Head on over to the PaperTigers site, where we continue our Journeys theme with an interview with Australian author and illustrator Gabrielle Wang.

Gabrielle talks about her journey as a writer, before and since the publication of her acclaimed first novel, The Garden of Empress Cassia, and introuduces us to her latest book, The Wish Bird, which is due out in August. I’m particularly excited about this book as it will feature “about ten full-page pen and ink illustrations throughout the book, more than I have ever done before.” Gabrielle started out as an artist before becoming a writer, so we defintiely have a treat in store.

Here are a couple of snippets from the interview:

I spent my teen years trying to hide my Chineseness as I think a lot of children of immigrant families did. At the same time, I always had the feeling that I didn’t quite belong in Australia, that perhaps I belonged in China. But after living in Taiwan and China for six years, I realised I did not fit in there either. Eventually, I think, we all need to realise that we are citizens of the world.

For me travelling is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Going to a new place is like being a child again. Now, I travel for research, which gives me added pleasure. But it is important to leave your own culture at home otherwise misunderstandings can ensue.

For example…! Head on over to the PaperTigers website to find out more and to read the whole interview.

We are delighted to welcome Farhana Zia, author of the newly-released middle-grade novel The Garden of my Imaan (Peachtree Publishers, 2013), to the PaperTigers Blog on the final leg of the book’s Blog Tour this week.

The Book

Fifth-grader Aliya is an American-born Muslim of Indian descent and she is the immensely likeable narrator of The Garden of my Imaan.  The novel begins with a scene that must be familiar in many young people’s lives of being in the car, running late on a Sunday morning – but this particular journey is marrred by a racist comment flung at Aliya’s mother by another driver.  In a way, this unsettling incident is a trigger for Aliya to explore more deeply how she lives her Muslim faith, coupled as it is with an assignment from her Sunday School teacher for Ramadan, for which Aliya writes a series of letters to Allah.  These letters are interspersed with the narrative throughout the book and their openness and honesty, as well as their increasing level of maturity, offer readers a chance to reflect on both Aliya’s but also their own reactions to what life throws up for Aliya: in particular the challenges of living what initially Aliya sees as two separate lives, framed by school and religion.

Much of what Aliya experiences will be familiar to many of the book’s readers – the exciting school projects Aliya puts together with her best friend Winnie; dealing with peer dynamics – including the tyranny of both being bullied and seeking popularity; the challenge of standing for student council; and a happy, loving, at times annoying family.  In addition, the book is firmly rooted in Aliya’s Muslim faith and her growth within it.  The girls in Aliya’s Sunday School class share confidences and concerns about life, whether or not to wear the hijab, parties and boys.  Then there is the unsettling effect of another Muslim girl, Marwa, arriving at her school, exuding a quiet but compelling confidence – how come she doesn’t mind everyone seeing her wearing the hijab?  What does that mean for Aliya, who up till then has kept her faith completely separate from school?

The book is full of delightful, well-rounded characters from across the generations; and it probes readers to think about religious observances, both private and public, without restricting them to a specific set of answers.  Pre-teen girls will be able to empathise with Aliya in general, and for those readers growing up in the western world post-9/11 who also share her Muslim faith, The Garden of my Imaan will be a particularly riveting read.

The Author

Farhana Zia grew up in Hyderabad, India and immigrated to the US in 1967.  She is an elementary school teacher and is the author of acclaimed picture book Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji, illustrated by Ken Min (Lee & Low, 2011) – included by Jama Rattigan in her Top 10 Multicultural Picture Books about Food for PaperTigers’ 10th Anniversary.   You can read a great interview with Farhana about Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji here, a joint interview with Ken Min here, and a “Peek at Farhana’s Creative Space” here.

At previous stops from this week’s blog tour, you will find reviews of The Garden of my Imman at:

~ Monday (April 15)
Welcome to Our Wonderland by 3 Bookworms
Blue Owl

~ Tuesday (April 16)
Kid Lit Reviews~

~ Wednesday (April 17)
Ms. Yingling Reads
It’s About Time, MaMaw

~ Thursday (April 18)
The Streetlight Reader – review and interview

And so, without further ado…

Welcome to PaperTigers, Farhana!

