Student Success Story and Book Giveaway: Vincent X. Kirsch: Illustrator-Poet-Author-Puppeteer-Amazingness

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! (an original poem, the link to PF, and instructions on how to enter our drawing for an autographed picture book are below)

Look! Someone's climbed our ladder and is knocking at the door of the TeachingAuthors tree house right now!

Campers, I'm proud to introduce you to a dear friend.

But first, a confession: I feel a bit sheepish posting this interview as part of our continuing series, Student Success Stories, since he tiptoed into my Picture Book class undercover, without revealing he'd written and illustrated many wonderful picture books before landing in my class. But...he was my student...and man, oh, man, is he a success! So...he qualifies, right?

Welcome, Vincent X. Kirsch and Ogbert! (I'm sorry that the utterly adorable Scout Pippins, Vincent's other pup, couldn't join us today)

Author-Illustrator Vincent X. Kirsch and Ogbert
photo courtesy of the author

Have a glass of fresh lemonade and take a load off, Vincent, then please tell us how you found your way into writing and illustrating children's books.

One of my favorite behind the scenes story is how my first book came to be. I had been pursuing work in picture books for over fifteen years without any success. I had given up at a point in my life when a lot of my friends were getting book assignments without any effort at all. Over the same fifteen years, I had been doing a monthly illustration for The New York Times Book Review. I was told in August that the art director was leaving and the new art director wanted to start with his own team of illustrators. It was rather sad because I had been doing it so long and I hated to see that door shut. For my very last illustration, I drew two young Italian brothers on a scooter going in opposite directions. The illustration was published one Sunday in October, 2006 and the following Thursday, an editor at Bloomsbury USA called to say that she loved the illustration in The Times and wondered if I was interested in doing picture books? A new door was suddenly thrown wide open! She was thinking of me as an illustrator but was delighted to discover that I was also a writer. The result was my first book NATALIE &NAUGHTILY. So, all of that work over all those years paid off somehow. 

So, based on your experience, how would you encourage someone banging her head against writer’s block...or someone who's depressed about ever getting anything published?

Things never happen when we think they will happen. The greatest reward for working in any creative area is the work itself. To sit down and create is a treasure that nothing else in life can match. 

I often say: The greatest reward in life is to put a part of yourself down on paper. Enjoy the work. Be in the present moment.  Don’t compare and don’t compete. No one has the same life story or superpower. It’s what makes you who you are. Also, don’t forget to love as much as you can, it is all really take with you when you leave this world.

For Writer’s Block: Take a break. Take a vacation. Stand on your head. Look at the world from a new perspective. Read BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott. Then, go back to work and look at your own work with new eyes.

Vincent's inspiration cork board
photo courtesy of the author

The cork board in your studio is filled with images that encourage you to dream. If you could be anything in the world except an author/illustrator, what would you dream of becoming?

An urban planner. A film director. A playwright. A scenic designer. A puppeteer. Or a job that I actually had and loved, a visual merchandiser for a line of luxury food shoppes.

(Campers...the thing about Vincent is that he will probably actually DO all these things--stay tuned!)

I know the story of how you wrote your newest book ~ could you share it with our readers, please?

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I was enrolled in your class at UCLA Extension. One week you asked us to rethink an existing project that we had worked on in the past. One of my favorite books titled FORSYTHIA & ME had recently gone out of print. I loved the book but thought I could do a better job if I gave it a bit more of an emotional tug at the heart.

I went back to a list I had made of remembered things from my childhood that stood out. Two that jumped out at me were: my fear of climbing trees and the memory of how heartbroken I was when my childhood friends would move away. So, I blended the two, addressing both of these feelings that had bedeviled me and somehow comforted myself in dealing with those memories. Since the class was a poetry driven class, I first wrote the book as a poem. I surprised myself at the end, since I really didn’t know how I would end it until inspiration wrote the final sentence for me.

The book came out exactly two years after my first draft in class. It is called HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES by Abrams Books for Young Readers.

I love that story (of course I do!) and also way you so beautifully intertwine two different ideas, both in words and illustrations...and so do critics!  "A primer on both getting up into the leaves and coping with the loss of someone you're attached to. Kirsch elegantly makes the connection with affirmations that work both ways: 'Hang on tight with both hands'; 'take it one branch at a time'; and, inevitably, 'letting go will be the hardest part!' . . . A well-cultivated story that plants a seed about the value of friends and what they leave with us, even when they're gone" ~ Kirkus Reviews

How can teachers and parents use HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES?

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I imagine it will be a very useful book to share with listeners and readers if they have lately experienced a loss of some sort, (such as when a friend/fellow student/relative moves away, dies or in no longer near). This book shows that even though someone might not be there anymore, they have left you with something of value that can be held on to. What might that be?

