummy. Sometimes I do page breaks to make sure there are enough different scenes to illustrate, but the page breaks in the finished book never end up where I expect them to.

Lee:  Your author’s note, “About Big John,” is so kid-friendly—can you talk about writing that?

Mara:  I’ve heard complaints about my author’s notes being more interesting than my stories! Author’s notes are fun to write because that’s where I get to stick all the cool facts that didn’t fit into the storyline. Also, I started as a textbook writer, so straight exposition is my native tongue. Sometimes I write the author’s note while I’m still struggling with the main story.

Lee:  When did you first join SCBWI, and can you share how that's helped you on your journey as an author?

Mara:  I joined in fall 2000, after going to a week-long children’s writing workshop led by SCBWI board member Cheryl Zach. I was very glad I did. After reading calls for submissions in Connie Epstein’s “Publisher’s Corner” in the SCBWI newsletter, I sold a beginning reader to Children’s Press and a picture book to a new publisher called Sylvan Dell. Those were my first trade sales, and I’ve stayed with the SCBWI ever since.

Lee:  What's the best piece of advice you've received about your career writing for children that you can share with us?

Mara:  Never read reviews!

Thank you so much, Mara!

You can find out more about Mara Rockliff and her books at her website.

If you'd like to see Mara receive her Golden Kite Award and attend her workshop, "Writing the Historical Picture Book," join us at the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference.  You can find out all the conference information and register here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

E-Books in Libraries: The Final Major US Publisher Gets On Board

This recent op-ed in the New York Times by Anthony W. Marx, the President of the New York Public Library, trumpeted that with Hachette Book Group (which includes Little, Brown) announcing it will (as of May 8, 2013) offer e-books of its titles to libraries, the future of being able to get e-books from libraries seems more-or-less assured:

"This is a big step, as it represents, for the first time, a consensus among the Big Six, at least in principle, that their e-books should be made available to library users."

Anthony cites some remarkable statistics (did you know that circulation since 2008 in New York's neighborhood library branches has risen 44%?  Or that e-book readership in NY rose 168% from 2011 to 2012?)

As Anthony says, "Many issue still need to be sorted out" in terms of prices, terms of licenses and which e-books are part of the inventory libraries can get, but it's an upbeat assessment, stressing that the challenge to keep in mind is:

"to ensure that the information revolution provides more, not less, access for the public"

It's well worth reading.  

E-books in libraries.  It's the future.  And it's happening now.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Joanne Rocklin on "The Five Lives Of Our Cat Zook" - The 2013 Golden Kite Interviews

Joanne Rocklin has won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for fiction for her Middle Grade novel, "The Five Lives Of Our Cat Zook."

2013 Golden Kite Award Winner for Fiction Joanne Rocklin

 I connected with Joanne to find out more...

Lee:  Can you tell us about finding out you'd won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for fiction for "The Five Lives Of Our Cat Zook?"

Joanne:  I have taken to calling SCBWI “my beloved SCBWI” - corny and maudlin, I know - but that’s how happy I am to be honored by an organization of my peers. I will be everlastingly grateful to the award committee for appreciating a book I so loved writing. Lin Oliver’s name came up on my caller ID and I had no idea why she was calling. She came right to the happy point. I began blubbering something about how great it must feel to be her, making those terrific phone calls, how long I’d been writing and how I’d sure paid my dues. She agreed on all counts.

Lee:  Oona has such a strong, unique, wonderful voice. Can you share with us how the character evolved onto the page?

Joanne:  When I sent my previous novel, ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET to my terrific agent Erin Murphy, she asked if I had another one she could look at. “Oh, of course,” I said. Actually, all I had was one phrase: “cats have nine lives.” Not exactly a novel. But I certainly didn’t want to be accused of telling whoppers, so I just plunged in desperately. There is something to be said for desperation! I knew that the book would involve stories told by my main character about a cat’s previous lives. And since these stories would be told in third person, then the main character would have to tell her own story in first person. Having made that initial important decision, Oona’s voice came to me very quickly and naturally. She was a storyteller, an observer, and dealing with the crisis of a sick cat, a turning point in her young life. I once watched a segment on the Ellen Degeneres Show in which kids presented their hilarious, original inventions. I thought it would be fun for Oona to do that, too. She invented the incredibly useful Family Straw.Then she moved on from inventions and began to share “theories”: her Rainbow Whopper Theory, her Hope of the World Theory, and many more. I quickly knew I was about to spend some time with an interesting girl, a girl with her own ideas, lots of flaws, and a heart filled with sadness and love. You are so right: Oona “evolved”. I’d never met her before. She is her own person, although she does remind me of many middle graders I’ve known, including myself. But I was never as bravely outspoken.