We enter Aliya’s life at a time when she finds herself exploring her Muslim faith and grappling with questions of whether to fast for Ramadan or to wear the hijab. She is surrounded by role models offering different perspectives and ultimately it has to come down to her. Her first-person narrative offers frank insight into these dilemmas, as well as events such as wanting to go to a friend’s party; the way she and others react when Marwa, another Muslim girl, arrives at her school; and running for student council…

How would you describe Aliya and did you enjoy creating/following her journey?

Aliya is a typical American pre-teen, dealing with some typical and some a-typical issues. Unlike her friend, Winnie, who is pretty brash and fearless, Aliya is non confrontational and is somewhat tentative on the surface. But there is something inside her, a potential if you will, that is waiting to blossom. This presents itself time and again in the form of a self-questioning and a desire to be a little better and a little stronger than she is.

In Aliya, I see the nature and nurture theory at play. She is receptive to the influence of her role models mostly because of her own inner mettle. Her story is the story of the growth of one’s self-esteem, which is partly gifted to us and partly dependent on the proper conditions in our environment.

And yes, I very much enjoyed walking step with step with Aliya and peeking into her hopes and dreams along the way. I particularly enjoyed seeing her arrive at the place in her head where I’d like my own grandchildren to be when they are at that age, if not sooner.

Aliya’s story opens with an unsettling racist incident, and there are shadows of prejudice that emerge at different moments in the story. In counterpoint to that, there is a positive multicultural thread running throughout — Aliya’s and Marwa’s families share their Muslim faith but come from different countries; Aliya’s best friend Winnie is Korean American. Were you conscious of this balance?

I’ve always found the middle ground to be the most reasonable. Our world is all about balance isn’t it? Seemingly contrary forces are interdependent. Day balances night; one season balances the other… just to cite two easy examples.

But it’s also about the balance between good and evil, hope and despair. The scale tips from time to time but finds its equilibrium sooner or later. If there is hate and intolerance in the world, there is also understanding and goodwill. In The Garden of my Imaan, I showed both sides of the coin — frailty and strength; trust and suspicion, problems and resolutions; success and failure — because these forces co-exist in counterpoint to each other.

Undesirable things happen to us from time to time, life being what it is. It’s pretty hard to let go of those negative experiences but the random acts of kindness shown to us are memorable too. It’s those kindnesses — genuine and unexpected — that keep our faith renewed in the humanity of all people.

As a people we naturally have differences in attitudes and outlooks simply because we have our own personal histories and experiences. It’s when these differences lead on to cause harm to others that we all must be wary. And I think the best long-term remedy in such instances is education and open dialogue.

A sense of intergenerational love and wisdom emanates from the book — as well a strand of resentment where visiting grandmother Choti Dahdi is concerned. You have created some strong women! How would you describe the different relationships that they represent?

The book is as much about familial bonds as it is about Aliya’s personal growth. It is a tribute to a multi-generational family system operating at its best. I lived in such a system for part of my youth and grew to appreciate the closeness of relationships as well as the seamless support systems that developed so naturally.

To me, Aliya’s home represents all of this. Amma and Badi Amma are more to her than grandmothers whom she visits on rare occasions. They are an integral part of her daily life. And as such, there is a lot of cross pollination going on between her and them. Amma and Badi Amma impart wisdoms, traditions, culture and values, while she keeps them informed about things like spas and such. Of the two, Amma has a more active role in Aliya’s life but Badi Amma also has a say in all important matters. It’s the village that raises the child, you see.

Choti Dahdi is a visiting relative. She is idiosyncratic, dogmatic and causes chagrin but she’s respected as a member of the extended family. There is no question of Aliya disrespecting her. Grumble, perhaps but disrespect? Never. Why? Because of the important lessons instilled into her by Badi Amma, Amma and Mom, of course!

The book is interspersed with Aliya’s letters to Allah for her Sunday School project. How important was this for the structure of the book?

The Allah letters were absent in the first draft. At that time, The Garden of my Imaan was still evolving. But once the story line began to take a firm shape, the letters became not only pertinent but almost essential. Aliya’s reflections mirror her growth. Her private confessions allow her to make better sense of the issues she is grappling with. The letters let the readers see this. In many ways, the letters are the glue that holds the threads of the story together.