Yes. I can see myself giving it to an adult friend who's going through loss. You recently spoke to my class right after your beloved mother died...and choked up as you began reading it aloud. A student continued reading the book for you. It was a very touching moment.

Tell us about your mother.

I come from a rather large family of five children. I was second and am very much a second child. I was very close to my Mom. She was my greatest fan. Everything I did amazed and delighted her. I used to love to call her with good or bad news. She was always a voice of confidence. I have a terrific family by birth and another marvelous family of close friends. They now take turns being my Mom’s voice when I need to hear encouraging words.

Dapper, young Vincent X. Kirsch. photo courtesy of the author

Did your family celebrate holidays? What's your favorite?

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I adore everything about Christmas. I always have. I was Santa Claus’s greatest fan. At a very early age, my parents discovered that I was very good at wrapping packages. So, one holiday season when I was still very young, they sat me down and explained that Santa was not a real person but a very good idea. There were no elves. I needed to help. Then, they put me to work wrapping presents for my siblings and relatives. I remember crying my eyes out, that first day.

Years later, when I started as the window designer at Bergdorf Goodman, the store did very little for the holidays. No special windows. No fancy interior elements. Just a few cursory holiday touches. I was aghast and offered to take on the assignment and direction of holiday decorations. It meant much more work and planning for an already busy me. But I believed in festive holidays. I started the traditions of holiday windows, ornate interior decorations and wreaths hung on all of the windows outside the store. I did it for Santa Claus, not the person, but the idea.

You are always willing do extra work, and you're endlessly curious and multi-talented, Vincent. So, where will your abundant energy and enthusiasm take you next?

I have just begun artwork on my next picture book as author and illustrator. Hopefully it will be called FROM A. TO Z. It is about two little boys who can’t find the perfect words to express how they feel about each other. It is a very upbeat celebration of love and friendship. It will be out in Fall of 2020 from Abrams.

Then, I have started work on my second early reader/search-and-find book with Holiday House to be titled CAN PUP FIND THE PUPS? It is a sequel of sorts to the first book in the series, a Junior Library Guild selection for very young readers, CAN YOU FIND PUP?  about a little artist and his fun-loving, dare-devil pup. 

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Wow~ I can't wait to read FROM A. TO Z. It sounds like a life-changing picture book. 

And finally, do you have a poem to share for Poetry Friday? 

Years ago, I wrote a fairy tale about a little girl on an island who is given the gift of a dragon as her teacher. At the start of the story, I wrote this poem. It expresses something that I truly believe.

Each person changes the world.

Some for the better.

Some for the worse.

Someone might build a wall

to keep others out.

Someone else might build a house

for others to come home to.

Someone may step upon a flower.

Someone may plant a garden.

A cruel word might be spoken.

A poem might be written.

Someone might start a war.

Someone else might start to sing

a song that passes

from person

to person

to person.

by Vincent X. Kirsch

poem (c) 1998 Vincent X. Kirsch. All rights reserved.

illustrations and photos (c)2019 Vincent X. Kirsch. All rights reserved.

Vincent, thank you--I needed to be reminded that each person does change the world. And thank you for passing your inspiring song on to all of us. I hope you'll come back when FROM A. TO Z. comes out. (Campers! I urge you to read more about Vincent--or at least feast your eyes on oodles of his illustrations--in this 2016 interview)
And thank you for offering to sign and send a personally autographed copy of HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES to one of our lucky Readers! (to enter the drawing, see directions below)

Campers ~ checkout Vincent's short and sweet Wednesday Writers' Workout!

And don't forget Poetry Friday! 

This week's roundup is hosted by Jone at DeoWriter  Thanks, Jone! 

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PS: Campers ~ there's still a seat for you in the one-day class, WRITING A PICTURE BOOK AND GETTING IT PUBLISHED I'm again teaching on Saturday, July 13, 2019 with illustrator and author Barney Saltzberg, from 9:30am-4:30pm, through the UCLA Extension Writers Program

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TO ENTER THE DRAWING for a chance to win an autographed copy of  HOW I LEARNED TO FALL OUT OF TREES written and illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsh, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment* on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthorsFacebook page. (If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today!)

*In your comment, tell us what you'd do with the book if you win our giveaway--keep it for yourself or give it to a young reader or a teacher (...or?) ?

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.

Note: if you submit your comments via email or Facebook, YOU MUST STILL ENTER THE DRAWING VIA THE WIDGET BELOW. The giveaway ends July 26th and is open to U.S. residents only.

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address. 

A Rafflecopter giveaway

posted with affection by April Halprin Wayland, and Eli (who loves every breathing being he meets.)