Lee:  The story balances issues of loss with lots of humor - were you conscious of playing those elements against (or maybe I should say 'with') each other? Can you go deeper into sadness and loss if the book is funnier?

Joanne:  No, I can’t say I made a conscious decision to balance humor and loss. That is just the way I write, combining life’s funny moments and realizations with serious issues and themes. I myself do like to go deeper into sadness by using humor. Otherwise the writing day can be difficult. (My next book, FLEABRAIN LOVES FRANNY, takes place during our past heartrending polio epidemics. One of my main characters is a talking flea.) But all in all, I do find human beings funny, especially kids, and especially the middle grader. I love the quirky combination of naive misunderstandings, honesty, and fresh observation. It’s so poignant, and yes, naturally funny! Like Oona, I once thought “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” was a song about Elvis’s sad dog.

Lee:  Oona tells a lot of 'whoppers' (that are even rainbow-color ranked according to the type of whopper they are!) You've written a work of fiction - dedicated to your own father - that in ways feels like it is more true than non fiction might have been. What's your view of truth and fiction, and maybe truth through fiction?

Joanne:  I’m often asked if my stories are “true”. None of them are, in the sense that nothing I have ever written has ever happened, plot-wise. Every time I begin to write something that has actually occurred in my life, the event is transformed by the writing process. That’s ok with me. I write fiction, after all. But I’m happy to know that my stories are considered “real”, in that readers connect viscerally with the characters, setting, feelings and themes. I try very hard to make that happen by using rich details, and by deeply understanding my own characters. In ZOOK, I’d often write an entire scene and then delete it. “Uh-uh. Oona wouldn’t do that,” I reminded myself. I also believe that the questions of my book are very real, especially to middle graders: What is true love? Is it ever ok to lie? How do you carry on after a loss? But I do have to backtrack and admit that one aspect of the book is true. We did rescue our own cat, Mitzie, from the streets of Oakland. She was dirty, starving and with a bb gun pellet in her flank, just like Zook. And from my own experience, and the experience of my own kids, the illness or loss of an older pet, one with whom you’ve been living 24/7, is not a “lesser” crisis, but the real, true thing. True love. I wanted to write about that. I dedicated the book to my father who died this year at 93, a little while after ZOOK was published. He was not the model for the dad in the book, but he was a voracious reader and excellent writer.

Lee:   There's so much growth to Oona's arc, but there's also a lot of plot elements that had to come together just so. How did you organize the story as you were writing it? Did you outline it all first?

Joanne:  I enjoy thinking about the writing process, as a (former) psychologist, and of course as a writer in the thick of it. It’s an amazing, almost-magical process, and everyone’s is different. I never outline at first. That’s because the story grows organically while I am writing it, as I get to know my characters and understand how one event led to another. I usually begin with “a good idea”: “cats have nine lives”, for example, or “an eccentric man runs a chocolate factory.”(OK, that last one isn’t mine!) The “cats’ lives” idea for ZOOK led naturally to one cat’s and one family’s story, involving a sick cat and children dealing with the loss of their dad. The concept also directed me to Oona’s desire to tell her little brother some stories about their cat’s other lives, in order to give him hope. This, in turn, inspired me to include one important story that she has been trying to forget. And I’ve often wondered where my own rescued cats came from in terms of the other humans in their lives. As soon as I got the idea for the character whom Oona calls “The Villain”, the story and Oona’s development took off. In other words, the rough draft is a series of discoveries and false starts and decisions - a slow, freewheeling, intuitive process. Perhaps one can compare it to “sketching”. I don’t stop to make it perfect but just forge ahead, writing notes to myself in the margins for the next draft. But even in the rough draft, I try to make the details rich: not just a flower, but lavender and catmint; not just a cat’s markings, but markings in the shape of Oakland and California! Eventually these details begin to connect and echo one another, helping to shape the plot and illuminate themes.. It is usually towards the end of the first draft or the beginning of the second draft that I am able to jot down a rough outline, but that’s because I know my characters and their dilemmas and have fallen in love with them. But I wouldn’t have this outline if I hadn’t courageously written an awful first draft. Writing, for me, involves a lot of writer’s ‘faith’ that the plot will eventually fall into place after several drafts, based on a deeply ingrained sense of story from a life of constant reading.

