Six year later came Rosie Revere, Engineer. And after another three came Ada Twist, Scientist. Over the next few years, books featuring the same characters came in quick succession. Activity books, a new picture book (Sofia Valdex, Future Prez), and an early chapter series quickly garnered fans across the globe.

How could they not? The books feature curious kids who ask lots of questions and find the answers through trial and error. Delightful illustrations and kids making a difference were the perfect recipe for success. The world embraced The Questioneers.

And it all started with Iggy.

Iggy is the brainchild of author Andrea Beaty. He was born out of real-world experience — Andrea’s own son building towers from pots and pans and cans of soup.

“Iggy was a stand-alone book and I never imagined it would evolve into a whole universe of characters and adventures,” Andrea told Cracking the Cover. “It has been such fun exploring Blue River Creek and the kids in Miss Lila Greer’s class. The fun part about the chapter books is getting to meet even more people in the town. All of them are funny and smart and also very quirky and passionate about things that interest them.”

In May, Iggy once again took center stage in Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion, the third book in The Questioneers early chapter series. It follows Iggy and his friends as they help Ada Twist’s Aunt Bernice find missing antiques and save an architectural marvel.

Andrea has always loved old houses, so she knew that Iggy would, too. “I wanted to write a mysterious adventure that involved one of the crazy old houses where people added on in new styles over time,” she said. “David’s art really captured the Scooby-Do kind of feel I was aiming for. It was a hoot to write and I am delighted that kids are enjoying it!”

History also plays a big role in this book. “History is always a big part of these stories because I think we can learn so much about our current world and how to move forward by looking back,” Andrea said.

What Andrea couldn’t have known when writing Iggy Peck and the Mysterious Mansion was how relevant some of that history would be to today.

“When I wrote this book a year ago, I was reading and thinking a lot about the Spanish Flu pandemic which struck a century ago and the role of science and vaccines in our world today,” the author said. “As is often the case, things I am thinking about find their way into whatever I’m writing at the time. As a result, the 1918 flu plays a bit of a role in the backdrop of this story.

“Fast forward to now. We are in a pandemic which was unimaginable even a few months ago. It’s a very scary time, but I have taken great heart from hearing from parents who have used this story in a small way to help their kids understand a bit about what’s going on now. It is reassuring to know that we have gone through terrible things in history and come through them.”

Kids connect with The Questioneers because the books and characters explore something true, Andrea says.

“While Iggy Peck, Architect talks about architecture, it’s Iggy’s love of architecture that is at the heart of the story,” she said. “It’s about passion. Rosie is about perseverance. Ada is curiosity. And Sofia is about bravery and kindness. Those are all things that kids experience. Every kid loves doing something, fails at it sometimes, is curious, and has to be brave. Those traits also map to being an architect, scientist, engineer, or activist. So, kids who understand the feeling of persevering or being curious can identify with the characters and imagine themselves being engineers or scientists.”

Like the inspiration for Iggy, Andrea says she gets story ideas or characters or bits of conversation stuck in her head that she needs to explore. Writing helps her do that. “It’s a lot like getting a song stuck in your head. You have to sing it and pass it on to someone else!”

And though you may think she’s writing for young readers, Andrea says the opposite is closer to reality. “The truth is that I write for myself and what I happen to find funny or interesting also seems to appeal to kids! That’s the case for many people who write kids’ books. We have never forgotten how to see the world in the same way kids do. I love that because I think that kids are so smart and funny and creative.”

A lot happens over the course of a career. For Andrea, that means becoming braver in her writing. That comes, she says, from age and this “strange, complicated, difficult times in which we live. They are times which, I believe, demand us all to assess what’s important and how we can help others and to stand up and speak out when needed. We each have a role to play in our communities and that requires a little bravery. Just like Sofia Valdez shows when she wants to help her community.”

Questions from a 6-year-old:

How long have you been an author?

My first book came out in 2005 but I began writing long before that. I’d say that I’ve been at it for about 25 years. Ish.

Where did your ideas for Ada, Rosie, Iggy and Sofia come from?

Iggy was inspired by my son who loved to build things when he was very young. The other books are all inspired by David Roberts’ illustrations! He puts clues in the art about each kid’s personality and I try to figure out who they are and write about them.

