Jane Yolen's Blog, page 7
January 19, 2023
New Feature: Q and A with Jane
Hello Readers! Heidi here! Every Wednesday, I’ll be asking JY a question (two if they are short). The questions might involve advice for writers, fun facts for students, or just reminiscing about a career that has spanned more than 60 years in the publishing world. Every time we teach together, I hear people whisper about “Jane-isms.” You never know when she will spit out a pearl of wisdom!
If you’d like to submit a question, email it to: heidieys@gmail.com with the subject line: “Wednesday Q and J” and make sure to note if you would like the question asked anonymously or with your name attached.
Here’s the first one:
Q: What are you working on today?
JY: I have been turning my two short books (with illustrations by the late Tomie dePaola) into four slightly longer easy reader books for Simon and Schuster (they asked!) but had been stuck on the fourth one for plot. This morning I dreamed the plot. FINALLY.
It has a GRAND piano in it. Because of course giants would have to have a GRAND piano. Anything smaller and they likely would destroy it with their giant fingers!
But this reminds me that ideas come to an author in many ways. Dreams, sometimes. a big AHA moment other times. Something the writer overhears in a subway or airport or grocery store. Something a child says. A sentence in the newspaper, or a book, or a line from a poem. Or after a walk in the park. Or…or…or… It is up to the author to keep ears (and brain and heart) open.
Jane in Smith College’s Greencourt Review
Some of Jane Yolen’s earliest publications were in Smith College’s (she graduated in 1960) Greencourt Review. Don’t you just love a full-circle moment?
January 18, 2023
Even Wonder Woman reads Jane Yolen’s How Do Dinosaurs books!!!!
How Do Dinosaurs Learn To Be Kind?
Scholastic Press (January 3, 2023)
Illustrated by Mark Teague
ISBN-10: 1338827200
ISBN-13: 978-1728415666
This is the latest (but not the last) of my Dinosty (get it? Dino dynasty!) books, which are all about different behaviors of naughty but nice dinos that began over twenty years ago with How Does A Dinosaur Say Goodnight?
Get HOW DO DINOSAURS LEARN TO BE KIND? from:
Indiebound.org
Buy from High Five Books
The Scarlet Circus
Tachyon Publications (February 14, 2023)
with an introduction by Brandon Sanderson
ISBN-10: 1616963867
ISBN-13: 978-1616963866
This is the fourth Tachyon collection of themed fantasy stories with backmatter and poems to go with each story. This one is all love stories that are full of magic and mystery and—of course—love. The stories had been published in other collections of mine, anthologies other people put together, and literary and sf magazines, but this is the first time they are all together by theme.
The complete Tachyon collections:
The Emerald Circus How to Fracture a Fairy Tale The Midnight Circus The Scarlet CircusWhat reviewers have said:
“As skillful as The Emerald Circus (2017), thematically warmer than The Midnight Circus (2020), this volume’s central thread is love. Featuring an introduction by Brandon Sanderson, it collects more of Yolen’s reimagined narratives, many of them previously published. But fairy-tale endings are not guaranteed: Characters choose badly, and death and other sadness enters in. Julie appears from her grave, mourning Roman, in a wry rewrite of Romeo and Juliet narrated by an elf. Several tales are about the power―for good or ill―of belief; merfolk, djinn, and ghosts play major roles. There is time travel and some real history as well as appearances by Merlin and Arthur, Alice Liddell, and many brave and independent young women. The rich and varied plots and tones are matched by advanced but suitable vocabulary―fortuitously, lambent, incorporeal, slatterns, sepulchral, and legerdemain, for example―much of which young readers will be able to decipher from the context. Occasional poems are interspersed among the stories. The fully realized details bring to life both this-worldly and otherworldly settings. Yolen enthusiasts will be rapt, and new fans will be won. Endlessly imaginative, superbly crafted tales that stir the heart.” ―Kirkus“For this whimsical collection, World Fantasy Award winner Yolen (The Midnight Circus) brings together 11 fantastical shorts centered on romantic love. Yolen’s trademark fairy tale styling is on display throughout, with vivid, pithy prose animating each quirky flight of fancy. In her author’s note, she complains that dictionary definitions of romance are all too ‘human-centric.’ Indeed, these tales feature romance between all manner of magical creatures: a fey man falls for a ghost in the comic ‘Dusty Loves,’ though she’s more interested in haunting the boy she left behind; a sailor witnesses the love between a family of merpeople in the sweet ‘The Sea Man’; a princess meets a man who may or may not be a unicorn in standout ‘The Unicorn Hunt’; and an enslaved man finds romance with a djinn in the dated ‘Memoirs of a Bottle Djinn,’ the weakest piece. Many stories riff on the familiar: ‘The Sword and the Stone’ offers a fresh take on King Arthur, while ‘Peter in Wonderland’ imagines an adult Alice falling down the rabbit hole again . . . this enchanting collection is sure to charm.” ―Publishers Weekly“The Scarlet Circus is a magical collection of love stories, where love is often an act of courage and intelligence. Jane Yolen has a true storyteller’s voice―a voice that makes the writing disappear so that only the stories remain.” ―Anne Bishop, New York Times bestselling author of the Black Jewels series“A magnificent and beautiful anthology from a master storyteller! Jane Yolen’s stories and poems reach directly into your heart and fill you with the loveliest