Lee:   What a fascinating way of thinking about it, getting out that first draft in a mindset of discovery and only then having an outline take shape!  The story of the book concludes, and then you have one more chapter, which might have been an author's note, but it's still in Oona's voice - it's almost like the character doing an author visit. Can you share about that?

Joanne:  The last section is not really a chapter, but another one of Oona’s theories, perhaps the most important one: THE THEORY OF STORY-MAKING FROM OONA AND THE GREAT REBUS-MAKER AND WHOPPER-TELLER. It is what it says - a theory about making stories. The Great R-M and W-T refers to Oona’s late father, who has told her his versions of most of the stories. He has also taught her how stories can grow and change with the teller, and vice versa. And she and her brother learn how stories have the power to cement relationships, bring hope and healing, and offer tremendous comfort through humor. Each of the eight points of the theory was used by Oona throughout the novel, and by me, every time I write one.

Lee:  When did you first join SCBWI, and can you tell us how that's helped you in your journey as an author?

Joanne:  I first joined My Beloved SCBWI when it was merely SCBW, back in the late 70’s. I remember going to my very first conference; Eve Bunting was one of the speakers. Later I took UCLA Extension classes with Eve, and Sue Alexander, and Myra Cohn Livingston, all active members of SCBWI. I was the editor of Kite Tales for several years (the newsletter of SCBWI/LA) and even won the Sue Alexander Service Award. I don’t believe I would be published today without the confidence, encouragement and information SCBWI gave me. I realize I’m talking about SCBWI as if it were the Wizard of Oz! It’s actually an entity made up of the most wonderful, generous, interesting people in the world. Writing is solitary, writers are often introverts, and you need good people like that in your life. And one of my proudest creative accomplishments is that I gave The Schmooze its name.

Lee:  We have you to thank for our Schmoozes being Schmoozes and not 'gab-fests'?  Brava!  What advice can you share with other writers who are working on novels for MG readers?

Joanne:  Middle grade readers are unique, as are their counterparts who are reading picture books, beginning readers and YA. I think that story characters need to reflect the needs of their readers. Children’s authors must be very clear about the age they are writing for and about. So - read scads of middle grade novels, get to know kids of that age, and most importantly, tap into your memories of your own middle grade self. I myself don’t have to dig too deeply--she is very accessible because that was an intense reading, writing and pondering time for me. I still have my old letters, returned to me by my best friend when we were ten years old. My workshop at the conference will look at the ways in which each genre in children’s literature reflects particular developmental needs and characteristics.

Lee:  Any ideas yet for what you are going to wear to the SCBWI Summer Conference's Saturday night's BLACK AND WHITE BALL? It should be great fun, and a treat - like getting to see you awarded your Golden Kite! Congratulations again!

Joanne:  That will be easy. Half of my wardrobe is black. The other half is flannel and wildly patterned (think pajamas). Thank you, Lee, and SCBWI, for giving me the opportunity to answer these thoughtful questions. Can’t wait for the conference--every bit of it! 

Thank you, Joanne!

To find out more about Joanne and her books, visit her website.

If you'd like to see Joanne receive her Golden Kite Award and attend her workshop, "Genre and the Child Reader's Development Needs," join us at the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference.  You can find out all the conference information and register here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

The 2013 Crystal Kite Member Choice Award Winners!

It's very exciting... Here are the winners!