Are you creating new characters, like an artist or geologist?

I am writing more books, but I don’t know who the characters will be or what they will love doing. I have to live with David’s illustrations a long time and figure out who the characters are from the art. It’s a very slow process.

*Learn more about Andrea Beaty, including what it’s like to write picture and chapter books by reading the complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.

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Having a deep understanding of children is key to creating for them, says author Toni Buzzeo.

Toni, who has published more than 25 picture books, cared for and read to three younger siblings 10, 12 and 13 years younger than herself. She grew up knowing that she wanted to continue wrapping her life around children — first as a teacher and then as a teaching librarian.

“I loved school librarianship, the daily contact with my favorite people on the planet — all the better because I combined it with sharing my love of books with them,” Toni told Cracking the Cover. “My library life, surrounded by books — reviewing them, purchasing them for my libraries, introducing children to them — convinced me to combine my lifelong passion for writing with my parallel passion for children and their books. And my librarianship gave me a comprehensive knowledge of what was being published as well as contacts in the industry. A perfectly positive storm!”

Toni’s latest book, When Sue Found Sue, tells the story of Sue Hendrickson who in 1990 made the biggest discovery of her life: the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever found.

When Sue Found Sue came about in part due to Toni’s current commitment to publishing biographies of women scientists. Toni came of age during the resurgence of the women’s movement in the mid-to-late ‘60s. As a teen and young adult, Toni began to understand what a women’s position (or lack thereof) in the workplace really was.

“When my mother told me, at age 16, ‘You know, they are going to start hiring women engineers,’ it was too late for me to turn my talents in the direction of technology, having already committed myself to a career in education,” Toni said. “But I do want my granddaughter — and all of our daughters and granddaughters — to know that science is an everyone field of endeavor and that some of the most outstanding scientists of our time are women!”

After publishing A Passion for Elephants: The Real Life Adventure of Field Scientist Cynthia Moss (Dial, 2015), Toni realized she had found a publishing niche she wanted to occupy. So she reached out to her school librarian community and asked for suggestions.

“When someone mentioned Sue Hendrickson, I dug into preliminary research and loved what I found — that she was yet another self-taught scientist, like Cynthia Moss, another woman so strong and independent that she devoted her life to the work she trained herself for, in Sue’s case, a life of discovery,” Toni said.

Though When Sue Found Sue is about dinosaurs, Toni, herself, is not a dinosaur fanatic. She does know a good bit about dinosaurs from guiding second-graders through dinosaur research projects.

“I think they are very cool,” Toni said. “But they aren’t my passion. In the end, I didn’t write about Sue Hendrickson because of the dinosaurs. I wrote about her because she is a strong, self-directed woman who has shaped her life in science around her personal skills and knowledge and intuition. I wrote about her because she inspires me.”

Sue’s unusual path to success is one of the most compelling things about the self-made scientist, Toni says. Sue has an honorary PhD from University of Illinois, Chicago, but she didn’t spend years in college. Sue left high school early and later earned a GED.

“Instead, Sue learned by completely engaging herself in each of the ‘finding’ aspects of her career, from insect inclusions in amber to paleontology to marine archaeology,” Toni said.

“Sue is compelling because she possesses and honors her preternatural ability to find things. She found Sue the T. rex because she listened to an unexplained feeling that she was being called to the cliff where her T. rex was fossilized, underscoring the importance of listening to a voice within:

During the last weeks
of her fourth summer of digging for duckbills in the blistering heat,
Sue Hendrickson felt pulled
to a sandstone cliff
far off in the distance.
She couldn’t say why then—
and she can’t say why even now—
but she was called to that cliff.
And on August 12, 1990,
when her team headed into town
to fix a flat tire,
Sue finally followed her curiosity.

Had Sue Hendrickson not listened to that voice within, not listened to the curiosity that arose from its insistent call, we may not have Sue the T. rex!”

Toni is currently working on another picture book biography of a woman scientist. “This time, she works on the cutting-edge of technology and kids are going to love both her and the focus of her work. Stay tuned!”

Learn more about Toni Buzzeo — including how writing about real and fictional characters differ and how the accolades her books have received have changed her for the better — by reading the complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.

