The Joy of Visual Sub-Plots, by Pippa Goodhart

 

I’ve read many many picture books over the years, both for my own enjoyment and with the ‘professional’ excuse that this is essential research to keep me up to date with my industry. And I read and show my own picture books to children in schools when doing author visits. But it had been a long time since I'd done that slow, fully-engaged and fully-absorbed, kind of sharing of picture books with a particular child, as I had done in years gone by with my own children. Now, with a two-year-old grandson, I’m happily doing that again … and discovering things. 

 

Wonderful ‘Stuck In The Mud’, written by ex-Picture Book Denner Jane Clarke and illustrated by current picture book denner Garry Parsons, is a joyous rhyming story about mud and foolishness and farm animals, delivering a funny twist at the end. 

But, what is little Samuel’s favourite part of that book? Not that main story at all, but watching the top barn door for chicken appearances and disappearances! 

 

 

Garry, Samuel and I have imagined that chicken watching the farmyard drama, then hurrying downstairs in order to bring her best friend chicken to come up and join her with the best view of the drama down below. I wonder, how consciously did you add or remove chickens from that window when you were illustrating this book? 

 

An old favourite picture book from my children’s childhoods is ‘Goodnight Gorilla’ by Peggy Rathman. 

At first glance it’s a very simple story, but there are such riches to be found in the illustrations if you really look. Those colours of keys matching cages, the toys in each animal’s cage, the escaping pink balloon. But it’s the mouse with the banana that Samuel loves best of all, never mind the naughty gorilla main character. Here’s just some of the sub-plot of mouse and banana. 

 

I’ve just read Ed Vere’s wonderful brand new picture book, The Artist, reviewing it for ABBA, and I was noticing so many extra joys, beyond the depiction of the main story, to be found in the pictures. Aren’t these characters familiar ones if you’ve read Ed’s other books?

 

And just look at all the intense tiny stories going on in this crowd scene. 

 

 

So, a big Thank You to the illustrators who give us more than we might realise unless we slow down and really, really look! And Thank You, Samuel, for reminding me how to more fully appreciate the riches of picture books.

The Picture Book Den team Celebrate the Career of Author Jane Clarke

 Jane Clarke has written over 100 books for children and has been a valued member of the Picture Book Den since it started.

Jane's picture books include Gilbert the Great, illustrated by Charles Fuge, the popular Neon Leon series with Britta Teckentrup, and her latest title for Walker Books, A Small Persons Guide to Grandmas, illustrated by Lucy Fleming.

In October Jane announced her retirement from writing, so with that in mind, the remaining members of The Picture Book Den have dedicated this week's blog post to celebrate Jane's wonderful career in children's publishing.

Natascha Biebow

I was fortunate enough to edit and publish Jane's first book (Sherman Swaps Shells, illustrated by Ant Parker, in the Flying Foxes young fiction series) and collaborate on many others over the years, including G.E.M. illustrated by Garry Parsons, and Dippy's Sleepover, illustrated by Mary McQuillan. Right from the start, Jane's stories struck me for their VOICE. She created such vivid, fun, child-centred worlds on the page! I would love to pay tribute to a particularly fun collaboration to create what became a bestselling and award-winning book.

Knight Time started out as a wordless book. But Sales didn't think they could sell a wordless book - parents would have to figure out the story . . . Also, the story required two points of view as a central theme. How could we do this for very young children without it being confusing? There was something intriguing here, a nugget of a great picture book idea, but we were stuck.

I took the train to see Jane and we spent the afternoon at her kitchen table with sellotape and scissors. We cut up the book and put it back together again. We made a dummy!

Now, readers could see both the Little Knight and Little Dragon's stories building side-by-side until the climactic turning point where their worlds collide - and the age-old expectations are challenged. The reveal? Despite what they've been told about each other, Little Knight and Little Dragon both have teddies and blankies!

I pitched the book to Sales as 'Theatre in a Book', and matched it up with Jane Massey to create the adorable characters and gorgeous world. We managed to get it to cost out with foil on the cover and the die-cut shapes and flaps.

