tinkering til your eyes pop out

Robert Lowell (1917-1977) said "[poetry must] be tinkered with and recast until one's eyes pop out of one's head."

He also said, "Almost the whole problem of writing poetry is to bring it back to what you really feel, and that takes an awful lot of maneuvering. You may feel the doorknob more strongly than some big personal event, and the doorknob will open into something you can use as your own."

Picture books I think are a form of poetry. At least if they're good they are. If you do it right, then remove a single word and it won't work anymore. Or change the order, and the rhythm is thrown off. Or swap a word and the emotional impact vanishes.

And just like a poem, behind a picture book that looks simple, lie many drafts. And eyes that are popping out! One thing I know: you have to work hard to make it look simple.

After the 15th revision, though, the challenge, as with a poem, is to constantly be "bringing it back to what you really feel"—not what the editor wants, not what "sounds good", not what someone else did before—but what is true, the place where your heart pounds, the reason you put pen to paper in the first place.

Spinky Sulks: story time

As an extra special treat, why not stop doing whatever it is you're doing, sit back and listen to an excerpt from a story written by one of the greatest children's picture book writers read to you by one of the greatest actors. Spinky Sulks by William Steig, read by Meryl Streep.

Buy book here.

where to stand

Ansel Adams (1902-1984) said, "A good photograph is knowing where to stand."

As a boy he loved to hike around Golden Gate Park and along Lobos Creek, or out to Baker Beach - a boy who didn't care so much for school, who wanted to become a concert pianist. But when he was 14, his parents gave him a Kodak Brownie camera, and that same summer he saw Yosemite for the first time. He went back every year from then until he died at 81.

Maybe that quote could apply to stories, too. Knowing where to stand: knowing whose story it is, whose telling it and getting that all important "voice".

books worth reading

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty—except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all."

—C.S. Lewis

Christianity Today reviews The Jesus Storybook Bible!

... and it's a rave! Jago and I are leaping and dancing and singing.

"The Jesus Storybook Bible is as charming as it is theological" CHRISTIANITY TODAY

read the full review here.

click here to see a cool slide show of The Fall, taken from the book.

and here's an excerpt:
"The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name disproves the adage that you can't judge a book by its cover. Jago's award-winning cover art is a foretaste of the whimsically insightful and richly colored drawings that await you on every one of the book's 351 pages. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book....

Jago the illustrator, and Sally Lloyd-Jones the author, are a good pair. She brings the same creativity and sense of humor to her telling of the Bible's stories....

But Lloyd-Jones's writing isn't cutesy. She has a grasp of the profound. How does one explain to a child the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane, and his prayer of surrender to his Father? Lloyd-Jones does it as well as any biblical commentator....

The title and subtitle are even better than the book's delightful illustrations and narrative—because they provide, in one deft stroke, the interpretive key that unlocks the meaning of the whole Bible. The Jesus Storybook Bible says it all: The Scriptures are not merely a collection of stories designed to teach moral lessons. As Jesus explained to the men walking the road to Emmaus on Resurrection Sunday, the whole Bible is about Jesus. In the words of the subtitle, every story whispers his name....Lloyd-Jones manages to show again and again the presence of Christ in all the Old Testament Scriptures, and the presence of the Old Testament Scriptures in the life of Christ."

Silence of the Monkeys

I'm sorry I can't help it. I adore this monkey business.

The God of 4 words

Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don'ts,
Not the God who ever does
Anything weird,
But the God who knows only 4 words
And keeps repeating them, saying:
"Come Dance with Me."
Come Dance.
-- Hafiz (1320-1389)

Happy Dancing and Leaping Day!

Beware the Fake Mars Bar: US or British?

Continuing our Fine British Chocolate Series, today we turn our attention to The Mars Bar.

Some Important Mars Bars Facts you may unaware of:
—In Scotland they deep fry Mars bars
—It's best to squeeze Mars Bars to ensure freshness (they should be a bit squishable)
—It's not "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"; it's really, "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play". (Remember this. It could be important.)
—The singular of Mars Bars isn't A Mar Bar (when I was 2, I did not know this)
—The full name of a Mars Bar is not a Martian Bar (but why not?)

But perhaps the most crucially important fact is:
Not all Mars Bars are really Mars Bars.

yes, they may say they are Mars Bars.
yes, you may believe them to be Mars Bars.
They may even have Mars Bars written all over their wrappers.
Do not fall for it.

Some are Impostors.

Who are these Impostors? you cry. Hint: American in origin.

Don't believe me? There exists, in a secret location, a highly scientific MARS BAR PROJECT that, with cross-sections, complex diagrams and clever facts, proves it. Find out more. But to prove it once and for all you just have to eat one (a proper British one).

Don't know how to recognize the real thing (i.e. you're not British)?

There follows a brief introduction to The True Mars Bar:

First, we observe the true, original Mars Bar in all its British glory (see how it shines?):
We see the Mars Bar unwrapped (look how delicious!):
We see the Mars Bar half eaten (and so gungey!):
And finally, we behold the empty wrapper:Pay close attention the next time you spy a Mars Bar in a US store. Ask yourself: does he look exactly the same? what about his wrapper? But be warned: once you taste the real thing there is no going back.