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Stacy has always been interested in space. When she was a child, she thought she’d become an astronaut. “I wanted to be the first kid to walk on the Moon,” Stacy told Cracking the Cover. “That didn’t work out. (NASA has yet to put kids in space.) I could still be the first woman to step on the Moon. I should start training.”

After the completion of Earth! Stacy’s editors asked her what she wanted to do next. “It was incredibly difficult to decide,” she said. “Outer space is vast! I was torn between writing about (and researching) Sun, Moon, and Mars. Those were my top three choices. Sun won, maybe because he’s the biggest and brightest.”

Though Earth! and Sun! are intended for 4 to 8-year-olds there was a surprising amount of research was involved — a lot more than Stacy ever imagined would be needed. “I’ve read kid books and adult books about our solar system,” she said. “I spend days sucked into websites (especially NASA’s site) and reading articles from science journals. The more I learn, the more I want to know.”

Because Sun! is an “autobiography,” readers get to know Sun’s fun personality. “Sun is a pretty important star, and yet, we don’t even capitalize his name,” Stacy said. “I started to imagine how this might make him feel. He’s a good guy, but he wouldn’t mind a little bit more love and attention.”

Sun’s personality shines, in part, because of the vibrant illustrations by Stevie Lewis. There was no direct collaboration between author and illustrator, but Stacy did get to see some sketches and give feedback along the way. “Stevie got the text and a few art notes and brought Sun to life in a fun and amazing way, Stacy said. “Doesn’t the book look like it gives off light? Awesomeness!!!”

Fans of Earth! and Sun! will be happy to learn there are two more books lined up in the Our Universe series. Next will be Moon, which will be illustrated by Stevie Lewis and then Ocean, which will be illustrated by David Litchfield.

Stacy likes working on multiple projects at once. It keeps her from getting bored, she said. “I just handed in the back matter for the book Moon. I’m wrapping up edits on a second middle-grade novel. And I’m researching an idea for a nonfiction chapter book.”

Writing for different levels of readers adds some variety to the process.

“In picture books, I’m dealing with a limited word count,” Stacy said. “In chapter books, my language and sentence structure need to be easily digestible for new readers. And in MG novels, I have more space and freedom, but I also have to bring more to the table (like subplots and themes). For each of these levels, I’m writing for hungry minds. Never do I think my readers are just kids. My readers are smart people, and they demand to be challenged and entertained.”

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Sisters Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie never have imagined as children that they would end up as authors, but fate has a way of changing things.

Once upon a time, Tara owned a boutique store where she bought and sold toys and picture books all day long. “I especially loved the books and often had ideas for my own stories, but with three young kids, a store to run, and a husband traveling for work, I never found the time to write,” she said.

“When my family relocated to the Charlotte, N.C., area for my husband’s job, I finally had time to try my hand at writing. My retail experience was invaluable in helping me identify which ideas were kid-friendly and marketable, and I knew that if I did not take the leap I would always wonder ‘what if.’ I love a variety of genres, but picture books just come naturally to me.”

Becky, on the other hand, fell into writing by accident. “This was Tara’s dream,” Becky told Cracking the Cover. “When she asked me to read her first stories, I sent them back with so many suggestions and changes that she made me her co-author. Revisiting picture books as an adult brings up so many happy memories. It’s amazing how stories from your childhood can stay with you. It is so important to be exposed to books at a young age when your imagination is at its peak.”

The sisters’ first book — I Am Famous, published by Albert Whitman — is out today. Their second — Shark Nate-O, published by little bee books — comes out April 3.

I Am Famous tells the story of a little girls who knows she’s famous. The paparazzi, aka her parents, follow her every move. It’s exhausting work, but someone’s got to do it.

The idea for I Am Famous stemmed from Weird Al’s song TMZ, a parody of Taylor Swift’s You Belong to Me. “His song is about the paparazzi stalking celebrities and taking pictures of them doing mundane things,” Becky said. “We were talking on the phone and Tara mentioned how today’s parents are like the paparazzi with their phone cameras and social media. The idea flowed quickly from there.”

