Historical Fiction Picture Books with Kristy Dempsey

We are so excited to have Kristy Dempsey join us today to share information about Historical Fiction Picture Books!


Kristy Dempsey is the manager of marketing content and creative development at The Lumistella Company, a global children’s entertainment brand. She is also the author of numerous picture books, including Papa Put a Man on the Moon (Dial), a Bank Street Best Book and a Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine Best Book, and Superhero Instruction Manual (Knopf), an ILA/CBC Children's Choice selection and Southern Book Prize nominee. Her titles have received starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, and School Library Journal, and A Dance Like Starlight was named a JLG selection, ALA Notable Book, Bank Street Best Book, CCBC 2015 Choice, and the winner of the 2015 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text.


As a child, I was fascinated by the 1969 moon landing. Though it happened just before my birth, the replay of television clips through the years and the drama of a nation watching the events unfold inspired my imagination. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that the humble community of Slater, SC that my mother grew up in played a part in this amazing accomplishment. 

Community Building in the Slater, SC Mill Village

In the early 1960s, when textile production began moving overseas, the small textile mill in Slater faced a crisis. Cotton production was waning, and the mill that the community relied on for jobs was at risk. But when JFK announced that the US would land a man on the moon within the next decade, thousands of manufacturing plants across the US received contracts to produce the “nuts and bolts” it would take to put men on the moon. Eventually the mill in Slater received one of those contracts, to produce a fiberglass textile that would become one layer in the astronauts’ spacesuits.

Samples of spacesuit fabric layers at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

I’ve always been drawn to historical events, particularly human stories of those events, the “as seen through their eyes” perspectives of individuals who were there in the moment, and even more specifically, the perspectives of children who experienced those moments. That perspective informed my approach to my 2015 picture book A Dance Like Starlight. 

So as I began to uncover my own family’s relationship to the 1969 moon landing, I searched for a way to write Papa Put a Man on the Moon through the eyes of a child. 

Every member of my family on my mother’s side, and even my own father, had worked in this textile mill in the 1960s. The community was small, and the large majority of its residents worked at the mill. I wanted to highlight how this small community had contributed to the moon landing (in essence telling the story of the over 400,000 workers across the nation who contributed in some way) through the eyes of a child who was proud of her parents’ role. But my biggest difficulty in telling this story was my need, in some sense, to remove my own connection to it. Though my mother did grow up in this community, by the time of the moon landing, she was an adult. 

My mother, as a child in her home in the mill village, and as an adult in 1966

I used my mother’s relationship with her father as a base and imagined my mother younger. The details surrounding the events are accurate, but the characters themselves are composites. Even so, I still struggled to remove all the specifics I wanted to include about my own family. 

From an early draft of Papa Put a Man on the Moon

My papa did have honey bees and they were a huge part of my own childhood memories. But this detail, though it brought Papa to life and informed the relationship between father and daughter, did not point toward the central focus of the book, the moon landing and Papa’s contribution to it, along with the pride Marthanne felt. So, that detail got cut.

Opening page of Papa Put a Man on the Moon

The decision of which details to include, and which to leave out, must always be connected to the central aim of the book. There were three things I wanted to establish in this story:

  1. Marthanne’s pride in her father and her community

  2. Papa’s humble dedication to his job and his family

  3. The idea that big achievements are made up of thousands of small, sometimes seemingly insignificant, contributions

I felt like those three things best reflected the historical aspect of this story and honored the truth, even as some of the details were fictionalized.

In regards to truth in details in historical fiction, there is a funnel of truth through which to sift your details:

One of the details in the book actually ended up being sifted through this probability filter in the illustration stage. 

This scene outside of the A&H Supermarket in Slater, SC was originally depicted as a scene outside of a church, but while a conversation between races after church might have been “possible,” given the segregation among churches at the time, it wasn’t plausible, and certainly not probable. It was much more likely any conversations between races would have taken place at the supermarket or at the Mill Hill Community Center where residents of both races came together to play sports. 

While I would never change the details of the historical event, and I require evidence for those details, historical fiction sometimes uses invented dialogue and context. I use the probability filter to help ensure that any context I create remains true to history and resonates in its details.


Thanks so much for joining us, Kristy!

You can find Kristy on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/kddempsey/, Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/kristydempsey/, and Twitter @ https://twitter.com/kristydempsey

She also recently recorded a podcast on the Voyager podcast. You can hear more about her career and writing process here!

Dual Narrative Picture Books with Nancy Churnin

We are so excited to have Nancy Churnin join us today to share information about Dual Narrative Picture Books!

