My first kids book! It's been two years now since my first picture book was published. I had written it for my son when he was three years old back in 2006. What a thrill when an editor at Sterling Publishing liked the initial idea about traveling the country learning funny dances. I did have to rewrite a few times but as I have come to find out that is nothing out of the ordinary. I added more dances to cover all areas of the country (originally it was just places that our family had visited or where we had relatives or friends). I changed the main character of my son to a universal "we" so that all kids could feel included. All in all it was a great learning experience and a good introduction into the world of children's book publishing. Next up: A Christmas picture book next year, fall 2013, which has such beautiful illustrations--I can't wait to see it in its final form! It's also published by Sterling. After that? Hopefully I can transform one of the many drafts in my computer into something sell-able. And there are new ideas popping into my head everyday, since my 8 and 5 years olds are my near-constant companions. I'm excited for what's ahead!

An author I'd love to be... Cynthia Rylant!

There are many children's book author's I admire, but my first choice for blogging about today is Cynthia Rylant. I sometimes have what I consider to be a good idea for a story, and sometimes I can keep up the enthusiasm and keep the ideas flowing long enough to complete a whole book, but the consistency with which Ms. Rylant creates wonderful stories for children is truly inspiring.

There is her Henry & Mudge series, the Mr. Putter & Tabby books, High-Rise Private Eyes, and others too numerous to count. Here is a bio I found on the Scholastic website:

"As a child in West Virginia, Cynthia Rylant never dreamed of becoming a writer. In her free time, she devoured Archie comic books and paperback romances and enjoyed the outdoors. But after taking one college English class, she was, “hooked on great writing... I didn’t know about this part of me until I went to college-didn’t know I loved beautiful stories.” And one night, inspired by the Southern writer James Agee, she sat down and wrote When I Was Young in the Mountains. Named a Caldecott Honor Book and an ALA Notable Book, it was an instant success. Since that night, Rylant hasn’t stopped creating wonderful books. Her stories explore friendship, love, grief, and other mysteries, and often draw on her memories of growing up in Appalachia. “I get a lot of personal gratification thinking of those people who don’t get any attention in the world and making them really valuable in my fiction — making them absolutely shine with their beauty.” She lives with her many pets in the Pacific Northwest."

What I love most about her books is their sweetness and how seamlessly her narratives flow. She makes it look easy, but it is anything but! She is a great talent and I have spent many hours reading her books to my children--they love her stories as much as I do.

There are many books I loved when I was a girl, but my very favorite of all was Miss Suzy by Miriam Young with pictures by Arnold Lobel (of Frog & Toad fame). I would make my mother read the story to me every night without fail. If she was tired and skipped a page to speed up the process, I would innocently point out that she'd missed a page and could she please go back and read it. In fact, my own copy was read so frequently that the covers came off and were lost long ago (see photo, left). About 10 years back I found a vintage copy with its cover intact and scooped it up (photo, right).

Originally published in 1964 by Parents Magazine Press (a 40th anniversary edition came out in 2004 from Purple House), Miss Suzy tells the story of a little gray squirrel who lives in a tidy home at "the tip, tip, top of a tall oak tree." One day some mean red squirrels kick Miss Suzy out of her house and she seeks refuge in the attic of an old abandoned (human) house nearby. There she finds an elegant dollhouse in need of a good housekeeper and a friendly band of toy soldiers to spend the winter with. Come springtime, the toy soldiers reclaim Miss Suzy's oak-tree home and she is very happy once more.

A few years ago I discovered there had been follow ups, one called Miss Suzy's Easter Surprise--not such a favorite for me--and Miss Suzy's Birthday Surprise which I have yet to find. I just spotted it used on Barnes & Noble for more than $60! (Another day I will write about my love of finding old kids books for under $1.) As far as the original story goes, I highly recommend it!

Before I did my first reading in front of children (that's me, above, in 2010 at BookCourt in Brooklyn, NY) I was under the impression that everyone in attendance would be on their best behavior. They would sit quietly and listen attentively. Quite the opposite was true. While some kids did sit sweetly and follow along (some even thanked me afterward), these are some of the situations I've run into at these events: a maniacal laugher (start to finish, whether the page was funny or not), two boys who tried to shock me by whispering "poop" every once in a while, a few kids audibly asking their mothers when it was time to leave, and a whole lot of fidgety little folks. Through it all I kept my composure as best I could, repeating in my head like a mantra "Just make it to the end!" When my second picture book comes out next fall, will I subject myself to these intimidating audiences once again? Of course I will!

Even outside of bookstore settings, children are tough critics. Whenever I tell people I write children's books, I point out that I have two"in-house critics" at home. My kids, ages 5 and 8, are ruthless in their assessments of my work, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Do they like a certain story line or animal or person's name? They will tell me without hesitation. What obstacles should a character encounter? They will undoubtedly have an opinion. The trickiest thing is making changes once the kids have given their blessing. We might have chosen a girl's name for a story but once I've Googled the name and seen that it is already the title of a kids book or, worse, the name of an unsavory real-life character out in the world, I'll need to change it. That does not always go over well with my in-house critics: "But we LIKED the name Amelia!" (or Ashley, or Arabella, or whatever it may be!) That's why I've come to seek their counsel early on in the process and usually keep the editing to myself!

Welcome to my blog!

I am a late-comer to this medium. The fact is, I am and always have been a bit of a techno-phobe. I was the last of my friends to embrace--in order--computers, email, cell phones, and texting. I have yet to join Facebook, although I am getting close so maybe I'll do a post about it one of these days! In college a friend told me, "If you had been alive when they invented the car, you would have said, 'What's wrong with the horse-and-carriage?'" He was right.

So who am I and what am I going to write about? I am a writer living in Brooklyn, NY, and the mother of two, ages 5 and 8. I've written two children's books (The All-American Jump and Jive Jig and a Christmas picture book that is due out next year), a number of decorating books (among them Country Living Cottage Style and House Beautiful Decorating With Books), and a whole bunch of magazine articles (for O, Town & Country, Country Living, and Art & Auction to name the ones I'm proudest of).

As for a topic for this blog, I've decided to focus on children's books. I write them, I read a lot of them to my kids, and I even collect them. I have most of my favorites I read as a child, some with pages barely clinging to the spine, and I can't pass a yard sale without browsing the selection (which explains why I have many more books than shelf space). I'll share with you the titles I love, writers and illustrators I love, my own writing process, and general musings on all manner of children's books.

Thanks for reading, if you've happened to stop by. Please leave a comment anytime you'd like!