Food is also an important theme in the book – did you know it would be so central when you started writing it?

Ramadan was always central to the story from the start and while eating and drinking between sunrise and sunset is forbidden during Ramadan, the truth is that food gets to be pretty important before and after the fast. The story of Thanksgiving coinciding with Ramadan was also there from the start. So there you have it. There was more than one reason to write about food. The foods mentioned in the story are examples of the foods one might typically have for suhur (before fasting) and iftar (breaking of the fast) on the Indian subcontinent. The sheer khorma is a traditional dessert in Indo/Pakistani Muslim households and definitely part of the Eid menu.

How did your own faith influence your writing?

I could only write this story with most honesty from a perspective I knew best, and my views are moderate. This book is not about Islam. It might give some information about some of the practices but only that. And it does not promote any particular view point either. But it does speak about the variations in the practice of the faith and it speaks about the variations in its adherents. It’s a simple social commentary, related in simple terms through a fictionalized telling. I am more at ease with Aliya’s family’s views pertaining to the hijab but at the same time, I wrote with an appreciation for those whose strength of conviction compels them to wear hijab and to stay faithful to the requirements of practice.

…And your experience as a teacher?

I suspect some issues in the book would not be as easily apparent to me had I not been a teacher. You get to witness the full gamut of human behaviors and interactions in a classroom with so many personalities, attitudes, and perspectives co-mingling or conflicting. A classroom is truly a slice of the bigger world and more so now when society is getting increasingly multicultural.

What do you hope readers will take away from the story?

Aliya’s story could be the story of any young person, anywhere in the world, navigating her way through some bumps in life. I hope readers will see this and be on her side as she tries to resolve her particular issues. I hope the story will leave readers feeling good because it is a story of faith in the human potential. I hope they will see that Muslims come in all skin tones, ethnicities and degrees of religious fervor and that they are no different in this from Christians, Jews or Hindus. But most of all, I hope the readers will see that it’s not what’s on our head that matters but what’s in it.

How different was the writing experience for you, compared with your first book, picture book Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji?

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji was conceived, and written pretty quickly. The idea for the story fell into place by the end of my usual walk around the neighborhood. On the other hand, The Garden of my Imaan took much longer to complete. It underwent several major transformations. Originally, I wanted to write it as picture book but the theme grew larger and the original premise of the story changed entirely. What this book shares with Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji though, is the theme of family. It’s something I seem to keep coming back to in my work.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve submitted a manuscript recently. Besides that, I’ve been taking a second look at several picture book manuscripts I have in store already and I am also mulling some ideas for writing something new. I don’t have a clear vision yet but it will likely be a chapter book, adventure/myth mix with a male protagonist. There are a whole lot of questions at this point. I do my best thinking during my walks and now that the weather is improving I’m hoping that something’s going to start flowing soon.

Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts in your blog.

And thank you, Farhana, for being with us today — I’ve loved exploring The Garden of my Imaan more deeply with you.

One of the books in our recently announced 2012 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set is the gorgeous Out of the Way! Out of the Way! by the almost-same-named Uma Krishnaswami (author) and Uma Krishnaswamy (illustrator).   I interviewed Author-Uma last year about her hugely entertaining The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, so I caught up with her this last month to ask her a couple of questions about Out of the Way! Out of the Way!, originally published in India by Tulika Books and published this year by Groundwood Books.  (You can read about Illustrator-Uma’s experience creating the book in the Q&A for our Gallery feature of her work.)

Welcome back to the PaperTigers blog, Uma.  What does Out of the Way! Out of the Way! mean to you?

I never understand what a book means to me until quite some time after it’s been published.  I can’t seem to think of it in that way until I’ve gained some distance from the project. On the surface, Out of the Way! Out of the Way! is a simple story, and I am often drawn to simple stories, especially those in which a single action has far-reaching consequences. At another level I suppose it represents my Pollyanna attempt to make things right in this world. In the reality we all inhabit, let’s face it, most of the time, when development demands a road, trees generally lose out. I started out by thinking of the face-off we see so often between human sprawl and green, growing things. The story grew and changed over many revisions and especially over the editorial process at Tulika Books. In the end it became a response to that conflict, questioning it and offering another view.