Since then, I've had so much fun collaborating with Jane fairy tale detective picture books (Sky Private Eye series, illustrated by Loretta Schauer) and inventive young fiction books with factual graphic novel elements (Al's Awesome Science and Lottie Loves Nature series, illustrated by James Brown) on the Five Quills list. Best of all, we've become friends and it was Jane who first invited me to be part of the Den, for which I'm so grateful! Working with Jane is an editor's joy - such a talented lady! I hope she really does keep writing, even if it's an archeological adventure for grown-ups. She is far too young to retire! 

Pippa Goodhart

Jane's books speak straight to young children's real lives, revelling in exactly what young children enjoy. I'm going to keep this thank you from the Picture Book Den simple by showing a spread from Jane's How To Tuck in Your Sleepy Lion board book, illustrated by Georgie Birkett, which just seems to sum-up that kind of book that gets requested again and again and again, and even appropriately references a den!

Clare Helen Welsh

Jane has such a talent for combining engaging stories with awe and wonder of the world around us. This is evident in her Neon Leon series, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup and published by Nosy Crow. In Firefly Home for example, children learn about fireflies and different kinds of light sources. The story is gently interactive, inviting children to help Florence on her journey home. As well as being enjoyable and educational, Firefly Home ends with a suitably snuggly ending making it the perfect bedtime read. 

Thank you for sharing your books and picture book insights with us, Jane, and for being a beacon of light in Picture Book Den. 

Garry Parsons

I have been lucky enough to illustrate three books Jane has written but what an unbelievable thrill it was to watch Dolly Parton read 'Stuck in the Mud' on CBeebies Bedtime Stories on New Years eve 2017. 

Thank you Jane for making a wild dream come true. Yeehaw!

Watch Dolly Parton reading Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clarke here https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/cbeebies-bedtime-stories-dolly-parton-stuck-in-the-mud

Lynne Garner

Sometime in 2011 (where have the years gone?) I had this daft idea that I wanted to blog about picture books, and it would be nice to be part of a team. So, I put the word out and to my amazement others felt this was a good idea. Jane became part of that first team and her first post appeared on the 15^th of March 2012 (click here to read). 

So it’s hard to say goodbye to Jane but at least this post gives me the chance to explain why Jane is such a gifted writer.     

 

My choice is Creaky Castle – to see Jane reading this book click here.

Now, one of the first lessons I learnt when I started writing picture books only write in rhyme if you are good at it. The reasons being that writing in rhyme for an entire story is hard work. Also, your story must be strong. This is because many picture books are translated and if the story isn’t strong enough this can’t happen. So basically, you must be a great picture book writer to get a rhyming picture book published, especially one that on Amazon has 4.9 stars out of five. So if proof is needed to show Jane's skills as a writer then this is at the top of my list. 

 

Jane – thanks for being a valued member of the team for the last ten and bit years. We all wish you well and should you get the urge please pop back and write a guest post. We’d love to have you back even if for just a post. 

 

Goodbye - and thank you! by Jane Clarke

 I’ve loved my time on the Picture Book Den, and my career as a children’s author, but now it’s time for me to retire. 

I came to writing in my forties, having been an archaeologist, then a history teacher. It didn’t occur to me to try writing for children until I landed a job that involved reading picture books. So my first thanks go to the then librarian at Antwerp International School, Barbara Noels, for getting me started - and to my colleagues and students there who were my guinea pigs :-)  It took me several years, and many rejections,  to get published, with my first books coming out in 2001. My initial aim was to get one book with my name on it into the library where I was working, and I’m amazed to have ended up with over 130 published books. Of these, only 23 are picture books - they are the hardest of all to get published.

I wrote all of these and I didn't panic - much!

The world of children’s books has been wonderfully supportive. At the outset, fellow members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators helped me work out what I was doing, and I received a huge amount of encouragement from the late Pat and Laurence Hutchins and generous help from Tony Bradman. I’ve try to pay forward some of that help to others. I’d like to thank everyone who helped me on my way, and Celia Catchpole who saw potential in the rejection letters I sent her, and bravely took me on.  It’s been a pleasure working with her and her son James at The Catchpole Agency - and also with brilliant editors like Picture Book Den’s own Natascha Biebow- who was the very first to get me a contract!

As well as providing me with an unexpected career, writing for young children saw me through some very difficult years - my mum and dad and my husband all died suddenly within months of one another in 2001, leaving me and our two teenage sons bereft. Talking animals provided a safe ‘alternative’ world where the hours passed without pain. In the tradition of picture book happy endings, my sons and I eventually flourished, and they and my four young granddaughters fill my world with loads of love, joy and laughter (not to mention unicorns, rainbows and sparkles).