Children live in a different world than the one Tara and Becky grew up in. They grew up with parents who had one of the first camcorders and recorded everything, but there was no YouTube or Facebook to share those videos on. Those videos had to be shared in a room where everyone gathered together.

“For today’s kids, it is par for the course that their adorable childhood antics will be shared widely,” Tara said. “They are famous in their own circles.”

“I dreamed of being Madonna as a child,” Becky added. “With social media, however, the scope of people sharing and watching your content is at a whole new level. I am sure our mom would have been the over-sharing queen, and I am grateful my old family videos are not on the Internet!”

The final version of I Am Famous is far different from the way the sisters first envisioned it.

“The original submission included a baby sibling,” Tara said. “The publisher had the idea to split the story and make a prequel. The sibling was then moved to the second book, I Used to be Famous (to be published spring 2019). Initially we were thrilled, but then we freaked out, scrambling to write a new story line in a short amount of time. Fortunately, it all came together.”

“Our publisher really understood our vision for this story from the beginning,” Becky said. “But Joanne’s artwork is more amazing than I ever dreamed. She really brought out the humor and nailed the main character’s personality.”

Learn more about Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie, including their writing process and how their work has evolved, by reading the complete transcript of their interview with Cracking the Cover.

Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie are sisters. Tara previously owned a kids’ toy and book store in Atlanta. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and three sons. Becky was a casting producer for reality TV shows, including NBC’s America’s Got Talent, ABC’s Extreme Makeover, and E!’s The Simple Life in Los Angeles. She now lives in Chicago.To learn more about Tara and Becky, and to download an activity kit, visit http://beckytarabooks.com/ or on Twitter: @t_luebbe and @b_cattie. Instagram: @taraluebbe.

Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is the acclaimed illustrator of A Day with Parkinson’s by A. Hultquist. She lives in Amsterdam with her family.

The post Kids are ‘paparazzi’ stars in Tara Luebbe & Becky Cattie’s I Am Famous appeared first on www.crackingthecover.com.

That all changed when Barry went back to college to earn a Masters in Childhood Education at the age of 57.

“I figured teaching was one of the fields that welcomes career changers and older folks,” Barry told Cracking the Cover. “I took this great class about children’s lit, and was blown away by all the wonderful books I had no idea existed. The only picture book I was familiar with was Where The Wild Things Are.”

As Barry started down the path of writing picture books, he found himself drawn to nonfiction.

“There are so many unknown people in history whose wonderful stories have yet to be told,” Barry said. “Or, if they have been told, they have not yet appeared in children’s literature.

I spent three years as an elementary substitute teacher in New York City’s elementary schools. During that time, I realized that there are unknown or too-little-known stories that absolutely would fit perfectly into today’s curriculum.”

Deciding on a nonfiction topic includes asking yourself a number of questions, Barry said. “One, has a picture book been written about this person or event? If so, has that author or authors written about the same theme or particular event? Then, if both answers are ‘no’, I need to find a way to tailor it to the 4-9 demographic. Not easy sometimes. I am so used to writing for adults, it’s taken a lot of work and practice and advice and feedback.”

Barry unwittingly began working on The Boo-Boos That Changed the World — which tells the true story behind the invention of the Band-Aid — about 10 years ago. He had made himself a little book with images of Band-Aids that he digitally colored in and tooled around within Photoshop.

“At some point, it dawned on me or I remembered that the Band-Aid is often used as a metaphor. Meaning, it’s not a real solution, it’s temporary, and impractical. As in, ‘put a Band-Aid on it.’ It has a negative connotation. I liked the metaphor and thought it was an interesting narrative to include with my pretty pictures.”

Soon, instead of just making pretty pictures of weird looking Band-Aids, Barry was doing some versions of the Band-Aids with political or social statements. Some were lighthearted. Others were not.

“I wanted to find out who the heck invented the thing so I could add a story to my little book. I researched online and learned about Earle and Josephine. I made about six copies and gave them to friends. And forgot about it. Ten years later, now in the picture book business, I re-evaluated the story with fresh eyes. And in reading their story, it struck me as funny that their journey seemed to come to a successful conclusion over and over again. I came up with THE END motif that starts and stops the narrative.”

