Sunday Brunch – Peachtree Publishing Company Inc.

Sunday Brunch with John McCutcheon

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 15:00:00 +0000

For Sunday brunch this week, President and Publisher Margaret Quinlin talks with multi-talented John McCutcheon, whose newest picture book Flowers for Sarajevo tells the uplifting story of the power of beauty in the face of violence and suffering.

MQ: John, in the story, inspired by Vedran Smailovic vigils in 1992, you chose to focus not on Smailovic, but on a small boy who sold flowers with his father. Tell us more about this unique perspective you have taken.

JM: Well, I chose this perspective for two reasons. One, because this is a book aimed at young readers, at children and their families, and I wanted to give them an opportunity to invest in the story, to imagine that they’re there. But more importantly, children today grow up learning about the heroes of our cultures. They hear about Jackie Robinson, and they hear about Nelson Mandela, and they hear about Rosa Parks and Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and these people become so iconic that they almost immobilize us. We can’t imagine being that person, having that kind of courage to stand up and act when it seems no one else might. But each of us have an opportunity to respond to that kind of action, and that’s really the perspective I wanted to take with this book.

MQ: This event happened 25 years ago halfway around the world. How do you feel it is relevant today? Why is it important for families, parents, and children to learn about this particular episode in history?

JM: Well, this is not the lone incident in which someone did something extraordinary that we all have an opportunity to respond to. Today, as we speak, in this period in time, we have a civil war going on in Syria. We have things that require our response as citizens of a global community, whether it be technology, free trade, whatever, we are connected in ways that we’ve never been connected before, and we find ourselves moved by these things. We have lots to learn, and this story is one of the ways in which we learn how to respond in a world in which we read about terror every day, and the goal of terror is to terrorize, we can choose to reward acts of terror with our fear. Or, we can learn from the example of Vedran Smailovic, who braved snipers and bombings in a war-torn street to overcome that fear and respond with an act of beauty and solidarity.

MQ: You met with Vedran Smailovic in Ireland to record your joint musical effort. You are both accomplished artists. What was it like to meet Vedran? Was it easy to fall into a friendship and musical collaboration with him?

JM: We met at a hotel, in the pub there, and he roared up in his great motorcycle. He’s a great rider, all hair and mustache and leather, and came in, and it was as though we had known one another forever. We have had and have a lot of common ground, both as musicians and composers, but also as people who think that music is more than cotton candy for the ears, that it is something that, in our own lives, has moved us and changed us and directed us.

MQ: You’ve written and published hundreds of songs, and you’ve also published poetry. The text of songs and picture books is not unlike poetry, in that it relies on an economy of words, a rhythmic intensity of language. Your three picture books have all derived from original songs. How does your approach to writing songs differ from your poetry or you picture book texts?

JM: Well the obvious difference is that there are more moving parts in a song than there are in a piece of poetry or in the text for a picture book. There’s the music, there’s the instrumental accompaniment, there’s how you use your voice, but they all rely on the distillation of language, of saying a lot with a little.

MQ: What is it about music, John that makes it a language that we all understand?

JM: Well in this case, of course, it was instrumental. It was not confined by any language or dialect or obvious tradition. The piece he played, Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor, is a very interesting piece of music. It had survived the fire-bombing of Dresden in the Saxon State Library after World War II, and what we know today, if you went and heard a concert of Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor it would not actually be what Vedran played, because it was an incomplete piece of music. But Vedran just—wisely, brilliantly—chose to play this unfinished version of it. And, I think the fact that it had the invitation for people to imprint on it their own meaning, and it’s a heartbreaking piece of music, but I think the unfinished quality of it, the question it asked by the fact that it just stops at one point, it is important because it does ask that question. It doesn’t tie everything up in a nice neat bow, and that was what I thought was part of the brilliance of choosing this particular piece in this version.

**edited for length. Full interview is available on the audio CD accompanying the hardcover book.

Flowers for Sarajevo will be at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble on April 1st!

Sunday Brunch with Alison Hart

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 14:30:00 +0000

For Sunday brunch today we are chatting author Alison Hart about the research behind and perspectives in the latest installment in her Dog Chronicles series Leo, Dog of the Sea.

Q: The Dog Chronicles series portrays history through the unique perspective of dogs. What inspired this approach?

A: When I first thought about a ‘dogs in history’ type series, I began reading everything I could about how dogs and humans have worked together throughout time. I felt showing history through the perspectives of dogs was a great way to dive into gritty historical moments—such as a horrific WWI battle and a mine fire—and make them interesting for kids.

Dogs have been used in so many ways in history that I wanted to show a variety in the series. Darling, Mercy Dog of WWI, the first book, is about the different jobs dogs were used for during wartime and trench warfare. The second book, Murphy, Gold Rush Dog, is set in Alaska during the 1900 gold rush; dogs were necessary as pack animals, sled dogs, guards, and companions. Finder, Coal Mine Dog, the third in the series, is about dogs that worked with coal miners in the early 1900s.

Illustrations by Michael G. Montgomery

Q: What sort of research goes into telling a story through a dog’s-eye view?

