Happy Cyber Monday: Giveaway Winners

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered our 10 Days of Giveaways. We loved sharing activities and lessons to expand our books beyond story time.

If you did not win, but want to find the books for your classroom (or for holiday giving!) you can find all of the above (and more!) in our books section, here.

And the winners are…

DADDY DEPOT: Anna Bethea
THIS IS NOT A NORMAL ANIMAL BOOK: Heidi
BEAR AND CHICKEN: Janet
BAT COUNT: Lisa Connors
BOB AND JOSS GET LOST!: Jennifer Hansen
A BOOK OF BRIDGES, HERE TO THERE AND ME TO YOU: Hope Lim
WHOBERT WHOVER: Jenny Ham
GRANDMOTHER THORN: Cara Wegrzyn
SMALL: Lisa Connors
FRESH PICKED POETRY: Wendy Greenley

Congratulations to all the winners!

Advertisement

Two Debut Interview – Ariel Bernstein and Hannah Barnaby

In today’s Picture the Books Two Debut interview, debut author Hannah Barnaby interviews debut author Ariel Bernstein about I HAVE A BALLOON, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2017)!

 

Hannah Barnaby: Congratulations on your debut, Ariel! What was the initial inspiration for I HAVE A BALLOON and the characters of Monkey and Owl?

Ariel Bernstein: I was at my first SCBWI conference, listening to Laura Vaccaro Seeger talk about her book, GREEN. I started to think of colors and the image of a red balloon popped into my head with the idea of two characters who both wanted it, which was based on a lot of interactions my kids have had when one has a tempting object! When I got home, I went into their rooms and found stuffed animals of an owl and a Curious George doll. I figured an owl and monkey would go together pretty well.

HB: They certainly do! And I think most kids (and parents!) can relate to that sudden burning desire for something you never knew you wanted. As Monkey says, “The only thing I’ve ever wanted, since right now, is a shiny big red balloon!” Was there something you desperately wanted as a child? (And did you get it?)

AB: For a long time, we didn’t have a television in my house. Luckily my best friend lived across the street and not only did she have a television, but she also had cable. So I was at her house quite a lot! My parents eventually got a television when they realized the value of renting movies.

HB: I bet a lot of kids will be shocked to hear that you survived life in a household with no TV! Now, let’s talk about collaboration. When I talk to people about writing picture books, they’re often surprised to hear that I had very little direct interaction with the illustrators before the book was published. Was that your experience, too? What about afterwards?

AB: I have the good fortune of being paired with Scott Magoon on this book. He’s had an incredible career so far as both an author and illustrator, and I never imagined talking to him about the illustrations while he was working on them because it’s completely in his hands and the editor’s. I’ve gotten to know Scott a bit from touching base during publication and he’s as nice as you’d expect! And it’s been fun to tag each other in our promotion of the book on social media as the pub date gets closer J

My experience with Mike Malbrough, the illustrator for our chapter books, WARREN & DRAGON, has been a little different. I know Mike personally from a local writers group that we’re in, as well as Picture The Books. Because we meet up in person, sometimes I’ve gotten to see some sneak peeks of sketches which is very cool! And I get to hear about the behind the scenes work of what he does. As an author-only it’s really interesting because usually it’s such a mystery.

HB: So you’ve experienced varying degrees of collaboration between your first two books. Writing picture book texts when you aren’t the illustrator comes with some challenges, but it also comes with a lot of fun surprises. When you saw Scott Magoon’s illustrations for BALLOON, were there things you didn’t expect? Was it difficult at all to shift from your vision of the story to his?

AB: The biggest surprise was the lemur character at the very end! It’s such a perfect way to end the story, as it leaves the reader guessing what could happen next. I love all the details that Scott brought to the story from his imagination and how he interpreted the text.

The only adjustment I made was that I imagined reading the story a certain way based on how page turns might go. The layout of the book ended up being a bit different, so the beats in how I read the text out loud has changed. But I get a great reaction from kids so I’m very happy with it!

HB: I know there’s another Owl and Monkey adventure coming our way (yay!). Can you give us any inside scoop about WHERE IS MY BALLOON?

AB: WHERE IS MY BALLOON? is about what happens when Monkey loses Owl’s balloon, and is desperate to act as though everything is fine. It’s scheduled for September 2018 and I’m hoping it will elicit many giggles from readers!

HB: Your first chapter book is coming out next year: WARREN & DRAGON’S 100 FRIENDS. Congratulations! How is your writing process different for picture books and longer stories? Is one easier for you than the other?

AB: Thank you! Writing the first draft of picture books is much easier than writing the first draft of a chapter book, no doubt because it’s so much shorter. But when revising it’s the opposite. I could write thirty or more versions of a picture book before I’m happy with it, but only need to revise a few times for a chapter book. I think the revising is harder with a picture book because every word has to be perfect. There’s a bit more leeway in chapter books in getting from the beginning to the end.

HB: Well, here’s hoping we get LOTS more books of all kinds from you, Ariel!

 

Ariel Bernstein is a picture book, chapter book, and short story writer. Her debut picture book is I Have a Balloon, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, Fall 2017.) Monkey desperately wants Owl’s balloon and tries everything to get what he wants—this is not a book about sharing. Ariel’s debut chapter book, Warren & Dragon’s 100 Friends (Viking Children’s, Spring 2018) is a modern-day CALVIN AND HOBBES-esque tale involving a dreamy boy, his smarty-pants twin sister, and his vain dragon companion. You can find Ariel online, or on Twitter @ArielBBooks.