kind of magic. I absolutely adored it.” ―Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of The Queens of Renthia series“All these years, and Jane Yolen still reduces me to helpless, gibbering admiration. I’ll read anything with her name on it, even if it’s just a damn grocery list!” ―Peter S. Beagle, author of In Calabria“In the fairy tales and poems of Jane Yolen’s The Scarlet Circus, there are curious permutations of haunting, mesmerizing love stories. . . It’s in these splendid spaces between the book’s winking tributes to sentimentality and its swerving surprises that an unabashed sense of romance lingers.” ―Foreword“Jane Yolen spins captivating tales of whimsy, romance, brave knights, dragons, and twist endings. It was like reading the Grimm’s fairy tales as a kid―it has that same timeless feel. I was immersed in every story.” ―Heather Wallwork, author of Entwined“A charming bouquet of love stories from a heady array of fantastical viewpoints. Here be magic, and romance.” ―Susan Palwick, author of All Worlds Are Real and Flying in Place“Jane Yolen is not only one of the best writers I know of, she’s also consistently excellent. A Grand Master, old-school style!” ―Mercedes Lackey, author of the Valdemar series“Jane Yolen is a national treasure. Cozy up, and let the master take you beyond the fields you know.” ―Sherwood Smith, author of Crown Duel5/5 stars. “This isn’t your typical romance novel though. That romance has a broad definition and doesn’t always have a happy ending. In fact, some of the stories are quite dark. I really like it when Jane Yolen takes a story you think you know and turns it on its head.” ―The Neverending TBR List“With romantic tales inspired by history, dragons, and literature, The Scarlet Circus is a bright romance anthology marked by people’s agile maneuvers. ―ForewordGet THE SCARLET CIRCUS from:
Indiebound.org
Tachyon Publishng
Yuck You Suck! Poems about Animals That Sip, Slurp, Suck
Millbrook Press 
(October 4, 2022)
with Heidi Stemple
Illustrated by Eugenia Nobati
ISBN-10: 1728415667
ISBN-13: 978-1728415666
Poems about animals that suck. No really. The ones that sip and slurp, and otherwise suck their food or use sucking for locomotion and other things. My daughter Heidi and I did a lot of research on such animals around the world, then each chose which creatures we individually wanted to write about. Then we sat across my big dining room table reading our poems aloud to one another and then critiquing each poem. And oh, and by the way, the Vampire Bat? It does not suck! No, really–it bites and sips, but it does not suck!
This is the follow up to Eek You Reek!
What reviewers have said:
“Exuberant, busy, and brightly colored full-page illustrations show a variety of creatures who ‘sip, slurp, suck.’ Insects, birds, sea life, and animals are drawn with exaggerated features and expressions that give them a cartoonish appearance. The poems are printed directly, but unobtrusively, on the illustrations in a fun font. Most of the poems are bouncy rhymes, with a concrete poem and a haiku also included. Common and uncommon creatures are explored. Lampreys are described: ‘It looks like a flower, with petals of gold. Keratin fillings. Oh―beauty―behold! Get set to go nearer, through ocean and muck. Does that flower smell pretty? ‘Tis a pity. Oops. Suck.’ Prologue and epilogue poems tie the theme together. End notes include an explanation on why animals suck, additional resources, anatomical terms for body parts that suck, informational paragraphs on each creature featured in the book, and a glossary of scientific terms. With a book talk or a display, it will be a hit in libraries or classrooms. VERDICT A delightful book that amuses and educates. Strong first purchase recommendation.”―STARRED, School Library Journal” —Publishers WeeklyGet YUCK, YOU SUCK! from:
Indiebound.org
Buy from High Five Books
Mrs. Noah’s Doves
Kar-Ben Publishing (May 1, 2022)
Illustrated by Alida Massari
ISBN-10: 1728424267
ISBN-13: 978-1728424262
This midrash was a delight for a wife and mother of bird watchers to write. It is a kind of poem, which you will notice if you read it out loud. The pictures are just stunning. Midrash is what the rabbis do by taking a story from the Hebrew Bible and finding new ways to interpret them. My first picture book midrash—MIRIAM AT THE RIVER—was a Sydney Taylor honor book. I also have DEBORAH’S TREE just out, and THE APPLE ARGUMENT lined up next. All midrash.
What reviewers have said:
“…harmonious, poetic language…Readers will fall in love with Mrs. Noah and her doves in this heartwarming retelling of the age-old story of destruction, rebirth, and hope. Using Mrs. Noah as the protagonist, author Jane Yolen gives a new perspective to this quintessentially Jewish story. Mrs. Noah, in her warm and sensitive way, models the all-important mitzvah of caring for the sick. And, in the end, there is hope! A must for all libraries…and homes.” —Publishers Weekly“Yolen puts Noah’s wife center stage in this reimagining of the biblical flood narrative. A lovely backstory for an obscure biblical personality.” ―Kirkus ReviewsGet MRS. NOAH’S DOVES from:
Indiebound.org
Love Birds
Harry N. Abrams (November 8, 2022)
Illustrated by Anna Wilson
ISBN-10: 1951836405
ISBN-13: 978-1951836405
I call this my sequel to OWL MOON, only forty years later! Probably I am the only one who sees the connection. I think the pictures are stunning in their own way. I hope John Schoneherr, who won the Caldecott for OWL MOON, is looking down from heaven with approval.
What reviewers have said:
“”Feathers and friendship make for a good pairing in this gentle ode to appreciating both.” —KirkusGet LOVE BIRDS from:
Indiebound.org
Buy from High Five Books