A: Historical fiction requires incredible amounts of research whether the hero is a dog or a human. To write historical fiction, I have to know enough to “sort of” be an expert. Then I look for exciting moments in time and then add in great characters and rich sensory details. If the facts don’t enhance and move the story, they are left out.

Q: The Dog Chronicles often deals with serious, even brutal, situations that occurred in history. How do you decide to approach these events when writing for children?

A: I try to be very sensory in my writing, so sometimes there are graphic details about explosions or deaths. But since my heroes are usually dogs or children, I tell the story through their eyes, so it adds an immediacy and innocence.

Q: In Leo, Dog of the Sea, Leo is a dog who chases and catches rats on the ship. What kind of dog is Leo and how did you come up with his character?

Illustrations by Michael G. Montgomery

A: Since early times, the Spanish had “ratters,” a small dog that kept the vermin at bay in inns and homes. There is no mention of a rat dog on any of Magellan’s ships, but history does mention plenty of rats. And since this is fiction, I simply decided that Magellan needed a ratter!

Q: A lot of the characters in Leo are real historical figures. How did you go about characterizing these people from hundreds of years ago?

A: Luckily, fiction is on my side. There are many books about Magellan, and Pigafetta’s journal gave some insights into the captain general as well as the journalist himself. Some of the dialogue came from historical quotes, but mostly I gleaned information about the officers and crew from research and then turned them into “real” people. There was a page who made the entire journey around the world, but Marco the character is fictional.

Q: What do you hope children will take away from reading this book?

A: I hope young readers become hooked on history when it is told as a story and not a list of facts. Each time I research an event, I am fascinated by the inventiveness, perseverance, and strength of humans—and dogs!

Leo, Dog of the Sea will be at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble on April 1st!

Sunday Brunch with Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:30:00 +0000

For Sunday brunch today we are chatting with debut author Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan about her picture book Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3, and her experiences that led to her new career in writing.

Q: What inspired you to write Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3?

A few years ago when my school district started making plans to open a new elementary school in the fall, every elementary teacher was interviewed to staff the new school. This created excitement and anxiety—a bittersweet mix of feelings that affected us all, staff and students alike. No one knew where s/he would end up. For many students, their sense of security is rooted in the geography of the school—knowing this teacher’s room is there and that teacher’s room is across the hall. I’ve had 5th grade students who were heading off to middle-school ask me through tears if I would still be in my room the next year. They needed to know that this part of their lives was stable as the tectonic plates of their lives shifted. This connection to the geography of the school inspired me to write Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3. Teachers leave for so many reasons: to have babies, to return to the university, to move to a new school or away from the area, to change careers, to care for themselves or family members who are ill, or finally to retire. All of these moves are bittersweet.

At the same time as the upheaval in my own school district, a dear friend and former co-worker was dying of breast cancer. She had to say good-bye to her own elementary classroom and her students to her. I was able to dedicate Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 to her. It brought us both a bittersweet joy, knowing she wouldn’t live to see the art or the book in print. A memorial library has been established in her honor at Hathaway Elementary in Washougal, Washington where we taught together. I look forward to adding Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 to her shelves. I am sure she would love it!

Q: Have you known any Williams and Jamaikas in your teaching life? What would you like readers to take away from their experience?

There are usually Williams and Jamaikas in every classroom, the sensitive observer who has his own way of processing feelings and change, and the bossy organizer who has a master plan for everything and wants everyone to toe her line. There are students who take a long time to test the water and others who plunge right in. What I’d like them both to learn from each other is respect and compassion and to honor each other’s contribution to the whole. In an increasingly complex and multi-cultural world, we need to understand the limits of our own points of view and be open to expanding them.

Q: In your experience as a teacher, how do you help students make challenging transitions?

Children’s literature is always a guide! Reading aloud a picture book that depicts children encountering the same challenges is my first go-to. I hope that Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 will be a go-to book for teachers, too, when it is time to say good-bye. It will help children understand and name their feelings, and learn that to be human is often to have conflicting emotions.

Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 will be especially helpful if a teacher is leaving his/her class for any reason. It’s important that teachers tell their students that they will be leaving, because most elementary school children visit their former teacher/s as soon as school doors open in the fall. Some visit the day after school gets out for the summer! If children come to call and their teacher is not there, the geography of their lives trembles. Teachers look forward to this fall visiting ritual, too. In her new classroom Mrs. McBee would find the fall experience bittersweet, wishing she could see her kiddos again, to see how much they grew and to hear about all their summertime adventures both inside and outside of books.

Q: Do you have any favorite memories from teaching?

There are too many to name. Every day with children has moments that are special. For a reading specialist, seeing students engrossed in a book by themselves or enjoying sharing a book with a reading buddy, and hearing laughter or the words “I love this book! I love reading!” is always great. When children say they don’t like reading, they haven’t yet found the transformational book that settles into their hearts and feels as if it were written just for them—the book they will hug tight and read again and again. Connecting kids with this experience is fantastic!

Another kind of pivotal experience in becoming life-long readers is hearing that special book read aloud. I love feeling the magic of a perfectly selected read-aloud book transform a group of children. A delicious alert silence wraps around the group and children listen, transfixed. After one such reading, a little girl looked up at me in awe and whispered, “You are magic!” The moment was magic and only possible through the amazing books I had in my classroom library. My shelves were like an instrument panel in my cockpit. I loved hopping up and pulling a book from my shelf, knowing that YES, NOW! was the moment for this book. Through books we took off and soared!

