Book description from Goodreads: “Discover the ripple effects of doing a good deed in this interactive picture book about the importance of kindness.
A good deed can grow like a seed.…
Join a loving community as they work to create a better world. Whether planting a garden or visiting a sick friend, picking up litter or playing music at the senior center, kind actions—no matter how big or small—can spread like a ripple, impacting the lives of others for the better.
Jennifer Chambliss Bertman’s inspiring text and Holly Hatam’s joyful illustrations celebrate how anyone, young or old, can make a difference. It all starts with a good deed.”
Educational Activities inspired by A Good Deed Can Grow:
Before Reading–From looking at the front and back cover:
What does the phrase “good deeds” make you think of?
How might a good deed grow?
What do you notice about the children on the front cover? On the back cover?
What questions would you like to ask the author before you read the book?
After Reading–Now that you’ve read the story:
Which idea pleased you most–that a good deed could be a seed, a ripple, a sunbeam, or a smile?
Have you ever felt too small to help a problem that seems so big? What could you do about that problem?
How did reading the book change you (or your viewpoint)?
What did you think of the book’s ending?
Which picture did you like the most? Why?
Did you enjoy this book? Why/why not?
Taking Action–Since good deeds can have a positive effect in the lives of others, let’s look at what YOU might do. Consider doing any of the following (with an adult partner):
planting a garden
visiting a sick friend
picking up litter
playing music or singing at a senior center
Crafting–I really like the community garden in this book–isn’t the art terrific? With that in mind, let’s enjoy making our own fun crafts about gardens!
3D Flapping Bird Mobile–This is a bit more complex than some crafts we share in these Educational Activities posts, but it’s pretty terrific looking.
Easy Painted Pots–No garden is completed without some potted flowers or veggies.
Further Reading–Learn more about by good deeds and kindness from these related books. Which of these have you already read? Which of the others would you want to read first? (Click on any book cover for more information on these titles!)
Welcome to Matt Forrest Esenwine, the first Author Interview of 2023! Wahoo!
Last year, I joined PB22 Peekaboo, a picture-book promotion group of which Matt was a member (along with a few dozen other fine writers). It was impossible NOT to notice how hard Matt was working and how much it was paying off in terms of publishing and PR successes. At one point, I made a mental note to find out more about that, and today’s the day to make it happen!
Matt’s work has appeared in various poetry anthologies by Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, and others, though he’s also published a range of his own picture books including the OPB-approved I Am Today, which came out in March 2022. He’s got more on tap for 2023 and beyond, so we’ll learn about that right here, too.
Now, without more ado, let’s find out more about Matt’s secret to success!
RVC: First and most important question—how often do people misspell your name? As someone with an (apparently) easily misspellable name myself, I’m unduly aware of potential spelling disasters, and your double r (Forrest) and single s (Esenwine) seem fraught with linguistic peril.
MFE: Linguistic Peril is actually the name of the new thrash metal group I’m forming, so thanks for the plug.
RVC: Happy to help. Rock and roll, baby!
MFE: As for people misspelling my name, the answer is: googol. And no, I don’t mean to look the answer up online. I’m talking about the mathematical googol (which, ironically, you’ll likely end up looking up online). Ten to the 100th power–that’s how often my name gets mangled. Over the years, both my father and I have seen just about every permutation possible, from Essenwein (the original Bavarian spelling) to Eisenstein to Entwhistle. I wish I were joking, but I’m not.
In fact, the most ridiculous spelling came from the State of New Hampshire when my father, Forrest Esenwine, was a selectman in our town. Someone at the state must have seen his name written in cursive and mistook the “w” for a “ur” and mailed out an envelope addressed to Selectman Forrest Esenurine. Way to go, New Hampshire.
RVC: [Making mental checkmark against the previously-believed-to-be-awesome-state-of-New-Hampshire.] At least your name is more prone to spelling problems than speaking. Is that fair? Mine gets mangled both in spelling and how people pronounce it.
MFE: Well, like I said, whether it’s spelling or pronunciation, people still get confused. I mean, it seems pretty straightforward to me; it’s pronounced exactly the way it looks. “ESS-enn-wine.” But people invariably put an “i” after the “e” and say Eisenwine. At least they don’t do the “i before e” thing, because that would just be weird. I’m sure someone will one day, though.
By the way, if you happen to email me, be sure to spell my middle name correctly. My address is matt(at) mattforrest(dot)com, but if you only use one “r” it will end up in the inbox of Matt Forest, councilman for Ashford Borough in England–and a couple of days later he’ll forward it to me. We’ve known each other for nearly 20 years all because people forget the second “r.”
RVC: That British councilman should write picture books too just to confuse things! Now, let’s get back to the regularly scheduled interview. Prior to becoming a children’s book writer, you worked in radio. How did you find your way into that field?