 

Hannah Barnaby is a former children’s book editor and independent bookseller, and served as the first Children’s Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library. The author of two acclaimed young adult novels, Hannah makes her picture book debut with Bad Guy, illustrated by Mike Yamada (Simon & Schuster, May 2017), the story of a little boy who learns that being a bad guy is awesome…but it can come with consequences. In June 2017 comes Garcia & Colette Go Exploring, illustrated by Andrew Joyner (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), in which two friends journey to outer space and the deep sea and find that the best place of all is somewhere in between. Hannah lives with her family in Charlottesville, VA, where she teaches creative writing to students of all ages. You can find her online at http://www.hannahbarnaby.com, or on Twitter@hannahrbarnaby.

 

Dedicated to Dedications

by Peter McCleery

For an author, choosing your dedication is one of the most satisfying milestones of being published. It’s the moment when you get to thank that special someone who helped make it all possible. And for a first time author it’s even more special. You’ll never have a first dedication ever again.

Have you ever wondered about the stories behind the dedications in your favorite books? In today’s post, a few Picture the Books authors share their stories about who they chose and why.

Annie Silvestro’s book BUNNY’S BOOK CLUB, illustrated by Tatiana Mai-Wyss, will be released by Doubleday Books for Young Readers on February 7th.

Annie dedicated her book to three people!

Bunny loves books, so I dedicated the story to my husband, Joe, who collects art books and built a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf to contain them. 

Also, to our son Sam, who sets new records for books checked out each time we go to the library, and who is never, ever, without one.

And finally, to our son Charlie, another avid book-lover who especially adores being read to while cuddling (which I also adore).

I love these three bookworms most in the world! They help, encourage, and inspire me in countless ways every day. I will be forever grateful!

PAX AND BLUE is Lori Richmond’s debut as both author and illustrator. It releases on February 7^th from Paula Wiseman Books/S&S.

Her dedication story involves some serious crying in public.

When I received the email from my editor that she needed my dedication for PAX AND BLUE, I was spending the hour before a parent-teacher conference working in the café at Whole Foods, a supermarket near my sons’ school. I thought about how I could possibly express what I wanted to say to my boys in just a line or two of text, and how incredibly special it was that my first book would be for them. Soon, I had full-on tears rolling down my cheeks, I was blowing my nose, my eyes were turning all red and puffy… total mess. I got some serious side-eye from the woman sitting next to me, who was just trying to enjoy her morning coffee and muffin in peace.

 

 

 

Michelle Schaub’s debut, FRESH-PICKED POETRY: A DAY AT THE FARMERS’ MARKET, illustrated by Amy Huntington, is being published on March 14^th by Charlesbridge.

Her dedication story sounds delicious.

I have been exploring farmers’ markets with my three children since I was pushing them from vendor to vendor in strollers. (My youngest is now 14!) Many of the poems in Fresh-Picked were inspired by adventures I’ve had with my children at various markets around the country, so dedicating the book to them was a natural choice.

 

Peter McCleery’s first book, BOB AND JOSS GET LOST!, illustrated by Vin Vogel, releases February 28^th  from HarperCollins.

His dedication is, um, well, we’ll let him explain.

I dedicated this book to my wife Stephanie. No, she is not a marmot. “Nice marmot” is a line from the movie The Big Lebowski which we watched on our first date. My wife is the reason I am able to write at all. She supports me in countless ways, but mostly by never mentioning how annoying it is to be married to someone who writes children’s books. She doesn’t complain about the lack of income, the hours spent away from family, or how I relentlessly talk about children’s books. She just lets me do it. How awesome is that?

Heather Preusser’s debut picture book, A SYMPHONY OF COWBELLS, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen, releases on March 15^th by Sleeping Bear Press.

Heather’s dedication is a behind-the-scenes look at how she was inspired.

I’m dedicating this book to my husband, Jan, and my sister-in-law, Wiebke. Wiebke’s adventures on a Swiss dairy farm inspired my story. She too encountered a stubborn cow who, similar to Elfi, refused to parade to the high meadows when her big, booming bell was traded for a tiny one that merely tinkled.

Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan’s first picture book, MRS. MCBEE LEAVES ROOM 3, illustrated by Grace Zong, is being by published by Peachtree on April 1.

Gretchen’s dedication is what dedications are all about. A touching tribute to someone special.

“To Susan Champion, who left us all too soon”

The impact of teachers leaving a class or school can shake a child’s world. I wrote my debut picture book MRS. MCBEE LEAVES ROOM 3 when my school district was experiencing growing pains with the impending opening of a new school, and children and teachers alike were uncertain where they would end up in the fall. At the same time, a dear friend and fellow teacher had already said good-bye to her class. She was losing her final battle with breast cancer. Telling Susan that I was dedicating my first book to her was the last gift I gave her. 

We hope you enjoyed getting to know the very special stories behind these dedications. Check out our BOOKS and CREATORS pages for even more insider information on 2017 debut picture books. And don’t forget to follow us here and on Twitter and IG @picturethebooks! We’ll be sharing lots of excitement all year long.