Q: What is your writing process like?

When I am really lucky, I get an idea and the words come easily in a first draft. Sometimes ideas come in gestalts, and I know the beginning, middle and end of the story immediately. Other times I get a phrase that launches me into writing, and I’m what Anne Lamont calls “the designated typist.”

Revision is a different process entirely, much more intentional and rational, although it involves a lot of letting go and being ready to recognize ideas when they come, un-beckoned.

Q: How has your experience as a reading specialist influenced your writing?

When I’m writing picture books, I relish in language, employing poetic devices and paying attention to the sounds of words flowing one after another. I never underestimate my readers/listeners, knowing that for most, the experience of a picture book is an interactive one, shared with an adult who is an accomplished reader and who can make the text come alive and answer any questions that arise.

Knowing how difficult it is for some children to “break the code” of reading, writing easy-to-read books is an exercise in giving a child easy access to the story, using words that are easy to decode and simple sentence structure. No matter what I write, I take into consideration children’s background experience to avoid overwhelming them with “concept overload.”

Mostly, I write from the heart about experiences that matter to children. These are the kinds of books that will create readers.

Q: Your book is about the bittersweet celebration and acknowledgement of transitions. What is bittersweet to you?

As a reading specialist, I am privileged to help students struggling with reading. My success always means that I no longer will be their teacher. It is always sad to say goodbye—but such a celebration too!My decision to leave teaching and focus on my writing has been a bittersweet decision as well. I am lucky that my books will take me back to schools as a visiting author, keeping me close to children and their world.

Q: What is next for you?

You’ll find me reading aloud and signing my books in bookstores, visiting schools and libraries, teaching writers and presenting at library conferences. And I will forever be a student of writing and literature myself, attending writing conferences and workshops, learning from others in the field and reading, writing and reading some more.

I am also looking forward to the release of three more of my picture books. When Your Daddy’s a Soldier, illustrated by E. B. Lewis is on Beach Lanes Fall 2017 list. I’m Done! will be released by Holiday House Spring 2018 and Button and Bundles by Knopf Fall 2018 (TBA).

Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 will be at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble on April 1st!

Sunday Brunch: Susan Stockdale

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 16:30:00 +0000

Our first Sunday Brunch of the spring season is with award-winning author and illustrator Susan Stockdale!

A former textile designer, Susan Stockdale has always been fascinated by pattern and color. She has written and illustrated a number of picture books—including Spectacular Spots, Stripes of All Types, Bring On the Birds, and Fabulous Fishes—which have received awards from the American Library Association, Bank Street College of Education, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, the National Science Teachers Association, and the Parents’ Choice Foundation. Hear from her now as she shares about her latest picture book, Fantastic Flowers.

Q: What inspired the idea for Fantastic Flowers?

A: While visiting the U.S. Botanic Garden, I was charmed by an orchid that looked just like a monkey’s face. The idea for the book came to me in a flash—a book about flowers that look like other things! It struck me as such a playful and fun theme, but one that could have real educational heft, too.

Q: How did you find these unique flowers?

A: I did a lot of research. I pored over flower books, magazines, and online images. I was looking for the most fantastic and colorful flowers that resembled unusual things—both animate and inanimate.

Q: How did you go about researching them?

A: In addition to my print and online research, I consulted with botanists. I really leaned on them to make sure that my text and illustrations were factually accurate. I probably emailed the pollination expert 10 times with questions.

Q: How does nature continue to inspire your work?

A: Nature is the best designer. I never tire of trying to capture and interpret its magnificent colors, patterns, and shapes in my artwork.

Q: What intrigues you about the intersection of nature and art?

A: I enjoy the challenge of spotlighting specific aspects of nature that might pull readers in—from how and why animals wear their stripes to how flowers resemble other things—in words and pictures.

Q: How do you marry the rhythm of your text with your art?

A: I try to accomplish this with my pagination. In Fantastic Flowers, I featured two single-page images followed by two double-spread images to establish a predictable, rhythmic page turn for my reader that mimics the cadenced text.

Q: What is your process like as both the author and illustrator of a book?

A: My creative process is the same for every book. After coming up with an idea, I research, write the text, sketch the illustrations that would best fit the text, and paint, in that order.

Q: Which authors and illustrators do you admire?

A: I am a big fan of Steve Jenkins, Melissa Sweet, and Peter Sís.

Q: How do you hope teachers will use your book in the classroom?

A: I hope teachers read the book aloud, so children can appreciate its rhythm and rhyme, and that they use it as an introduction to teaching about the splendor and science of flowers.

Q: What do you hope young children will draw from this book?

A: I hope Fantastic Flowers will open young eyes to the surprising beauty and importance of flowers, and inspire children to appreciate and spend time in our natural world.

Fantastic Flowers will be at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble on March 1st!

Sunday Brunch with Janet Nolan and Thomas Gonzalez

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Seven and a Half Tons of Steel follows a beam from the World Trade Center after the September 11th attacks. From the rubble of that devastating event, to a foundry where workers melt down the steel and reshape it to become the bow of the USS New York navy ship, and back to New York for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, this moving story shows how hope and strength can emerge out of pain and loss.