MFE: I walked through the studio door once the “on-air” light was off, and the DJs couldn’t get rid of me. After graduating from high school, I went to Castleton State College [now Castleton University] in Vermont for a Mass Media Communications degree and got a job working part-time in Concord, NH my first summer there. I always loved radio, having grown up listening to my father’s vinyl records of old-time radio programs like Fibber McGee & Molly and Lux Radio Theatre. I was also quite the geek in school (oh, who are we kidding–I was a geek 24⁄7), and I’d write humorous skits and record them–voices, sound effects, and all–onto my dad’s Panasonic cassette recorder. I was also in the drama club, so I think talking to people and telling stories was something that just came naturally to me.
You know how nervous kids get when they have to speak in front of the class? Not this guy.
RVC: What was the most rewarding part of it?
MFE: Free T‑shirts and CDs by artists no one has heard of. Seriously, I had a bunch of ’em!
RVC: Free swag is the best.
MFE: But as much as I enjoyed talking on the air and interacting with listeners–as well as emceeing club events and concerts–I really loved writing and producing commercials and comedy bits. With multi-track production, I could add as many voices, sound effects, and whatnot as I needed to make whatever I was producing sound exactly how I wanted it.
RVC: Why did you shift your creative focus into the writing for children?
MFE: Because as much as I loved radio, radio did not love me. It was back in 2012 when I did the math and realized that if you subtracted daycare and commuting gas from my paycheck, I was netting $150 a month. Here I was, the production director of an 8‑station radio group, an on-air personality with a college degree, and a wall of awards my department had received–and I was making $36,000 a year. So, I decided to be a stay-at-home dad and work on my voiceover business, and at the same time investigate the possibility of a children’s writing career.
I’d been writing poetry since I was kid and had several adult-oriented poems published in various anthologies, and over the years had collected several children’s poems I didn’t know what to do with–so I figured children’s lit might be a worthwhile pursuit. My poetry writing style always seemed like it skewed to a younger audience, anyway. Modern academia loves poems that are obtuse and confounding, and that just wasn’t me. Writing for upper-elementary level feels like a perfect fit.
RVC: Which skills from your radio experiences translated best into this new career path?
MFE: Short-form writing! All my life I’d been writing short, tight little stories–from the skits I was recording on my dad’s cassette recorder to my poems to literally thousands of radio commercials where word economy is paramount. Transitioning to children’s lit was not that much of a stretch! Granted, we’re talking about a different style, age group, and other aspects that don’t translate from radio, but I never have a problem getting my word count down–if anything, once I’m done a picture book rough draft I usually have to figure out how to add words.
RVC: What books proved especially influential to you as you embarked on the writing career?
MFE: All the books I got my hands on. Really, the best education is to read, read, read and see what’s out there and learn how others are doing it. By reading children’s books, I not only learned the market but I also learned what others were doing and how they were doing it. It’s that old expression, “if you want to get better at something, surround yourself with people who are better than you.” That’s what I did! I created a blog to showcase my writing, I tried to connect with as many authors and poets as I could, and just tried to immerse myself in the industry–the creative side as well as the business side.
RVC: Great advice.
MFE: For the record, I like the creative side better. They have cookies.
RVC: If by “cookies” you mean “vanilla meringue cookies,” then you’re absolutely correct! Deliciously so, in fact. Now, your first published piece of children’s lit wasn’t a book, but instead was…
MFE: A poem titled “Apple-Stealing,” which was published on the now-defunct Young Adult Review Network (YARN) website, which the amazingly talented Kip Wilson used to help oversee. YARN loved the poem so much, they nominated it for a Pushcart Prize, which still makes me proud.
The first paid poem for which I signed a contract was “First Tooth,” which appeared in Lee Bennett Hopkins’ Lullaby & Kisses Sweet (Abrams Appleseed), published in March 2015. However, my first published paid poem actually appeared one week earlier, in Carol-Ann Hoyte’s anthology Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food & Agriculture Poems.
RVC: Let’s talk about your own books. What’s the story behind your first published picture book?
MFE: It’s one of those I‑don’t‑know-where-this-idea-came-from-or-what-it-is-but‑I’m‑just-going-to-keep-writing-and-see-where-it-goes kind of thing. Driving home late at night from an SCBWI Meet-Up in Westford, MA, the words, “flashlight opens up the night” popped into my head. I rolled them around and wondered what I could do with them, and by the time I got home I had a few lines I hastily wrote down before going to bed. The rest of the week, I worked on it, thinking it was a poem–since poetry was all I’d written at that point–but about halfway through, I realized I had a picture book manuscript on my hands.
If you’re interested, I published a blog post detailing the entire life of Flashlight Night–from conception to publication. To a non-author that probably sounds dreadful, but for those in the business, I promise it’s a very eye-opening look at how a picture book comes together.
MFE: I actually remember reading that interview a couple of years ago–I had no idea that was your blog! Great interview, Ryan.
RVC: Aw, shucks! It’s easy to do great interviews when you have a great guest. And Fred’s top shelf. I mean, c’mon! His website is www.ilikefred.com after all. Talk about fun!