Nancy Churnin is an award-winning children’s book author who writes about people who have made the world a better place and inspire kids to be heroes and heroines, too. Among her honors: the 2021 National Jewish Book Award, the 2022 Sydney Taylor Honor, the 2022 and 2019 Sydney Taylor Notable, the 2018 South Asia Book Award, two Junior Library Guild picks, a Sakura Medal Finalist, three Social Studies Notable Trade Books for Young people, two Children’s and Teen’s Choice Book Awards Finalist, three Silver Eureka Award winners, five A Mighty Girl picks, multiple books on the Bank Street School of Education Best Children’s Book lists and starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. All her books come with free teacher guides, resources, and projects on her website, nancychurnin.com. Nancy lives in North Texas and is available for virtual and in-person bookings through authorsandmore.com.


In addressing my process of writing of dual narrative picture books, the first thing you need to know is that I never set out to create such a book. Instead, the concept behind Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. found me.  I felt compelled to tell their stories together and I discovered how to do it by doing it.

The idea began to stir in me at a time of great distress, when I was worried about the rise of hate crimes in this country. When things feel dark, I search, in my reading, for light. It didn’t take long to turn to the words of Dr. King and Anne Frank, who never stopped working or believing that we could create a better, kinder, more just world for all, despite living in times so suffused with hate that their lives, like so many others, were cut brutally and painfully short. 

I didn’t intend to write about either one. After all, both have been the subject of many fine books. Then, as I studied their lives, I noticed that they were both born in the same year: 1929, the year of the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression, a time when people were scared and hungry and, sadly, easily manipulated into looking for vulnerable groups to blame. 

I started wondering what else they had in common. I pulled out a piece of notebook paper and noted key things that had happened at the same time in their lives. At five, both were cut off from their friends, not able to go to the nearest school, Martin because of the color of his skin, Anne because she was Jewish. At the same age that kids are excited to go to the public swimming pool, the ice cream store, or the movies, Martin was turned away because of the color of his skin and Anne because she was Jewish.

There were parallels in what they experienced, but was there a deeper connection? I wondered how they dealt with the challenges that faced them. When I saw that Martin won his first speech competition at 13 and Anne began to write in the diary she received for her 13th birthday, I had it. At 13, they both discovered the power of words to articulate a vision for a better world. This gave me the opportunity to share with young readers the power of words – something that can’t be tasted, smelled, or worn – but can fill us with courage and strength to do the right thing. Taking two people with so many differences on the outside – gender, race, religion, language, country of origin – and showing how much they shared on the inside also gave me the opportunity to share how we are all one human family and how we are all here to help each other.

I tried to keep the writing as simple as possible to focus on these interwoven threads. My opening talked to the reader about their differences, the narrative focused on their parallels, and my ending underlined their unified hope for a better future. It is my hope that these parallel stories will inspire young readers to work for a better future for us all, too.

Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank, is illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, published by Creston Books, and distributed by Lerner Books. It has been translated into Braille by the National Braille Press and is also available in Chinese.

Link to the Braille translation: https://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/BC2102-MARTIN-ANNE.html 


Thanks so much for joining us, Nancy!

You can find Nancy on Facebook @Nancy Churnin and @Nancy Churnin Children’s Books, Twitter @nchurnin, or Instagram @nchurnin.

Surprise Endings with Stephen W. Martin

We are so excited to have Stephen W. Martin join us today to share information about Surprise Endings!


Stephen W. Martin is a writer on Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Trash Truck, along with Frederator’s Bravest Warriors. Stephen is also the author of several picture books, including Charlotte and the Rock, Fluffy McWhiskers Cuteness Explosion, and I Can’t Draw. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and dog. Visit him at Stephen-W-Martin.com.


I LOVE surprise endings. There is something pretty magical about turning the page and being totally shocked at what you find. It’s like a close up magic—you have the reader expecting one thing, and then you surprise them with something else.

For Charlotte and the Rock, that surprise ending wasn’t always there. My very first draft of the story was about a girl trying to get a dinosaur home to its dino parents… but the story wasn’t working—it was too complicated. I wanted something cleaner, with a singular protagonist and a very singular ‘goal/want’. So I tossed the original story out completely and kept just the concept of a rock being a dinosaur egg. This, I believe, is how a good surprise ending starts. You must know the ending first, and then everything you write can work up to that ending. I guess it’s a little like going on a road trip—first you need to know where you are going, and then you can plan how you are going to get there.

I have to say—my all-time favorite surprise ending comes from William Stieg's classic Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It’s another story about a rock—but that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to spoil it for you. It’s a master class in suspense, so check it out.

Cheers,

Stephen


Thanks so much for joining us, Stephen!