I’ll still be writing the odd thing if and when inspiration strikes, but for now I’m concentrating on spending time with my friends and family (especially if it involves cake), doing lots of voluntary work on behalf of my local Lions Club to support local and international charities -  and fitting in yoga, long walks, fossil hunting, book club and FitSteps. And I’m planning to get lots of use out of my bus pass. However did I find the time to write?

Thanks for having me on the Picture Book Den, and thank you for reading my posts and my picture books. I hope some of my books will be treasured in the way I still treasure some of my sons’ favourites. 

I’ll sign off with the biggest thanks of all to my wonderful friends for their support, and for always cheering me on. 

Love to all,

Jane x

Jane's website

Different perspectives by Jane Clarke

I’ve always loved picture books that show the same event or story from different perspectives, and/or empower the child ‘reader’ to feel as if they know more than the characters on the book. 

Here are a few of my favourites. They date back a while, but then again, so do I…

Rosie’s Walk written and illustrated by Pat Hutchins

Rosie the hen is completely oblivious to the dangerous fox stalking her, but the reader is in the know.

The Bottomley books by Peter Harris, illustrated by Doffy Weir

In Bottomley, Cattery, Bottomley the cat's account of what went on during his stay at the cattery doesn’t quite match that of the owners of the cattery and fellow guests.

The Doctor Xargle books by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross - in which Dr Xargle leads a class of small aliens to discover much about the habits of the strange creatures who live on Earth. Only Dr Xargle doesn’t get it quite right…

Dr Xargle’s Book of Earth Hounds is still a family favourite

Different perspectives have crept into a quite a few of my own picture books. So I’m delighted that my newest about-to-be-published picture book also plays with perspective - on a subject dear to my heart. 

In A Small Person’s Guide to Grandmas, illustrated by Lucy Fleming, the small person’s views are not telling the whole story - something I hope will bring a smile to the face of a happily exhausted Grandma reading the book to their very own small person.

This week, Jane's a very happily exhausted grandma, as she has her rapidly-getting-larger small people, UK and USA varieties, all together for the first time since the pandemic.

Eggstra-ordinary picture books about Eggs! by the Picture Book Denners

The team decided this would be a great time to share our favourite egg themed books – however tenuous that link is. So, here goes!

Lynne's egg book:

I nominate Tadpole's Promise written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross

When eggs are mentioned, I think it’s fair to say most people think bird eggs. However, there are a huge number of other critters which lay eggs. For example, ladybirds, slugs and snails, earth worms, spiders, butterflies, and frogs. The book I’m nominating is about the last two on this list, a frog and a butterfly. Both of which hatch from eggs!
 
I stumbled across this book in my local book shop. I was researching for a publisher, who might have been interested in a story I was working on. As I had limited time, I’d told myself I’d only flick through the books to get a feel for them and would, under no circumstances read them. Well… that didn’t happen.
 
I pulled Tadpole's Promise from the shelf and flicked to the first page. I began to read and just kept reading, until I’d reached the last page. It’s one of the few times I’ve had a laugh out loud moment in a bookshop, quickly followed by a little pang of guilt. I don’t want to give the ending away because it’s clever, it’s tragic and it’s amusing. Plus, it’s a great way to introduce children to the circle of life and the natural wonder of metamorphosis.

 

P.S. If you want to see the eggs for each species I’ve mentioned just click on the link. 

 

 

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long

Natascha's egg book:

AN EGG IS QUIET by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long is part of a series of beautiful nature books. Each has deceptively simple, poetic main story text and layers of more detailed informational text about eggs belonging to all kinds of species.

The book opens with beautiful eggs on the front endsheets and the back endsheets feature lots of colourful hatched creatures.

It begins with a whisper . . .

"An egg is quiet . . ." (hatching), then builds:

 

An egg is also 'colorful'  . . .  (colours),

From An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston & Sylvia Long

'shapely' . . . (shapes), 'clever' (camouflage to safeguard from enemies) and 'comes in different sizes'. It is 'artistic', 'textured', 'fossilized', 'giving' (life cycle), and . . .

"Noisy!"

