A Lesson in Showing Versus Telling
Last week I started teaching the spring course in Childrens Literature for grad students in the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature at Stony Brook Southampton. We spent the first class discussing the many formats of children’s lit, and began our picture book study (we’ll move on to chapter books, middle grade and YA fiction [...]
Ideas on the Go
I’ve been honing my Story Radar, and have found the holiday season to be more abundant than ever with respect to prompting ideas. The problem is, most of them come to me when I’m on the fly… and if I don’t document them immediately, by the time I get home they’ve gone. So I’ve been [...]
Who Can Help Me Tell This Story?
This week I had the joy of interviewing my friend and picture book hero, Peter H. Reynolds, for the Children’s Book Hub. As usual, Peter said a million inspiring things and shared a number of jewels about writing. Among them was a reference to his own writing process that set off lightbulbs in my head. [...]
Voice Exercises
As every singer knows, exercises that strengthen and warm up the vocal cords are essential in order to sing well. Painters do studies, and dancers stretch. But what about writers? This Fall, I’ve been taking a workshop entitled “Imagining What You Know” with the incomparable Roger Rosenblatt. Each week, Roger has given us a new [...]
Chekhov, the Picture Book Author
Michael Chekhov – nephew of playwright Anton Chekhov - was an esteemed Russian-American actor, director and acting teacher. Among those who studied with him were Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Quinn, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Palance, Lloyd Bridges, and Yul Brynner. Constantin Stanislavski, with whom Chekhov collaborated at the Moscow Art Theatre, referred [...]
National Picture Book Month
November is National Picture Book Month, and I thought I would contribute to the celebration with a list of ten of my favorite picture books. This is by no means a definitive list – I have hundreds of favorites! – but for our family, these books have stood the test of time and continue to [...]
Something Utterly Inspiring
My daughter attended her annual book fair at school this week. Among the books she wanted me to buy for her was Clarice Bean, That’s Me by Lauren Child. I was happy to do so, since Lauren Child is one of my heros. Best known for creating the hilarious Charlie and Lola in addition to the [...]
And in the End…
And so we come to the last of my series of posts based on Jane Yolen’s list of “10 Words Every Picture Book Author Must Know.” Resolution… a fitting word to end the series with! Thank you, Jane, for providing us with such thought-provoking bounty (and two months worth of fodder for blog posts!) Resolution [...]
Illustratability
Picture books tells their stories in two ways: 1) via text, and 2) via illustrations (hence the name “picture book.”) Occasionally a story will rely more heavily on art than text, or vice-versa – but more often than not, the balance is equal. Great illustrations do not simply mirror or reflect the story – they [...]
Words, words, words.
Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. – William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act 2, Scene 2 And so we come to #5 in Jane Yolen’s wonderful list of “10 Words Every Picture Book Author Must Know,” which she shared at the SCBWI Winter Conference a few weeks ago: Words. Here are the [...]
