Online picture book events during lockdown by Juliet Clare Bell

Hello and welcome to the Picture Book Den in these very uncertain times. 

This post is here to point you in the direction of lots of wonderful picture book readings and activities to enjoy and engage with whilst you're at home (or at school). I had planned to check out what was available online for children, families and educators, and then post them up individually here... and then I found this, from our very own former Picture Book Denner, Jonathan Emmett, and Caryl Hart:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEventsOnline/

When I talked with Jonathan Emmett, award-winning picture book author and former Picture Book Denner, he said:

"The Picture Book Author Events Online facebook page is a spin-off from Caryl Hart's Author Events Online listing page... Although we set up the page with the intention of sharing book videos for children of all ages, after a couple of days it became apparent that so many authors and illustrators were planning to share videos it would be a full time job creating new posts and responding to messages...  so we agreed to limit the page to new videos and livestreams created by traditionally-published picture book creators. We’d like the page to be a one-stop-shop for stay-at-home families with picture book age children and hope that that it will inspire others to set up similar pages for other age groups such as middle grade and YA".

Jonathan asked Chris Haughton (author-illustrator of the amazing Oh No, George!) if he could make an image for the project, and he did!

                                                             (c) Chris Haughton (2020)
Caryl's page also tells you which events are coming up daily:

https://www.carylhart.com/special-projects/author-events

Be sure to check into:

Ed Vere's how to draw (every Wednesday and Friday)

Chris Haughton's weekly story time (Wednesdays at 5pm BST)

and many more, including Jonathan and Caryl's own weekly live sessions.

I'm not going to link to everything here because Jonathan and Caryl have done the hard work to put it together so please, please use their site. You won't be disappointed.

A few others well worth watching, include Mo Willems' daily doodles...

and

                                     

Draw along with Emily Gravett on Thursday April 2nd and Thursday April 9th at 11am BST

https://www.facebook.com/events/814628145709728/

I'm in a very lucky position at the moment where I've got lots of books on the go and lots of deadlines with publishers so I'm trying to juggle working long hours with three children at home. What it means is that I will have missed some of the wonderful picture book events/resources that writers and illustrators have posted. Please do share your favourite online picture book resources for children (rather than writers in this instance), whether they are your own, or someone else's from online) and let's make it as easy as possible for children, wherever they are, to access all the wonderful picture book resources available online.

Sending love to everyone. Happy reading, listening and doing as you stay inside...

And to you all picture book writers and illustrators out there, Jonathan says that if [you're a traditionally published picture book author and/or illustrator and] you’d like your video to be shared on the page, you can contact him using the “Send Message" button under the page header, but please check that the video is eligible under their Sharing Policy first. https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEventsOnline/ (and make sure you've got permission to record yourself first. Here's some guidance from Caryl: 

https://www.carylhart.com/special-projects/permissions

(and in case anyone hasn't heard, to keep you going whilst you're inside, I'd highly recommend PE with Joe (Wicks) at 9am BST Monday -Friday -or watch a recording of them anytime. It's half an hour of exercising along with millions of people, all at the same time and it's great for morale. It's for children and adults, young and old, fit and not so fit. As a writer, I spend a lot of time sitting and although I am pretty sedentary, this has got me enjoying exercising in a way that almost nothing has in many years. We all need to keep our spirits up. Try it!)

Please help us and parents/families wanting to look at picture book readings/demonstrations/drawing sessions online by letting us know about your favourite (and/or your own!) online picture book videos and resources in the comments. Many thanks, and stay safe x

www.julietclarebell.com

A feast of food! by the Picture Book Den

To celebrate the festivities, here's our choice of picture books that involve food, served with Seasons' Greetings from all of us at the Picture Book Den and wishing a very Happy New Year to all!




Jane Clarke

The Very Hungry Caterpillar can be used to talk about metamorphosis, and about greed, of course -  but at this time of year - wouldn’t it be great to eat everything you want, and turn into something exquisitely beautiful?!

Lucy Rowland

I loved this book when I was little!  The hungry cat eats one fish. The hungry cat eats two potatoes. The hungry cat eats three tomatoes...all the way up to ...The hungry cat eats ten watermelons!  At this point, rather unsurprisingly, the hungry cat feels sick! So....'Up come the ten watermelons! Up come the nine pizzas!.....all the way back down to 'Up comes the one fish!' and the hungry cat says....'Now I'm hungry again!'  

I'm not sure I ever learnt much about portion control from this book but I loved it all the same.  There is even an embarrassing video of me reading it to my little sister somewhere. 