Domestic Divisions

California/Hawaii

Katherine Applegate for "The One and Only Ivan" (HarperCollins) 

West (Washington/Oregon/Alaska/Idaho/Montana/North Dakota/South Dakota)

Kim Baker (Author) for "Pickle" (Roaring Brook Press, illustrated by Tim Probert) 

Southwest (Nevada/Arizona/Utah/Colorado/Wyoming/New Mexico)

Jean Reagan (Author) for "How To Babysit A Grandpa" (Alfred A. Knopf, illustrated by Lee Wildish) 

 Midwest (Minnesota/Iowa/Nebraska/Wisconsin/Illinois/Michigan/Indiana/Ohio)

Aaron Reynolds (Author) for "Creepy Carrots" (Simon & Schuster, illustrated by Peter Brown) 

New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island)

 Jo Knowles for "See You At Harry's" (Candlewick Press) 

New York

Kate Messner for "Capture The Flag" (Scholastic) 

Texas/Oklahoma

 Lynne Kelly for "Chained" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) 

Atlantic (Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland)

Ame Dyckman (Author) for "BOY + BOT" (Alfred A. Knopf, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino) 

Mid-South (Kansas/Louisiana/Arkansas/Tennessee/Kentucky/Missouri)

Sharon Cameron for "The Dark Unwinding" (Scholastic) 

Southeast (Florida/Georgia/South Carolina/North Carolina/Alabama/Mississippi)

Augusta Scattergood for "Glory Be" (Scholastic) 

Continental Divisions

UK/Europe

Dave Cousins for "Fifteen Days Without A Head" (Oxford University Press) 

Africa

Neil Malherbe for "The Magyar Conspiracy" (Tafelberg Publishers) 

Middle East/India/Asia

Benjamin Martin for "Samurai Awakening" (Tuttle Publishing) 

Australia/New Zealand

Meg McKinlay (Author) for "Ten Tiny Things" (Fremantle Press, illustrated by Kyle Hughes-Odgers)

and The Americas (Canada/Mexico/Central & South America)

Jennifer Lanthier (Author) for "The Stamp Collector" (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, illustrated by Francois Thisdale)

Look for interviews with the winners and more about their regions in the coming months here on SCBWI: The Blog.

Congratulations to all the winners! 

Jeri Chase Ferris on "Noah Webster and His Words" - The 2013 Golden Kite Interviews

Jeri Chase Ferris won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for Non Fiction for her picture book biography, "Noah Webster And His Words"

Jeri Chase Ferris, Golden Kite Award Winner

I was happy to connect with Jeri to find out more...

Lee: Can you tell us about finding out you'd won the 2013 Golden Kite Award for non fiction for "Noah Webster & His Words"?

 Jeri: Lin Oliver phoned in the evening and, after a brief hello, asked if I was sitting down. I sat with a feeling of doom, knowing she was going to say someone had died. But no! After hearing the incredible news, I had a song-and-dance-fest with my Scottie. It was a wonderful evening indeed. But I spent the entire next day hovering by the phone, waiting for it to ring, waiting for a voice to say, “Uhhh, sorry, we called the wrong person.” It didn’t ring. NOAH really did win the Golden Kite!!

Lee: Why Noah Webster? What drew you to telling his story?

Jeri: I like to write about people who’ve done great things for America but aren’t as well known as they should be (or as I think they should be) and Noah definitely fit. Everyone knows one thing he did, right? He wrote Webster’s Dictionary. But very few people, aside from SCBWI members, of course, know what else he did for America. After the Revolutionary War, when we were the brand new United States of America, we had no president, each of the thirteen states had its own money and its own laws, and Noah feared our fledgling [adj: one that is new] nation would fall into thirteen pieces. So he did something, many things, about it. I was drawn to him because of his quirkiness, stubbornness, determination, and more than a touch of self-righteousness. (He always knew he was right.) And Noah was a master at promotion, a lesson for all of us. He traveled all over those thirteen states, lecturing, giving away free copies of his books to teachers and ministers and newspaper editors. One can only imagine what he would have done with a website and facebook page!

Lee: How do you organize your research materials (especially when there's lots of material out there on someone's entire life) to find the through line of the story you want to tell?

 Jeri: My biographies are whole-life stories rather than one outstanding event as some great picture book biographies are, so I have a chronology to follow as framework. But within the chronology I must find what makes my character unique, special, different, worthy of a book. In Noah’s case it is stated in the opening line – “Noah Webster always knew he was right, and he never got tired of saying so (even if, sometimes, he wasn’t) and in the closing lines – “Noah’s words did unite America. He always knew he was right!” Noah was driven by his belief that the way to hold our country together was through unified spelling and language. He devoted his life to that cause, despite setbacks and ridicule, and he succeeded.