If you could send it anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?

Well, I’d want to send it to communities on the edges of cities, places where green habitats are rapidly being eaten up by concrete blocks and uncontrolled roads. Places where children and the adults who care for them might feel inspired to look at their environment and begin asking questions about whether and how it’s being sustained. I’m very grateful to Groundwood Books for bringing this book to North America, and to PaperTigers for selecting this title and making it possible for such conversations to take place.

Also, because it was first published in India by the wonderful Tulika Books in English and in eight Indian languages, I’d really like to see sets of regional language editions of the book sent to schools and NGOs in India, in communities where children learn to read in languages other than English.

Thank you, Uma.  You can keep up to date with Uma at her wonderful blog Writing With a Broken Tusk, as well as her website, which currently highlights Out of the Way! Out of the Way! on its landing page.  But don’t go away just yet – the good news is that Uma also has a list of ten favorite  books to share with us for our 10th Anniversary Top 10 series.

A Top 10 of Multicultural favourites by Uma Krishnaswami

I had to think about this. It was difficult to stop at ten!  This list is in no particular order, and includes books across the age range.

~  Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith

~  Amadi’s Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-Lot

~  Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

~  Nabeel’s New Pants by Fawzia Gilani-Williams illustrated by Proiti Roy (originally published by Tulika Books, India as Ismat’s Eid)

~  The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

~  A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

~  Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

~  One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

~  Tiger on a Tree by Anuskha Ravishankar, illustrated by Pulak Biswas

~  Waiting for Mama by Tae-Joon Lee, illustrated by Dong-Sung Kim

I’ve spotted some of my own favorites in Uma’s list too… What about you?  And if you would like to send us a Top 10 of your favorite multicultural books from any genre or theme (we’ll also accept a Reader’s Ten – see Janet Wong’s selection for an explanation), just email me your list to marjoreATpapertigersDOTorg.

Just published on the PaperTigers website is our new interview with Paul Yee.  Paul is one of Canada’s leading writers for young people and has won awards for both his stories for younger readers and his YA fiction.  He writes mostly about the Chinese Canadian experience in both historical and contemporary settings.

Corinne and I had the great pleasure not only of hearing Paul speak at Serendipity in Vancouver earlier this year, but also chatting over dinner on the final evening – and then attending his book launch for The Secret Keepers (Tradewind Books, 2011), where he mesmerised us all with his recitation, not reading, of the book’s opening.  (Take a look at some photos here.)

PaperTigers first interviewed Paul in 2003 so it is great to have caught up with all he’s been doing since then – and there was certainly much to talk about… Head on over to read the interview now.

Head on over to the main PaperTigers website to read our new interview with the wonderful Lisa Yee and find out about the background to some of her best-selling books.

After having my emotions wrenched between tears of laughter and genuine weeping during Lisa’s presentation at Serendipity 2012 in Vancouver earlier this year, I came back to the UK laden with her books.  Older Brother, Younger Brother and I have been hijacking them from each other ever since – and it’s just as well I’ve read them as Younger Brother will bring a character matter-of-factly into conversation while I now have the necessary knowledge to do the mental somersault towards the fictional identity of this “person”.  So if you don’t yet know Lisa’s books, I can thoroughly recommend them for you and any middle-grade/YA readers you know.  In the meantime, head on over to our interview to find out more…

Continuing our theme of Water in Multicultural Children’s Books, new on the PaperTigers website is an interview with author Linda Sue Park, in which she talks to us about her novel A Long Walk to Water, awarded the 2011 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award in the Books for Older Children category. Here are a couple of snippets to whet your appetite:

But of course, hope alone is never enough. In my experience, smart choices and hard work are essential as well, and my stories reflect that. It’s up to young readers to decide whether those values become important to them too. Hope, smart choices, hard work—that’s a pretty good formula in my opinion.

The most common reaction from young readers is that they want to meet Salva. I’m always sorry to have to disappoint them—Salva is now living in South Sudan, and working so hard that he doesn’t have much time to visit the U.S. At the same time, I find this response from readers truly moving. So often the people they dream of meeting are movie stars or professional athletes or rock musicians, and it’s terrific that Salva is right up there on that list!