 

The book ends with the joyful sounds as the creatures hatch out into the world.

From tiny hummingbirds to giant ostrich, oval ladybird eggs to tubular dogfish eggs, gooey frog eggs to fossilized dinosaur eggs, the detailed images alongside the rhythmical text are mesmerizing!

Clare's egg book:

'All the birds had laid an egg. All except... Duck!' 

That is until Duck finds the most beautiful egg in the whole wide world. The other animals aren't convinced initially. But a twist in the tale soon shows them the error of their ways. 

In the 'Odd Egg!' by Emily Gravett, the first thing that strikes me is how masterful the illustrations are. I love the softness of Emily's characters and the pencil line details. The book also has some clever novelty elements which add to the fun and interactivity and come into play with then eggs hatch. The double page where the reader meets the birds' babies is done so well! 

As well as warm illustrations, there's plenty of onomatopoeia spattered amongst in the concise text, drawing the reader in and making it a great read aloud. It might not be the ending you expect to this sweet, cutesy book... all the more reason I like it! 

Jane's egg book:

 I'm choosing "tell me a Dragon' by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln 2009)

This may be a bit of a cheat, as eggs only appear in the endpapers!

For years now, this beautiful, lyrical book has been the favourite of one or another of my four granddaughters. It's inspired us to have lots of fun together, collecting pebbles and dreaming up what type of dragon might hatch out of them.

Jane's youngest garden dragon, guarding some pebbly 'eggs.'

Pippa's egg book: 

Pip & Egg, written by Alex Latimer and illustrated by David Litchfield

Well, as a Pip, I had to choose that title, didn't I! But it's also a superb picture book, thoughtful and beautiful, kind and wise.

Egg and Pip become great friends, but then life brings changes. Unlike in wonderfully shocking Tadpole's Promise (see above), these two are destined to come through challenges to their friendship that leave them still good friends, but different, at the end. First Pip begins to sprout roots and can no longer move. Pip grows taller and leafier as we turn the pages. And then Egg changes ... into a baby bird! Pip understands when Egg needs to fly to a wonderful city to meet other birds. But guess where bird Egg wants to be when she realises she has an egg inside her? Back to the wonderful tree that Pip has become. What could be more satisfying?

Chitra's egg book

In my egg book, the eggs are not characters. But they are both the victims and the heroes of the story. Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market is about eggs that have to crack to become something else. It's a story of making the best of any situation, and it's the story of resilience, even when it comes to something as fragile as an egg. I also wrote a detailed blog post about why I wrote about eggs when I don't eat eggs.  

Illustrated by Kanika Nair

Moira's egg book 

Well, here's a strange little tale about an egg picture book, and about being an author....Back in 2012 I was asked to write a book for ages 4-5 on eggs. Only it wasn't going to have any words! I was nonplussed but I said yes because the fee seemed generous for writing a book with no words, and there were royalties. I was asked to select photos from a picture library that would tell an unspoken narrative about eggs - a narrative using pictures that young emerging readers could chat about with a grown-up. So I found egg photos that told of animals such as fishes, crocodiles, seagulls and eagles....and so far  'What's In the Egg' has gone on to earn me 3 times the original advance. The lesson? As an author, don't necessarily say no to unusual opportunities, even if they sound a bit strange. Keep your mind open!

The book I 'wrote' with no words. 

Garry's egg book

J.Otto Seibold presents Other Goose. Re-nurseried!! and Re-rhymed!! Childrens Classics

If you're a fan of wacky and zany or you just want to shake things up a bit for Easter, then this is the book for you.

J.Otto Seibold re-tells some classic 'Mother Goose' nursery rhymes in his inimitable illustrative style. The book includes a chapter called ' Of Eggs and Accidents - fried, tried and justified' where Humpty Dumpty goes to the mall and buys some platform boots in the sale, size eggleven. In part two he steps in a hole and loses one boot which leaves him clopping around and around in circles. 

Bonkers and lots of fun, this book gets my shout for Easter.

Mini's egg book

The Good Egg 

I did a rather egg-based post back in February to mark 20 years since the publication of my very first book, which was about an egg (Egg Drop.) You can find it here. In it I do a round-up (OK, an oval-up...) of some favourite egg books including this one. Happy Easter, and wishing you the best of eggs!