Barry is currently working on several stories. He does that so he can switch things up when he gets stuck or frustrated.

“Often, I’ll go back to the first one with new eyes,” he said. “Having said that, there’s a story about an African woman who is doctor and humanitarian. That’s nonfiction. I’ve been trying to write that for a few years. Haven’t nailed it yet, but I will. Someday. Another nonfiction piece is a story about the Holocaust. So many ideas. I don’t want to reveal too much about my subjects. It’s a jungle out there!”

Learn more about Barry Wittenstein and his writing process read the complete transcript of his interview with Cracking the Cover.

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“I laughed out loud when I read the text and immediately sat down to write Dexter’s story,” Lindsay said. “To this day it’s still the fastest idea to story moment I’ve ever had.”

Lindsay, who is the author and illustrator of Brobarians, Henry Finds His Word, and When Blue Met Egg, always knew she wanted to be an artist, but didn’t initially see herself as an author.

“Writing was never something I thought I could do; that part happened by accident,” Lindsay told Cracking the Cover. “Eventually I started to write with some encouragement from my first agent, and found that I really loved it. Now I can’t imagine not doing both, although I still love getting the opportunity to illustrate other author’s stories. Illustrating comes naturally for me. I don’t overthink it—whereas writing is a constant challenge for me.”

It’s not often that Lindsay comes up with a character like Dexter in Don’t Forget Dexter first. Typically she develops an idea or concept into a solid manuscript and then begins sketching to determine characters and medium best suit the story.

“I usually revise over and over again and I’m a perfectionist so if it doesn’t feel right, it will bother me until my gut tells me otherwise,” she said. “My agent helps tremendously with the revising process too, as we do a lot of back and forth before going out on submission. It always helps to have a second pair of eyes to catch what I miss.”

Dexter, however, is not your average dinosaur. When his best friend, Jack, leaves him behind at the doctor’s office, Dexter T. Rexter panics. First he tries to find Jack. Then he sings their special song. Then he sings their special song even louder. But when Jack still doesn’t appear, Dexter starts to wonder. What if he’s being replaced by another toy?

“I knew I wanted Dexter to talk to the reader directly from the beginning,” Lindsay said. “Knowing that I was going to break down the fourth wall allowed for me to experiment with a different type of voice altogether. In my head, Dexter was always neurotic and insecure about himself. I wanted readers to find him endearing and funny, but also a little over the top. I could hear is voice in my head from the start and as crazy as this may sound, there were many times where I felt as though he was just telling me what he would say, rather than me deciding on what his dialogue would be.”

With nine books under her belt and more in the pipeline, you’d think Lindsay would have perfected her craft by now, but the author says that’s not the case. Her work has changed a lot over the years and continues to evolve.

“I’m proud of every book I’ve published, but there are certainly things I would change if I could, knowing what I know now as a writer and illustrator,” she said. “Each book has given me a new experience and challenge creatively. I feel as though I’ve become stronger with each book and hopefully my readers do too. I’m also a lot more open to different mediums. In the beginning I was solely focused on working in cut paper, without considering its limitations. Now I try to consider each book and what medium would help me tell the story in the best way possible.”

Lindsay just finished up the sequel to Don’t Forget Dexter!, titled It’s Show-and-Tell, Dexter!, which will come out in July 2018. She’s starting work now on a new book with Two Lions, This Book Is Gray, as well as a new board book transportation series with HarperCollins.

*Learn more about Lindsay Ward and Don’t Forget Dexter! by reading the complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.

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Josh Funk is the author of five published picture books with five more in the works. But Josh never planned to be an author. In fact, Josh wasn’t a huge reader as a child. It wasn’t until he’d grown and had children of his own that Josh even considered writing.

“When I had kids, reading became a huge part of our lives,” Josh told Cracking the Cover. “I spent hours every night reading picture books, then chapter books, then novels to my kids as they grew. There were some amazing books that I loved! Books about gardens and architects and vampires — really cool topics, with some of the most amazing art I’ve seen anywhere. I decided that I wanted to try to write my own stories.”

It took years to learn the craft of writing picture books, Josh said admitting that he “wrote some terrible stories along the way.” As time went on, he began creating some really fun books, too. Among them are the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series (including The Case of the Stinky Stench and the upcoming Mission: Defrostable), Pirasaurs!, Dear Dragon.

