Hi Jen! Welcome to the PB22Peekaboo author interview! Congratulations on your new picture book, This is the Boat That Ben Built, which arrives on March 15, 2022, with Pajama Press. Tell us a little bit about the book and how you got the idea. Thanks, Cindy! In This is the Boat that Ben Built, young Ben sets out to explore the river equipped with a sturdy boat, some sample-collection gear, and his scientific curiosity. Along the way he meets a black bear taking a swim, a moose all wobbly and slim, a goose with a gorgeous grin, and a heron all proper and prim…but things really start happening after the owl HOOs loudly on a whim. I first got the idea for this book because of my love for cumulative stories. I particularly loved The Napping House by Audrey Wood (illustrated by Don Wood) and Simms Taback's version of This is the House that Jack Built. I was finishing up my final semester in the Writing for Children and Young Adults Master of Fine Arts program at Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), and I needed a break from writing the middle grade novel that was making up the biggest chunk of my creative thesis. So, I set myself a fun challenge: to try to mimic the rhythm and rhyme of the cumulative story This is the House that Jack Built, and set it in the woods. The first version of this story was called This is the Cabin that Ben Built and I imagined Ben to be a man who built a cabin by a river. He wanted to go for a quiet paddle in his canoe, but the animals who lived there had other ideas... While I was successful with the rhythm and rhyme, I must say that it took me a long time to get the cumulative part of the story working! Many revisions later, I settled on the version of This is the Boat that Ben Built that was published. As you can tell, is quite different than its precursor! There’s an extensive backmatter section about the northern river ecosystem in the book. How did that come to be? Oh, that was an idea I had, later in the revision process. While the story could certainly stand alone, I liked the idea of adding more content to help kids think about the real-life interactions of the animals in the book. Certainly, they wouldn’t really all be swimming together like they are in the story, but they are interconnected in important ways. I added in fun facts about the animals and talked about their predator-prey relationships. It turned out that my editor, Erin Alladin, agreed that the backmatter would be an important part of the book, as you can see from the space ultimately devoted to it. It’s my hope that kids will be curious to learn more about and explore river ecosystems near them (in the company of a trusted adult, of course!). Can you tell us about your path to publication? Tell us about the query process and timeline. Struggles? Tips? I started querying this story to publishers in 2013, right after graduating from VCFA. Unfortunately, I didn't take the time to really read and study the kinds of books that different publishers were acquiring, so I got a big list of Canadian publishers and sent it out pretty haphazardly. No luck. (TIP: Don’t do that. Read a lot of recently published books! Study each publisher’s style and learn where your story fits!) I put the manuscript away for a couple of years and worked on other stories, and when I came back to it in 2017, I saw it with fresh eyes and could tell that there were issues with the cumulative element of the story. (TIP: Give your story some breathing room! It’s ok to put it away for a bit and come back to it later.) So, I worked on it some more, then sent it out again, this time being more targeted in my selection of publishers. When I heard from an editor at Pajama Press that she was taking it to acquisitions, I was so excited! Unfortunately, it wasn't a great fit at the time, but she said they would keep it on file... and a year later, they reached out and asked if it was still available! (TIP: This publishing thing is a rollercoaster. A slow rollercoaster. You are not alone – keep at it!) I signed the contract in 2020, after they had found the perfect illustrator for the project. Do you have any words of wisdom for authors who might be at that critical point in their publication journey? What was most valuable to you along the way? I think there are three important pieces to the publication journey: being brave enough to keep sharing your work, being humble enough to keep learning, and surrounding yourself with people who value and encourage your persistence. I am so fortunate to have had a whole host of amazing mentors and critique partners to share my work with over the years; their thoughts and feedback have helped me understand how others read and respond to my words. I have taken part in many learning opportunities through groups like the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP), The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the 12x12 Picture Book Challenge, The Writing Barn, and my VCFA Alumnx network. And I have friends and family who have stood by me and who encourage me to keep pushing toward my dream. The cover image by Maggie Zeng is enchanting. How did you feel when you first saw the illustrations? Did you have any input on the story they tell? Did you include art notes with your text submission? Oh yes, Maggie’s work is so beautiful! I was mesmerized when I saw the cover. I love how vast and deep she makes that river scene feel, how the light comes down into the water, and how Ben looks so content and focused up in his boat… Gorgeous! And then when I saw all the animals, and that double-page spread with the goose flying overhead, I got chills. She did such a great job capturing the unique qualities of the animals and the beauty of the river. Believe it or not, I did not include any art notes in my submission. The magic between text and illustration came together thanks to Maggie, our editor Erin Alladin, and publisher Gail Winskill! I was very excited to see what would come out of it, and it was worth the wait! What have you found to be the most rewarding aspect of writing for kids? Well, I think that the most rewarding aspect is yet to come – seeing how kids respond to my books and engaging with them about the story and the writing process. I hope that my books inspire them to explore and create. What else is on the horizon for you? I signed with my agent, Lori Steel, at Raven Quill Literary Agency in December 2021, and I’m out on submission now with some more picture book manuscripts. I’m working on an early chapter book series and a middle grade novel, and, after a number of years being out of the classroom, I am excited to start visiting schools and libraries to share my book! So, goodness, there’s lots on the horizon, and I’m looking forward to what’s yet to come! Thank you so much for taking the time to be interviewed. Congratulations on This is the Boat That Ben Built! We can’t wait to see it out in the world. Thank you so much, Cindy! It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity!
1 Comment
4/8/2022 04:33:14 pm
Hi Jen and Cindy,
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