Why I Write: An Imaginary School Visit Q & A

    I love school visits. I was a school media specialist for years, and I miss that world every day.

    My favorite part of school visits? Talking to the kids. Specifically, the question and answer part of my presentation. I have learned so much from those questions. 

    For instance, my very first school visit was to my daughter's kindergarten class. This is where I learned not to say, "So does anyone have any questions?"

    A boy waved both hands in my face, bursting with intellectual curiosity (I assumed).

   "Yes?" I gestured toward the boy by waving him out of my personal space.

   "Where do puppies come from?" he shouted.

   That day I learned to begin Q & A with the more specific "Does anyone have a question about writing or writers or books?"

    Over the years, the questions have grown more thoughtful, and have made me think about just why I do this writing-for-children thing.  Here is an imaginary Q & A showing how I arrived at an answer.

    Me: Does anyone have a question about writing or writers or books?

    A hundred hands shoot up.

   Me: I know everyone of you is either writing a book now or wants to be a writer some day, and I'll talk to you when I sign books. Now who has a question?

   Two thirds of the hands drop.

   Boy in a Hogwarts hoodie:  Do you know JK Rowling?

   Me:  Not personally, but she is a terrific writer.  Don't you think so?

   Room agrees enthusiastically.

   Girl with braces:  Do you make a lot of money?

   This answer depends on the age group. Answer for elementary students.

   Me:  Most writers have other jobs like teaching because most of us don't make a lot of money from our books. Not enough money to pay the bills at least.

   Middle school answer.  Me:  Last year my daughter made twice as much money bussing tables at Golden Corral than I did writing and teaching writing.

   Silence. I sense a number of kids deciding against a writing career.

   Child in neon orange from back of room:  Where do you get your ideas?

   I used to tick off the specific story seed for each of my books, until the day a second grader said, "So you just pretty much write about your family?"

The Rodman family 1916---my current WIP

    Me:  My husband and I come from storytelling families. My daughter tells me stories about her friends and teachers. Thanks to them, I never run out of ideas.  I think the best ideas come from stories families remember and tell about each other. You just have to pay attention to find them.

Teacher, leaning against the wall, arms folded: So, Ms Rodman, I think the students would like to know why you write?

   Me: (Cold sweats, racing heart, blank brain) That's a terrific question.

   I stalling for time. Is the next group of kids standing in the hall, waiting to come in?

   No, they are not.

    I mentally run through possible answers.

   I wanted to be rich and famous (too snarky).  I'm not very good at anything else (not entirely true; I was a great librarian). I'm not really a writer; it's just an expensive hobby I pursue to annoy my husband (super snark...and only the teachers might get it..)

    Me:  I have to write. (Well, that was weak.)

   Teacher: Excuse me?

   Me: (regrouping) I can't not write.

   (Double negative. Ouch. Not good. Try again.)

   Me:  As long as I can remember, I've told myself stories. When I learned to write, I had a way to save and share them. The more I wrote,  the more I want to write. There are so many, many stories I want to share, I'll never be able to write them all down.

 

Same Teacher:  Would you still write if you weren't published?

    Me: I wrote for years without being published. I wrote other stuff, things like diaries and journals that were just for me. When I was your age I wrote letters.  I have dozens of cousins, and a bunch of other relatives who all lived far away from me. I wrote at least two or three letters a week.

    (A brief digression to explain snail mail, and the world before the Internet and cell phones.)

     Me:  I wrote for my school newspapers and a school column for my neighborhood paper.

    (Similar digression on newspapers.  My life starts to feel like it took place in the Bronze Age, for the resemblance it bears to my readers' lives.)

    Same Teacher (who I now suspect has an agenda. Maybe she's a secret writer?): Don't you ever get discouraged and want to quit?

    Me: All the time. Sometimes you spend years writing a story, and then no one wants to buy it.  Sometimes you work and work on a book, and when you go back and read it, it's not as good as you thought.  That's when I say, OK, I quit.  I'm not going to write any more. It's too hard.

    Same Teacher: (prompting. Definitely has an agenda!) Then what happens?

    Me: After a couple of days I'll hear or see something and think "I've got to write this down. This is part of a story." I'll remind myself that I'm not writing any more. ..but I go ahead and write it down anyway.  Before I know it, I'm writing again. I can't help it.

    Girl in black (fourth grade Goth girl?) :  So how do you know if you are a writer?

     Me:  If you knew no one but you would ever read your stuff, and you knew you would never make any money writing, and you still write because you just have to....then you're a writer.

     Boy in LeBron James jersey:  For real?  Even if you didn't make money and nobody read your stories?  You'd write anyway?

     (I can tell he's thinking, but not saying, "well, that's stupid.")

