Zanni Louise's Blog - Posts Tagged "zanni-louise"
New book! The Five Mile Press contract Dewey Decimal
Hi! Well this was a bit of an exciting afternoon, signing a contract for a new picture book with The Five Mile Press / Bonnier Publishing called DEWEY DECIMAL.
I bet you can guess where Dewey might live… Yep, you’ve got it. A library! Dewey is a library mouse, who keeps everything in order. But one night, a curly haired girl, who is no stranger to destruction, lands in his library. It appears she’s fallen out of a book! This story is about going beyond the library bookshelf, into a land of adventure.
Niki Horin, commissioning editor at the Five Mile Press came to me with this idea about a year ago. I’ve been working with the Five Mile team, mainly Samone Bos, ever since. Dewey’s first adventure will be out in 2018, and we are beyond excited.
I feel like this contract came at a good time. School library funding is under threat, which is weird, given how important libraries obviously are. Yes of course we use the internet etc. but libraries are communal, free and give kids and adults access to infinite worlds beyond what they know. The library was a sanctuary for me growing me. Everyone in publishing has strong feelings about their childhood library. And kids I meet today have the same affinity. Just because technology is changing the world, doesn’t meet we have reduce the importance of libraries. Libraries can change with the world! Heck, they could even change the world.
I bet you can guess where Dewey might live… Yep, you’ve got it. A library! Dewey is a library mouse, who keeps everything in order. But one night, a curly haired girl, who is no stranger to destruction, lands in his library. It appears she’s fallen out of a book! This story is about going beyond the library bookshelf, into a land of adventure.
Niki Horin, commissioning editor at the Five Mile Press came to me with this idea about a year ago. I’ve been working with the Five Mile team, mainly Samone Bos, ever since. Dewey’s first adventure will be out in 2018, and we are beyond excited.
I feel like this contract came at a good time. School library funding is under threat, which is weird, given how important libraries obviously are. Yes of course we use the internet etc. but libraries are communal, free and give kids and adults access to infinite worlds beyond what they know. The library was a sanctuary for me growing me. Everyone in publishing has strong feelings about their childhood library. And kids I meet today have the same affinity. Just because technology is changing the world, doesn’t meet we have reduce the importance of libraries. Libraries can change with the world! Heck, they could even change the world.
New picture book acquisition!
I was reading one of those unappealing digitally created ‘Find the something in the somewhere’ book with Rosie (who adores that book, by the way), when a completely random thought flashed across my brain. A thought that fit in very well with Errol, my soon to be released overweight penguin character.
I aired the idea with the kids, a friend, a husband, and generally got the OK. They laughed. That’s what I was hoping for.
So, I started mocking up the idea. Like most of my picture book ideas, it emerged slowly over a few sessions with my notebook. Unlike most of my picture book ideas, I developed ERROL as a storyboard of sketches. I am not an artist, as such, though I like to draw. But somehow, Errol, and his humorous antics, come to life very well in sketches.
I spent some quality working hours developing the idea into something more substantial, turning doodles into an impressive (ahem) PDF document, and submitted to Scholastic.
The Scholastic team, and ERROL’s illustrator Philip Bunting replied with a resounding YES! So ERROL II will be coming out in 2019. Very exciting stuff.
I love working with characters over more than one book. A character like Errol, and his mum, seem very real (even though they are overweight walking talking penguins), and have a lot of potential. What did I hear recently? A character is not a character until they’ve got a decision to make? Well, Errol and his mum have pretty unique responses to decisions. And I guess that’s what excites me.
The ERROL concept is very sparse. Few words. Lots of action. A helluva lot of space. Like Mo Willems says, space allows the readers to put themselves into the story. They have to piece it together. And the more work they do, the more invested they are in the story.
Anyway, you’ll get to meet Errol next year, when the first book is released.
Meanwhile, clever Philip Bunting is going around being nominated for Kate Greenaways and stuff like that. Can’t fault the guy! So lucky to work with him, as his career takes off. I got to see the final artwork for the first ERROL book the other day, and it is sublime!
I aired the idea with the kids, a friend, a husband, and generally got the OK. They laughed. That’s what I was hoping for.
So, I started mocking up the idea. Like most of my picture book ideas, it emerged slowly over a few sessions with my notebook. Unlike most of my picture book ideas, I developed ERROL as a storyboard of sketches. I am not an artist, as such, though I like to draw. But somehow, Errol, and his humorous antics, come to life very well in sketches.
I spent some quality working hours developing the idea into something more substantial, turning doodles into an impressive (ahem) PDF document, and submitted to Scholastic.
The Scholastic team, and ERROL’s illustrator Philip Bunting replied with a resounding YES! So ERROL II will be coming out in 2019. Very exciting stuff.
I love working with characters over more than one book. A character like Errol, and his mum, seem very real (even though they are overweight walking talking penguins), and have a lot of potential. What did I hear recently? A character is not a character until they’ve got a decision to make? Well, Errol and his mum have pretty unique responses to decisions. And I guess that’s what excites me.
The ERROL concept is very sparse. Few words. Lots of action. A helluva lot of space. Like Mo Willems says, space allows the readers to put themselves into the story. They have to piece it together. And the more work they do, the more invested they are in the story.
Anyway, you’ll get to meet Errol next year, when the first book is released.
Meanwhile, clever Philip Bunting is going around being nominated for Kate Greenaways and stuff like that. Can’t fault the guy! So lucky to work with him, as his career takes off. I got to see the final artwork for the first ERROL book the other day, and it is sublime!
ERROL off to UK!
Was thrilled to wake up to news this morning that my little mate Errol will be heading to UK late 2018.
ERROL, illustrated by Philip Bunting, will be released by Scholastic UK.
ERROL, illustrated by Philip Bunting, will be released by Scholastic UK.
ERROL off to Asia
Exciting news dropped last week - my little man Errol, the cheeky little penguin created with Kate Greenaway nominee Philip Bunting, will be heading to 13 Asian countries in 2018, and is being made into an audio book!
Wishing I could fit in his suitcase.
ERROL is published by Scholastic, and will be available in June, 2018 in Australia.
Wishing I could fit in his suitcase.
ERROL is published by Scholastic, and will be available in June, 2018 in Australia.
