Smiles, laughter, children’s books and their authors await you at the 24th Annual Connecticut Children’s Book Fair happening this Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15 at the University of Connecticut.  The fun begins at 10:00am.  Check out this year’s exciting schedule of Authors and Illustrators featuring Ross MacDonald, Wendell Minor, Florence Minor, Cynthia Lord, P. J. Lynch, Jane Sutcliffe, Pamela Zagarenski, and Connecticut’s-own Barbara McClintock.  Parking, directions, and links to local attractions, including the Ballard Museum of Puppetry, are available on the Book Fair website.  Drop in to hear distinguished illustrators discuss their work, browse the latest releases, attend storytime and other events throughout the day including a visit by Clifford the Big Red Dog!

The Connecticut Children’s Book Fair is a program of the University of Connecticut Libraries and the UConn Co-op. Proceeds from sales at the event are used for the growth of the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection in the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Connecticut Libraries.

IT’S ALL ABOUT STORY

When I began my research on the relationship between text and art in picture books, I was hoping to uncover the “secrets” of some of the author/illustrators whose work is housed in the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection archives. I studied a number of different collections, and I am leaving with many ideas of how to improve my craft. My writing process will now include consistent creation of picture book mock-ups (dummies), and I have a greater understanding of specific approaches to writing text that “leaves room” for an illustrator.

Interestingly, though, I conclude my research with one overriding thought. The very best picture books—whether written by an author and illustrated by someone else, or created by an author/illustrator—have at their heart a good story. So authors and author/illustrators have equal opportunity to begin their creative picture book journeys in the same place – at the deep well of great stories we each have within us, stories about memorable characters who change as they solve problems or encounter conflict.

Revising text plays an important role in refining such stories (although the author/illustrator also revises art to strengthen his or her work). But always, it is the story that is the starting point. I will share a fine example:

WINGS: A TALE OF TWO CHICKENSby James Marshall

The kernel of this story appears to have been James Marshall’s vision of an old, hungry fox trying to outwit foolish fowl to find a meal. A preliminary sketch shows the disguised fox tricking a chicken into a bag.

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Sketch of fox bagging chicken. Series I, Box 12: Folder 217 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

When two silly geese sisters offer to help transport the heavy bag, the fox says, “This is too good to be true.”

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Sketch of fox and geese, in Series I, Box 12: Folder 217 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

An incomplete, early dummy of this story line shows a “chicken crossing” sign and a fox hiding behind a tree:

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Untitled, incomplete dummy, p.3. Series I, Box 12: Folder 216 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

The text on this opening page reads:

At a spot where chickens were

frequently known to cross the road,

a hungry fox came to stand and wait.

As he was no longer young

and agile, he had learned

to rely more heavily on his wits.

And for this occasion, he had come

in disguise.

The focus on the fox as protagonist continues in this version of the story, where we see the fox waiting in his chicken disguise:

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Untitled, incomplete dummy, pp. 4–5. Series I, Box 12: Folder 216 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

However, it appears that James Marshall soon decided he could tell a better story from  another angle (the incomplete dummy ends on page 6).

The first complete dummy reveals that the plot has taken a very different turn. Marshall completely switches the beginning to focus on two chickens who are close friends (maybe the two silly goose sisters in his preliminary sketches inspired this turn); the fox still plays a key role, but he is no longer a protagonist.

The title of the book, shown on this hand-drawn dummy cover, is:

WINGS

A TALE OF TWO CHICKENS

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Sept. ’85 dummy, cover. Series I, Box 12: Folder 215 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

Two chickens, with parasols, stand side by side at the edge of a precipice, and a fox hides in bushes in the background. The reader immediately knows this is a story of friendship and danger, and the first line of the dummy introduces Edna and Winnie (Harriet and Winnie in the published version) who are “as different as two chickens could possibly be.”

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Sept. ’85 dummy, p.3. Series I, Box 12: Folder 215 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

The first page in the published book shows the two good friends sharing tea:

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens (New York: Viking Kestrel, 3. Photo taken from CLC C38, Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

Edna (Harriet) loves reading and hobbies. Winnie would “rather swat flies than read” and is easily bored. Marshall sets up this pair of friends immediately, and when the disguised fox appears and offers foolish Winnie a ride in a hot air balloon, Edna (Harriet) fears for Winnie’s safety. A whole series of events follows, with the dastardly fox ultimately outwitted by Harriet, disguised as a fox. The plot twists and understated text are hilarious, and readers cheer for the friends right up until the closing page, when Harriet tucks Winnie into bed.

Marshall revised and refined his text zealously—on the top of the cover of his Sept. ‘85 draft (see above) there is a parenthetical note he wrote to himself in blue pen, “too wordy.”  The following pages are replete with red pencil cross outs and revisions, to pare the text of this story. For example:

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens. Sept. ’85 dummy, pp.4–5. Series I, Box 12: Folder 215 of James Marshall Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.

Marshall clearly thought about pacing and forward movement as he revised. The above page 5 has a crossed-out, bracketed note he wrote to himself: [Some lead in here for story?]. He created that lead-in by penciling in the line spoken by Winnie just before the hot air balloon floats into the garden:

 “I wish something wild would happen,” said Winnie.

And the story takes off from there. James Marshall continued to revise his text to strengthen his story and characters throughout that first complete dummy, a second dummy, a final dummy, and various pages of text revised within some of his sketchbooks.

As for character growth? Winnie is at last reading a book— about foxes. She exclaims, “Mr. Johnson was a fox!” Meanwhile, Harriet hasn’t given up on her friend. “Maybe there’s hope for her yet,” said Harriet. 

