When writers write with economy, each word and sentence
contains essential ingredients that, taken together, elicit a particular and
specific response in the reader. Full disclosure: these five mentor texts have
all been published by Candlewick Press. They are books I’ve spent ample time
with so I can parse them out in great detail.
I Dare You Not to Yawn by Hélène Boudreau, illustrated by
Serge Bloch (Candlewick Press, 2013)
Highlights: hooking the
reader; book as game; use of humor
The title directly addresses and
challenges the reader – and who can resist a dare? Furthermore, what child
doesn’t immediately associate yawning with sleepiness, and sleepiness with that
bane of many a child, naptime/bedtime? And what child wouldn’t like to prove
that he/she is NOT sleepy and therefore, does NOT need to go to bed? Once inside
the book, the litany of cautions and tips to avoid yawning are a mix of the familiar
and the absurd, but hilariously exaggerated by Serge Bloch: cavernous yawns
that take up a page; a herd of soft, fluffy sheep jumping over the fence as if
being controlled by some unseen force; and my favorite, a baby orangutan
wrapped up in the absurdly long arms of its bright orange mama. The examples
will tickle the funny bones of every reader, thus moving the struggle against
bedtime from a battlefield to a vaudeville stage. Pretty soon, the reader is
barreling along, completely engaged and eager to see what funny situation will
be presented on the next spread. At the same time, the “dangerous” scenarios that
might lead to yawns and bed sound pretty appealing: soft blankets, favorite
stuffed animals, bedtime stories – what’s not to like? But my very favorite
part of this book is the clever way it plays with expectations and human
nature: tell someone not to yawn and, guess what? They are very likely to yawn!
A fun introduction to the peculiar psychology of yawning and, contrary to the
conspiratorial treatise on resistance, this book is designed to get young
readers yawning . . . a lot! An irresistible and wholly-immersive experience.
Fiona’s
Little Accident by Rosemary Wells (part of the Felix and Fiona series)
(Candlewick Press, 2018)
Highlights: dialogue; supportive detail; understatement; aspect of
childhood not often explored in books
In the hands of Rosemary Wells, a
rarely-addressed issue of early childhood (toileting accidents) is stripped of
some of its horror and shame. Instead of reading like a prescriptive “issues”
book, it is as exquisitely funny and spare as a Max and Ruby text and as beautifully
real and reassuring as a Lillian Hoban text. The book showcases Wells’s genius
for dialogue and telling detail. On page one, Fiona has laid out her clothes
for school the next day: “her aloha dress, her sunshine undies, and her new red
shoes.” By the naming of the clothes alone, we feel Fiona’s excitement about
the day to come: it is the day that the volcano she and her friend Felix’s
home-made volcano will “erupt big-time” at show-and-tell. A bit of
foreshadowing, perhaps? What’s worse, everyone sees Fiona’s accident when it
occurs. The details used to articulate what happens next are clear hints that
this disaster is going to work itself out: “Fiona tossed her sunshine undies in
the trash and sped to the Harmony Corner.
There she dived behind the relaxation
beanbags.” That’s where her best friend, sweet Felix, finds her and
reassures her that accidents happen to “everyone in the world! Even the
president. Even the first lady!” Further comfort comes in the form of the “pair
of clean, dry bluebell undies in a
zip bag” that her mama drops off at the school. And, finally, there is the
simple fact that, while the accident looms large in Fiona’s mind, it will most
likely be forgotten the moment something else grabs everyone’s attention, like
Victor swallowing a goldfish!
Green
Pants by Kenneth Kraegel (Candlewick Press, 2017)
Highlights: celebration of the child; child agency; pacing; situation
not often seen in books
Jameson always wears green pants. His
closet is full of them. They give him courage, confidence, competence. If green
pants are what he needs to live a life of joy and exuberance, what’s the harm
in that? From the start, it’s clear that this “spirited” child is loved and
celebrated for who he is. The book starts as every good picture book does: sets
up the status quo with a short sequence of reinforcing examples before
introducing the conflict. Jameson’s cousin and his fiancée, Jo, want Jameson to
be in their wedding party. Jameson is helpless in the glow of lovely, kind Jo, who
puts herself at eye-level with Jameson, and he immediately says, “Absolutely.” We
don’t often see the young crush depicted in picture books – on a babysitter, a
teacher, or some other kindred adult. I love that Kraegel gets this and love
the way he strips away all distracting and extraneous text and detail from that
magical and utterly innocent moment of infatuation. A turn of the page reveals
the catch: being in the wedding party means Jameson will have to wear pants
that are NOT GREEN. Can Jameson give up his comfort to support the ones he
loves? The tension mounts as the wedding approaches and is carried all the way
to the church steps. In a brilliant show of wisdom, Ken Kraegel has the adults
step back, leaving the decision to Jameson. Perfectly timed, Jo appears in the
doorway of the church, her eyes shining and smile bathing Jameson in warmth. The
solution is ingenious and entirely Jameson’s in a story that epitomizes agency
in a child.