Josh’s latest picture book, It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, is a “META-Fractured Fairy Tale — where the characters [in this case, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk]not only don’t do what they’re supposed to do — but they argue back at the reader.”

The process of creation to final production is not fast, and can often be filled with boredom, Josh said. There’s a lot of waiting — waiting to see if a publisher will buy your book; waiting to see the artist’s interpretation; waiting to hold the book in your hands; and waiting to share the book with readers.

There’s also a lot of revision involved. That’s the hardest part for Josh. “When I get excited about a story, I tend to burst out and write a whole first draft right away,” he said. “Then, I need to step back and let it sit, get feedback from others, and revise. Revising is such an important part of the process — and often takes a long time and many tries. But when it all comes together, all the revisions are worth it.”

Josh began writing It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk in the fall of 2014. He performed it with his kids at family gatherings and for friends, making revisions over the following months.

“My daughter (the elder of the two) played the role of Jack,” Josh said. “My son played the role of the giant. I read the part of the frustrated narrator. It was a lot of fun to perform. And I hope students get the chance in a Reader’s Theater type environment.”

A little over two years ago, Josh shared It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk with his agent and they found “the perfect editor and publisher at Two Lions.”

Josh’s hopes for It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk might be a little different than you’d expect — he wants it to frustrate the adult readers who read it to a child audience. Why? “I think that kids will enjoy seeing their teachers/parents/librarians/caregivers look foolish when Jack and company refuse to follow the traditional story,” Josh said. “I think kids will get a kick out of seeing adults act this one out.”

Contrary to what you might think, Josh didn’t “envision” a finished version of It’s not Jack and the Beanstalk when he wrote it.

“I don’t think particularly visually, at least regarding specifics when writing stories,” he said. “Picture book artists are so incredibly talented, there’s really no point in thinking about how it might turn out until you actually see an artist’s sketches.”

Josh says Edwardian Taylor’s illustrations are better than he could have hoped. “The characters he designed and the emotion he captures in their facial expressions is spot on! Plus, if you look closely, Edwardian added loads of other fairy tale, fable, and nursery rhyme characters throughout the book for readers to search for on multiple reads.”

Josh has a number of books coming out in the next year or two. Among them are Albie Newton (about a boy-genius’s first day of school), How to Code a Sandcastle (in conjunction with Girls Who Code), Lost in the Library: A Story of Patience and Fortitude (in conjunction with the New York Public Library), and It’s Not Hansel and Gretel.

Learn more about Josh Funk, including how his work in the tech industry helps his writing and how his writing has evolved by reading the complete transcript of his interview with Cracking the Cover.

Like Jack, Josh Funk loves telling his own stories. He is the author of the popular picture books Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast and its sequel, The Case of the Stinky Stench, illustrated by Brendan Kearney; Dear Dragon, illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo; and the upcoming How to Code a Sandcastle illustrated by Sara Palacios in partnership with Girls Who Code. Josh lives in New England with his wife and children. Learn more about him at www.joshfunkbooks.com, and follow him on Twitter @joshfunkbooks.

Edwardian Taylor currently works as a visual development artist and character designer for TV and animation feature film. His work can also be seen in mobile games, films, and commercials. He is the illustrator of the picture book Race!, written by Sue Fliess. Edwardian lives in Texas with his partner, their three dogs, and seven chickens. Learn more about him at www.edwardiantaylor.com, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @edwardiantaylor.

Check out a book trailer, collector’s cards, and more at https://www.joshfunkbooks.com/stuff-for-kids

The post Josh Funk ‘fractures’ classic fairy tale in It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk appeared first on www.crackingthecover.com.

Will Hillenbrand has written and/or illustrated more than 60 books for young readers including Down by the Barn, Mother Goose Picture Puzzles and the Bear and Mole series. His latest book is Share, Big Bear, Share with Maureen Wright.