You can find Stephen on his website at www.Stephen-W-Martin.com or on IG @StephenWMartin.

Surprise Endings: My Favorite Writing Trick with Elanna Allen

We are so excited to have Elanna Allen join us today to share information about surprise ending picture books!


There is nothing I love more than being surprised by the ending of a story.  Books like I WANT MY HAT BACK and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK are great examples.  My book POOR LITTLE GUY also packs a real wallop at the end.  The ability to misdirect the expectations of your audience, and then deliver something fresh on the last page is my ultimate writing goal.  

I have spent a long time reading, studying, and reverse engineering the recipe for a surprise ending in order to write POOR LITTLE GUY.  I am very happy to share all of those ingredients with you here.  But a bit about me, before I spill the beans.

ABOUT ME

I’ve written or illustrated 12 children’s books, and a designed or directed many animated children’s television shows.  Here are some of the books I have written or illustrated:

POOR LITTLE GUY Dial Press

And here are some of the shows I have designed:

My book, ITSY MITSY RUNS AWAY, is now an animated series of shorts on Amazon Kids +.


THE ‘SURPRISE!’ RECIPE

Are you ready to learn the secret recipe in my surprising “surprise!” sauce?  Here it is:

  1. Come up with a simple PROBLEM.

  2. HINT at the ending.

 (don’t say it.  Make it subtle.  Something in the pictures, for example, but not in the words.  Make your reader think they’ve figured it out themselves.)

3. Drop a STRONGER HINT at how it will end.

4. Now make your reader DOUBT themselves. Maybe they got it wrong? Keep them guessing. Toy with them.

5. Make it REALLY OBVIOUS how it will end

(Now your reader will be smug – they knew it all along!

6. In the end, DO THE OPPOSITE!

Snicker to yourself.  Feel self-satisfied.  

Let me show you how this plays out in POOR LITTLE GUY:

  1. Right on the cover, I tell you THE PROBLEM – this fish is going to be eaten:

2. HINT AT THE ENDING:

Even the end papers make it clear:  yes, this fish is going to be eaten.

Now the story starts.  The first pages show a nervous fish, swimming in the ocean.

The next pages show a larger creature watching him.  Clearly, he’s going to be eaten.

3. Drop a STRONG HINT at how it will end.

Here we see a predator reach for the fish…

…and grab him!  This obnoxious octopus is a bully.  This fish is the victim.  Obviously!  

4. Now, make the reader doubt themselves

On the next page, we meet the octopus.  He seems like a nice guy in search of friends!!  

Or is he?

5. Make it really clear how this story will end

On this spread, I make it super duper clear that the fish WILL be eaten.  

6. Now DO THE OPPOSITE of what is expected! SURPRISE!!

The fishy is a blow fish!  Not so delicious!

7. Feel self satisfied and smug

Turns out, the POOR LITTLE GUY is the octopus!!  Ha!  

And that, my friends, is how you build yourself a surprise ending book.  Have you taken a crack at it?  Send them my way!  I’d love to see what you’ve done.


Thanks so much for joining us, Elanna!

You can find Elanna on her website at elannaallen.com or Facebook @elannaallen.

Wordless Picture Books with Stephanie Graegin

We are so excited to have Stephanie Graegin join us today to share information about Wordless Picture Books!


Stephanie Graegin is the author and illustrator of The Long Ride Home (June 2022), Fern and Otto, A Story About Two Best Friends, and Little Fox in the Forest, which garnered four starred reviews and appeared on many Best of the Year lists. She is also the illustrator of over a dozen picture books, including You Were the First by Patricia MacLachlan; Listen by Gabi Snyder; and Peace Is an Offering by Annette LeBox. Stephanie lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at graegin.com.


When I started working on Little Fox in the Forest, I had experience as a children’s book illustrator but not as a writer. I thought that making a wordless picture book as my first authored book would be more comfortable to me than a worded book—but quickly learned wordless books are challenging!

Step 1 - Studying the Medium

A wordless picture book is a solely visual narrative. Because of the amount of visual information that needs to be laid out clearly, wordless books often have structure and panel elements similar to graphic novels and comic books. I’ve alway been a fan of the medium (Little Nemo, Calvin & Hobbes, and Jimmy Corrigan are some favorites), so I spent time digging into the mechanics of them. 

I read as many wordless picture books as I could find, uncovering how others tackled pacing and structure. I knew that I wanted some big moments to open up in full page spreads to give a cinematic feel. Emotions needed to be conveyed clearly, and the storyline needed to be easy for the youngest readers to follow. 