     Me:  You like Le Bron James.  You must play basketball, right?

      Boy: Yeah.

     Me:  Are you any good?

      Boy: (trying to look modest but not succeeding). Yeah. Pretty good.

        Me:  What if somebody told you that you were a good player, but not good enough to play for the NBA?  Would you still want to play ball?

       Boy: Well, yeah. (His body language implies "duh, writer lady.")

       Me:  Why?

       Boy: Because it's fun.  I love it. I play all the time.

       Me: So you're kind o like me.  Writing is fun.  I love it. I write all the time or I'm thinking about writing. I'll keep writing even if no one ever reads another word I write.  And I think we have time for one more question.

      Girl:  Ms Rodman, why hasn't Yankee Girl ever been a movie?

      Me:  Oh, look, the next group is already at the door. Well, this has been fun and I'll see you guys at the book signing. Bye, now!

     Nothing like a school visit to remind me of my priorities.  Writing, writing and writing. And if someone reads it, so much the better.  School visits will always set you straight.


----Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
   

Ah, the Gift of Writing!

Find out about our Teaching Authors Book Giveaway running all this week! Click here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related Writing Workout at the end of this post.

Now here's the fifth and last in our series of Q & A posts related to Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.

JoAnn: Each book is a ribboned and bowed gift—for the writer as well as for the reader. What was the surprise for you when you unwrapped this book?

Esther: I’m smiling just thinking about my answer.

My book’s closing Y and Z words and their accompanying entries shout to the world, “Writing is a gift!”

The word story comes from the word history, which means a narrative of events. And history’s story? It comes from the Greek word historia, which means to ask or inquire to learn and know.

“Writing,” I tell my reader, “helps you learn the story behind your story.”

Y is for Your Story
Yours to live and grow,
Of all you do,
And where you’ve been and where you hope to go.

My writer’s story, to date, told of fictional picture books and middle grade novels.

But writing S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet opened all sorts of doors to writing nonfiction.

The learner in me loved researching the bounty of possible supportive details for each of my entries. I was lost in thought, I was in the flow, as one fact led to another.

The wordsmith in me loved the doable concreteness of crafting 180-word pieces; I found the cutting, refining and polishing oddly satisfying.

I was teaching again, via words on paper, as I did when I long ago published for the educational market.

My journalism degree served me daily and well, enabling me to focus on each entry’s important facts.

I was telling my story – my Writer’s story, my Teacher’s story, my Author’s story, my Teaching Author’s story, up close and personally, all in the service of helping young writers tell their stories.

My current project? I’m writing a picture book biography of a little-known slave the world needs to know.

My “Z is for Zorro” entry reminds readers that we need to sign our names beneath our singular stories, maybe with three quick sword-drawn lines, as Zorro did, or with a John Hancock-like bold hand or a telling mark. Perhaps, I suggest, we could use a signature quote, words that tell the world something about us, the way the quotes throughout my book tell something about writing.

Each day brings me new and meaningful quotable words to place beneath my name. For now, though, as I sign off with thanks to my fellow Teaching Authors for their questions and support the past seven days, I choose Milo’s words from The Phantom Toll Booth.

Esther Hershenhorn
“Anything is possible as long as you don’t know it’s impossible.”

FYI:

Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.

My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.

Visit my website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.

Click here for Sleeping Bear Press’s Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.

Writing Workout

Many writers today place a famous quotation beneath their names when they sign letters, emails and reports. Such quotations are called signature quotes.


Bartlett’s Book of Familiar Quotations sits on the reference shelf of most libraries.

A Gift of Days: The Greatest Words to Live By (S & S/Atheneum) offers powerful words from 366 artists, writers, political figures and visionaries.

What quote would you choose to write beneath your name to show the world you’re here and just who you are?

Think about your favorite books (Winnie the Pooh, the Harry Potter series), movies, characters, poems, ads, tag lines, song titles and lyrics, sports figures, musicians and games.

Let’s Hear it for Opportunities and Possibilities!

Find out about our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway running all this week! Click here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related Writing Workout at the end of this post. Now here's the fourth in our series of Q&A posts related to Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.

Jeanne Marie:
How would you like to see teachers, parents, and young readers and writers use S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet?

Esther:
I decided to follow my own advice when creating my Writer’s Alphabet.

“K is for four Kinds of Writing,
each a style to know
Describe or preach?
Recount or teach?
Think purpose, then readers, then GO!”

My purpose was to inform, inspire and affirm young writers – as well as – celebrate the all-important Reader-Writer Connection.

And, my audience was young writers.