Chitra Soundar

My choice of book to read this festive season, is from China. Although it's a bit early for Chinese New Year, it's a great story that's told in many cultures from Europe to Africa to Asia. It evokes memories of festivities, colour and feasts. Enjoy the holiday season! Written by Ying Chang Compestine, it's beautifully illustrated by Sebastia Serra. 

I nominate Shirley Hughes' 'Alfie's Christmas'. Because it shows the cosy chaotic sort of Christmas I am familiar with. 





And it is the preparing of the food that is at least as much fun as the eating of it. Look at Dad and Alfie mixing what it tells them to in a recipe book, and then carefully cutting out Christmas tree shapes that we just know are going to be iced with silver baubles stuck on like Christmas tree lights. See Mum doing the messy job of stuffing the turkey whilst the cat looks on with longing!

Natascha Biebow

This book makes me smile every time. I came across it accidentally at the library and was so enamoured by Sid, a clever cat who manages to scoff down six delicious dinners in one day! More that this, though, I love the sense of community in the story. In this second adventure, when the six families on his street all decide to go on holiday at the same time, who will feed Sid? A cattery would not accommodate six dinners! So, Sid goes on the train to the Scottish Highlands, where the families have rented six cabins. He soon feels right at home - and, after an exciting day exploring and meeting the local wildlife, Sid is happy he has six or maybe even seven dinners to come home to! Sid's first adventure, Six Dinner Sid was a Smarties Award winner and features in the Daily Telegraph's top 50 children's books of all time. 

Garry Parsons

I've chosen "The Tea Party in the Woods" by Akiko Miyakoshi.

On a winter's day, Kikko rushes out of the house into the snow to chase after her father who has forgotten a pie he was meant to deliver to her grandmother. In her haste to follow him through the woods, Kikko stumbles and accidentally crushes Grandma's pie and then, by some strange circumstance, ends up being a guest in a house full of clothed animals. 

The spread that really excites me is the tea party at the long table with Kikko sitting at the head of the table looking a little shocked by the company. I love the mysterious feel of this book and the raw quality of the drawing.

The animals then contribute slices from various flans and tarts at the table to replace the pie that got ruined and Kikko continues on her way to Grandma.

This is definitely a feast I'd like to be a guest at!


Jonathan Emmett

My favourite food-themed picture book is In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. 

There are many picture books about dreams but, for me, this is the only one that come close to capturing the surreal, irrational, incongruous quality of a genuine dream – and it's beautifully illustrated to boot!

After being awoken by a mysterious noise in the night, Mickey falls through his bedroom floor into The Night Kitchen, a city-like landscape make up of giant packets, cartons and bottles.



There he meets three bakers (all of whom look like Oliver Hardy) who, with authentic dream-like logic, mistake Mickey for milk and proceed to mix him into the enormous cake they are baking.



Mickey eventually saves the day, the cake and himself by fashioning an aeroplane out of cake batter (I told you this was a surreal book) and flying off to fetch some actual milk.

Paeony Lewis

This time I simply can't resist including one of my old books, No More Biscuits! In the story, Florence eats all the biscuits, though she says Arnold ate some too (he's a toy monkey, but as we know, soft toys often get the blame for things). 

No More Biscuits! (No More Cookies! in the US)
by Paeony Lewis, illustrations Brita Granstrom

Florence tries to persuade Mum to give her just one more biscuit, but Mum is holding strong. It's a battle of wills, as used to happen in our house. 

The story ends with a compromise and they all make delicious 'Magic Monkey Bananas'. If only world problems could be solved with frozen bananas covered in chocolate and sprinkles. Wishing everyone a peaceful and joyous 2019.

Gift-Wrapped Characters Christmas Quiz

When I was a child, part of the excitement of the run-up to Christmas was shaking, squeezing and even sniffing the gift-wrapped presents beneath our Christmas tree in an attempt to deduce what was inside. For this year's Christmas quiz, I've gift-wrapped 10 picture book characters. Since shaking, squeezing and sniffing are not options, you'll have to work out who they are from their outlines alone. How many can you identify?

Click on each image to reveal the answer

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

How did you do?

10	All present and correct: Your picture book character recognition skills are exemplary!
7–9	Gifted: You know your Seuss from your Scheffler.
4–6	Some contents missing: Not bad, but perhaps you should add a few picture book classics to your Christmas list.
1–3	A bad wrap: You need to brush up on your picture book knowledge.

After five years writing for Picture Book Den, this is my last post as a Den member (although I may return for the occasional guest post).  I've enjoyed being part of the team, but it's time for me to move on and focus on other commitments. Thanks to everyone at the Den for their support and friendship over the last few years and thanks to all the Den readers that have shared or commented on my posts.