Share, Big Bear, Share! is the third book in the Big Bear series, which features a loveable Big Bear whose strong will gets him into some pretty funny pickles. This time around, Big Bear has a bucket of berries that all his forest friends would love to share, but he doesn’t notice as he digs into his snack. When the old oak tree says, “Share, Big Bear, share,” he thinks the tree has said, “Hair, Big Bear, hair!” The scene plays out over and over again as Big Bear keeps misunderstanding the old oak tree’s message until things finally get sorted out.

As part of the launch of Share, Big Bear, Share, Will created this fantastic video for Cracking the Cover. In it, he answers questions about how Big Bear evolved and the direction he received as an artist.

For more Information about Will Hillenbrand’s books, selected readings, art process videos and activity ideas visit www.willhillenbrand.com. Connect with Will at www.facebook.com/willhillenbrandbooks.

Check out the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETBScbK0rqs&feature=youtu.be

The post Get to know Will Hillenbrand, author of Share, Big Bear, Share appeared first on www.crackingthecover.com.

The magnitude of picture books containing its own world and story in just 32 pages is somewhat miraculous. And when you are one of the people creating it, he says, you “have a sense that what you’re creating is a kind of gift, a story and an experience that you’re giving to the reader.”

Andrew — whose latest book, Duck and Hippo in the Rainstorm with author Jonathan London, comes out March 1 — has always been an artist. But he didn’t think of pursuing drawing as a career until his mid-twenties, and even then he says it seemed more of a whim than a plan. That whim turned into a few illustrations in magazines, and Andrew found himself freelancing full time for newspapers and magazines throughout Australia.

It wasn’t until author Ursula Dubosarsky saw some of Andrew’s magazine work, and asked her publisher to approach him about illustrating one of her picture book manuscripts that Andrew even thought about becoming a children’s book illustrator. That manuscript became Andrew’s first picture book, The Terrible Plop.

“Ever since then nearly all of my work is in children’s books,” Andrew told Cracking the Cover. “I just found that I loved it — it’s both the most challenging and most rewarding work I’ve ever done. Plus I found the more I did the more I wanted to do. Maybe I’m just hoping to get it right one day!”

Each illustrator has a different creative process when receiving a new manuscript. For Andrew, that means trying to see the manuscript as a book. “I usually start scribbling right on the manuscript,” Andrew said. “Sometimes I’ll even write out the manuscript by hand (especially if it’s not too long!), just to get a sense of the story’s rhythm and flow. There’s something about moving a pencil across paper that helps me think.”

Something always stands out with a picture book, even if it’s hard to pinpoint. In Duck and Hippo in the Rainstorm Andrew said it came down to intangible qualities like charm and a lightness of touch, which is something he aims for in his own drawings.

“I especially liked the playfulness of Jonathan’s story,” Andrew said. “In a way it reminded me of children playing, or of the stories children invent while playing. Also when I first read the story, I felt like I could see the characters, even if they did take a few drawings to fully appear. And I liked the balance in their relationship, Duck’s yang to Hippo’s yin.”

Aside from the story itself, there weren’t a lot of illustration prompts for Andrew to follow. He did receive guidance early on from editor Marilyn Brigham and art director Merideth Mulroney at Two Lions focusing specifically on the different personalities of Duck and Hippo. But other than that, emotional interpretation was up to Andrew.

“I do think one skill I have as an illustrator is that I’m quite a good reader — I can read myself and my drawings into the story,” Andrew said. “Also, once I feel like I’ve captured the characters I can get out of the way and let them tell the story.”

Andrew began sketching Duck and Hippo while on a holiday in Bali. “Maybe it was my relaxed mood, but my very first drawings of Duck and Hippo look pretty close to their final version,” he said. “That is not usually the case! I did find Hippo easier to draw than Duck. While I wouldn’t call Hippo a self-portrait, I do have some of his cautious personality. And my own appearance is definitely more Hippo than Duck (minus the fetching jacket and bow-tie)!”

Learn more about Andrew Joyner, including how his previous work as an editorial illustrator influences his work illustrating children’s books by reading the complete transcript of his interview with Cracking the Cover.

Andrew Joyner is an illustrator, author, and cartoonist based in South Australia. He has illustrated a number of picture books, and he wrote and illustrated a chapter book series about a warthog named Boris. He has also illustrated for newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, and Rolling Stone magazine, among others.