Fortunately, the iconic two-tiered format of Sleeping Bear Press’s alphabet books made the going easy and doable. Each entry’s rhymed verse captures the essence of the selected word for younger readers, ages 6 to 8. The accompanying sidebar’s text written in prose enhances, amplifies, and extends the chosen word. Of course, each of Zak Pullen’s compelling images visually tells the chosen letter’s story.

Most of my texts offer mini-Writing Lessons – e.g., how to create rounded characters, how to brainstorm, how to use a Writer’s Notebook.

Many of my entries include Writer’s Tips – e.g., on saving drafts, editing, collecting ideas, naming characters.

Each double-page spread shares a relevant, meaningful quote from a treasured award-winning children’s book author.

Young writers can use the book on their own – turning the pages from A to Z, or choosing letters at random, or singling out a specific element of narrative, writing process step, or subject of interest that draws their interest. The mini-lessons, the Writer’s Tips, the peeks at how writers work and the authors’ words are young writer-friendly, young-writer accessible.
In the classroom, library, or home, teachers, librarians and parents can do the same, using the entries to introduce, support, extend, and/or summarize a specific item of the writing curriculum. Included writing tools, such as Writer’s Notebooks, journals, and letters, are meant to be tried. Referenced children’s book authors, titles, and characters are meant to be read and explored, sparking authors’ studies to help writers grow.

Whether sitting on a writer’s bookshelf at home, in the library, or in the classroom, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet offers limitless possibilities and opportunities to seed and feed young writers. The trick, Christopher Paul Curtis reminds readers, is to “make sure the writing’s got your own natural funk all over it.”

FYI:
• Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
• My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
• Visit my website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
• Click here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.

Writing Workout

 
Some writers borrow expressions to use as pen names, names under which they write. For instance, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson translated his first two names into the Latin “Carolus Lodovious” and then into the English pen name Lewis Carroll.

Mark Twain’s true name was Samuel Clemens, P. L. Travers was borne Helen Lyndon Goff. Theodore Geisel used the title Dr. Seuss. Paging R. C. O’Brien? Try Robert Leslie Conly. Write Lemony Snicket c/o Daniel Handler.

Create a pen name for you to use.
Think about foreign languages, code words, synonyms, antonyms, acronyms, the street on which you live, favorite characters, names of pets.

[Note: Book images used with permission.]

Oh, the Twists and Turns of Any Book's Plotline!

Find out about our TeachingAuthors autographed Book Giveaway running all this week! Click here for details.

This week we’re celebrating fellow TeachingAuthor Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.

April:
Can you give us a feel for the time-line of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, from the story’s spark to its first review?

Esther:
I loved sharing with readers in my D is for Drafts side-bar text that Abraham Lincoln spent seventeen days crafting his 272-word Gettysburg Address! S is for Story’s time-line totaled 971 days, from its January 11, 2007 story spark to its September 9, 2009 official release.
But, who’s counting anyway?
And, unlike Lincoln, I saved my many drafts.


Here’s how my book’s plotline played out across 2 2/3 years, in scenes that moved forward to its happy resolution, despite the twists and turns.

January 11, 2007 My story’s spark: a writing alphabet!

January 13, 2007 Submission of Book Proposal to SBP editor Amy Lennex

October 10, 2007 Amy’s phone call, offering me a contract :)

Note: Sleeping Bear Press planned to publish the book in September, 2009; my completed manuscript was due May 1, 2008.

November, 2007 Brainstorming the book idea with my Chicago Alcott School 5th graders

January 7, 2008 Submission of my 26 selected alphabetically-ordered words

Note: I’ve titled this particular Plot Episode “Esther’s Lost Weekend” because that’s what preceded the submission of my letters. My driving question? What story was I telling? What was my narrative arc? I simply could not alphabetically list word after word. My Aha! Moment? When I realized this book was my School Visit, wrapped and ribbon-ed and tied up with a bow, shouting, when opened, “Writers are readers!”

My welcoming, affirming narrator’s voice would address the reader, moving the story from WE writers (and readers) to and through writing’s Magic and on to writing’s gift, namely YOU and YOUR story.

My 26 words needed to offer a balanced representation of (1) the writing process, (2) the six traits of writing, (3) the elements of narrative and (4) the writer’s life.
My quoted and referenced children’s book authors, titles and characters would reflect a multitude of formats, genres and ethnicities.

January, 2008 – March, 2008
Research! Googling! Reading! Oh, My!
Selection of supportive concrete details and a relevant quote for each of my 17 double-page spreads

Note: I’d never solved such a challenging acrostic-like puzzle! I needed to represent award-winning authors living and dead, male and female, inclusive of all genres, formats and ethnicities, whose words enhanced my selected subject word

March, 2008 The writing of my book’s rhymed text – 26 poems that convey, for my youngest readers, the essence of my chosen subject word.