MFE: As for Fred and I working together, my favorite part was watching his Facebook posts about it. Because that was the extent of our collaboration, other than the back-and-forth he and I would go through separately with our editor, Rebecca Davis. We didn’t really work together at all, which is fairly S.O.P. when it comes to picture books–but Rebecca would occasionally show me what he was doing and ask my opinion (although she obviously had the final say), and a couple of times I had to adjust my text to better represent what Fred was doing with his illustrations.
For example, the original final line was “All was still, within, without…” but with everything Fred had going on with pirates and tigers and bear, oh my, nothing was still at all! So I changed it to “Adventure lingers, stirs about…” and it all worked perfectly.
RVC: What’s the biggest lesson that book taught you?
MFE: Patience is a virtue. Actually, I already knew that, but there’s nothing like the publishing industry to bring that point home. Being my first book, I didn’t realize how long it would take! I wrote it in Aug. 2014, Rebecca contacted me in Jan. 2015 to ask about purchasing it, we signed the contract a few months later, and the book didn’t come out until Sept. 2017. Whew!
I also learned how beautiful a book can be when the author’s words and illustrator’s images blend seamlessly, how involved marketing a picture book can be, and what a Kirkus star feels like.
RVC: That was a well-earned Kirkus star. Congrats on that.
MFE: Thanks!
RVC: You’ve published a good bit of poetry, both through your own books as well as edited anthologies. What is the most important thing people should know or understand about writing poetry for children?
MFE: That you don’t need to be the next Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky or Dr. Seuss. (And folks, Dr. Seuss was never a poet–stop calling him that!) Write in your own style, your own voice. Again, READ. There are myriad ways of writing children’s poetry. And lots of it doesn’t even rhyme. That’s ok! Read, write, repeat.
RVC: What’s the most common misconception about poetry for children?
MFE: That it needs to rhyme or be silly. I come across really, really, tremendously horrible poetry more often than my stomach would care to admit, and it’s because people who don’t understand the craft are trying too hard to be something they’re not–or someone they’re not. I’m proud of the fact that esteemed folks like the late poetry cheerleaders Lee Bennett Hopkins and Paul Janeczko both told me how pleasantly surprised they were when they first read some of my poems because they realized I knew the craft, I understood rhyme and meter and such, and wasn’t trying to be funny all the time. Not that there’s anything wrong with funny poetry, you just don’t need to force it, that’s all.
RVC: In all of your experience in writing poetry for children, what has surprised you the most?
MFE: How difficult it’s been to get a collection published! I’ve been part of numerous anthologies, I have two of my own anthologies coming out in the next couple of years, I’ve even collaborated on a poetry collection with a highly-esteemed children’s poet–yet finding a publisher who wants an entire book of my work has been an elusive task, alas.
RVC: How is your process for writing a poem similar to/different than writing a traditional picture book text?
MFE: It’s actually not that different, to be honest–the primary difference being that a poem doesn’t necessarily need a narrative. A picture book, even lyrical ones like the kind I tend to write–need some sort of loose narrative or structure to get the reader from point A to point B. With I Am Today, it starts with a young person thinking about how they want to make a difference in the world and concludes with them being satisfied with their accomplishment. With Once Upon Another Time, we show what the world used to be like before humans made their mark, compare it with the world as it is now, then travel back to when time began and finally work our way up to the present again–which admittedly sounds confusing for a picture book, but Charles Ghigna and I are delicate with our words and transitions, and it works nicely. Conversely, with a poem, I can focus on a scene, and image, a feeling–and not worry about a narrative structure.
RVC: You had a sizable blog tour with I Am Today—congrats on that!What’s your secret to landing guest blog gigs?
MFE: Bribes. Money, cars, penthouse suites–you know, the usual.
I suppose you could also say that I’ve been in the business long enough that I’ve developed a network of wonderful friends and fellow authors/bloggers who are happy to help spread the news about whatever new book I have coming out. But it’s mostly the money and cars.
RVC: [Making mental note to acquire a fleet of Mercedes S‑Class W140s to use as bribes to support my own writing efforts…] What’s the key to making a guest blog a big hit?
MFE: Being a guest on a top-rated blog like Only Picture Books is certainly one way, along with providing compelling content that’s useful or entertaining. And bribes.
RVC: Wait a second…is there a bag of cash or a Mercedes S‑Class W140 en route? WOWZA! While I’m waiting for my goodies to arrive, tell me–what are your favorite tips to creating meaningful PR for picture books?
MFE: Well, I approach picture book marketing like I approach my social media–because the two are intertwined, of course. I’ll share news about my books, reviews, etc., but I also share personal thoughts and funny interactions I have with my kids. No one wants PR, PR, PR all day, every day–people follow you for more than that. I’m just a regular guy and I hope followers recognize that. If you’re looking for insight into publishing or think I have an interesting enough life that you’d like to learn more about me, that’s great! If you’re looking for selfies of me wearing the latest faux-leather leggings that are soooo trending right now–look elsewhere, my friends.
RVC: Who/what are some of you biggest influences when it comes to writing picture books?
