Debbie Ridpath Ohi's Blog, page 79

Tip for aspiring writers & illustrators: find a different way to tell or show your story, avoid the obvious.

When I especially enjoy reading a book or fall in love with a particular illustration, it’s usually because the author or illustrator manages to convey an emotion, scene or story in an unusual way, that spurs me to look at the world a little differently.

I try to remember this when writing and illustrating. It's one of my goals when I create found object art, trying to avoid the obvious.

Donalyn Miller's READING IN THE WILD and THE BOOK WHISPERER

A while back, I read Donalyn Miller's READING IN THE WILD: The Book Whisperer's Keys To Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits. I enjoyed it so much that I just bought THE BOOK WHISPERER. The books are geared toward educators, but there is so much great info and inspiration for those who help create books for young people. I'm going to be gradually incorporating some of Donalyn's suggestions into activity sheets I create for my FOR THE LOVE OF READING page as well as bonus material for my book projects.

You can find more info about Donalyn Miller and her books at Bookwhisperer.com, and you can follow her on Twitter at @donalynbooks.

#BookADay: MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS by Eliza Wheeler @wheelerstudio, advice for picture book writers/illustrators

I've fallen a bit behind in my #BookADay posts because of my work schedule, but plan to catch up soon. Perfect for a relaxing Canada Day #BookADay: MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS by my friend Eliza Wheeler (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin, 2013). Eliza and I met when we were both picked for the 2010 SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program, and we've been friends ever since. I'm looking forward to rooming with Eliza next month at the SCBWI-LA convention!

Miss Maple's Seeds has absolutely gorgeous artwork, and such a comforting and inspiring story. My favourite quote: "...Even the grandest of trees once had to grow up from the smallest of seeds."

Synopsis:

"Fans of Miss Rumphius will adore this gorgeous picture book which introduces the kind, nature-loving Miss Maple, who celebrates the miracle in each seed. Miss Maple gathers lost seeds that haven’t yet found a place to sprout. She takes them on field trips to explore places to grow. In her cozy maple tree house, she nurtures them; keeping them safe and warm until it’s time for them to find roots of their own, and grow into the magnificent plants they’re destined to become. Eliza Wheeler’s luminous paintings feature gorgeous landscapes, lush foliage and charming details. Her tender story celebrates the potential found in each seed—since even the grandest tree and most brilliant flower had to grow from the smallest of seeds. Celebrate every season with Miss Maple, from Earth Day to graduations to harvest festivals. "

I interviewed Eliza last year on Inkygirl.com about MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS and her illustrations for Holly Black's DOLL BONES; do check it out for the story of how Eliza and I met, her work process, and advice for aspiring picture book writers and illustrators.

Some of Eliza's excellent advice:

1) Be patient while you build up your body of work. Just focus on your craft, and leave the business side of storytelling for later; for when your work is REALLY good.

2) Create the kind of work that your kid self would have loved. Be your own audience, and always ask yourself "If someone else made this, would I read it? Would I put it up on my wall?". It seems obvious, but more often than not when I ask myself this question, I'm surprised to think "no".

3) Read, read, read. Whenever I'm stuck with my storytelling I read. I get new ideas or answers to existing stories when I read. And don't just read in your genre. A friend lent me Aimee Bender's adult novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, and I was distracted through the entire thing because every single time I sat down to read that book, a particular story I was working on would come to me in waves. I don't know why that was, but certain books will do that, and I've learned that it's a really great thing.

---------

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

Look what Justin Chanda @jpchanda sent me from the ALA conference last night (!!)

Thanks SOOOOO MUCH to Judy Blume and my editor Justin Chanda for this wonderful photo  taken yesterday at the annual American Library Association conference (ALA). This photo makes me VERY VERY HAPPY FOR MANY REASONS. Here's more info about the revamped books from Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, how I became a Judy Blume illustrator and my history as a Judy Blume fangirl.

#BookADay: SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE by Morgan Matson @morgan_m

Just finished reading SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE by Morgan Matson (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2014). Loved this book, especially the main character, Emily. How I wish this book had been published years ago! I was very much like Emily when I was a teen: timid and insecure on my own, plus I spent a chunk of time in the shadow of a much more outgoing friend. Reading this book might have helped give me the courage to step out of my friend's shadow and find my own adventures.

Something else I loved: the twist on the stereotypical timid girl/outgoing or mean girl scenario. I won't go into details for fear of giving away spoilers. Read this book!

Synopsis:

The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just... disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try... unless they could lead back to her best friend.

Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough.

Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not?

Kiss a Stranger? Wait... what?

Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go Skinny Dipping? Um...

------

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

#BookADay: HOORAY FOR HAT! by Brian Won, plus advice for children's book illustrators

HOORAY FOR HAT is Brian Won's debut picture book, and was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt earlier this year.

Synopsis:

"Elephant wakes up grumpy—until ding, dong! What’s in the surprise box at the front door? A hat! HOORAY FOR HAT! Elephant marches off to show Zebra, but Zebra is having a grumpy day, too—until Elephant shares his new hat and cheers up his friend. Off they march to show Turtle! The parade continues as every animal brightens the day of a grumpy friend. An irresistible celebration of friendship, sharing, and fabulous hats."