Note: Writing these poems, adhering to my established meter, yet varying the sentence structure and word choice in unique and original ways, took me all 31 days! I have a new respect for the always-admired Mary Ann Hoberman and Lisa Wheeler.

April, 2008 The writing of the 180-word text for each of my 26 side-bars.

Note: The word count included my chosen author’s quoted words. Revising, cutting and refining my copy proved editor Jean Karl’s advice right on: a writer can always cut five words more. I actually loved this challenge. Verbs became my best friends.

April 30, 2008 Submission of manuscript, electronically to Amy Lennex!

May, 2008 A few minor revisions requested and honored

May 23, 2008 An arranged conference call that included Amy Lennex, the Art Director Melinda Millward, the book’s chosen illustrator Zachary Pullen and me!

Note: I’ve never been offered this opportunity before.
I shared how I came to write this book and why I loved it so. Zak shared that he was thinking about following a given set of young writers through the book’s many pages. Our respect for young writers came through loud and clear.

August, 2008 Amy shared Zak’s rough thumbnail sketches

October, 2008 I honored Amy’s request to choose a new U and X;

Note: my original U was for Uses and the X was for Rejection; my revised U was for Unstoppable and X was for eXpression.

November 24, 2008 Amy Lennex’s emailed revision requests, with an attached document.

Note: Though still full of Good Will from Turkey Day,
I was not instantly thankful for Amy’s sharp, smart editorial eye.
In fact, it took a good two days for me to see the wonder of her comments, each posed as a question. Amy was reading my words on behalf of my readers, young and old, who deserved utmost clarity. I twinge now rereading the draft I thankfully revised. I also needed to tweak 25 of my 26 poems, again for clarity, again for my readers. After but one phone conversation with Amy, I was on my way, eager to get my words and story right.

December 22, 2008 I emailed Amy my completed revisions. :)

March, 2009 I received color images of Zak’s cover and a few letter pages –
B, C, D/E, F/G,M, P, Y/Z. I joined the chorus of viewers’ “WOW’S!”

April, 2009 Line-editing/proof-reading

Note: Over several days, I continually marveled at the fine eye shown my every word, with evident and much-appreciated respect for the author.

June, 2009 Completion of Zak’s art

Early July, 2009 Shipment of book to China for printing.

August 27, 2009 Arrival of books in SBP warehouse!

September 9, 2009 Official release date

September 13, 2009 Chicago Tribune review

Mary Harris Russell’s enthusiasm for our book was palpable.

“These attention-getting pages – often featuring unusual angles on a scene – slow readers to an appreciative pace for each piece of Hershenhorn’s advice. Hershenhorn is experienced as an author and writing coach; that dual expertise show. The words chosen for each letter are distinctive and strongly central for writers: genre, journal, notebook, revision and voice. She is not talking down. Her allusions are to a variety of writers children know and like – Ann Martin, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, Sid Fleischman, as well as to Superman, Longfellow and text-messaging.”

Somewhere in my cartons of drafts, emails, sketches and auxiliary materials sits the Chicago Tribune Sagittarius horoscope for Saturday, January 13, 2007, the day I mailed my Writer’s Alphabet proposal to Sleeping Bear Press. Georgia Nicols advised me to muster patience and trust in a Bigger Plan: I was planting seeds that in time would grow to bear prized fruits beyond my imagination.

FYI:

• Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
• My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
• Visit my website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
• Click here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.











Writing Workout:
A Reading and Discovery Opportunity

Dr. Seuss figured he could knock off his The Cat in the Hat in a week. After all, he wasn’t using more than 250 words. Imagine his surprise when after one year, he was still working on the story. Page through Philip Nel’s The Annotated Cat, Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats (Random House) to see and study Dr. Seuss’ revisions.

What are some of the changes Dr. Seuss made in word choice and the story’s action?


[Note: book images used with permission.]

Celebrating the Reader-Writer Connection with S is for Story

Find out about our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway running all this week!  Click here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related Writing Workout at the end of this post.

Now here's the second in our series of Q&A posts related to Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.

Carmela:
Can you share with our readers, Esther, how being a TeachingAuthor informed your book?

Esther:
My Inner Child wasn’t the only one keeping me company while I brainstormed, grew, and wrote S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.

The Teachers in me, plural (former fifth grade and writing) couldn’t sit still, checking off subjects each insisted I include.
For instance, elements of narrative, such as character and plot.
The Four Kinds of Writing, from Persuasive to Descriptive.
What about Word Choice?
Don’t forget Voice.
Remind young writers: mechanics are important.
      

The Author in me seconded the Teachers, before promptly adding a few Musts of her own. 
Introduce Journals.
Recommend Notebooks.
Share Writer’s Tips.
Share the glory and the fun.
Let writers know the need for revision and drafts.
Inspire writers with stories of success.