MFE: The biggest influence is Dorothy Aldis, the late children’s poet who wrote The Secret Place and Other Poems, among other books. This was the first book of poems I ever read (my parents bought it for me when I was very young) and I had no idea how big an impact it would have on my love of poetry as well as my style of writing. Not that I write like her, but she had a very easygoing, simple way of saying very thoughtful, insightful things. I’ve also been influenced by friends in the industry who have been, whether they know it or not, mentors to me as I’ve journeyed through this new career: Jane Yolen, Charles Ghigna, Nikki Grimes, David Harrison, and others–and of course, the late Lee Bennett Hopkins and Paul Janeczko.
RVC: It’s brag time! What do you have on deck for 2023?
MFE: Well, my picture book, Everybody Counts! (The Little Fig, LLC) just came out on Jan. 1, so I’m excited to celebrate the new year with a new book! It’s very unusual, too, as it teaches the reader how to count to 10 in twelve different languages, from German and French to Arabic and Navajo–and also teaches an ethnic name and food item.
RVC: Congrats on that!
MFE: Later this year (we hope!), I’ll have another picture book, The Thing to Remember about Stargazing (Tilbury House). I say “hope” because it all depends on how soon the illustrator, award-winning Italian artist Sonia Possentini, completes the artwork.
I also hope to have a board book out sometime over the summer and there might be news about a couple of anthologies to which I’ll be contributing!
RVC: Okay, Matt—it’s time for the SPEEDROUND. Are you ready to bring your zip-zappy best? Quick questions and fast answers, please!
MFE: Oh my God, the pressure.
RVC: What’s the funniest word in the English language?
MFE: Tintinnabulation.
RVC: If animals could speak, which would be the most annoying?
MFE: Not sure, but it would likely be one of mine.
RVC: What out-of-date slang do you regularly use?
MFE: Yo!
RVC: What’s the question nobody every asks you but you wish they would?
MFE: “Do you work out?”
RVC: What’s the answer?
MFE: “Nope.”
RVC: Who sets the standard for writing children’s poetry?
MFE: Trick question–no matter whose name I give, one of my poet friends is going to be miffed I didn’t mention them! So, I’ll say Jane Yolen because, well, who’s gonna argue, right?
RVC: In your best Radio Voiceover Guy Voice, tell us your picture book (or children’s poetry) philosophy…in 5 words or fewer.
MFE:
RVC: Consider me impressed. Thanks so much, Matt!
MFE: Thank YOU for the invitation, Ryan! It’s been fun!
Hello, 2023! While we’re really excited about the kidlit world and all that’s about to happen this year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some truly terrific picture books from the past twelve months.
This is a subjective list, so if we missed a great picture book, our apologies. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. We’ll try to include those in future lists, if we can.
One last thing–since we’re running this in our regular Picture Book Review slot of the month, we’ll include our own 5‑word reviews along with a link to the Goodreads reviews. Creating these haiku-like mini-reviews is as challenging as it is fun. Try it yourself sometime!
I got so excited going through my shelf of 2022 picture books for this end-of-year list that I completely forgot to go back through the books we reviewed here at OPB (which I keep on a different shelf in a different room). I’m not bumping any of the 22 above books because they all belong here, but so do the following three titles.
I supposed that makes this post more accurately “Only Picture Books’ 22 25 Favorites of 2022.”
Thanks to having such a GREAT crew of writers, artists, and industry folks visit OPB this past year, tons of terrific/useful/exciting things came out in the interviews. For this final Industry Insider post, I decided to compile some of the most memorable agent/editor interview moments right here in one handy-dandy end-of-the-year post.
**If their answers required a lead-in/framing questions, I included those. Many of these gems, however, stand well enough on their own.**
Did I miss a great line or idea from a 2022 Industry Insider interview that really stuck with you? If so, go ahead and tell me in the comments.
See you in 2023!
Reka Simonsen (Editorial Director, Atheneum)
RVC: What’s the most common misconception about editors?
RS: Even in the book world, I find that most people still think that editing means correcting grammar and punctuation—the kind of red-pen editing that a lot of us are familiar with from the notes teachers wrote on our school essays. More experienced writers and agents know otherwise, of course, but first-time authors still often expect that the first thing they’ll see from an editor is a detailed line-level edit of the manuscript, which is usually a much later step in the process, rather than a letter or conversation that looks at the bigger picture aspects of the story, which is more often the first editorial step.
Kayla Tostevin (Senior Editor, Page Street)
RVC: What important lessons did editing that book teach you?
KT: This book was probably my first big lesson on how incredibly subjective publishing is. The author-illustrator–my bosses–and I all had many different ideas about the best way to handle many aspects of this book, and I realized, oh, being an editor is much less about fully controlling the development of a book than it is about finding the best route to solid middle ground between multiple visions. It’s not steering the car so much as politely giving directions from the shotgun seat, while sometimes the driver ignores you to make their own rogue turns, or the backseat passengers argue, or your maps app dies and you have to ask everyone to pull over and be patient with you while you reroute.
It’s a kind of chaos I’ve learned to fondly embrace. Having to come up with a new title that satisfied everyone was an especially hard piece of this lesson.