For our Sunday Brunch today, we talked with author Janet Nolan and illustrator Thomas Gonzalez to get a little more background on their inspiration and process for creating this meaningful picture book.

Janet, what was your inspiration for this book?

JN: I was driving my car, listening to the radio, when I heard a brief story about the USS New York. I remember sitting in traffic being quietly amazed, surprised to learn steel from the World Trade Center towers had been used in the building of a navy ship. What struck me at the time, and has stayed with me ever since, was the feeling that something positive and powerful had emerged from a tragic event. I knew I’d discovered a story I had to write. And from the beginning, I believed this was a story about transformation and hope.

What was so special about this ship?

JN: The first page of the book reads: “There is a ship, a navy ship. It is called the USS New York. It is big like other navy ships, and it sails like other navy ships, but there is something different, something special about the USS New York.” I believe the USS New York is special, not only because of the seven and a half tons of steel in its bow but also because of the men and women who built and serve on the ship. The ship’s motto is “Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget.” I believe the USS New York is more than a navy ship. It is a testament to hope, rebuilding, and redemption.

How much research did you do?

JN: I knew almost nothing about forging steel or shipbuilding when I began researching this book. Fortunately, other people did. I conducted phone interviews, read every news article I could get my hands on, watched countless news clips and videos, and was a frequent visitor to the ship’s website. I was touched by the generosity of librarians and retired military who were willing to guide me in the right direction and answer my many questions, big and small.

There are so many events in the life of this one beam. How did you winnow them down to the ones you explore in the book? How did you choose which ones to include and which ones to leave out?

JN: What first drew me to this story was the idea of transformation. How tragedy could be recast as strength and hope. In choosing what to include and what to exclude, I stayed close to the beam and followed it on its transformative journey. The book begins with the events of September 11 and the outpouring of emotion at Ground Zero, but when the beam leaves New York, the story follows the beam.

Thomas, what’s it like to illustrate a book when you haven’t met the author?

TG: I believe I do meet the author through their words, in the words they share.

After reading Janet’s words, what part of this story did you respond to most?

TG: I responded to the resilience of our country and how we honored those on our soil who desire to live here and stand for our values. I also responded to what it was like the days, hours and minutes before September 11. It’s the reason I did the illustration of the plane frozen against the building. The idea that going about your everyday life is like a mirage of reality.

Did you paint from actual photographs? How did you select the images you wanted to include?

TG: Yes and no. I typically spend a bit of time doing rough sketches based on how the elements flow on a page—shapes or “blobs” of imaginary elements. Then, I start looking at video clips and images and take pictures of skies or other elements as I drive around. It’s like collecting ingredients for each of the spreads and thinking of them as a cake or a dish. But they all relate in the final product.

I also take pictures of people I know and other random shots to stage or help me with the mood of illustrations. Then, when appropriate, I do most of the modeling (shadows, highlights, etc.) out of my head through sketches in black and white to get the feel for light direction in conjunction with the reference. Most references I use do not have the right light source, so I make them work as if they all belonged in the same time and space.

Some of the images were sourced out of government archives that are in public domain to use. I look at those, because you do want to make sure that there are no misrepresentations of facts. I also use them for technical accuracy, especially when it involves something like an actual naval ship, uniforms, and military craft. But I tend to embellish them with a bit of drama that is not in the actual picture.

Thomas, what do you hope readers take away from your art?

TG: I hope they recall or imagine how quickly the reality, the surroundings, of one’s life can change and how events, whether we choose them or they choose us, can alter a future.

Janet, what do you hope readers take away from your book?

JN: If a beam can become a bow, then anything is possible. Anyone and anything can be transformed. Terrible tragedies have occurred and will probably occur again. My hope is that readers of Seven and a Half Tons of Steel will feel a sense of hopefulness. Because without hope, how do we as people and as a nation go forward?

Look for Seven and a Half Tons of Steel at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. To find out more about the author and illustrator, visit Janet Nolan‘s and Thomas Gonzalez‘s websites. Check out the Seven and a Half Tons of Steel teacher’s guide for more on how to use this book in your classroom and beyond. Want to know a little more about the real story? See our New Book Wednesday post!

Sunday Brunch with Henry Cole

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:00:00 +0000

The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine—by New York Times-bestselling author-illustrator Henry Cole—features an adorable mouse on a big adventure. When Hank’s brother sends Sammy up in in a remote airplane and loses control, Sammy suddenly finds himself at the wheel of the mechanical bird. Just when he thinks he might be able to steer to safety, Sammy crashes into the Great Woods with no way home and a new enemy. Fortunately, Sammy forms a group of woodland friends, and together they embark on the quest of a lifetime: to find his broken plane and fly home to Hank.

To learn a little more about the story behind the story, the wonderful Henry Cole agreed to share how his new book was inspired by his own childhood memories and experiences of playing outdoors.

Tell us the story behind The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine. Why did you decide to call it “somewhat true?”

I called the book “SOMEWHAT” true adventures because the story is somewhat true. I based the characters of Jimmy and Hank on my brother (Jimmy) and myself. I had a pet mouse as a kid named Sammy, and Jimmy was always making and inventing things, so I put them into a story.