Some wordless books I recommend studying are: Bluebird by Bob Staake, Journey and Quest by Aaron Becker, Door and Pool by Jihyeon Lee, Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle, The Only Child by Qoujing, Waterloo by Olivier Tallec, The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee, The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett, and Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith.

Step 2 - The Basic Story Idea

Little Fox in the Forest started with several kernels of ideas out of my sketchbook. Some things I was thinking about were:   

  • Losing a favorite stuffed animal.

  • An animal taking a toy that resembles them. I had read a news article years ago about a real Bear stealing a teddy bear out of a house, and that story always stayed with me.

  • Combining anthropomorphic animal characters and human characters in a story, having two worlds in one book.

Most of the thought process took place in my sketchbook. I kept thinking through sketching characters, trying to figure out their story.

Step 3 - A Linear Timeline to Map out the Story

Once I had a grasp of the story and characters, I wrote a basic linear timeline of bullet points of the events of the story. It was very simple (girl loves her stuffed animal, girl brings stuffed animal to school, on the playground a real animal steals the stuffed animal, girl follows animal into the forest, etc). Little Fox started out as a little raccoon and became a fox later on when I was thinking about how color might work. I didn’t know exactly what the resolution would be at this point. But with a basic timeline, I had a place to start sketching thumbnail panels to put together a dummy book. 

Step 4 - The Thumbnail Dummy Book

I would try to visualize the scenes in my head like a movie without sound. I drew and redrew tiny thumbnail drawings over and over. I made photocopies, I cut them up, I rearranged them. I taped new drawings over old panels. My sketches were only 2 inches tall, so I could keep redrawing and rearranging quickly. The story became more refined each time I redrew it.  This process went on for a year.

Step 5 - Lots of Little Sketches and Revisions

Once I had a dummy book I was happy with, I sent it to my agent, Steven Malk, at Writers House, who then showed it to Lee Wade (who was the editor at Schwartz & Wade). She saw the potential in the dummy book and decided to take it on.  I received a steady flow of feedback from Lee and Art Director Rachael Cole. I would take their ideas/suggestions and integrate them into the next round of changes, then resubmit the revised dummy. The process is repeated until the book feels complete. It’s like sifting earth through ever-finer sieves—first you get rid of the big rocks, then the twigs, until you’re left with only the finest, purest sand. This experience made clear how every picture book is a collaboration between author/illustrator, editor, and art director.

Step 6 - FInal Art

Once every aspect of the story and characters were refined,  I spent time working on the color palette. I knew I wanted the ‘human world’ to be monochromatic and the animal world bright and colorful. Color would slowly be introduced as the girl moved from human-world to forest-world. I ended up using a cool, blue palette for the human-world, which allowed the bright orange little fox to stand out on the page. The final art was a mix of traditional artwork and photoshop. The drawings were all made with pencil on simple copier paper. I made layers of texture using watercolors, crayons, and pencils. These were all then scanned in, colored, and assembled in Photoshop. 


Thanks so much for joining us, Stephanie!

You can find Stephanie on her website at graegin.com or on IG @sgraegin.

Constructing a Cumulative Story with Sandy Asher

We are so excited to have Sandy Asher join us today to share information about Cumulative Books!


SANDY ASHER has published over two dozen books for young readers, including the acclaimed picture books Too Many Frogs! and Chicken Story Time, along with hundreds of stories, poems, and articles in Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Hello, and Spider, among others. She's also edited several anthologies. With All My Heart, With All My Mind: 13 Stories About Growing Up Jewish won the National Jewish Book Award for children's literature. Writing It Right: How Published Children's Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories provides a unique look at the revision process of 20+ authors. Sandy has also adapted many of her books for the stage, including Chicken Story Time. The American Alliance for Theatre and Education has honored her with three Distinguished Play Awards (for A Woman Called Truth, In the Garden of the Selfish Giant, and Jesse and Grace: A Best Friends Story), as well as the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award and the Sara Spencer Artistic Achievement Award for lifetime contributions to the field.  


THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT -- AND YOU CAN, TOO!

Constructing a Cumulative Story

by Sandy Asher

Here's how to build a cumulative story.

Lay out a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Add your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Upholster with fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Choose your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers your images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Complete with a roof of meaning or theme

that shelters your decor: surprise and humor

that suits the fabric: a lively rhythm

that covers the images, quirky and strong,

that furnish a floor plan of repetition

that will help you build your cumulative story.

Good luck!

That bit of advice is inspired, of course, by the classic cumulative story, THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT.  

Note the building blocks: repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Look for them in the final verse of "Jack":

This is the farmer sowing his corn
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog that worried the cat
That killed the rat that ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built!