Frances Gilbert (Editor-in-Chief, Doubleday Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books)
RVC: Let’s help some of the aspiring writers out there. What’s a common misconception about kidlit editors?
FG: I know our industry can feel opaque when you’re trying to break in. One thing I always let people know is that we’re always earnestly trying to find exciting new works. I think people have the idea that we enjoy rejecting things, when in truth it’s the opposite. We’re always avidly trying to find great writing. We don’t enjoy saying “No” as often as we must. “Yes” is always more exciting.
***
RVC: One more question for aspiring writers—what are your feelings on art notes?
FG: If I don’t know what you envision happening in the book without art notes, then give me art notes. It’s that simple. I don’t understand why people worry about them so much.
Catherine Laudone (Editor, Paula Wiseman Books)
CL: Today, I make time to read for pleasure (and for school), and I go to the library once a week to check out picture books and graphic novels. Although I will admit that I consume novels mostly in the audiobook format these days. It’s easier to listen while doing the dishes, making dinner, or driving somewhere than it is to find time to sit down and read a physical copy.
Allison Cohen (Editor, Running Press Kids)
RVC: All the time, I see editors moving into the field of agenting. You did that, but then you boomeranged back to editing. That’s really quite rare.
AC: I loved being an agent. I loved working with writers across genres—children’s and adult, fiction and non-fiction, etc. And the relationships I built with my authors were unbelievably special. But the 24⁄7 hustle was a lot. You’re not just an agent—you’re an editor, an accountant, a lawyer, a therapist, etc. I often found myself pulled away from some of what I loved best about the job—working with authors on developing their manuscripts. Don’t get me wrong, being an editor requires hustle—nights and weekends reading and editing—but it’s a different kind. I had been talking to an editor friend of mine about life and maybe making a change but not really knowing what that change was.
***
RVC: What’s one thing that a lot of people just don’t quite understand about picture books?
AC: There is SO much that has to come together to make a book. That’s why schedules can be so long. It takes a lot to create synergy between the text and illustrations—you have the manuscript, then you find the right illustrator, then you get the sketches (almost always adjustments are made), then you see the color art (more adjustments are made). You’re getting together materials to share with sales so they can sell in to their accounts. You’re building marketing/publicity plans to launch the book into the world. All this is happening while the managing ed and production teams are doing their best to make sure the books are printed, shipped, etc. There are so many hands that touch a book. It takes time. It’s a lot of work, but then you get the advance copy, hold it in your hands and think, THISISWHY. It is incredible when everything works out.
Lisa Rosinsky (Senior Editor, Barefoot Books)
LR: Early mornings are still my favorite time to write…when my creative brain is still loose and dreamy, before my critic/editor brain has fully awoken.
***
RVC: Who or what has influenced you as an editor?
LR: That’s a tough one…I’d have to name every book I’ve ever read and every editor I’ve ever had the privilege to work with. Most recently, though, I have to say that reading books with my two-year-old has taught me an enormous amount about editing. There’s nothing like reading a book over and over with a toddler to show you where the plot lags or fails to hold a reader’s attention, where the syntax is clunky or there are missing details. And picture books are a shared experience between an adult and a child—you have to think about the grownup buying and reading the books as well as the young audience. My new test for a manuscript when I’m reading submissions is, “Would I still want to read this one again after reading it at bedtime every single night for MONTHS?”
RVC: That’s a high bar, indeed!
LR: Absolutely.
Tricia Lawrence (Agent, Erin Murphy Literary Agency)
RVC: What’s the most important things authors should know or understand about effectively using social media to support their careers?
TL: That social media DOESNOTMATTER without the writing. It supports the book, but it doesn’t supersede the book. You only need a massive social media platform if you’re writing nonfiction for the mainstream adult trade market, say, if you’ve got a new approach to phlebotomy or something (ha!), but the story matters the most in children’s literature and teen literature. It’s ALL that matters.
That said, pick the social media tools you enjoy and leave off the rest. If you don’t like Twitter, it will be obvious. If you LOVE TikTok, go with god and have fun.
Jacqui Lipton (Agent, Tobias Literary Agency)
RVC: You work as a legal consultant for writers and creative artists. What’s the most frequently asked question you get?
JL: Definitely questions about including other people’s work (e.g. song lyrics, lines of poetry, photographs) in your own work—and the extent to which that infringes copyright. A lot of people think that giving attribution to the original creator avoids a copyright infringement problem and it really doesn’t because copyright isn’t about attribution—it’s about copying. Attributing the original creator is always nice, but it’s not a copyright issue. If the original creator gives you permission to use their work and asks for attribution in return, that’s a contract (it’s a contractual license to use their work with attribution).
The other common question is about defamation—say, someone is writing a memoir and want to know what they can “get away with” writing about real people in their lives without being at risk for a defamation suit. Luckily for authors, defamation is a pretty weak law in the United States as compared with other countries. Truth does tend to be a defense and statements of opinion, rather than fact, are typically not defamatory.
***
RVC: What’s your personal feeling on Art Notes from authors?