It was the Children’s Book Author in me, though, who helped me reach my story’s heart.
I’d personally learned my craft by reading, studying, typing out, and taking apart children’s books, across all formats in a multitude of genres.
I still read as a writer.
I still write as a reader.
All of me celebrates the Reader-Writer Connection.

What better way to Show, Don’t Tell as well as support my chosen content than to reference children’s books, their authors, their characters?
What better way to affirm today’s young writers than to let them know: they are not alone?
E.B. White’s eight drafts of Charlotte’s Web.
Dr. Seuss’ 1 ½ year-long revision of The Cat in the Hat.
Christopher Paul Curtis’ surprising Writer’s Journey.
Beatrix Potter’s letter-writing.
Sid Fleischman’s magic.
My book’s sidebars teem with All Things Children’s Book.
Each double-page spread offers a treasured author’s words.
Andrew Clements’ words close the double-page B spread.
“I don’t know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.”

FYI
•    Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing.  Visit Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
•    My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
•    Visit my website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
•    Click here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.

Writing Workout

Writers are readers! Readers are writers!

Reading biographies of children’s book writers helps you learn how other writers kept on working to learn and hone their craft, no matter their disappointments, doubts, and early failures.

Check out these writer biographies:

Jen Bryant: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
Sid Fleischman: Trouble at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West
Karen Hesse: The Young Hans Christian Andersen
Kathleen Krull: 
   The Boy on Fairfeld Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss
   The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum
Mark Nobleman: Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman
Yona Zedia McDonough: Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott

[Note: book images used with permission.]

S is for Serendipity and How It Sparks a Story

Find out about our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway running all this week!  Click here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related Writing Workout at the end of this post.

This week we’re featuring a series of Q&A posts related to my fellow TeachingAuthor Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.

Mary Ann:
Can you share with our readers, Esther, how and why you came to write this nonfiction book?

Esther:
How could I not begin an alphabetically-arranged writing book with A is for Alphabet?  I especially love Lewis Carroll’s words from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland which end my book’s first double-page spread: “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.”

As for the story behind S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, believe it or not, it begins, “It was a dark and stormy night ..."

Or rather, it was a dark and stormy Thursday in early January, 2007.  I sat across the lunch table from my friend and fellow author Steven Layne at Chicago’s Grand Lux Café.

A part of me was back at my Lincoln Park writing desk, eager to tackle my middle-grade novel’s revision. In fact, I’d hemmed and hawed about keeping the lunch date, torn between my writing and catching up with a dear friend, even while CTA-ing my bundled self to the restaurant.

Still, I watched and listened as Steven made his way through his soup-and-sandwich combo singing, non-stop, between bites and sips, the praises of his P is for Princess publisher.

“Esther,” Steven declared, readying for dessert, “you need to publish with Sleeping Bear Press!”

My brain instantly played Connect the Dots: Sleeping Bear Press?  Oh, ABC books!  A book on writing because that was what I knew!  Website searches of SBP and Amazon followed.  Next, a review of every writing book I used with Young Writers.

By dinnertime, I’d dedicated the next 42 hours until my U.S. Mail Lady’s Saturday noon pick-up to thoughtfully readying a proposal for (what I then titled) W is for Writing.

Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote of his own serendipitous meeting with his former college friend-turned-Vanguard Press juvenile editor who purchased And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street after the good Dr.’s twenty-some rejections, “If I’d been going down the other side of Madison Avenue, I would be in the dry-cleaning business today.”

I’ve asked myself often during the past two years: what if I had stayed home that dark, damp, gray and cold Thursday?!

My, oh, my, what I would have missed.

As further luck would have it, throughout those 42 early January hours, that little girl I once was who lives inside of me poked and prodded and wouldn’t let me be.  Maybe, she whispered, I could write the book she’d wanted to own, when she’d decided to someday write children’s books.  Maybe my book could answer her questions.

Of course, her questions are those of any young person interested in writing.  I answer these questions daily, on school visits, in libraries, when coaching writers in my Author-to-Author program, when celebrating Young Authors at city and state events.

How nice that I can now answer those questions by handing children my Writer’s Alphabet.

And when I do, I’ll be sure to speak the words Steven taught me to share when gifting a student with a carefully-chosen book.

“Here,” I’ll say, “I’ve been thinking about you.”

FYI:
•    Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing.  Visit Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
•    My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
•    Visit my website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
•    Click here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.

Writing Workout

The word “abecedarian” (ā-bē-(ˌ)sē-ˈder-ē-ən) just about gives away its meaning.

An abecedarian  is a person who’s learning the letters of the alphabet.  The word abecedarian also describes anything that is related to the alphabet.

