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By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Congratulations on the release of The Opposite Zoo (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016). What was the initial spark for this picture book?

Thank you! I am so excited about this book.

Even though the concept of opposites has been on my wish list for a long time, I did not know where to begin. I started writing down my favorite things to draw, which are animals. Then I thought about a place where we can see many animals at once. So I ended up with a zoo.

Why monkey as a framing character?

He is a tricky character indeed. I thought, a monkey is like a child. They act and behave like children sometimes. Well, I could say both monkeys and children are unpredictable and have curious eyes in a way.

In this book, we needed a character who is not trouble-maker, but someone who can have an explorer-mind.

Idea Sketches

What was the timeline between spark and publication and what were the major events along the way?

I normally spend months picking an idea, developing it into a story and drawing. But this one did not take that long! From the idea until I pitched it to my editor, it took three weeks.

I struggled the first week to get it right, but once I figured it out, everything came at once. This was really a unique experience that I never had before since I started my career. Of course there were many things to be discussed and revised, like adding the monkey character to lead the whole story.

Although it took more than a year until the book actually published, I really enjoyed the whole process and I felt everything went so quickly.

In a process, polishing the "opposite" idea

First thumbnail sketches for the dummy

First thumbnail sketches for the dummy

First revised sketch

Second revised sketch

What were the challenges (personal, research, logistical, emotional) in bringing the book to life?

During my research, I realized that there were so many “opposite” books already out there, and it was my challenge to make a new “opposite” story. I also always have a hard time making good endings for most of my ideas. That’s why I still have many ideas in my folder, which I think are interesting concepts, but I have not been able to solve how to end those stories.

But this one was different. When I figured how to start and end the story, that was the moment that my brain clicked. The middle parts followed naturally. I carefully selected opposite words.

The book is for younger readers, thus the vocabulary needed to be simple. And I skipped my regular process of revising the story, revising thumbnail sketches several times, shifting the whole layout back and forth. I jumped straight into color illustrations once the idea was polished.

What artistic approach and risks did you embrace?

I wanted to illustrate this book in a different way, not in the same way I have done so far. The risk I had was how to approach this story in a fresh manner. I tried mono-print, watercolor, ink and color pencils. I spent the first week developing the idea and story, and I spent second week making color samples. I wanted more free-form lines and shapes in contrast to my previous illustrations.

So using ink-my long time favorite materials-was a risk: the effects had the potential to go astray with this new method.

Color Sample - Mono Print

Color Sample - Ink and Color Pencils

Final Illustration

What advice to do you have for children's book creators working on concept books specifically?

Don’t worry about writing skills, if you think you don’t have them. It’s ideas that count. It’s not how you well write a perfect story, but it’s what strong idea you have and how you tell it in your own way.

So be brave, be bold, be creative and most importantly enjoy.

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Il Sung Na, illustrator of The Opposite Zoo, talks about the art of zoo animals in picture books. "The zoo is a great and fun place for children indeed."

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This year, I was delighted to be appointed to the ALSC Early Childhood Programs and Services (ECPS) Committee under the fabulous leadership of Matt McLain.  Because ALSC members typically serve two years on a committee and then rotate out, when I began attending meetings they had already decided to create posters for parents to be displayed above or around changing tables in libraries, businesses, and other public places, highlighting the five practices from Every Child Ready to Read (Talk, Sing, Read, Write, Play). These early literacy practices posters would be downloadable and printable, and hopefully customizable.

The posters would be beautiful but simple, combining each of the five practices with a rhyme and a developmental tip. Our goal was to inspire parents to talk, sing, read, write and play with their children, beginning with one poster per practice initially,

All parents of young children need to change diapers. If visually appealing, easy-to-read posters were posted above changing tables in public locations, parents would likely glance up and see them during the diaper change. If the rhyme was short and familiar, and the language was easy to understand, our committee hoped that parents would actually recite the rhyme on the spot to their children. Using a simple developmental tip to accompany the rhyme would help parents understand that reciting rhymes with their children is a valuable activity that can help build important skills for the future. By combining the tips with easy, practical suggestions, our committee hoped to encourage parents to begin incorporating the five practices into everyday life with their child.

Research has indicated that there is a link between the number of vocabulary words children know and their economic background. Published in 2003, “The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3” by researchers Hart and Risley demonstrated that during the first years of life, children from low-income families hear about 30 million words less than their peers who come from more affluent homes. Young children learn words by hearing them spoken by other human beings (not necessarily electronic media!); when parents speak with their babies, they are building neural connections in their children’s brains. In addition to building a larger vocabulary, the young brains are growing more synapses to enable easier learning later on in life.