The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine takes place almost entirely in the woods. Are there any areas like the “Great Woods” near your childhood home, or where you live now?

We had “The Woods” at the north end of our farm—a deciduous woods with tulip poplar and hickory and oak and sassafras and dogwood trees. Also honeysuckle, pokeberries, goldenrod and mayapples, all which invited birds like blue grosbeaks, ruby throated hummingbirds, downy woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks and catbirds. Perfect!

Have memories of growing up on a farm influenced your books?

I’d say so!! Growing up on a farm has probably influenced my books more than anything else. I think the intimate relationship I had with the wildlife like maidenhair ferns and spotted salamanders and blue-gray gnat catchers has influenced everything I do.

Did your personal experiences and childhood memories inspire your illustrations in the book?

Yes! The picture of the workroom where Jimmy displays the Spirit of Sammy? That’s almost identical to the one we had growing up. My oldest brother Bill saw the drawing and knew immediately what it was! The picture of me at breakfast? Our kitchen. Of the bedroom with Sammy and Phoebe in the window? My bedroom. And all of the illustrations that depict flora and fauna… they all come from years growing up exploring the woods.

You once said in an interview that there are “so many schools [that] seem to be homogenized, sterile environments, and I wonder what kids are doing after school that is creative play.” Why do you think creative play is an important tool for learning? Was Sammy Shine inspired by creative play?

Sammy was DEFINITELY inspired by creative play. The only kind of play we did as kids was creative play. There were no video games—even board games were pretty dull and only to be considered during blizzards, etc. I was lucky to grow up in a house where there were places to build, cut wood, solder metal, spill paint…and there was room outside to build forts and tree houses, design and build toy boats and submarines, explore, put up bird houses…I could go on and on! But that’s where ideas and memories come from: creative play.

What were some of your favorite outdoor activities as a child?

Favorite activities: I loved building bird houses, and then watching to see who moved in, who raised families, and such. I loved gardening: I had terrific vegetable gardens and grew amazing things. I also loved drawing: I drew all the time, mostly things that happened on the farm, but also fantasy animals and underwater cities.

Nature themes run through many of your books. Do any new insights from the natural world appear in Sammy Shine?

Sammy Shine has some very loose connections to The Wizard of Oz, possibly my all-time favorite movie. Sammy leaves, but wants to get home. But I took it one more step: he gets back home, and then realizes how wonderful the Woods was. I’m thinking that maybe people will see how great it is to get connected, or maybe re-connected, to the outside world, like Sammy did.

Is your process for illustrating your own book different from illustrating someone else’s writing?

While I was writing Sammy Shine I kept thinking of places that I wanted to put pictures. So I guess the process of creating your own story is different from illustrating someone else’s story…because you’re constantly imagining the whole thing in your head as you write.

What do you hope readers will get out of reading Sammy Shine?

Sometimes I think stories should just be tiny little escapes—no homework, no troubled homes…and please no more Dystopia!!—where kids can go and let their imaginations go. Here’s a perfect story for that: fly away with a courageous little pet mouse, crash-land in a foreign world, and then try to get home. My favorite quote from a letter I received from a kid: “You make my life feel like a new place.” What a great compliment!

Follow Sammy Shine and his friends on their adventure when The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine lands on bookshelves April 1st!

Sunday Brunch with Myron Uhlberg and Ted Papoulas

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 18:00:00 +0000

Written by Myron Uhlberg and illustrated by Ted Papoulas, The Sound of All Things follows a family of two deaf parents and their hearing son as they experience a noisy summer day in 1930’s Brooklyn and Coney Island. Since this story documents the silent world of the deaf, we were eager to learn more about its inspiration and creation. Both author and illustrator shared some insight with us and explored the challenges and joys of creating The Sound of All Things.

Myron, can you give some background of this book’s connection to your own personal experience?

Myron Uhlberg

Myron: My mother and father were deaf. Born hearing, I was their first child. My first language was sign language, a language not of speech but of signs made with the hands, supplemented by the grammar of the face and body. From the earliest age, I felt no space existed between me and my mother and father. But at an early age my father asked me to be his ears and voice in the world of sound: my world, but a world as foreign to him as the moon was to me. With this request I stopped being a child, and overnight was forced to confront my parents’ world—a world of absolute silence.

This period of my life—being my father’s ears and voice—opened the door to the world of the deaf, the world of eternal silence. That experience made me the young man I was to become, and the man I am today. One day, long after they had died, I felt compelled to write about my parents’ world, a world unseen (deafness is not visible) where communication and understanding takes many different forms.

Ted, do you think it is possible to illustrate sounds?

Ted Papoulas

Ted: Since you can’t literally illustrate sound, the artist has to figure out a way to spur the viewer into creating the desired sounds in his or her mind. If done correctly, sounds can be invoked just as emotions, and even tactile sensations, are passed to viewers solely through images.

How did you tackle showing sounds in your illustrations?

Ted: Many of the illustrations for The Sound of All Things depict busy street or amusement park scenes. By paying attention to the details and choosing poses, actions and elements that combine to create a full, authentic and active environment, the artist can create a vibrant image which prompts the user to add the missing sounds. A lifetime of experience forms sensory expectations that can be tapped into.