There’s more fun with Duck and Hippo in the free downloadable coloring sheets: https://www.andrewjoyner.com.au/activities/

Illustrations copyright © 2017 Andrew Joyner

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Stacy’s mom “would tease my brother and me,” Stacy said. “We both wanted to be her favorite. She’d say to me, ‘You’re my favorite… (insert long pause) daughter.’ Needless to say, I’m her only daughter. I simply wanted to be declared The Favorite. Capital T. Capital F.”

This line of thinking inspired Stacy’s latest picture book, Mr. Fuzzbuster Knows He’s the Favorite. Mr. Fuzzbuster is Lily’s cat, and he knew he was Lily’s favorite. They did everything together. Naps. Story time. Walks. And more naps. Then four more animals moved into the house. To prove he’s still Lily’s favorite, Mr. Fuzzbuster will have to ask her, but will her answer surprise him?

When Stacy first imagined Mr. Fuzzbuster, the main characters were kids jockeying for favored status, but for some reason, the story never worked. Then Stacy changed to animals and magic.

“The main character had to be a cat,” Stacy told Cracking the Cover. “I love a cat’s confidence. Dog and fish were the next ‘obvious’ choices. Maybe because I have dogs and a fish. The bird and lizard came last. I like a bird because they can sing, and in some case, talk. The lizard was originally a snake. My husband had a snake named King when he was a boy. But during editing, he was genetically re-engineered into a lizard. The crown fits him well.”

Stacy is the author of picture, chapter and middle-books. They are all similar in that they all require Stacy to sit down and write. They all present challenges that make her question if they will ever work, but beyond that, the writing process is very different. Stacy uses detailed outlines for her chapter books and revises her outlines several times. Her novels, she says, are more organic. She writes 2,000 words per day for the first draft, and in order to keep the discovery process alive, doesn’t allow herself a day off.

Her approach to picture books like Mr. Fuzzbuster is again different. “I often write picture books by long hand and during the revision, I like to create a dummy book — thirty-two pages stapled together filled with my stick-figure drawings,” Stacy said.

Those stick figures give a sense of context, and yet, it’s the illustrators and art directors that give each book its unique look. “For every picture book, the art is always different than I imagine. But it is ALWAYS better than I imagined,” Stacy said. “Seeing the art for the first time on a book that I’ve written is a moment of joy. There are usually tears involved. For this book, I didn’t picture Mr. Fuzzbuster all black. My cats have always been multicolored. But a fluffy all-black kitty works. His expressions — and his eyes — pop.

Stacy hopes that Mr. Fuzzbuster brings young readers joy and perhaps a little more. “I hope they laugh,” she said. “A kid’s laugh is my favorite sound. And maybe some kids will realize that having a favorite is silly. You can love lots of people and have many friends. You don’t need a favorite. Except when it comes to ice cream. Then you should have a favorite. Such as coffee heath-bar crunch. Delicious.”

*Learn more about Stacy McAnulty, including how her writing has evolved, by reading the complete transcript of her interview with Cracking the Cover.

STACY MCANULTY is certain she’s her mom’s favorite. Her younger brother disagrees. She’s the author of Beautiful, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff; Excellent Ed, illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach; and 101 Reasons Why I’m Not Taking a Bath, illustrated by Joy Ang. Originally from upstate New York, she now lives in Kernersville, North Carolina, with her three children, two dogs, and one husband. She doesn’t have a favorite. You can find her online at www.stacymcanulty.com.

EDWARD HEMINGWAY is certain he’s Stacy McAnulty’s favorite illustrator, although the illustrators of Stacy’s other books may disagree. Edward himself is the author and illustrator of the children’s books Bump in the Night, Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship, Bad Apple’s Perfect Day, and Field Guide to the Grumpasaurus. Originally from Bozeman, Montana, he now lives in Brooklyn where he teaches creative writing at the master’s level at SVA in Manhattan. If he has any favorite students, he’ll never tell. Learn more about him online at www.edwardhemingway.com.

Did you know Mr. Fuzzbuster loves writing notes? He wants to send cards to young readers across the country.  Maybe he will be your favorite. More information can be found at http://www.stacymcanulty.com/fuzzbuster-email

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