The study by Hart & Risley determined that lower income parents were speaking less or using fewer words while in conversation with their children. Further studies made the connection between having larger vocabularies when entering kindergarten and higher rates of graduation from high school. Having a high school degree influences the type of job and salary a person can generally expect to get. It has also been shown to affect health outcomes, family stability, and lifetime earnings. Thus, the number of words a child knows when entering kindergarten can lead to disparities, increasing the economic divide in our country.

Yet this gap can be easily bridged; having a large vocabulary before entering kindergarten can make a difference!

With encouragement from the ALSC Board of Directors, the ALSC Early Childhood Programs and Services (ECPS) accepted the mission of addressing the 30 million word gap by creating posters to tell parents that babies need to hear words every day.

The ECPS committee held monthly online chats in addition to meeting at ALA Conferences and exchanging regular emails. At first, committee members submitted early literacy tips such as “Sing a rhyme (or do a fingerplay) while bathing or changing your baby,” for each of the five practices. Then we compiled a short list of rhymes to go along with each of the suggested tips. The rhymes had to be in the public domain; if there was any question about a rhyme’s copyright, the rhyme was excluded .The next step was to select an artist; Il Sung Na was chosen. Then, committee members looked through his books and videos in order to find images to match the tips or rhymes on each poster. Once this was done, ALSC secured rights with Random House to use those specific images.

Although the posters use simple language, it was not so simple to design them!  After the rhymes, tips, and illustrations were put together on posters, committee members weighed in on issues such as font size, placement of text, and spelling. Finally, the posters were ready and our excitement about increasing children’s exposure to language was growing.

Our “Babies Need Words Everyday” posters are now available for free download from the initiative’s webpage: http://www.ala.org/alsc/babiesneedwords . They are meant for EVERYONE: your library, community partners, businesses in your community, and families. At ALA Midwinter, the ECPS committee will be hosting a session called “Babies Need Words Everyday,” starting with keynote speaker Patti Miller from the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail initiative and followed by a panel discussion and a talk about the posters. Printed posters will be available at the session.

Our thanks go to the ALSC Board of Directors who were instrumental in this project’s success by funding the poster printing, ensuring their translation into Spanish,  and encouraging free distribution. Because of ALSC’s strong commitment to bridging the 30 million word gap, and the valuable work that can be done by a cohesive committee with strong leadership, the concept of creating posters for changing tables has become reality.

Please check out the posters at http://www.ala.org/alsc/babiesneedwords, join in the session at ALA, and volunteer to serve on an ALSC committee for the coming year. Together, we can make a difference.

 

Today’s guest blogger is Betsy Diamant-Cohen, posting on behalf of the ALSC Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee, of which she is a member. Betsy developed the Mother Goose on the Loose early literacy program; she enjoys consulting and presenting training workshops to fellow librarians.

The post Changing Table Initiative Come to Fruition appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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I Like Old Clothes by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrator Patrice Barton




I also loved Patrice Barton's illustrations in Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine.

I Like Old Clothes
Mary Ann Hoberman
32 pages
Knopf
9780375869518
August 2012
Review copy

Hide & Seek by Il Sung Na





Hide & Seek
Il Sung Na
32 pages
Knopf
9780375870781
July 2011
Review copy

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse retold and illustrated by Helen Ward




The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Helen Ward
48 pages
Templar
978076366098
September 2012
Review copy

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Just two for you all today...it's been a lazy week here at A Patchwork of Books!


How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? is part of Jane Yolen's "Dinosaur" series, which happens to be one of my favorite, favorite series. Along with awesome illustrator Mark Teague, readers get a hilarious glimpse into the lives of our favorite dinosaur.

We can never have enough reasons or methods to say "I love you," and these dinosaurs, even though they're sometimes naughty give parents and kids lots of funny ideas. No matter what a child does, he or she is always loved and Yolen is able to get that point across very well, while mixing silly rhymes with Teague's bright and fun illustrations.

Great for group read alouds, also awesome for bedtime stories between families. I don't think you can ever go wrong with a Jane Yolen book, but the "Dinosaurs" are definitely some of my favorites!

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You?
Jane Yolen
40 pages
Picture Book
Blue Sky Press
9780545143141
October 2009
Review copy received from publisher

A Book of Sleep, written and illustrated by Il Sung Na is one of those bedtime books that has the makings of a classic. The flow of the text is magical and sleep-inducing and the beautiful illustrations with keep you staring at the pages long after the story is over.

A lone owl watches as other animals fall asleep at night, each doing something different. Some animals sleep standing up, some all by themselves, and others sleep cuddled up close together. A great way to learn about animals, as well as tell a soft, quiet bedtime story.

Again, the illustrations are just beautiful and the text flowy and lyrical. A great bedtime story for families or just as a one-on-one read aloud. Loved it!


A Book of Sleep
Il Sung Na
24 pages
Picture Book
Knopf
9780375862236
September 2009
Review copy received from publisher

To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book covers above to link to Amazon. I am an Affiliate and will receive a small commission from your purchase. Thanks!

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