Myron, what are some of the hardest sounds to describe in words?

Myron: Any sound that is not readily analogous to a visible or tactile object presents great difficulty in transliterating into Signs. Also, consider that not every English word has a comparable Sign. Even though there is a deaf alphabet—and therefore every English word can be spelled out—little meaning may attach if there is no reference point. Thus how to describe the sound of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which my deaf father could feel in his fingertips, but not hear with his ears?

How did you choose which sounds the son in the book had to describe to his father?

Myron: The art of a picture book text is compression. Therefore, every scene and every word of The Sound Of All Things hopefully is used to convey the three elements of the story: the love of a child for his parents as well as their love for him, the unique world of both sound and silence and the language that binds them together, truly a language of love.

Ted, what was the easiest or most difficult scene to illustrate in The Sound of All Things? Do you have a favorite?

Ted: That’s a hard question…each illustration presents its own challenges and absorbs my full attention while I’m working. Once it’s completed, the next one assumes that attention, so each exists in its own bubble. But, some do naturally present more challenges and I can become more attached to one piece over another based on the subject matter and composition or perhaps some area of the painting that surprised me or was executed especially successfully.

Being a big fan of Brooklyn, where I lived for most of my life, the opening two pieces—the scene overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning and the painting of the family catching the trolley with Ebbets Field in the background—were enjoyable to create. They were also the first two images completed, which brought the project from a purely conceptual state into tangible reality and that’s always an exciting moment. I also really enjoyed painting the crowded Boardwalk scene. Who cannot be happy while thinking about Coney Island?

I was a little concerned with the Chinese restaurant interior before tackling that piece but it turned out to be a nice change of pace from the exteriors and one of my favorite paintings. My hope is that readers of the book will have their own preferences and each painting will be somebody’s favorite image.

In a conversation about the need for diversity in children’s books, The Sound of All Things presents a form of diversity often overlooked because of the invisibility of sound. Myron, what do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

Myron: I wrote The Sound of All Thingsto bring to the attention of hearing children (and their parents and educators) the world of the Deaf—a world of silence, in plain sight, but invisible, among the larger world of ceaseless sound.

In doing so, I hoped to generate both thought and discussion about the means of communication used in both worlds—aural speech for the hearing, Sign Language for the Deaf—and the power that one’s language has in the development of one’s perception and accommodation to the world one lives in.

The Sound Of All Things, as well as some of my previous books, attempts to shine a light on the Deaf world—from the fact of its very existence, to the challenges it presents to its inhabitants, and on to its common language. Communication for the Deaf is a most human language of the hands, the face and the body—a language of signs, gestures, and expressions as visually beautiful and expressive as a spoken Shakespearean play.

Ultimately, my story is a celebration of the beautiful ways in which all of humanity coexists in this shared beautiful world we all live in, bound by the cords of familial love and the common language used to express that love.

Look for The Sound of All Things coming out March 1^st!

Sunday Brunch with Cathryn Sill

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 16:30:00 +0000

John and I love the world around us and enjoy learning more about it as we work on our About and About Habitats series. We gather information about our subjects from many areas, including some that require travel to experience. When we started working on About Habitats: Polar Regions, we decided it would be fun to visit one.

Photo credit: Cathryn Sill

Since Antarctica is on the other side of the world and the cost would wreck havoc on our budget, we decided to visit the Arctic. We were there in the summer so the sun never set. Our sleep patterns were disrupted, but because of unlimited daylight we would look for birds and explore without the added pressure of getting finished by dark. Watching Snowy Owls in the beautiful “butter light” at 2:00 am was an experience to remember. When we got tired enough to sleep, we would just close the blinds, turn off the lights, and pretend it was bedtime.

Snowy Owl (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)

A species of bird that we featured in About Habitats: Polar Regions was the Arctic Tern. We really enjoyed watching and photographing them. It was amazing to realize that in just a few weeks they would begin a long journey to Antarctica to spend the summer there. That doesn’t sound like a summer vacation!

Left: Arctic Tern (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)
Right: Arctic Terns, from About Habitats: Polar Regions

Many of the drab-looking shorebirds such as Pectoral Sandpipers that we see on the beach in winter were in the Arctic in the summer wearing their fancier breeding plumage. They were also performing “over to top” courtship rituals that were comical to us but obviously attractive to another bird.

Pectoral Sandpiper (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)

One of the nesting birds featured in the book was the American Golden Plover. Seeing this bird wandering around on the tundra was the inspiration for the illustration.

Left: American Golden Plover (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)
Right: American Golden Plover, from About Habitats: Polar Regions

One of our big wishes for this trip was to see Muskoxen. What a treat to look up on a hill and see a herd of them silhouetted. They thundered past us and we were concerned that we were disturbing them. When they stopped just beyond us and began feeding we realized they weren’t at all concerned about us.

Left: Muskoxen (photo credit: Cathryn Sill)
Right: Muskoxen, from About Habitats, Polar Regions

The natural world is so fascinating! Our desire is to instill in our readers an awe and appreciation of the many diverse aspects of this wonderful creation!

About Habitats: Polar Regions can be found at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble.

For the About Habitats series Teacher’s Guide, click here.