Lee: Deciding what to tell and what to leave out seems a huge challenge in any biography, but even more so for one limited to 32 pages! You used both the timeline and the "More About Noah Webster" end section to tell us about parts of Noah's life that didn't make it into the main narrative. Did knowing you could include things in that way free you up?

 Jeri: Well, having a great editor helps. Kate O’Sullivan, my editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, began with the word count on the first page of my manuscript. When the ms. came back with her comments, she had crossed out “2000 words” and written “not anymore!” with a smiley face. And she wasn’t kidding. But knowing I would have a time line and room for author’s note freed me to concentrate on the basics, and some fun stuff (who knew Noah Webster was into singing, dancing, and flute playing?) along with the most important deeds he accomplished for America. The additional info would still be available for all to read, but didn’t bog down the story.

Lee: The opening lines, "Noah Webster always knew he was right, and he never got tired of saying so (even if, sometimes, he wasn't). He was, he said, "full of CON-FI-DENCE" [noun: belief that one is right] from the very beginning." Were the word definitions always within the text? It's a great device that functions on so many levels.

Jeri: Yes, the definitions were always in, but I started a bit differently and not as well. I began with numbered definitions, for example: “confidence: 1. Belief that one will act in a right way, 2. Being certain.” Then I spoke to people at Merriam-Webster who suggested I use the parts of speech in the definitions, which made it much more usable and fun. So now it’s: “con-fi-dence [noun: belief that one is right].” And it’s been great to see reviewers pick up this idea and use it in their reviews of Noah!

 Lee: Writing a birth-to-death biography has the challenge of ending with someone being, well, dead. This could be a huge bummer. But "Noah Webster and His Words" has a really up, empowered conclusion. Can you speak about how you approached the ending?

Jeri: That up-beat, empowered conclusion flowed naturally from all that Noah did, his enormous legacy, his never-give-up attitude, and tied back to the opening line perfectly. I love the satisfying feeling it gives.

Lee: When did you first join SCBWI, and can you tell us how that's helped you on your journey as an author?

Jeri: I joined SCBW in 1987 when I was beginning my first biographies, with the encouragement of Caroline Arnold, my non-fiction teacher at UCLA. SCBWI has been my anchor, my rock, my pathway, my font of wisdom ever since. When I lived in LA I was walking distance from the Century Plaza, and attended just about every conference, schmooze, and workshop SCBWI provided. Now, in northern California, I’d be lost without SCBWI and our conferences and critique groups. We cannot and should not do this alone.

Lee: Any advice for other writers working on non fiction projects for kids?

Jeri: Choose a person you admire because you’ll be living with him/her for many moons to come. Choose a person who made a difference. Choose a person who’s done something great, something unique, something exciting for kids to read about. Choose a person who has not already been written about over and over again – or if you do choose such a person, find something unknown or unexpected and focus on that aspect. Dig up those primary sources! Find letters, journals, old photos, newspaper articles. Find the family of the person. Go to museums and archives and libraries for first-hand information. Go to the places your subject lived and worked. And have fun! When you enjoy [verb: take pleasure in; have a good time] your writing, your reader will too. 

Thanks so much, Jeri, and congratulations!

If you'd like to see Jeri receive her Golden Kite Award and attend her Non Fiction workshop, "Primary Sources! How To Find Them and How To Use Them," then you need to join us at the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference.  You can find out all the conference information and register here.

To learn more about Jeri and her books, visit her website.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

A Great Resource For Learning (And Understanding) How To Rhyme: Lane Fredrickson's Rhyme Weaver

A screen shot from Rhyme Weaver

SCBWI member and rhyming picture book author Lane Fredrickson writes

When I initially decided to try writing a rhyming picture book, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it, or what the rules were. I joined a critique group and SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), took some poetry classes, went to workshops, and even got a degree in English along the way. A lot of people tried to discourage me from writing in rhyme. If you are considering writing a rhyming picture book, some people will tell you that editors don’t like them, and that they are difficult or impossible to sell, and that agents won’t represent picture book authors. But mostly, people will tell you that you have to write “perfect” rhyme and meter to publish.  I wasn’t sure what “perfect” rhyme and meter were when I first heard this.  And there seemed to be a lot of conflicting opinions bouncing around about the elusive “perfect” rhyme and meter. It took a long time for me to realize that writing a picture book with rhyme and meter was not that difficult; there just wasn’t a really good resource that laid out all the details I needed to know in a way that was easy to understand.