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Jonathan Emmett's delightfully dark Christmas picture book The Santa Trap, illustrated by Poly Bernatene, is available in a UK paperback print-on-demand edition from Hatchling Books and a US Hardback edition from Peachtree Publishers. 

Find out more about Jonathan and his books at his Scribble Street web site or his blog. You can also follow Jonathan on Facebook and Twitter @scribblestreet.

See all of Jonathan's posts for Picture Book Den.

🎶 ALL TOGETHER NOW! 🎶 Picture books adapted from songs • Jonathan Emmett

Although some people will only know We’re Going on a Bear Hunt as a picture book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, the text is adapted from an American folk song and many children of my generation will have known it as a scout and guide campfire song long before the picture book was published.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is one of the most celebrated examples of a picture book adapted from a song. Song lyrics often need some authorial tinkering to make them work well as a picture book text and the onomatopoeic sounds in the book (Swishy swashy! Splash splosh! etc.) and the verses about the forest and the snowstorm are both Rosen's invention.

My picture book She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain, illustrated by Deborah Allwright, was also adapted from an American folk song.

When an editor asked me to adapt the song a few years ago, I decided that the first thing I needed to do was reduce the repetition. While a degree of repetition is often encouraged in picture book writing, I felt that having the same phrase repeated five times on every spread would become a little tedious, so I replaced two of the repeated phrases in each verse with a rhyming couplet.

So this first verse of the original folk song:

She'll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!

She'll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!

She'll be coming ‘round the mountain,

She'll be coming ‘round the mountain,

She'll be coming ‘round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!

Became this in my picture book version:

She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!

She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!
Yes, she'll whistle like a train,
As she speeds across the plain,
She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes,

TOOT-TOOT!

I also replaced most of the folk song's later verses – including the ones about sleeping with grandma and killing the old red rooster – with new verses. The new verse where the cowgirl paints the whole town purple was a cowboy-hat-tip to the Clint Eastwood western High Plains Drifter, in which an enigmatic cowboy literally paints a whole town red.

One of Deborah Allright's spreads from She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain (now out of print).

Song often make it onto the page without any authorial tinkering. There are plenty of picture book adaptations of Over in the Meadow and Old MacDonald had a Farm that feature the original lyrics …

… but there are also quite a few adaptations that have been re-written to include a more exotic, mechanical or flatulent cast of characters.

While all of the above examples are adapted from folk songs, picture book adaptations of contemporary songs have become increasingly common in recent years. One of the first examples I remember seeing is this 2007 adaptation of the Peter Paul and Mary song Puff the Magic Dragon illustrated by Eric Puybaret.

Since then, contemporary songs by Bob Marley, Dolly Parton, John Lennon, Kenny Loggins and many others have been adapted into picture books.

Illustrator Tim Hopgood has produced a series of picture book adaptations of classic 20th Century songs.

As picture books adapted from songs have become increasingly popular, the interval between the song coming out and the picture book being published seems to be reducing. Last year’s picture book adaptation of When I Grow Up, illustrated by Steve Anthony, was published just seven years after the song first appeared, in Tim Minchin’s Matilda the Musical.

And the picture book version of Pharrell Williams’ Happy! (illustrated with photographs) came out only one year after the song was released!

So if you’re a picture book author or illustrator looking for ideas, you might try flicking through an old songbook or switching on the radio. If you’re lucky, you might discover the inspiration for the next We’re Going on a Bear Hunt!

In the meantime, if you know of any good picture book adaptations of songs, do tell us about them in the comments section below.

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Jonathan Emmett's latest book is Alphabet Street, a spectacular lift-the-flap alphabet book illustrated by Ingela P Arrhenius and published by Nosy Crow. Although it's NOT adapted from the Prince song of the same name, it is written in rhyme and has all the makings of a toe-tapping global smash hit if anyone is interested in buying the song rights.

Find out more about Jonathan and his books at his Scribble Street web site or his blog. You can also follow Jonathan on Facebook and Twitter @scribblestreet.

See all of Jonathan's posts for Picture Book Den.

GOOD VIEWERS ALSO MAKE GOOD WRITERS: Finding inspiration in films, TV and video games • Jonathan Emmett

The question I’m asked most often in school Q and A sessions is “where do you get your ideas from?” The answer I usually give is “anywhere and everywhere” before elaborating with some specific examples. I tell the children that I get many of my ideas from reading books by other authors – the oft quoted maxim that good readers make good writers is a sound one. But I also tell them that some of my best ideas come from watching TV and films and playing video games, because good viewers can also make good writers!