JL: I think they’re fine as long as they’re not overdone. Some pieces require more art notes than others to clarify what’s happening in the text. As long as the author isn’t being overly prescriptive and not giving any room for the illustrator to shine, or, conversely, the author isn’t leaving too much of the narrative to the illustrator because the author, say, doesn’t really know how the story ends (!), I think, with practice, it’s usually relatively clear where and when illustrator notes should be included.
Agents should be able to help with this, too. I’m often discussing adding illustrator notes (or removing them) with client work, so there’s no “perfect” amount of illustrator notes to include when querying agents, and an agent who likes your work should be able to discuss including or deleting illustrator notes. Same with backmatter and other supplemental information.
RVC: What are some of the lessons you learned by agenting children’s books?
NL: What I learned over the years was that you’re going to suck at it for a little bit. You have to push past that, the “I don’t know what I’m doing, and nothing is selling–why is nothing selling…WHY?” because you’re kind of figuring out your own path.
Obviously, I didn’t NOT sell anything, but I have a much stronger sell-through rate now. Back then, I was still building connections. I learned that you have to stay flexible as an agent. Don’t be afraid to branch into something new, even though it’s going to take work. You’re going to have to do a lot of research. You’re going to have to talk to colleagues. You’re going to have a lot of trial and error and not be perfect in your style and process. That could all take years, but it’s worth it in the end. You just have to push past that learning curve.
***
RVC: What is the hardest part about being a literary agent?
NL: The emotional roller coaster of the industry. I get rejection daily. I pour my heart and soul into projects that don’t sell. I fall in love with projects that I don’t get to work on. I get horrible news when a book is cancelled, or something bad happens and something’s in jeopardy for an author or client. There are so many things that shift daily that you have to practice self care a lot so you can manage the ups and downs.
It’s commission work, too. Not everybody works on commission, but at least for me, it means there are ups and down throughout the year. You could have a fantastic first quarter that makes your year, then maybe nothing comes in for the next couple months and you’re questioning, “Am I ever going to sell a book again?” because you’re seeing other agents doing amazing things. And you’re thinking like, “Oh, should I be doing that?” There’s a lot of comparison going on. It’s like the Facebook thing, a lot of people shouting about all their amazing things. But they don’t share the hardships, and we all experience hardships.
James McGowan (Agent, BookEnds Literary Agency)
JW: What was the most helpful lesson you learned as an intern?
JM: Ask questions. I am by nature a question-asker but it is crucial that every intern abandon any level of fear and just ask the question they have. There is no stupid question when you’re learning a field. Also, it makes you look engaged, interested, and people remember you better when they talk to you more.
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JW: Was there anything about the process of having your book published that took you by surprise, having worked in the industry?
JM: Ha! No, not really. I knew what to expect. Well, maybe just the general anxiety of it all. I did not realize how much pressure one can feel when gearing up for a publication day.
And since OPB underpromises and over-delivers…here are a few inspirational SCBWIFL conference highlights from this year’s Orlando event, as well!
Brett Duquette (Executive Editor, Little Bee Books)
BD: Revising can be hard. One idea is to take it like a cake in layers. Don’t try and do everything at the same time. Because if you’re like me, all you’ll do is just work on making verbs and nouns prettier. Have a language layer or a plot layer or a character layer. It might help to think about it like you’re painting.
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BD: When I was younger, my brother gave me a photo of myself as a baby and said, Would you be mean to that person? So, if you’re hard on yourself, look at a photo of yourself as a child, and remember that you deserve love. Be gentle to yourself.
AK: Be patient, be persistent, and be kind to yourself.
Laurent Linn (Art Director, Simon & Schuster)
LL: Be true to your purpose. Because your purpose is one of the few things in life that you control.
***
LL: Be honest with your readers or readers who aren’t reading yet…no matter what their age or stage of development.
Joyce Sweeney (Agent, The Seymour Agency)
JS: Go ahead and feel the sorrow when something bad happens in your career, then get back up and say, Okay, well, what can I do now? What’s the next thing?
Book description from Goodreads: “Two children and a dog explore the coves and caves of a tiny island. Under the watchful eye of Grandpa, the kids are thrilled to discover a huge surprise: the craggy rocks, tufted grass, and wind-swept trees on Giant Island are much more than they seem.
Visit Giant Island, where fantastical adventures await.”
Before Reading–From looking at the front and back cover:
What do you think of when you think about the giants? About islands?
Where and when does this story seem to take place?
What kind of animals lived on and around Giant Island?
What questions would you like to ask the author before you read the book?
After Reading–Now that you’ve read the story:
Were you surprised by the size of the island?
What other secrets and surprises did the island hold for Ava and Cooper?
Why did Grandpa call the island “old friend”?
What did you think of the book’s ending?
Which picture did you like the most? Why?
Did you like this book? Why/why not?
Drawing–Since an island might be an island, what else might be a giant, too? A cloud? A hill? A tree? Use colored pencils, crayons, or markers to create your own giant something. Consider sharing your work with a friend or family member.