Lane created that very resource.  If you've ever wondered what exactly Iambic Pentameter means, her site explains it all simply and with lots of silly graphics (making it pretty kid-friendly, too.)

Oh, and it's always fun to drop in words like acatalectic about someone's poetry, or be able to discuss the 46 examples of Headless Anapestic Tetrameter in Dr. Seuss' "The Cat In The Hat"... and know what it all means!  (I plan to use Elision at least once today, how about you?)

If you want to rhyme, check out Lane's RhymeWeaver.

Illustrate and Write and Rhyme On,
Lee

#la13scbwi 2013 Summer Conference Registration Selling Fast - Don't miss your chance to participate in the Intensives!

The Monday (August 5th) Intensives are three hour and fifteen minute sessions that offer some amazing - and unique - opportunities to go deep into your craft with powerhouse editors, publishers, agents, illustrators and authors.

For Writers, there are 24 intensives to choose from, including:

Morning Writer Intensives

Bonnie Bader: How To Hook Readers From the Beginning of Your Book So They'll Never Let Go (part one)

Bonna Bray: It's Character Building!

Ginger Clark: From Offer To Out of Print: A Step By Step Guide To The Publication Process

Julie Hedlung & Sarah Towle: Writing and Submitting Interactive Apps and Ebooks

Ari Lewin: Novel Workshop

Carolyn Mackler: Realistic Teen Fiction: A Love Story

Melissa Manlove: Piece, Part, Whole: Picture Books

Krista Marino: Plot Revision: How To Shake The Problems Out Of Your Muddled Plot

Andrea Pinkney: The Chapter One Pact

Jen Rofé: The "So What" Factor

Steve Sheinkin: Writing The NonFiction Page-Turner

Joanna Volpe: Teen Series: How To Raise The Stakes With Each Book

Henry Winkler: Improv Your Character To Life

Afternoon Writer Intensives

Bonnie Bader: How To Hook Readers From the Beginning of Your Book So They'll Never Let Go (part two, which makes this a six and a half hour intensive!)

Laurie Halse Anderson: Weaving Magic From Truth: The Research, Writing, and Ethics Of Historical Fiction

Jill Corcoran: How to Write A Query Letter

Matt de la Peña: Authentic Dialog

Emma Dryden: Revision Precision: Techniques and Approaches To Revising Your Work

Deborah Halverson: How to Build Your Own Teenager: Techniques For Writing Believable MG/YA Characters

Ari Lewin: Executing Your Fantasy Novel

Krista Marino: Important Firsts: The Importance of The First Line, First Page, and First Chapter of Your Book

Molly O'Neill: Where Does Voice Come From?

Andrea Pinkney: Making Multi-Cultural Writing Real

Jen Rofé: The "So What" Factor

Namrata Tripathi: Developing Your Dummy: An Intensive for Author/Illustrators

Andrea Welch: Ten Essential Picture Book Elements - How Does Your Manuscript Measure Up?

For Illustrators, there's a day-long program, "Where Your Illustration Style Fits In Children's Publishing" that explores the genres and gives illustrators the opportunity to have pre-conference assignments reviewed in a First Look Panel and have their work seen in the Lunchtime Showcase!  The day includes:

Jannie Ho and Tom Lichtenheld: Before Picture Books: Books For Toddlers

Jessie Hartland and Dan Santat: Picture Books

Carson Ellis and Jarrett Krosoczka: Beyond Picture Books: Chapter Books, Illustrated Middle Grade & Graphic Novels

First Look Panel with Giuseppe Castellano, Allyn Johnston, Steve Malk and Kristen Nobles

Panel: Breaking Boundaries: Transcending And Redefining Genres with Donna Bray, Jarret Krosoczka and Steve Malk, moderated by Laurent Linn.

For details on all the intensives, visit scbwi.org here.

Check out the main conference Schedule (an incredible jam-packed three days),  bios on the Faculty, and find all the additional conference information here.

Space in the Intensives is selling faster than any other year - so if it's something you'd like to do, register now so you get a spot!

We hope to see you there.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Operation Teen Book Drop 2013 is Today (Thursday April 18, 2013!)