When Water for South Sudan puts in a well, the knock-on effect is staggering. [...] Most important of all, nearly every village that has received a well has started a school for the local children, who no longer have to spend their days fetching water. Clean water directly linked to education—that was a real eye-opener for me!

The relationship between an author and his or her editor is not necessarily foremost in a reader’s mind when enjoying a book, but there’s no doubt that it’s important. I was struck when reading Allen Say‘s latest book Drawing from Memory (Scholastic, 2011) by a comment he made in his moving Author’s Note: “When my editor, Andrea Pinkney, and I first talked about the book, she asked me if it was possible to include some of my master’s work in it. The thought had never occurred to me; I didn’t think any of Sensei’s work could be found today.” So began the quest to seek out some of Noro Shinpei’s work – and Say did eventually bring together some wonderful examples in Drawing from Memory, including himself as a cartoon character, which must resonate as a dream come true for many of todays’ young readers. Say himself would probably agree that the book is all the richer for exploring Noro Shinpei’s work in more depth: indeed, his description of the quest shows clearly what those channels in his graphic narrative meant to him. So we are delighted to welcome Andrea Pinkney to the PaperTigers Blog to answer a few questions about Drawing from Memory, as well as her current projects as Vice President and Executive Editor with Scholastic Trade.

Andrea is also an acclaimed author of children’s books herself, including Coretta King Honor Picture Books Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, illustrated by Stephen Alcorn (Gulliver Books, Harcourt), and Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, illustrated by her husband Brian Pinkney (Hyperion Books for Children) – as well as novels such as, most recently, Bird in a Box (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2011). You can read an in-depth interview with Andrea about her own writing at The Brown Bookshelf here, and more about her career as an editor here.

I believe Drawing from Memory is Allen Say’s first book published by Scholastic.  How and why did Scholastic acquire the book?

We’re so proud and happy to welcome Allen Say to Scholastic! Drawing from Memory marks an important and exciting change of direction for Allen. He is known by many for his work as a brilliant picture book creator, and Caldecott medallist. But in this book, Allen extends his talent to create a stunning work that is part memoir, part graphic novel, part narrative history. With Scholastic’s tremendous reach into schools, to teachers, and to young readers through our vibrant distribution channels ― including Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs ― along with our Trade publishing program, we felt strongly that Drawing from Memory was the perfect vehicle for giving Allen Say a new publishing home.

What was your involvement in the editorial process?  Were there any particularly special moments for you?

I believe an editor’s role is to hold the flashlight while an author and illustrator digs for gold. In the case of Drawing from Memory, Allen delved into his own internal creative fountain to reveal a story that is intensely personal to him ― his journey to becoming the artist that he is today. My job was simply to guide that process, and to work with Allen to illuminate the most relevant aspects of his narrative. As for special moments, Allen is an incredible storyteller. So each and every time we spoke about the particulars of his incredible life and how these would be included in the book, Allen imparted some new detail about his childhood that always brought me to tears of wonder.

What is your favourite part of the book?

This is like asking which of your children is your favorite! I’m hard pressed to find one part of Drawing from Memory that I like more than another. I will say, though, that the moment when Allen knocks on the door of Noro Shinpei, Japan’s premier cartoonist, and the man who becomes Allen’s spiritual father, always fills me with a feeling of awe ― that this eager kid is about to enter a world that will change the course of his life forever.

How do you think Drawing from Memory fits in with Allen’s previous books, in particular the semi-autobiographical The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice? 

In Drawing from Memory Allen takes his creative talents to greater heights by pushing the boundaries of bookmaking with a work that is an impressive amalgam of art styles, text, and perspectives.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

There are always exciting things brewing in our shop! Next fall we’ll publish a novel by Sonia Manzano, the Emmy Award-winning actress who has played the role of Maria on Sesame Street for more than 40 years. Also, multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner, Sharon G. Flake, is at work on a new novel. And the very busy and creative Allen Say has his paintbrush whipping up new books for Scholastic.

Continuing our exploration of the world of e-books for children, we’re asking practitioners and people on the ground about some of the challenges and triumphs for them personally, as well as for the children’s publishing industry as a whole.