I always feel like I’m breaking some unwritten rule for authors visiting schools by telling children this. The main reason children’s authors are invited into schools is to help foster an enthusiasm for books and reading – not wax lyrical about screen media, the pervasive appeal of which is often blamed for the decline in children’s reading. However, while it’s clear that many young children prefer to look at a screen than a page, I think this preference has more to do with content than medium. And, if we want children to recognise that a picture book can be every bit as appealing as their favourite film, TV show or video game, it makes sense for picture book writers to recognise the appeal screen media has for many children and to try to channel that appeal onto the page.

One of the picture books I’ve written that was inspired by screen media is The Silver Serpent Cup which was devised in collaboration with illustrator Ed Eaves. The book’s main screen media inspirations are Hanna-Barbera’s Wacky Races animated TV series, which Ed and I had both enjoyed as children, and Nintendo’s Mario Kart series of video games, which were hugely popular with my own children and their friends. Ed’s action-packed illustrations do a terrific job of capturing the excitement of playing Mario Kart and when we were creating the book we’d considered including a Mario Kart style course map at the side of each spread, showing the positions of each racer, but eventually decided against it.

A spread from The Silver Serpent Cup, illustrated by Ed Eaves and Nintendo's Mario Kart.

When I read The Silver Serpent Cup in schools I preface the reading by talking about the inspirations behind the book. When I mention that Ed and I were trying to capture the thrill of playing Mario Kart and show an image from the video game, a noisy ripple of excitement ALWAYS goes around the room. Children who had been staring out of the window or fidgeting with their shoes are now giving me their undivided attention. You can sense what these previously unengaged children are thinking – I love Mario Kart! This book is worth paying attention to!

For our newly-published follow up, Cleopatra Bones and the Golden Chimpanzee, Ed and I drew our inspiration from video games like Tomb Raider and Temple Run and the Indiana Jones films. 

Cleopatra Bones and the Golden Chimpanzee draws inspiration from treasure-hunting games and films.

Creators of TV, film and video games have become extremely adept at recognising appealing content in children’s literature and channeling that appeal onto the screen. If we want to stop children abandoning pages for screens at an early age, picture book authors, illustrators and publishers need to ensure that this channelling works both ways by creating more picture books that reflect the appeal of popular films, TV shows and video games. We have to stop regarding screen media as a bogeyman who's luring children away from books and recognise it as a valuable source of inspiration that can make books more appealing to young readers.

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Jonathan Emmett's latest screen media inspired picture book Cleopatra Bones and the Golden Chimpanzee is illustrated by Ed Eaves and published by Oxford University Press. 

Find out more about Jonathan and his books at his Scribble Street web site or his blog. You can also follow Jonathan on Facebook and Twitter @scribblestreet.

See all of Jonathan's posts for Picture Book Den.

DARWINISM FOR BEGINNERS: Picture books that introduce children to evolution • Jonathan Emmett

Until recently, the UK school curriculum did not require children to be taught about evolution until they reached secondary school. In September 2014, after years of lobbying by scientists and other groups, evolution was introduced into the final year (age 10-11) of the primary curriculum. While this is a step in the right direction, research has shown that children are more likely to accept evolution’s rational explanation of creation if they’re introduced to it towards the beginning of their primary education rather than at the end, by which time less-rational explanations (both religious and non-religious) may have taken root.

For the last few years I've been using my poem My Cousin is a Cucumber (from Skyboy and other Stupendous Science Stories) to explain to Year 3 and 4 classes that all life on Earth is believed to have a single common ancestor. Most seven-year-olds are fascinated to learn that they are descended from an "itsy-bitsy blob of life" and amused to discover that they are the distant cousins of both cockatoos and cucumbers. An awareness of evolution is fundamental to a child’s proper understanding of the natural world and, if presented in an appropriate and engaging way, there is no good reason for evolution not to be introduced to children as young as five or six.

Picture books can be a very effective way to introduce evolution to children from an early age. How the Borks Became, my new picture book with Elys Dolan, was written specifically to explain natural selection, the process by which evolution takes place. It was developed in consultation with Boston University’s Child Cognition Lab who have been researching how to teach evolution effectively to young children. As a result of their research, the team developed their own natural selection picture book, How the Piloses Evolved Skinny Noses, which is aimed at a slightly older age group to How the Borks Became and explains the process in a more detailed way. You can find out more about the team’s research and their book at evolvingmindsproject.org.