Sources say this may be the original cumulative story, dating back (roughly) to the 16th century. What does it mean? Maybe back then something we no longer recognize. Or maybe the goal was simply to paint a topsy-turvy village in a few bold strokes. Or maybe it's just meant to celebrate clever use of language. Whatever the original intent, it remains fun to read and has inspired countless variations, including the equally well-known THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY, interpreted and reinterpreted by many authors and illustrators.

You'll note that rhyme isn't included among my building blocks. Rhyme is nice if you can manage it, but it’s not always possible or needed. Focus on the essentials, and you're well on your way. The variations are endless. Wikipedia defines cumulative stories simply as those in which "action or dialogue repeats and builds up in some way as the tale progresses."

My own CHICKEN STORY TIME, illustrated by Mark Fearing, uses the basic building blocks.  

As with "Jack" and "the Old Lady," there's constant repetition, but, in this case, the repetitions don't fold back on themselves.  They move the story forward: "Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  Children.  And a chicken."  

There's a steady build:  "One week later.  Story time at the library.  One librarian.  One story.  More children.  More chickens." 

Weeks pass until there are so many children and chickens, the librarian is overwhelmed.  But she's resourceful (pun intended) and gives each child a book to read to small groups of chickens. 

I found it helpful to work backward.  I thought about everything I wanted in the finale, then eased my way toward it. I knew the librarian would be overwhelmed, and I knew her solution. I got there step by step, layering on repetition, strong images, lively rhythm, surprise and humor, and meaning or theme.  Children who were listeners at the beginning became readers at the end.

It's enormously satisfying to craft a tight-knit story that packs a mighty punch in style and content. Done well, it makes for a fun read, too.  Try it!


Thanks so much for joining us, Sandy!

You can find Sandy on her website at http://sandyasher.com or watch her on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/sandyplaywright.

Using the Alphabet to Structure Your Concept Book with Shannon Anderson

We are so excited to have Shannon Anderson join us today to share information about Concept Books.

Shannon Anderson has taught for 25 years, from first grade through college level. She is now an award-winning children's book author with over 15 published books so far. She served as the Regional Advisor for the Indiana SCBWI and was named one of the 10 teachers who "awed and inspired" the Today Show in 2019. Shannon loves to do author visits, present at conferences, and provide PD for teachers. You can learn about her at www.shannonisteaching.com.


Idea

When I set out to write Y is for Yet, I really wanted to share as much as I could about growth mindset. I’m passionate about inspiring kids to believe in themselves and to embrace their mistakes as part of the process of learning. As a teacher and parent, I had so many things I wanted to include that I decided an alphabet book would be perfect. I would have 26 different letters to use as vehicles to deliver all of the information!

Research

I reread Carol Dweck’s Book, Mindset, along with many children’s books on the topic. I watched every Ted Talk and video I could find about growth mindset. Now full of ideas, I dusted off my ABC board I used to use in the classroom and started filling it with sticky notes. I had to have a key term to go with each letter. Some letters had lots of sticky notes and others were harder to figure out.

Planning & Plotting

Once I had a word for each letter, I had some decisions to make. Did I want to just define the terms? Did I want to use a question and answer format? I needed some kind of hook or device. I could have each page rhyme, or have a narrative arc, or create some kind of cumulative effect. I ultimately decided on some key “characters” who were all learning different skills that would be shown in a progression throughout the book. My publisher liked the idea and encouraged me to make illustration suggestions for specific skills kids could be working on.

Some of my scenarios included kids learning to do things like growing plants, archery, martial arts, teaching a dog a trick, painting, tennis, knitting, learning a new language, and more. The illustrator, Jacob Souva, did an AMAZING job capturing the learning progressions beautifully. 

Next, I wrote a brief introduction and conclusion, as well as a few pages of back matter. I wanted teachers and caregivers to have more information about growth mindset to expand on and some extension activities to use after reading the book.

Extras

One activity that goes perfectly with the book is for kids to create their own growth mindset alphabet book using the same process I did. Teachers can use an ABC board and have kids brainstorm on sticky notes. (They don’t have to use the same words I did in the book; they can come up with their own.) Each student can choose a sticky note to then create their own page for their class book. This is a great way to remember what they have learned and apply it through the creation of their own special book.

Parting Thoughts

Creating an alphabet book to explore a concept is a fun way to share a lot of great information in a familiar structure. Since there are a lot of alphabet books out there, the key is to make yours different in some way. How can you give yours a special hook?


Thanks so much for joining us, Shannon!

You can find Shannon on her website at www.shannonisteaching.com, Instagram @shannonisteaching, Facebook, and Twitter @shannonteaches.