Marshall, James. WINGS: A Tale of Two Chickens (New York: Viking Kestrel, 32. Photo taken from CLC C38, Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

INSPIRATION

 I am concluding my research at the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection greatly inspired.  For several months, I have been working on a picture book, Chipmunk and Robin, about two close friends who are very different. As I polish and revise this story, I will draw on my new knowledge of how some of the best picture book story tellers (who happen to also be illustrators) craft character, crisis, and resolution into a full and satisfying story arc. Even though it will be a lot of work, the real secret is—it will be a lot of fun!

Check out UConn Today’s wonderful feature article about Victoria Ford Smith, professor of children’s literature in UConn’s English Department.  With the engaging title “Children’s literature not as simple as it seems” Dr. Ford Smith describes her background as a specialist in 19th and 20th-century British literature and culture, as well the challenges of teaching students who have grown up in a multimedia world.  Dr. Ford Smith’s first book, Between Generations: The Collaborative Child and Nineteenth-Century Authorship, “examines how children collaborate in the creation of stories” says author Ken Best.  Dr. Ford Smith is also interested in how stories such as Alice in Wonderland can be perceived as simple when in actuality, they are quite complex.

Cynthia’s new work, Mi Familia Calaca/My Skeleton Family was published by Cinco Puntos Press of El Pasa, Texas, in English and Spanish.  “In Mexico, the skeleton is a beloved and humorous figure.  Its origins go back to pre-Columbian times.” (jacket).  The papier-mâché skeletons used for the illustrations were created by Jesus Canseco Zarate, a young artist known as Chucho, from Oaxaca City, Mexico.  Chucho won a six-month scholarship to the art school Taller Rufino Tamayo, where he honed his skills in painting his figures and giving them more movement.  The story is told by Anita, who introduces each family member, from her “bratty” brother to her great-grandmother with her walker, not forgetting the pets.  Congratulations, Cynthia and Chucho!

Congratulations to Claudia Rueda, Billie M. Levy Travel Grant recipient in 2009, for the new English translation of her 2011 book “Todos es relativos.” This one is “Is it Big or Is it Little?” and is published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.  This is a charming book for the youngest readers which compares concepts such as deep and shallow, long and short, and beginning and end.  Felicitaciones, Claudia!

In his third blog installment, Glastonbury teacher and writer David Polochanin, recipient of the James Marshall Fellowship, shares two of his original poems after reading poetry in the Dodd Collection, from the Joel Oppenheimer and Robert Creeley papers.

Blog post 3: On Poetry

 “Cartography” and “Celebrating the Peace” by Joel Oppenheimer (Joel Oppenheimer Papers, Box 11, Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries). All rights reserved. No unauthorized reproduction allowed by any means for any reason.

3.20.13

Who would have

thought that

these papers,

with their typewriter

ink fading,

would see the

light of day

again, let alone

on this windy

Wednesday morning

in March?

When the poet

fashioned these words

40 years ago

they were

nothing special,

drafts scattered

in the author’s mind,

printed in a cluttered office,

gathering on the shelf

and the desk top,

in piles on the floor

against the wall,

and others in a stack

on the sill

beside a cactus.

The plant

(and the author)

have long since died

but today

I open a manila

folder and the poetry

comes alive, quite

a miracle, actually.

His words of reflection

and longing, poems

commemorating seasons,

and scenes

in New York City

that the poet likely

saw each day, planes

rising above the

Financial District,

papers blowing

on the sidewalk,

a bird that spent half

its morning jumping

from branch to branch

in a single tree

as a stream of taxis

formed one line

from here

to Central Park,

all of them turning at once,

then disappearing on

behind a monument

when I close this folder

and open the next.

“The Epic Expands” by Robert Creeley (Robert Creeley Papers, Box 2:Folder 48, Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut Libraries).  All rights reserved.  No unauthorized reproduction allowed by any means for any reason.

Sipping A Coke

Back when I was a kid

we used to sit on a porch

and sip Coke.

The parents sat in

rocking chairs,

holding their drink

in a bottle;

the young ones sat

on the concrete steps

flicking with their non-

drinking hand

the tiniest of pebbles

and the sun sat

motionless

in the sky.

We sipped it together.

We sipped it because

it was good. People

didn’t die because

of soft drinks, then.

No one developed

an addiction to caffeine

and diabetes

wasn’t a problem.

Having this drink allowed

us to chat about life,

about the dog’s laziness,

how the garden

was coming along,

and there was

a baseball game

on the radio

Saturday night.

Yes, those afternoons

had some kind

of timeless element.

I can still taste

the sweet soda

in my mouth

and I wonder

to this day

as I read this poem

what that

is all

about.

The world of children’s literature has lost another star. Gerald McDermott died on December 26, 2012, at the age of 71. Mr. McDermott created folklore films and wrote and illustrated picture books, including Anansi the Spider: A Tale from Ashanti (1972) and Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest (1993), both of which received Caldecott Honors. He received the 1975 Caldecott Medal for Arrow to the Sun: A Tale from the Pueblo. For more information on his amazing life and work, see his site at http://www.geraldmcdermott.com/. Mr. McDermott was a student at Pratt and studied with our own Roger Crossgrove. Our condolences to his family and friends.

To give us an opportunity to transition the reproduction service to new management, the service will be closed from July 7-29, 2012. The automatic reply from archives@uconn.edu includes a note as well as the website. We won’t be accepting requests during that period and apologize for any inconvenience.