Baby’s
Got the Blues by Carol Diggory Shields, illustrated by Lauren Tobia
(Candlewick Press, 2014)
Highlights: rhyme that works; appeal to both parent and child
Many who are trying their hand at
writing for children for the first time mistake Dr. Seuss’s canon as irrefutable
evidence that the most successful books for children must rhyme. This
assumption more probably reveals a lack of depth and breadth of knowledge about
picture books. These naïve writers can end up performing grammatical and
syntactical gymnastics to force their words into rhyming and rhythmic patterns,
which rarely makes for a satisfying or successful reading experience. Having said that, I have edited my share of
picture book texts in verse, including more than a few by Carol Diggory
Shields, who has the ability to make her rhymes sound effortless without
compromising sense, logic, or story. Two exemplar texts by Carol are Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp,
illustrated by Scott Nash (Candlewick Press, 1997), and the more recent Baby’s Got the Blues, illustrated by
Lauren Tobia, for which she engaged her affinity for blues music (that
element/joke that will be appreciated by adults) as well as her genius for
verse. You might think babies have it easy– they don’t have to do anything for
themselves; everything is done for them. But even older siblings will gain
insight into and sympathy for the baby’s plight with rhymes like this: Woke up
this morning, soggy, / And that smell
kept getting riper. / But I can’t talk, no way to say, / “Won’t somebody change
my diaper?”
Jabari
Jumps by Gaia Cornwall (Candlewick Press, 2017)
Highlights: magnification of a small moment in a child’s life; contrast
between dialogue and behavior tells a story; respect for the dignity of a child
Jabari tells his dad that today is
the day he’ll jump off the high diving board for the first time. The
implication is that this has been Jabari’s aspiration for a while, that it has
been a matter of mustering up the confidence and courage to achieve that goal.
Declaring that he is “not scared at all” belies the trepidation that he hasn’t entirely
vanquished. Watching the other kids jump, Jabari asserts that it “Looks easy.”
Nevertheless, his dad gently squeezes his hand and Jabari squeezes back, a
silent but potent conversation. What follows is a gently humorous sequence of
stalling tactics that young readers will recognize as evidence that Jabari is
not as ready for this “first” as he purports to be. The author-illustrator
shows patience and respect for Jabari’s process, and uses the dad to voice
tender empathy and support: “‘It’s okay to feel a little scared,’ said his dad.”
Jabari is provided an exit strategy that allows him to maintain his dignity and
never lose face. In a demonstration that reveals great wisdom into a child’s
thinking, it’s the dad/author who articulates perfectly what can happen when we
face our fears: “Sometimes, if I feel a little scared, I take a deep breath and
tell myself I am ready. And you know what? Sometimes it stops feeling scary and
feels a little like a surprise.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. Learn to
drive a stick shift? travel to a foreign country? meet new people? Scary, but
could yield some pleasant surprises, not the least of which is the courage to
do it again!
Mary Lee Donovan is
Editorial Director and Director of Editorial Operations at Candlewick Press in
Somerville, Massachusetts, where she has worked since 1991. Prior to
Candlewick, Donovan held positions at Houghton Mifflin and as a bookseller at
The Children's Bookshop in Boston while she was earning her Master of Arts in
Children's Literature from The Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at
Simmons College (1986). Among the titles she’s edited are the 2018 Coretta
Scott King Illustrator Award winner, Out
of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by
Kwame Alexander, Marjory Wentworth, and Chris Colderley; the 2017 Pura Belpré Award
winner, Juana and Lucas by Juana
Medina; the Caldecott Honor book, Journey
by Aaron Becker; the Newbery Award-winning Good
Masters, Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Schlitz, as well as the Newbery Honor
book, Splendors and Glooms, also by
Laura Amy Schlitz. Mary Lee Donovan is also the editor of Megan McDonald's Judy
Moody and Stink series, and Rosemary Wells’s Felix and Fiona series. Candlewick
Press is an independent children’s book publisher, and part of the Walker Books
Group which also operates in the UK and Australia.
