Tales from the Rushmore Kid

PiBoIdMo - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the inquiring mind
of children's book author
Barbara Jean Hicks

For all you aspiring picture book authors out there, don't forget that November is Picture Book Idea Month (also known as PiBoIdMo)! Kidlit blogger Tara Lazar, "tired of novelists having all the fun in November with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)," created PiBoIdMo in 2008 for herself, and the following year hosted it on her blog, Writing for Kids (While Raising Them). Last year more than 750 writers logged in as official participants.

The PiBoIdMo challenge is to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. As Tara explains on her blog, "You don't have to write a manuscript (but you can if the mood strikes). You don't need potential best-seller ideas. You might think of a clever title. Or a name for a character. Or just a silly thing like 'purple polka-dot pony.' The object is to heighten your picture-book-idea-generating senses."

October Recommendations--Lynn Becker's Book Picks

This month, once again, I'm amazed by the quality of the work that I'm reading.

My favorite ghost story in a long time is LOCKWOOD & CO.: THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE, by Jonathan Stroud, author of the Bartimeous Trilogy. It's set in a contemporary London that's overrun with ghosts and all manner of unquiet spirits. Children and young adults can sense their presence, but as they get older their sensitivity wanes. Effectively making all ghost hunters younger than twenty. Lucy Carlyle joins A. J. Lockwood and George Cubbins in their dangerous work, but the team stumbles onto a larger and more dangerous mystery. While I may have cracked the case before the book's conclusion, it didn't stop me from reading this one compulsively.

Although FAR FAR AWAY , by Tom McNeal, features a ghost, I would not call this one a ghost story. Instead, it feels more like a gorgeous, rich, modern day fairy tale, albeit one of the dark and haunting ones. Jeremy Johnson Johnson can hear the voice of Jacob Grimm, one of the famous Grimm Brothers. For some unknown reason, Jacob must watch and wait for his chance to save Jeremy from the evil Finder of Occasions. Along the way, Jeremy experiences the effects of enchanted cake and a first kiss, tries out for a game show, and participates in a prank that will change his life. The darker events push this story firmly into YA territory, but Far Far Away is a fine novel, one of the best I've read all year.

Mountain Plains Library Conference - Hot Tub Librarians

Librarians are just the best. They are wacky, fun and so surprising. I was dragged to their annual "Hot Tub Meeting" after a long day at the Mountain Plains Library Conference. Being from L.A., I found that a hot tub meeting had a different meaning than I'd expected. These guys dumped around fifty rubber ducky squirt guns into the water, and we took sides and just tortured each other! At one point, YA author Neil Shusterman stopped by, looking for his rubber ducky. What great fun this conference was!

Nature and Nurture - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the mind and heart
of children's author
Barbara Jean Hicks

I've been thinking this morning about how we become storytellers, artists, musicians, poets. Is it nature or nurture? Are we born with gifts for art, or are we born as a clean slate but lucky enough to have had someone--or several someones--introduce us to art and encourage our artistic expression?

The answer, it seems to me, has to be both. I believe that everyone is born with the capacity for artistic expression. We can't help but notice how free a child with a box of crayons is, how unique and expressive the work he produces in his play. As we grow, we find different tools to express our inner creativity--a pencil, a paintbrush, a keyboard, a rolling pin, a garden hoe, a sewing machine, a hammer and saw.

Barbara Bietz - Writing Tip of the Day

Barbara Bietz has been my writing partner for almost twenty years.  We came up through the ranks of the SCBWI as wannabe published authors to become acquired, then published authors.  Barbara was on the committee and then became chairwoman of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards and wrote the popular book Like a Maccabee.  Her blog, Jewish Books for Kids, is one of the mainstays in Jewish publishing.  Barbara is also the nicest person you'd ever want to know.  I recently sat her down and asked for her writing tip of the day.

The Poetry of Research - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the life and mind
of children's book author
Barbara Jean Hicks

For readers and writers, research can be endlessly seductive. I rediscovered this recently when I finished reading my friend Gwen Dandridge's children's novel The Stone Lions, set in the Alhambra in 14th century  Spain.

The research Gwen did for this intriguing story set me off on a path of my own. After a Saturday night in the local coffeeshop with my laptop, here's the poem that describes my latest seduction (complete with links!):

Up! Tall! And High!--Lynn Becker's Book Picks

October's Book Pick is UP! TALL! AND HIGH! by Ethan Long.

This book contains three easy to read stories, accompanied by some well placed lift-the-flaps. A group of perky, expressive birds introduces young readers to the title concepts with some age-appropriate humor. In each of these stories, the birds are one-upping each other to see who is the tallest, who can fly the highest, and how much better it is to be up than down.

Each story ends with a satisfying twist, and readers can feel clever right along with the birds. The illustrations accurately depict the concepts in the text, and the fairly sturdy flaps advance them with imagination. The whole package brings a fun experience to the reader of this book.

Ten Orange Pumpkins - a Counting Book - Stephen Savage

When I was in New York last spring, my editor Steve Meltzer raved about this Halloween counting book.  When I saw Steve and Stephen at the book launch on Facebook I knew I wanted to interview this very talented illustrator/author.

Where did you get the idea for a Halloween Counting book?

My agent, Brenda Bowen, suggested it. The challenge was to make something more graphic and narrative than your average counting book. It was Brenda's idea to bring in 50's film noir, and I ran with it.

Who were your inspirations growing up as an artistic kid?

Alexander Calder was my hero. His museum retrospective "Calder's Universe" came to my hometown (Minneapolis) in 1976 and it blew my eleven-year-old mind. C'mon, the guy invented the mobile! I was really into graphic design, too. Classic mid-century logos such as those for PanAm airlines, Wonderbread and Kodak still get me excited.

Name a few of your favorite Kidlit books.

Some old favorites: HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crocket Johnson, THE STORY OF BABAR by Jean de Brunhoff and GO, DOG, GO by P.D. Eastman.

Some new favorites: LEAVES by David Ezra Stein, EMILY'S BALLOON by Komako Sakai and ME…JANE by Patrick McDonnell.

What advice would you give illustrator/authors who want to be traditionally published in Kidlit?

I think it's important to master your craft before you try and jump into the big bad publishing world. That means making lots of pictures/writing lots of stories and getting feedback and guidance on the work from teachers and colleagues. It takes years to learn the art of storytelling. I love the example of the late great Maurice Sendak. He illustrated dozens of books before he illustrated (and wrote) his first published book, Where the Wild Things Are.

What is your favorite dessert and why?

Strawberry Rhubarb pie. It's that combination of sweet and tart.

Princess Party! - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the life and times of
children's author and educator
Barbara Jean Hicks

What does a girl do to celebrate the launch of a book about Disney princesses?

Throw a Princess Party, of course! A martini bar might not seem like the perfect choice to launch a children's book, but since I have more kid-friendly party plans for closer to the time the Disney movie FROZEN comes out Thanksgiving weekend, I thought a grown-up version with writer friends at one of my favorite haunts in Bellingham, Washington, Fireside Martini and Wine Bar, would be just the ticket to celebrate the launch of A SISTER MORE LIKE ME.

Neither of my real-life sisters could make it, but some of my writer-sisters joined me for a fun-filled Happy Hour (well, four hours...). That's Lois Harris of famous-artist-biography-picture-book fame on the left and Judy Enderle, author of over fifty children's books and partner in Writers Ink, a Critique-by-Mail service, on the right.