Author Interview: J. J. Johnson on Believarexic

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Jennifer can’t go on like this―binging, purging, starving, and all while trying to appear like she’s got it all together. But when she finally confesses her secret to her parents and is hospitalized at the Samuel Tuke Center, her journey is only beginning. As Jennifer progresses through her treatment, she learns to recognize her relationship with food, and friends, and family―and how each is healthy or unhealthy. She has to learn to trust herself and her own instincts, but that’s easier than it sounds. She has to believe―after many years of being a believarexic.

Using her trademark dark humor and powerful emotion, J. J. Johnson tells an inspiring story based on her own experience when she was hospitalized for an eating disorder as a teenager. The innovative format using blank verse and prose, changes in tense and voice, and forms, workbooks, and journal entries mirror Jennifer’s progress toward a healthy body and mind.

J. J. Johnson answered some questions about the story behind Believarexic and her own personal journey of recovery.

Q: What inspires you to write?

A: I write because I have a perplexing, deep-seating need to make stuff up. I get to inhabit different worlds all day, yet still show up and have dinner with my family. Plus it’s a rationale for eavesdropping, snooping, and investigating. I get to call it “research.”

Q: What made you write Believarexic?

A: My editor and I were kicking around ideas for my next novel. I told her I still had all my old journals and letters from when I stayed at an in-patient Eating Disorder Unit (EDU), and I could use them to write a book. I don’t think either of us had any idea what it would lead to, or how difficult the process would be.

Q: There have been so many books written about characters with eating disorders. What do you hope Believarexic adds to the discussion?

A: First, the name itself points to the fact that eating disorders are about so much more than disordered eating. They are about belief in ourselves and our connections to others.

Second, Believarexic is 100 percent focused on recovery, I’ve seen a lot of young adult novels and memoirs that are much more focused on the illness stage of the disorder; these books subsequently read like how-to manuals for eating disorders. I was very, very careful not to do that with Believarexic. I never mention specific weights—whether diet “target” weights or maintenance ranges, nor do I discuss tricks for purging or restricting food.

Additionally, I think the in-patient setting is a fascinating world, and add to that: the 1980s! Who doesn’t love the 80s?

Q: How do you think eating disorder treatment has changed over the years since you completed treatment?

A: I am not an expert in current methodologies at all, but I do read about treatment approaches for my own curiosity and interest. From what I gather, a lot has changed, but some things are the same.

In terms of treatment of adolescents, The Maudsley Approach fascinates me. It keeps restrictive-type eating disorder patients at home, and centers care within the family. This is the diametric opposite of my experience of treatment in the late 1980s. At that time, there was a de-facto assumption that patients were dysfunctionally “enmeshed” with our families—especially our mothers. You have to appreciate the irony.

Some things have stayed the same. The emphasis on re-feeding and achieving a healthy weight remains, as does the need for individual and family therapy, good nutrition education, and healthy coping strategies.

Q: Music plays such a key role in this book. Was music a type of therapy for you?

A: I wouldn’t say that music was therapy for me, but it was important. There’s a scene with Nurse Chuck going through my cassette tapes, and that really happened. Songs from that time take me right back, instantly. More generally, I think music is a touchstone during adolescence, more than any other time of life. It was for me, at least.

Q: Nurse Ratched was such a despised character in your book. When you look back on her as an adult, what are your feelings?

A: Nurse Ratched is a combination of two nurses from the hospital. One was the head of the unit and actively anorexic (she was hospitalized shortly after I left the hospital). The other nurse was a compulsive cleaner who, for whatever reason, just seemed to hate me. We rubbed each other the wrong way, to put it mildly.

Looking back as an adult, I know both these women were human and struggling with their own issues. I hope they got the help they needed. But the thing about a psychiatric hospital is that there is a massive, and crucial, power differential between staff and patients. In my experience, staff can, and sometimes did, use that power to make patients miserable.

What what do you know? The thing about being a writer is that there is a massive power differential between a writer and her characters. I get to vilify as much as I want. But you already know the difference. A novel is not a real psychiatric hospital. It’s make-believe. No actual humans were mistreated in the writing of this novel.

Q: Do you still struggle with your eating disorder?

A: I call myself 99 percent recovered from bulimarexia—and believarexia. At times, I still struggle with body image, but my actual disorder is in healthy remission. I have had relapses, though.

I had an acute, but short, relapse my senior year of high school, and another longer relapse when I entered motherhood at age thirty. That one was a doozie. About a year after giving birth, I started purging for the first time in more than a decade. It wasn’t every day; the eating disorder had morphed from the violent, intense monster of my teen years into a chronically nagging, niggling critic. It persisted for nearly five years. What made it worse was how entirely unprepared I was for a relapse. I’d thought I was completely done with disordered eating. I wish someone could have warned me. I was disappointed in myself, depressed, and deeply ashamed.

I’m pleased—and relieved—to say I’m in good health again, after a few ugly wake-up calls. One of those nasty calls was a messed up esophagus. Due to accumulated years of purging and mistreatment, I now live with strictures and valve issues; sometimes food gets stuck on the way down, and sometimes it even comes right back up. And not because I want it to anymore.