Crafting–Since the island plays such a big role in this story, let’s enjoy some crafts based on islands as well as the things/creatures on and around them!
Further Reading–Learn more about by giants these related books. Which of these have you already read? Which of the others would you want to read first? (Click on any book cover for more information on these titles!)
We’re closing out the year with Audrey Vernick, who’s the author of numerous picture books (including some that we’ve showcased here at OPB). She’s a prolific kidlit collaborator, too, having coauthored four picture books with Liz Garton Scanlon and two middle-grade novels with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.
Audrey’s also a dog person. As a child, she had a “not very bright small white dog,” and these days, she lives in New Jersey with her family and a “medium-sized fairly smart black dog.” She also writes about dogs and other animals, too. Like buffalos!
And perhaps most important, Audrey—who grew up in Queens—is a big-time NY Yankees fan. Go, Yanks!!!
With that, let’s jump ahead to the interview so we can learn more about her.
AV: Well, this is both prior and post, because I didn’t really expect the MFA to boost my employment opportunities. (And I was ever so right about that.) My last two jobs were writing periodicals for schools and libraries, and I wrote literary short fiction on the side. Opportunities to practice and improve your writing are always worthwhile and I thought I’d likely continue on with the work I was doing.
RVC: Long ago, I recall an interview where you talked about how challenging it is to understand—let alone use—a writing voice. This was specifically in relation to your Buffalo series, I think. What’s your relationship to writing voice today?
AV: This is a very annoying answer, so I apologize for that. Voice has always been the thing I have the least trouble with. It is almost always there. (I struggle mightily with plot.) And if voice is not there, that’s a pretty good hint to me that I have a lot I still need to figure out.
RVC: So it’s a warning sign then. Okay.
AV: With the Buffalo books, I remember learning how to get out of my own way. I realized I didn’t need to answer questions that really didn’t need answering, though they are sometimes called out when I’m meeting with young readers. Like how did that Buffalo get through the kindergarten classroom door? Wouldn’t Buffalo break the desks and chairs?
AV: My first agent represented primarily adult fiction writers. At the time I signed with her, I was writing fiction for both young readers and for adults. I was the one who had knowledge about the children’s market, and I pretty much had to direct her regarding who to submit to, etc. It wasn’t ideal, but I was getting read much faster than I had been when I did not have representation. When she was ready to part ways with me, I wanted to cling to her. But practically instantaneously upon signing with an agent with good relationships of her own within the market for which I was writing, something shifted in me. My writing became so much freer now that it wasn’t also my job to figure out where to submit, who required exclusives, etc. I’m not wildly self-aware, but I remember thinking, wow. Look at that.
RVC: What was the biggest lesson that book offered you?
AV: There were many. That important step of getting out of my own way—setting the parameters of my characters’ worlds without explanation. But also—and this was hard for a relative newbie to publishing—to fight for the lines that you truly can’t stand to cut. I gave in on a lot on that book, but I was so glad to hold onto one particular line, because it is almost every kindergartner’s favorite. (It has to do with snack time for a cud chewer.)
RVC: You’re a funny writer. At what part of the writing process does the humor emerge?
AV: Thank you! It’s usually right there, tucked into voice, when I get down the first draft. I would have a very hard time returning to a manuscript and trying to punch it up with jokes. When things are going well, it’s almost as though my fingers know something before my head thinks it. Like they have a fun surprise they can’t wait to type for me.
RVC: What’s your best tip for those who aspire to write their own laugh-out-loud picture books?
AV: This is actually useful for anything you’re trying to do that doesn’t come easily/naturally—force yourself to come up with an absurd number of possible ideas, ranging from predictable to profoundly absurd. Remind yourself it’s just a list, no one will see it, but ask a lot of yourself, like I need a list of 25 things this character could say right here. There’s something about being forced to do an impossible number that forces the inner critic to shut up. Very often, in addition to a ton of crap, there will be something you’d have never thought of if you hadn’t forced the big list. It works!
RVC: That’s a great idea–thanks for that! Will you also please talk a bit about the importance of community in a writer’s life in general and your life in specific?
AV: Most of my writing friends are members of some kind of writing group. I am not, but I have a few brilliant friends who read my manuscripts and in turn I read theirs. I could not submit manuscripts to my agent without this part of my writing process. I find it almost embarrassing how clearly they see what’s not working when I cannot, but more than that, I’m so grateful for their insight. I also have friends with whom I get together and complain. This is tricky business. A person who has published a lot, for example, should probably not do this with someone seeking their first sale. But those of us in similar places can and do spend hours complaining about slights and frustrations and jealousies, while we are simultaneously aware of how lucky we are.
RVC: Let’s talk about collaboration. I’ve had Liz Garton Scanlon join us at OPB before, but I’d like to hear your side of things. How did you first partner with Liz on picture books?
AV: Liz and I had met and liked each other but we live far apart and collaboration wasn’t something either of us had been actively seeking. One day, Erin sent us both an email with the review of a book (and it drives us crazy that none of us can remember which book) and wrote something like, “If you two had a book baby together, it would be this book.” And I immediately thought oh my god, there is nothing I want more in this world than to have a book baby with Liz.
