Jane Yolen's Blog, page 2

Schlemiel Comes to America

Reycraft Books (March 7, 2023)
ISBN: 1478876115
ISBN-13: 978-1478876113

A short middle grade novel based on the old Jewish tales of the imaginary town of Chelm where everyone is a dim-wit and dummy except for one man named Schlimiel who decides to move to America where he finds some folk as silly and dumb as in Chelm.

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Interrupting Cow and the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Illustrated by  Joëlle Dreidemy
Simon Spotlight (August 29, 2023)
ISBN: 1665914424
ISBN-13: 978-1665914420

Interrupting Cow and the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the latest (and probably the last) in the easy reading series based on the well known joke about the Interrupting Cow that my darling grandaughter, Ari Stemple, (they are also a published writer) used to tell me endlessly.

What reviewers have said:

“A lesson in friendship and being kind to others that also remains lighthearted and silly.” — School Library Journal

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Giants’ Farm, The (2023)

Illustrated by Tomie dePaola
Aladdin (February 7, 2023)
ISBN 10: 153448857X
ISBN 13: 978-1534488571

The Giants’ Farm began when my husband and I  bought an old farm and fourteen acres in Hatfield, MA some 50 years ago.I wanted to call it Fe-Fi-Fo Farm. My husband and our three children were mortified. He suggested Phoenix Farm, which it is now. And the children said, “Mom, just write a book about Fe-Fi-Fo-Farm. So, I did.  It was published a long time ago and is now coming out with sequels as an early reader series. Dear Tomie dePaola, who died last year, did the first two books long ago. But the new books will b illustrated by someone who can copy his style.

What reviewers have said:

“Yolen’s easy-to-read storybook is easy to take, an infectiously giggly collection of five tales about five giants. . .a natural to seduce  beginners into the world of books.”–Publishers Weekly“Expertly written. . .”School Library Journal“A quiet  story about sharing and living together as a family. De Paola’s illustratins accurately capture the different giant personalities.”–Association for Childhood International“The modest yet hilarious episodes are almost perfect for the beginning reading crowd. And the bon-bon recipe is really good-good.”–Dallas Morning News“Whimsical. . .”–Booklist

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Wednesday Q & J: November 1, 2023

Q: What is your favorite thing to write?J:  Poetry and picture books are definitely my favorites. Not because they are short, (I have written long poems/linked poems and novels in verse) but because I have been a poet from childhood. I sometimes talk to my husband in rhyme, send things to school children that are in poetic forms.  Yes, I have written novels, non fiction etc. , but often a poem or song finds its way into the book. Or I make a main character a poet just so I can write some poetry in that characters voice.

Wednesday Q & J: October 25, 2023

Q: 2023 is a year where you had 14 books come out. How is that possible??

 

J: A lot of it has to do with how slow publishing can be and how fast I sometimes am. But also, editors are working on many manuscripts at the same time, or the right illustrator is booked up ahead so long, it may be years before he or she can tackle one of my stories. So not everything that comes out in a particular year was written in that year. Or even two or three years earlier. It may have had trouble finding an editor who wants it, or an editor might leave mid-book to go to work elsewhere, or they have troubles with scheduling. NONE of it is my fault!!!

Wednesday Q & J: October 18, 2023

Q:  You love to dig into your drawers of unsold manuscripts to revise and find new opportunities for them. What’s that process like?

 

J: Sometimes an old manuscript is a surprise. I will pull one out and read it to find I have grown enough in confidence and talent to make it shine where before it only sort of shimmered.  Alas, sometimes I cannot, for the life of me, make it better. Sometimes the kind of storytelling in the manuscript is no longer in favor or the market has moved on. I read enough in the fields I write in to be sure of this.  So… sometimes an old manuscript becomes a new opportunity and sometimes it is time to say, “this one is not going to go anywhere.”

 

Wednesday Q & J: October 11, 2023

Q: You talk about the editorial process not being adversarial. What do you mean by that?

 

J: I mean both author and editor(s) listen and converse about the needed changes, but we are not fighting. No editor wants to make a manuscript worse. So it is incumbent upon both to be professional–not shout or-name call or pout. But find a compromise that does, indeed, make the book better. So–advisable, not adversarial.

Wednesday Q & J: October 4, 2023

Q: You are rebooting a series of books illustrated by Tomie DePaola. Tell us about the evolution of the Giants in Giants Farm and Giants Go Camping and beyond.

 

J:  I began with one book, never considering it as series. It just grew and grew.  Tomie (alas, gone now and I write this on the day before his memorial ceremony) and I were long-time friends. We had done other books together. This was just plain silly fun.  I had written and he had illustrated two of the giant books, and years and years later, the publisher wanted to turn the books into four easy-readers, but by then dear Tomie had died. We are using his illustrations in the first two reprints and then having someone do illustrations in his style for the next two. Fingers crossed.

Wednesday Q & J: September 27, 2023

Q: You’ve just returned from Scotland where you live in the summers. How does your writing change when you are there?

 

J: It depends less on where I am, than what time I have. If we are traveling or eating out a lot or visiting old friends (some VERY old) then, less writing. And this year there was a lot of house repairs being done. The writing that is most effected by being in Scotland is my daily poems because I am seeing a different landscape, different weather patterns, different birds, than in Massachusetts. And that is often what my poems are about.

Wednesday Q & J: September 20, 2023

Q: From Kaden (14 years old) A while ago I read the first book of the pit dragon trilogy. There are four books in that series so I know you ended up writing one more than you intended. Are you planning on writing a fifth book? I would love to know!

 

J: Thanks for asking Kaden!

Since it took me twenty years from the time I wrote the third book before I wrote the fourth, to end the Pit Dragon series, and I am 84 now, I seriously doubt there will be a fifth. Even though I am still writing, I am not writing really long books, like the Pit Dragons.

If I decided to write a fifth, I would first have to re-read all four and take serious notes and that would take several months right there. And the writing… probably another year or more. And by then I would be closing in on 90 years old.

Maybe one of my kids will do it. They are all writers … But, definitely not me.

 

Note from Heidi: Be careful with absolutes, JY… Never say never.