How the Borks Became follows the evolution of a fictional species, the llama-like Borks, who live on “a far distant planet, quite like our own Earth”. The books shows how three environmental factors - climate, predation and availability of food – result in Borks evolving from smooth-furred, short-necked, blue creatures into shaggy, long-necked, yellow ones.

How the Borks Became shows how natural selection transforms the Borks from smooth-furred, short-necked, blue creatures into shaggy, long-necked, yellow ones.

The use of a fantasy alien ecosystem gives the book licence to represent the process of natural selection in a speeded-up, caricatured form over just four generations of Borks. A page at the end of the book explains that evolution on Earth happens at a far slower rate with much smaller changes and that it might take an Earth animal millions of years to change as much as the Borks in the story.

When a greedy predator gobbles up all of the blue-furred borks, only the better-camouflaged yellow-furred Borks are left to parent the next generation.

Here are five more picture books that do a great job of introducing the fundamentally important topic of evolution to children at primary school age.

Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story 

written by Lisa Westberg Peters

illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Suitable for age 5 and above.

This is a US picture book, but can easily be bought on import. Westberg Peter’s simple, poetic text charts the evolution of humans from our beginnings as simple single-cell organisms to the present day, highlighting significant stages along the way. Stringer’s illustrations intercut pictures of creatures in their natural habitats with images of a family mapping out an evolutionary diagram on a sandy beach. These sand drawings are cleverly employed to illustrate important developments in internal anatomy, such as the appearance of backbones and lungs. A glossary page and timeline at the back of the book give additional details and a sense of perspective to the book’s four billion year narrative.

A spread from Our Family Tree, showing the development of fins and a backbone.

The Story of Life

written by Catherine Barr

and Steve Williams

illustrated by Amy Husband

Suitable for age 6 and above.

This book covers an even longer timeline than Our Family Tree and charts the evolution of all life on Earth with the time period displayed in the corner of each page. Amy Husband’s lively illustrations display the diversity of Earth’s plant and animal life at various stages in its early history, before narrowing the focus to show the last 12 million years of human evolution from the the first apes to modern man on the last four spreads. The book finishes with an environmental message about the need to look after the planet that is our only home.

This spread from The Story of Life illustrates the diversity of life on prehistoric Earth.

What Mr Darwin Saw

by Mick Manning

and Brita Granström

Suitable for age 7 and above.

Although the concept of evolution predated Charles Darwin, it was not widely accepted until Darwin discovered the principle of natural selection. Mick Manning and Brita Granström’s biographical picture book spans the life of this revolutionary scientist, but focusses chiefly on the five years the young Darwin spent as a captain’s companion and naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle. The book uses scenes from the voyage and excerpts from Darwin’s diary to show how his encounters with the plants and animals of South America, and the Galapagos Islands in particular, informed his subsequent work.

What Mr Darwin Saw illustrates how Darwin’s experiences during the voyage of the HMS Beagle informed his later work.

The Misadventures of Charles Darwin

written by Isabel Thomas

illustrated by Pete Williamson

Suitable for age 9 and above.

This book, part of Oxford University Press’s Treetops in Fact series, presents an entertaining biography of Darwin’s life, from “stinky schoolboy” to aged “celebrity scientist”. It also does a great job of explaining Darwin’s theories clearly and succinctly and examines some of their implications for science and culture. Isabel Thomas’s engaging and accessible text is liberally peppered with archive photographs and Pete Williamson’s illustrations and ‘Mythbuster’ panels throughout the book help to correct common misconceptions about Darwin’s life and work.

This spread from The Misadventures of Charles Darwin looks at how Darwin’s theories were initially received.

All About Evolution:

From Darwin to DNA

by Robert Winston

(Previously published as Evolution Revolution)

Suitable for age 10 and above.

This book, written by scientist and broadcaster Robert Winston is crammed with detailed information on every aspect on evolution, from its historical development as an idea to its possible implications for the future of mankind. One minor criticism is that some spreads feel a little too crowded, making it difficult to take in the content, but this is easily forgiven given the breadth and quality of information the book contains. Although this book is probably more suited to secondary school readers, it contents will be of interest to more advanced and inquisitive readers in their final years of primary school as well.

This spread from All About Evolution shows how scientists think complex structures like the human eye evolved via a series of incremental changes.

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How the Borks Became An Adventure in Evolution by Jonathan Emmett and Elys Dolan is published by Otter-Barry Books. Find out more about the book and download some activity sheets here.

Find out more about Jonathan and his books at his Scribble Street web site or his blog. You can also follow Jonathan on Facebook and Twitter @scribblestreet.

See all of Jonathan's posts for Picture Book Den.