I wrote about Brian and HOORAY FOR HAT earlier this month. 

Three things children's book writer/illustrators can learn from Brian:

1. Understand the emotions behind the characters you are illustrating.

2. Don't compare yourself to others. Instead, compare where you are now to where you came from.

3. Join the SCBWI and attend conferences, enter the Portfolio Showcase. You never know what might happen!

-------

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

#BookADay: ONE WORD PEARL by Nicole Groeneweg and Hazel Mitchell, plus advice for aspiring children's book illustrators

Today's #BookADay: ONE WORD PEARL written by Nicole Groeneweg and illustrated by Hazel Mitchell (Charlesbridge, 2013).

Synopsis:

Pearl loves words. All kinds of words. Words make up songs, stories, poems . . . and what does a lover of words do? She collects them, of course! But one day, most of Pearl’s words are blown away, leaving her only a few which she keeps safely in her treasure chest.

After that day, she uses each word carefully—one at a time, until she has no words left. When her teacher asks her questions at school, she doesn’t answer. When her friend wants to know what she has for lunch, she can’t respond. What will Pearl do without her precious words? Will she ever find them?

One Word Pearl explores the power of words to transform, inspire, and cultivate imagination.

I was delighted to interview the illustrator of ONE WORD PEARL last year. Do check out Hazel Mitchell's interview for a great peek into her process (lots of photos) and advice for aspiring children's book illustrators.

HAZEL MITCHELL'S ADVICE:

Attend all the conferences/workshops you can afford (and some you can't) and absorb information.

Learn the craft. Children's book illustration is an art-unto-itself. Study the masters, attend workshops where great illustrators are teaching. Go back to college if you need to.

Draw. Draw. Draw. There is no substitute for drawing.

Read. Read. Read. Immerse yourself in discovering new and old picture books, illustrated middle grade, cover work, graphic novels.

Find your voice ... how do you do that? By drawing and learning and imitating and seeking critique and then finally becoming unconscious of your style. Then you have found your illustration voice.

Work on your portfolio. A portfolio for children's illustration! Creating a website portfolio is very important! Tell people you exist!

Mail out, submit, direct people to look at your work.

Be open. become proficient in social networking. It's free and it can benefit you in unbelievable ways. But always give back.

Seek out other illustrators and create a band of brothers.

------------

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

#BookADay: SAY HELLO TO ZORRO! by Carter Goodrich, plus a peek into his illustration process

Catching up on my #BookADay: SAY HELLO TO ZORRO! by Carter Goodrich (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2011). The two dog characters in this story are soooooo adorable. And I was very excited to discover that MISTER BUD WEARS THE CONE just came out!

According to a Readeo.com interview, Zorro was apparently loosely based on his aunt's pug. The pug's name was Ozzie but Carter has dyslexia, so called him Zorro. Carter used watercolor for the illustrations, which was new for him.

"The best part of an image is the part I couldn’t control, the happy accident. When something strange would happen in a piece, it would always be better than something I might purposefully do. Like when Zorro is shifting position on the couch. I did a lot of takes on that. I was still working with pencil and trying to shape it and tone it. I thought, “I have to paint the couch really quickly, and it’s either going to hit or not.” There are little things where the paint did everything on its own,. But then I had to repeat it. And that was alright, too. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be."

Read more about Carter's process in Jenny Brown's interview with him on Readeo.

And check out the cover of the just-released Mister Bud Wears The Cone:

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

Comic: International Writer Crisis

Ironically, I recycled one of my old comics from 2006 and revamped the art for the above. :-)

#BookADay: BOY + BOT by Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino (and advice for aspiring picture book authors and illustrators)

Just reread BOY + BOT, written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf/Random House, 2012). Wonderfully entertaining story of friendship. 

On Goodreads - On Indiebound

Synopsis: "One day, a boy and a robot meet in the woods. They play. They have fun. But when Bot gets switched off, Boy thinks he's sick. The usual remedies—applesauce, reading a story—don't help, so Boy tucks the sick Bot in, then falls asleep. Bot is worried when he powers on and finds his friend powered off. He takes Boy home with him and tries all his remedies: oil, reading an instruction manual. Nothing revives the malfunctioning Boy! Can the Inventor help fix him? Using the perfect blend of sweetness and humor, this story of an adorable duo will win the hearts of the very youngest readers."

I read each of these #BookADay picture books out loud to myself in my home office, as I've mentioned before. I STRONGLY STRONGLY RECOMMEND that aspiring children's picture authors and illustrators do this, both for other people's picture books as well as your own works-in-progress.

In this readaloud, it was SO fun to do the robot's voice. I also loved the text and visual parallels in how the boy and robot tried to fix each other.

Kidlit types on Twitter, by the way, need to follow Ame Dyckman at @AmeDyckman. She is bubbly, energetic, enthusiastic, and a joy to read. I interviewed Ame about BOY + BOT on Inkygirl a while back and was delighted to meet her in person at SCBWI-LA some time later.

Ame's newest book is TEA PARTY RULES, illustrated by K.G. Campbell and published by Viking.

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.