Ask yourself what book would you have loved to find (for free) when you were a teen? 

Now you can make that happen for someone else!

The Readergirlz are doing (and inspiring) awesome again with their Operation Teen Book Drop!

This year, in addition to rocking out and dropping our favorite YA titles in public spaces for lucky readers to discover, we're also directing supporters of teen fiction everywhere to consider a book donation to 826NYC to help grow their library.

Just choose a great YA book, print out the snazzy bookplate (designed by Lindsay Frantz), attach, and leave it somewhere out in the world where a teen will find it!

Find out more at Readergirlz and #rockthedrop with them and their partners Figment, I Heart Daily, Soho Teen, and 826NYC to celebrate YA lit.!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

ps - And don't forget - today is also the day Registration opens for The 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference (#LA13SCBWI) at 10am Pacific Time.  Go here to find out more and register!

The 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference Schedule Is UP! Get Ready, Registration Opens April 18, 2013!

The Schedule is UP!

There's a panel on World Building in YA novels and we get to hear Laurie Halse Anderson and David Wiesner back to back... and that's just a little bit of what's happening on Friday!  And throughout the conference's three days there are over 80 workshops to choose from!

The Faculty is ANNOUNCED!

(It includes agents Jenny Bent, Mela Bolinao, Ginger Clark, Jill Corcoran, Steven Malk, Jennifer Rofe and Joanne Volpe, editors Bonnie Bader, Donna Bray, Gill Evans, Allyn Johnston, Arthur A. Levine, Arianne Lewin, Melissa Manlove, Krista Marino, Molly O’Neill, Namrata Tripathi and Andrea Welch, and art directors Giuseppe Castellano, Laurent Linn,  Kristin Nobles and Cecilia Young, and even more stars of children's literature!)

The Monday Intensives will be AMAZING, there is a portfolio showcase as well as individual manuscript and portfolio consultations!  There are Friday night socials (Illustrators, International, LGBTQ Q&A and Nonfiction) and there's the Saturday night gala, THE BLACK AND WHITE BALL...

Three days, plus a fourth intensive day on Monday August 5, packed with business, craft, inspiration, community and opportunity!  There's so much information to pour over and get excited about.

Go now to the conference information pages at scbwi.org  Check it out.  Make sure your membership is current so you get your registration discount.

And get ready for an incredible #LA13SCBWI! (That's twitter-talk for The 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference!)

Remember, registration opens Thursday April 18, 2013 at 10am Pacific Time.  The Intensives - and in fact, the entire conference, sell out year after year, so make sure you get your spot!

We hope to see you there.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

ps - Want to share about the part of the conference you're really excited about?  Or tell us what you're going to wear to the Black and White Ball?  Leave a comment here!

Poet and Author Greg Pincus Shares 30 Poets 30 Days

It's the 5th year Greg Pincus celebrates the USA's National Poetry Month (April) by sharing previously unpublished poetry by children's literature stars on his Gottabook blog.

This year's poets include:

Jon Agee
Stephen W. Cahill
Thalia Chaltas
Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Jill Corcoran
Dave Crawley
Doug Cushman
Kelly Ramsdell Fineman
Nancy Bo Flood
John Foster
Mary Lee Hahn
Steven Herrick
Emily Jiang
Irene Latham
Renée LaTulippe
Debbie Levy
Guadalupe Garcia McCall
G. Neri
Lesléa Newman
Naomi Shihab Nye
Andrew Fusek Peters
Heidi Bee Roemer
Robert Schechter
Laurel Snyder
Sonya Sones
Maria Testa
Robert Paul Weston
Jenny Whitehead
Tamera Will Wissinger
Joyce Lee Wong

 

Greg's done something pretty genius by taking an event that already existed and bringing people to his online home for thirty days in a row - not to read his own poetry, but to read other poets' works, and to celebrate poetry for kids!

Of course, once people are at his site, they see his poetry, and get excited about Greg's debut novel "The 14 Fibs of Gregory K." (out this October from Arthur A. Levine books.)

It's like a master class in how to build a platform.

But that makes sense, because Greg's also a social media guru for writers and illustrators.  (He does his social media stuff here at The Happy Accident.)

So go check out some amazing poetry for the whole month of April.  And get inspired, both by the poetry, and what you might do to build your own platform!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee