what part is work?

Having just come back from almost two months of traveling all around (some of it working, some of it not so much) it was a bit of a shock to come back and face Sitting-at-a-Desk Work (as opposed to Galavanting-Around Work).

Imagine my joy at finding this quote... but all joking aside, this is seriously true. I believe every word. You must fight for this every day. 

"It is also true that creation comes from an overflow, so you have to learn to intake, to imbibe, to nourish yourself and not be afraid of fullness. The fullness is like a tidal wave which then carries you, sweeps you into experience and into writing. Permit yourself to flow and overflow, allow for the rise in temperature, all the expansions and intensifications." 

Anais Nin

Illustration is by Jago from our new book THOUGHTS TO MAKE YOUR HEART SING coming in October. It shows Polzeath Beach in Cornwall, near where Jago lives. It just so happens to be one of my most favorite places in all the world. I've been going there on holiday since I was tiny. How cool is that? 

Illustration copyright 2012 by Jago

She's not sick, she's a dancer

Picasso said all children are born artists. But we don't grow out of creativity, according to Sir Ken Robinson. We are educated out of it.

Here's Sir Ken Robinson at TED being very funny and very right about creativity... and the education system that has us believing maths is more important than dance...

Paring away, simpler and simpler

Dick Bruna's drawings of Miffy only allow for very miniscule changes to indicate emotions--the position of eyes, the length of the ears, the shape of the mouth.

"That's all you have. With two dots and a little cross I have to make her happy (...) or a little bit sad--and I do it over and over again. There is a moment when I think yes, now she is really sad. I must keep her like that."

He is constantly paring away, distilling down to the simplest purist form possible. When he draws Miffy crying, for instance, he says, "I very often start with three or four tears. I take away one, and the next day I take away another one, and at the end I have one tear, and that's very, very sad."

Georges Simenon wrote to him and said: "I see that you are trying to make your covers still simpler and simpler. You are doing the same in designing as I try to do in writing."

It might take him a day to draw a single illustration of Miffy.

<note: I'm going to take an entire month off from blogging... so, see you back in september!>

Dick Bruna and Miffy

I love Miffy. She is so simple. And I know what that means--there's a huge amount of work that got her to look that simple.

Dick Bruna, the creator of Miffy said:

"I would love to be able to draw like a child, so spontaneous, so open-minded on those big sheets. As an adult you start to draw and then hope that you make something good, something beautiful. A child is not like that, they start and see what happens... I draw things you will see close to home, things that I also like. Maybe I still think a bit like a child, I have a childish mind, I think. There are a lot of things I don't understand." 

Dick Bruna (b.1927 in Utrecht)

One wet and windy seaside holiday, he drew a story for his son, Sierk. It was about a little white rabbit called Miffy. His first Miffy children's book looked like this (1957):

By 1963 she looked like this:

I love his simple daily routine--he is a multi-millionaire mogul (over 85 millions books sold in over 40 languages) and yet this is his day (as simple and distilled as his art) every day he gets up at 5, squeezes a glass of orange juice for his wife Irene, draws her a picture about things she has done, or reminders of things she is planning to do. hHe cycles to Utrecht canals and goes to a cafe for coffee. Works in his studio. Cycles home for lunch. Back to the studio in the afternoon to do admin work.

Miffy is 50 now--and to celebrate, a museum was opened in her honor. The Dick Bruna Huis.

Picture books and Margaret Wise Brown

"A book should try to accomplish something more than just to repeat a child's own experiences. One would hope rather to make a child laugh or feel clear and happy-headed as he follows a simple rhythm to its logical end, to jolt him with the unexpected and comfort him with the familiar; and perhaps to lift him for a few minutes from his own problems of shoe laces that won't tie and busy parents and mysterious clock time into the world of a bug or a bear or a bee or a boy living in the timeless world of story." Margaret Wise Brown

This was 1935 and it was brand new stuff for picture books. Before Margaret Wise Brown, the picture book had been dominated by fairytales and fables. Margaret Wise Brown's focus on a child's every day life dignified children's own lives and was a game changer--it changed children's literature and the picture book for ever.

And it was fed by her work as a teacher at the progressive Bank Street Experimental School in New York City, where she listened to children and heard their stories and how they spoke.

It's what makes her voice so distinctive. I love her titles: The Noisy Book, The Important Book, Another Important Book. They're still fresh today. How radical they must have been then.

She was a pioneer. She fought for keeping big words in her books, refusing to dum down the language. She fought to get authors and illustrators proper royalties and fought to get the illustrator the same royalties as writer. (Before they had only received a flat fee.) 

What would you spend your first royalty check on? She spent hers on a cart full of flowers. How wonderful. Then she invited all her friends over for a party to help her enjoy them. What style! 

what's it about--the story or the writer?

Margaret Wise Brown loved reading as a child and remembered all the stories she read but none of the authors. 

"It didn't seem important that anyone wrote them. And it still does seem important. I wish I didn't have ever to sign my long name on the cover of a book and I wish I could write a story that would seem absolutely true to the child who hears it and to myself."

It's as if the story is timeless. It just is. You as the writer were lucky enough to find it. You were available and it came through you. You were that person on whom nothing was lost. But it's all about the story and not about you, the writer. The writer is simply the servant to the story. If it at any point the story becomes the servant of the writer--if it becomes about you then you can be certain of one thing: you're in the way--and the story can't get through. And it won't be as good.

In the end the job of the writer is to be available, then get out of the way and let it go.

Margaret Wise Brown's two classics THE RUNAWAY BUNNY (1942) and GOODNIGHT MOON (1947) (both illustrated by Clement Hurd) are not only still in print--they are still bestsellers.

See the full gallery on Posterous

She led an adventurous life: dating the prince of spain, hosting parties in her Upper East Side apartment, generally being a stunning New York Socialite. 

 Here's what The Writers' Almanac wrote:

"Brown never had children herself, but she worked with young children as a teacher in a progressive education program at the Bank Street Experimental School. She was also a New York socialite — tall and strong, with blond hair and bright green eyes. She dated the prince of Spain and loved to host parties in her Upper East Side apartment. She spent her first royalty check buying an entire cart's worth of flowers, and often took the proceeds from a book and purchased a ticket to France or a new car.

"She died suddenly at the age of 42, energetic and adventurous up to the end. She was on a book tour in Europe when she was stricken with appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy. She seemed to be recovering well, and she decided to show her doctor how good she felt — so she kicked up her leg in the can-can. It caused an embolism, and she died immediately."

for children: digital or paper?

See the full gallery on Posterous

Research done at Temple University showed that paper books provide a more positive parent-child interaction for young children--and that electronic books dampen it. (In other words, a picture book helps a child most when it's paper--not really any surprise to anyone who loves picture books. You know this but you love to hear it from officialdom.) 

Children sitting with a parent reading a digital rather than a physical book aren't getting as much interaction. "This research does suggest that parents should be aware of some of the limitations of e-book reading. We shouldn't use e-books to replace traditional books and we shouldn't expect them that they don't. They're not substitutes for a human being." (more here)

It seems it comes down to how you interact with a book and how you interact with a device... the difference between, "Careful! Push here! Hold it this way!" and, "I wonder... what do you think will happen next?"

Are we focused on the device or the story? 

I'm all for digital books--and the amazing things they can do. But they can't do everything. They can't replace a traditional book--or a human being. 

It's not a question solely for children and their books, is it? It sounds like something we need to be asking ourselves every day of our lives. Particularly at the start of a new year.

Are the tools we use enlarging or dampening our own lives, our own stories? What's our focus--on the new or the essential?

good manners bulletin

Everyone is agreed. You need good manners to get on in life. Emily Post is very much in agreement (see photo: she is smiling.) (But who is that woman in the hat behind her?) Never mind that. The point is, manners are important.

However, what I want to know is--good manners for you and good manners for me might be different. I mean. What if you were a pig? Would it be polite to be clean and tidy? Of course it wouldn't. It would be Atrocious Disgraceful Conduct.

How about splashing in your bath? Is that naughty? Not if you're an elephant. 

Going to bed? Is that good if you are an Owl? No, I tell you. It's Completely Unacceptable Behavior!

Manners and Etiquette are all about knowing when and where and how and being Appropriate. And here's your guide to navigating manners... while at the same time making you laugh. Which I think always helps, right? Children are defintely in agreement.

You can find the book here

OR listen to the silly trailer even:

Interview with children's writer/illustrator Shaun Tan

Author illustrator Shaun Tan recently won what amounts to the nobel prize for children's literature: the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. His book THE LOST THING was turned into a great animation (see below). He also worked as concept artist on animated films including "Wall-E". He was interviewed by SPIEGEL and answered the questions by... drawing pictures.

For instance when asked to introduce himself he drew this:

And when the interview said "At age 37, you have received the highest honor in your field. What's next?"... he answered:

Love him. Very cool. Read it here.

 

How To Get A Job: OUT TODAY!

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Know any graduates? Are you in the job market? Do you know any children who love playing pretend?

Good news. Here's the book for you.

HOW TO GET A JOB... BY ME THE BOSS

She's at it again. This time our know-it-all narrator knows everything about how to ace the interview and land the perfect job.

BBC Radio 4 said her first book was "One of the funniest books of the year." The New York Times said it was, "adorable, original, well-illustrated and fabulous" and "ultra charming." Publisher's Weekly said her next was "Stylish and witty." What might they say about this one?

Do YOUR bit for the economy and anyone in the job market...

• order your copy at your local bookstore or here (USA) or here (UK)!!
• leave a glowing review!
• talk about it non stop all the time!

(or just read it out loud and enjoy it in a public place as you laugh loudly slapping your thigh)

happy (140th) birthday, Eeyore!

"Eeyore Alone"
(as, of course, he would be
on his birthday that no one has remembered)
by Ernest H Shepard

did you remember?

no of course not

but the Guardian didn't forget

and they wrote a whole entire article all about how great a literary character (archetypal is what they actually said) Eeyore in actual fact is

which you can read here

(which is surely the least you can do)

war horse

It's a play that uses life-size puppets to tell the story of a young British boy and his love for a horse. I saw it in London in 2009. And wrote this blog post when I first saw it.

They create living and breathing horses on stage... except they are puppets and the puppeteers aren't even trying to hide, they are completely visible...

What's odd, though, is after a few minutes you no longer see the puppeteers and only the horses. which of course is the whole point and probably the definition of a good puppet and puppeteer--you forget they aren't real horses in actual life...

Come to think of it that's a what a good story does--make you forget. Forget that it's just words on a page--forget that it's not happening in real life...because you've entered this magical world...

more about the author here

NYT article: Making Horses Gallop and Audiences Cry

you don't need more time

"You don't need more time... you just need to decide"
Seth Godin

This quote rescued me the other day.

For the past 6 months, I've been working on a longer book (well longer for me--around 15,000 words). I was nearing the end of the (frightful) first draft and experiencing Writer Whiplash--where one minute your manuscript is great only to discover the next that it's been nothing but appalling drivel all along.

As I was going over the text and deciding what was good and what wasn't, what stays/what goes, the anxiety was building and I was dithering and beginning to unravel everything.

Like unknitting your knitting (not that I knit but you get the picture). 

I felt I wouldn't ever finish. That I needed more time. That if only I had more time...

When this quote landed in my inbox.

"You don't need more time... you just need to decide."

It stopped the unraveling and the self-doubt in their tracks. It unstuck me from my perfectionism bog. And freed me to... (as Nike says)... just do it.