Another change in perspective came as a result of two fluke accidents resulting in concussions. Ensuing post-concussion syndrome left me weak, confused, and debilitated for many months. It brought into start relief the absolute blessing that good health is.

Q: Are you involved in eating disorder causes?

A: Not formally. For many years, I spoke in high schools, colleges, and with EDU patients about my recovery. In graduate school (where I studied adolescent risk and prevention), I reached out to and learned from some amazing leaders in eating disordered treatment, and subsequently did some work with teens around the issue. And I continually address eating disorder awareness and body honesty in my books, interviews, and public appearances.

Q: What are your keys to recovery?

A: A shift in perspective, a supportive safety net of family and friends, a commitment to good health, and no more secrets: these were the foundations on which I re-built my recovery. There’s so much more to life than whether my tummy is flabby. My tummy is flabby. It always will be. But you know what else? My heart is full, my brain is functioning, my soul is solid, and my smile still works great.

Q: What is your advice for readers who might be struggling with similar disorders?

A: PLEASE GET HELP. If your eating is disordered enough to interfere with the enjoyment of your life, or affecting your relationships, then your eating is disordered enough to need help. The end. Full stop. No arguments.

Recovery is possible. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

Say something to someone. Write a note. Send an email. Make a phone call. Don’t stop reaching out until you get the help you need.

Take that leap of faith. Trust that you’ll grow wings when you do.

I’ll be right here cheering for you.

Find Believarexic on Amazon or at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. Check out more information about Believarexic, including additional resources and bonus material, here, and more about J. J. Johnson on her website.

Sunday Brunch with Fred Bowen

Peachtree Publishers — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 15:00:00 +0000

For today’s Sunday Brunch, we’re chatting with Fred Bowen about soccer, sportsmanship, and his brand new soccer title Out of Bounds. Enjoy!

Where did the idea for Out of Bounds come from?

About eighteen months ago, I had lunch with Steve Goff, the principal soccer reporter for the Washington Post, and I mentioned that I was writing a new middle-grade soccer book. We talked about various issues in soccer, including sportsmanship. Steve mentioned the custom in soccer that calls for a player to kick the ball out of bounds if an opposing player gets hurt.

I thought a story of a player struggling with the idea of sportsmanship within the context of a very heated soccer rivalry would be a terrific theme for a book.

After lunch, Steve emailed me a video of the game between AFC Ajax and SC Cambuur that is mentioned in Out of Bounds and is featured in “The Real Story” chapter.

What does your writing process look like?

First, I construct the “arc” of the story by briefly outlining what will be included in each of the fifteen or so chapters in the book. I think this is important because middle readers really enjoy a good story. And a good story – with an interesting beginning, middle and end – takes planning and work.

Once I have the arc, I make a more detailed outline of each chapter. I write the outline up in longhand in a couple 100-page notebooks. These outlines include dialogue and specific details of the story. The outline does not have to be perfect but it is close to what the book will be. This detailed outline is the most fun part of the process. It is the first time I am really telling the story.

Finally, I write a first draft. This is when I try to get the story as close to perfect as I can.

Do you have a specific routine you use when writing?

It depends on what part of the writing process I am in. If I am outlining the story I might do that writing in my den or (weather permitting) on my back porch. But when I am writing a first draft (or editing a draft) I am at my computer in my home office.

However, at almost every step of the writing process I listen to music. I am a HUGE jazz fan. I listen to Miles Davis (from the 1950s), Tommy Flanagan, Jim Hall, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Tony Bennett, Bill Charlap, Houston Person, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Oscar Peterson, and Scott Hamilton to name a few of my favorites. Jazz is America’s greatest contribution to the arts. I think everyone should get to know it.

What do you hope to accomplish with your sports series?

I have always tried to do three things with each of my 20 sports books for Peachtree.

First, I want to tell a good story. I want my books to be fun to read. I love to hear that kids stayed up late to finish reading one of my books.

Second, I want to tell kids something about the history of the sports they love. That’s why I always include a history chapter in all my books.

Finally, I want to get my readers to stop and think about the sports they play. Kids learn a lot from playing sports and I want my books to be part of that experience.

Are any of the topics in your book(s) especially important to you?

Sports were very important to me when I was growing up. And I realized from all the coaching that I did that sports are still important to kids.

Playing sports and being part of a team teaches kids some very important lessons such as the importance of friendship, fairness, and dealing with failure. What kids learn on the playing field can be every bit as important and life changing as what they learn in school.

What do you want your readers to know about you?

I am not just a writer. I am a husband, a father, and a grandfather. I was a lawyer for more than 30 years. I also coached more than 30 kids’ sports teams when my kids were growing up.

But I was always someone who loved reading and sports. I also love stories. So writing sports stories for kids is a dream job for me. I can only hope that the kids who read my books enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

What do you hope your readers will get from reading Out of Bounds?

I hope kids who play sports will stop and think about winning the right way. It is easy to get lost in the idea of winning at any cost and seeing your opponent as your enemy. But sports, and especially kids’ sports, should be about giving your best and being able to accept the final score whatever it is.

Thanks for joining us, Fred!

You can find more about Fred at fredbowen.com and his sports fiction at sportsstoryseries.com. Keep up with Fred’s sports column, “The Score”, in the Washington Post.