RVC: That’s hilarious!
AV: At that point, it was just waiting for the right idea to come along, which happened when I got a cold and my Ms turned into Bs and we wrote Bob, Not Bob!. We recently received news of the sale of our fifth book together, though the deal has not yet been announced.
RVC: How are your collaborations with Liz different than those with your middle-grade novel partner, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich?
AV: At my core, I am more a picture-book writer than a novel writer. So I feel like my writing chops are better suited to the work I do with Liz. Thankfully, both women are remarkable and brilliant writers. (When choosing a writing partner, choose a brilliant writer. You’re welcome.)
The process was very different. When writing Two Naomis and Naomis Too, Gbemi and I were alternating chapters, each writing from the point of view of a different character. If there was something in the other’s chapter we wanted to change/talk about, we’d indicate that with a comment in the margins of the document we sent back and forth. With Liz, we do not track changes and for the most part do not use comments. We back-and-forth the manuscript, and when it’s my turn, I treat it like it’s my manuscript—if I want to cut a line, I just do. If I want to reorder some lines, I do. And, of course, she does the same. And we VERY rarely go backwards to reincorporate something that’s been cut.
RVC: In all of your experience with collaboration, what has surprised you the most?
AV: The joy. The way that my cowriter can absolutely surprise and delight me with something I didn’t see coming. It’s a very improv way to write—very yes and.
RVC: What are a couple of key tips about being part of a successful writing collaboration?
AV: Begin with a kind, funny, wise collaborator. Make sure you’re on the same page—as in if one of you has strict ideas about how the collaboration will work and the other is more of a figure-it-out-as-we-go person, there might be some avoidable conflicts to work through.
It wouldn’t work for everyone, but I feel like Liz and I sort of stumbled into a system that works so well for us. One of us starts—maybe half a page, maybe less, and emails it to the other. We number each draft so one of us ends up with all even drafts, the other with odd. And we’re willing to admit when something isn’t working, sometimes trying again, and sometimes giving up.
With novels, we learned an interesting lesson on the Naomis books. The first book is about two separate characters whose lives come together (spoiler alert). The second is not. The two characters (whoops—even bigger spoiler alert) are now living in the same home. In hindsight—the reason winging it worked on the first book and didn’t on the second had to do with where the characters were. For the second book, we’d have been better served with some kind of loose outline at least. I am quite sure our editor would have thanked us for that.
AV: Oh, baseball. November to February are such bleak months in the northeast and then add in no baseball and it can just make me weep. There’s a line in Brothers at Bat (warning, yes–I am about to quote myself) that says about the Acerra family, “Baseball set the rhythms of their life.” And I didn’t see it at the time, but it’s true of me too. When spring training starts, it’s such a relief.
RVC: What’s the most difficult aspect of writing picture books about baseball?
AV: Finding a new story. Also, I really like to write about women in baseball, and so far I’ve only written and published two of those. There aren’t that many! One great thing is that people know this about me and so I receive links to interesting articles from everyone—people I went to elementary school with, other writers, distant relatives.
RVC: One final question for this part of the interview. Brag time! What should we be looking for from you in the future?
AV: Three collaborations with Liz! First up, and BRILLIANTLY illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao, The World’s Best Class Plant, from Putnam. After that, Homesick, illustrated by Daniel Miyares, a Neal Porter Book. And another not yet announced. Also, this just delights me—She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story—which first published in 2010, will be available in paperback in January!
RVC: Okay, Audrey. It’s time for the SPEEDROUND! We’re looking for zippy-skippy questions followed by flappy-snappy answers. Are you ready to blast to the finish line?
AV: So ready!
RVC: What secret talent do you have that no one would expect?
AV: I can tell if someone is a Mets or Yankees fan, just by looking at them.
RVC: If you were a clown-themed superhero, what power(s) would you have?
AV: It would have something to do with being one of many tumbling out of a tiny car.
RVC: If you played professional baseball, what position would you play? And what would your nickname be?
AV: If I weren’t so short, I’d be thrown out into right field because of my skill level (no offense intended, ALMVP). My height would probably leave me in the middle infield but most likely I’d ride the bench. I haven’t yet had a nickname stick for the long haul.
Man, now I want a nickname.
RVC: What’s your most important good writing habit?
AV: Stubbornness—going back to the beginning and trying again when it’s not working.
RVC: Your favorite picture book of 2022?
AV: I cannot pick one. I can hone the list down to 112, but that is neither flappy nor snappy.
RVC: What’s the best thing a child has ever said about your writing?
AV: My favorite letter from a kid is attached. It is the best thing ever said about anything ever.
A Good Deed Can Grow
Welcome to Matt Forrest Esenwine, the first Author Interview of 2023! Wahoo!
John’s Turn
Knight Owl
Strong
Wally, the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat
RVC
CL
RVC
LR
RVC
RVC
RVC
JW
We’re closing out the year with Audrey Vernick, who’s the author of numerous picture books (including some that we’ve showcased here at 