S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet tells the story of a writer’s life and process from A to Z.  How might you tell your story from A to Z?  Or the story of your family, or your favorite sports team, recording artist, or classroom even?

List the letters A through Z.  Choose meaningful subject words that tell your subject’s story.  For example, The A-to-Z of Me might include:

            A is for Aunt Anne.
            B is for my books.
            C is for my cousin Jane who lives in New Jersey.

            First choose naming words or nouns.
            Next, grow your story by adding verbs (actions words) or adjectives (describing words) or even both.

[Note: book image used with permission.]

Activities for Teachers, Parents, and Readers Using New Year at the Pier

Today is the last day of our celebration of the new school year with our very own April Halprin Wayland. But don't worry, there's still time to enter for a chance to win a free autographed copy of April's picture book New Year at the Pier--A Rosh Hashanah Story. You have until midnight, Monday, September 7, 2009 (CST), to post your goal for the new school year.  Click here for details.

On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, we'll announce the winner. We'll also have a round-up of links to other sites where April has been interviewed, as well as links to recent interviews with two other TeachingAuthors. We won't be posting on Monday, because of the Labor Day holiday. After Tuesday, we'll return to our usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday posting schedule.

Carmela:
April, here's our last question for you: How would you like to see teachers, parents, and young readers using New Year at the Pier?

April:
I’d like teachers to use it to help explain to students why some of their Jewish classmates are absent…and what they’re doing.

I’d like them to use it in January to talk about all the ways people around the world celebrate the new year. (For more on New Year Rituals Around the World, see my website.)

I’d like teachers and parents to use the book to open discussions about how to apologize. To help, I've listed resources for discussing forgiveness on my website.

I’d like them to use it to act out how to accept an apology.

I’d like older kids to use this book as an opening to discussions about the Rwanda Reconciliation. I've provided resources for this on my website too.

And here's an activity I’d like all readers to try:
Think of one person you’ve harmed.
Write about the incident and read it to someone else.
Sit with the feelings for a bit, then be willing to let them go.
The feelings may not go away, but the first step is to be willing to let them go away.
Then make an appointment to see the person you've hurt face-to-face to apologize.  No excuses—just a simple heartfelt apology…without expectations that you will be forgiven.  Rabbi Neil told me that forgiveness can’t be the focus of the apology.  I can’t apologize in order to be forgiven or to feel better.

Here’s an example:  Last year I gave a 7th grade poetry workshop at a Catholic school.  It was a terrific school, the students were very responsive, and I love teaching this particular workshop.  A few days later, the principal of the school called to say that a website I referred to in the workshop contained X-rated content. 

You can imagine the feedback she’d gotten from parents.

I was mortified. I called a very smart friend and asked her what to do.  She suggested that I use it as a teaching opportunity—that I offer to write an article in the parent newsletter cautioning about the ever-changing internet. She suggested that I could publish the article in a magazine.

I tried to write that article. I really tried. But it didn’t sound very sincere. 

I called my friend Bruce.

“What should I do?” I asked.
“You should apologize,” he said.
“That’s all?” I asked. “But what about the article?”
“How would you feel if you were in their position?” he asked. “Wouldn’t you just want to hear, ‘I’m so sorry?’  Don’t complicate it.” 
So I wrote and sent a sincere letter of apology.  And it felt right. 

Another thing I’d like readers to do with the book is use it to learn about feeding the hungry. I am donating a portion of the profits of this book to Mazon, a Jewish response to hunger.

Finally, how else would I like people to use New Year at the Pier?  I’d love to hear that one of you gave this book to a friend as a way of finally apologizing about something that’s been bothering you for a long-long-long-long time.

Since today is Poetry Friday, I’ll like to end with a story and a poem about apologies:

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels told me a story of a man who was sorry that he gossiped about someone.  The man went to his rabbi for help to him make it right.

“I can’t help you,” the rabbi said.
 “But I’m really sorry,” the man said. “I want to make it right.”
“You can’t make it right.” the rabbi said.
“But why?” the man asked.
“Go get me a knife and a feather pillow,” the rabbi said.
The man brought back a pillow. The rabbi stabbed the feather pillow and shook out all the feathers, throwing them to the winds.
“There are some things that can never be put back together the way they were.  A situation can be changed through apology, but it cannot be undone,” said the rabbi.

I’M SORRY
by April Halprin Wayland

I ripped your pillow.
Your favorite pillow.
Filled with feathers.
Was it your father’s?

You ran out crying.
So I am trying
to find each feather
and put it back.

The wind is blowing,
the feathers going
out the window
all over the yard

This fixing pillows
is very hard.

© April Halprin Wayland