So. What is it you need to decide?

discovering new worlds: naturalists + children's writers

Did you know Edward Lear not only drew imaginary beasts but also real live ones? (Not so far apart as you might imagine.) He wrote wonderfully silly nonsense verse but was also a wonderfully serious naturalist.

The NYT has an interesting article in their opinionator blog about the connection between writers and naturalists: they are both discovering or describing new worlds. Both are explorers. One of imaginary worlds; one of real.

I've long been a fan of Lear's nonsense verse. The article in the NYT said it wasn't very "edifying." I've never much cared for that word. It's a smug and judgmental word. And it's  never good when it's approaching you in a sentence.

I have a different take.

Edward Lear's work is pure genius and as a 7 year old (when I was first given THE COMPLETE NONSENSE) it opened a whole new world to me. And changed mine.

Just the title THE COMPLETE NONSENSE for a start. Plus he wrote AND illustrated it himself--with pen and ink drawings that were not neat but all scratchy and messy with ink blots and looked like something you yourself could try (and I did). And the funny verse--with the limericks you felt you could have a go at too (and I did). It was exuberant, joyful, free.

I'd never come across a book like it. I didn't know it was allowed. To have that much fun--to be that silly--inside a book. I still don't always. And have to remind myself every day that it is.

Both as naturalist and children's writer/illustrator, Lear was dealing in the wild--but it is in his children's books, with his wild and free imagination, that he reached me as a child.

So I am grateful for Edward Lear. And his imagination. It freed mine.

If that isn't "edifying", then I am quite certain I want nothing to do with whatever is.

Igloo library

via PW
via Barbara O'Connor

lost in snow and books

watch with glittering eyes

Tree of Codes

Jonathan Safran Foer has a new book coming out called Tree of Codes and he made it by taking his favorite book, The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz and cutting out the words to create a completely new story. wow.

This is an image of the book.

He uses sculptural means to craft a story--and reminds us that books have bodies! This is one that I can't see working on a nook or a kindle or even an iPad.

Books with bodies!

Project Sunshine Visit

See the full gallery on posterous

Earlier this month I was privileged to visit Cohen's Children's Medical Center on Long Island with Project Sunshine. 

Schwartz & Wade at Random House very generously donated the books so that we could give each child their own copy. (Thank you!)

The day started at Penn Station for me with a pigeon pooping on my head. So of course it was quite fitting that I should begin the reading with a manners book (the pigeon clearly had never read of it).

This is little 5 year-old Tayema and we are reading  HOW TO GET MARRIED BY ME THE BRIDE and BEING A PIG IS NICE. The hospital IT people also filmed the reading for their close circuit TV thing where children from their various beds could join in--probably about 50 of them--and it will also be put on their TV loop.

Oh dear. Poor children. All I can say is I'm glad I don't have to watch myself on endless loop--no doubt you are too. (It's not just me on the loop mercifully. They have other authors and entertainers on there too.) 

But seriously what a wonderful charity. 

Project Sunshine is a nonprofit organization that provides free educational, recreational, and social programs to children and families living with medical challenges. You can volunteer here and/or give here.

 

Posted via email from s@lly l-j

beauteous chicken

Jago's iPad Chicken

(I asked if I could have it with noodles and hot sauce on the side...)

no seriously

I think he's really a cockerel not a chicken

but whoever he is 

he is glorious 

and I love him

via Jago

Posted via email from s@lly l-j

picture books in the NYT

Have you read this article in the NYT last week? 

If you love picture books, you'll find it pretty hard to take--not much in there I agreed with.

How sad that it becomes all about graduating and grades and teaching you something--instead of recognizing the incredible power of a story in and of itself-- however it is told, with illustrations or not. 

A story can do so much more than just teach you. 

It can transform you.

If you think picture books are important, then feel free respond to the article in the NYT site here.

 

Posted via email from s@lly l-j