Today we have with us Janet Wong, former lawyer turned children’s book author of numerous books, including A Suitcase of Seaweed, Me and Rolly Maloo, Twist: Yoga Poems, and Once Upon a Tiger, an illustrated e-book poetry collection about endangered animals, as well as three e-poetry collections, co-designed and edited with Sylvia Vardell: Poetry Tag Time, p*tag and the recently released Gift Tag. Janet’s many awards include the International Reading Association’s “Celebrate Literacy Award”.

We first interviewed Janet in 2008 and it’s great to welcome her back to PaperTigers to talk here about her experiences with e-books.

***

What was your inspiration for writing e-books? Was that your intention from the get-go, or was there an evolution in your creative process?

Sylvia Vardell and I hatched our PoetryTagTime project one year ago at the NCTE convention with one simple goal: to make poetry an impulse buy. Poetry books are too often neglected, left to collect dust on bookshelves. We wanted people to hear about our books, read a sample poem, click “buy” (for no more than the cost of a cup of coffee)–and fall in love with poetry!

Children’s books, particularly picture books, present specific challenges to the e-book industry in terms of faithful reproduction of art and story. They also present exciting opportunities for new forms of interaction. What limitations or challenges, expected or unexpected, have you personally experienced creating e-books for children, and in turn, what benefits have you discovered as compared to printed books?

Designing for the small black-and-white screen of the Kindle isn’t easy, especially since you can’t know what size font a reader will choose. A child who chooses a large font might end up breaking a poem’s lines in places where a line break might be, well, ugly. For our third PoetryTagTime venture, GIFT TAG, Sylvia came up with the name “Kindleku” to describe the form that we “invented” for the Kindle screen. This form allows a maximum of 10 lines and 25 characters per line (including spaces)–the most that will fit on a Kindle screen when it is set at Font Size 6 (though Font Size 4 is, in my opinion, the best size for reading most e-books). Douglas Florian called this form the “Kindlekuku” and we acknowledge in the intro that it was cuckoo to limit our poets to 250 characters per poem–but we think the poems are terrific!

Particularly in English-speaking countries, a common concern is the lack of diversity in children’s books. How do you think e-books might address such concerns, and how has your work engaged with issues of multicultural children’s books? 

More and more people are discovering the authors in themselves and soon will be using e-books to make their voices and stories heard. This is such an exciting time to be involved with books. There will be lots of awful books, just as there are lots of awful YouTube videos–but there will also be indie-published gems. I anticipate an explosion of diversity in subject matter and also books offered in many more languages. For instance, one of the e-books I’m working on is a ballad about the first famous Chinese poet, Qu Yuan, and the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival, that will appear in a bilingual Mandarin/English edition. I’m looking forward to publishing e-book versions of several of my books in several languages, from Korean to Lithuanian!

On a similar note, in the twentieth century the development of children’s rooms in public libraries marched hand-in-hand with growth in the children’s publishing industry. Do you think e-books will change the roles of traditional libraries, and how do you envision e-books reaching children of all incomes and backgrounds?

Thousands of copies of my e-books Once Upon a Tiger: New Beginnings for Endangered Animals and PoetryTagTime have been downloaded by children in Ghana and Kenya through the terrific Worldreader.org program–books that would’ve cost a fortune to ship to Africa. The newest Kindle includes a $79 version; with the abundance of free and cheap books, these e-readers might be the best way to reach children in circumstances where traditional libraries are not an easy option.

We love sneak previews! What are you working on at the moment? Do you plan for it to come out in print, as an e-book, or both?

Right now Sylvia and I are finishing up GIFT TAG, an anthology of holiday poems. This is the third book in our PoetryTagTime series. It will be available as an e-book for Kindles, Nooks, iPads, phones–and computers, too (many people are just discovering that they can download the free Kindle app to their regular computers). The book begins with a Thanksgiving poem by Jane Yolen and contains a reminder of the meaning of Christmas by Lee Bennett Hopkins, a whimsical dreidel poem by Douglas Florian, a Mew Year’s Day poem for cat-lovers by Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis, and 23 more poems about everything from getting your first bicycle to your first bottle of perfume, being a spider in a Christmas tree, and having your Christmas stocking pop!

If you were a fortune-teller, where would you predict the future lies for the evolution of the printed book vs. the e-book generally? 

Too often I hear people say something negative about e-books, followed by the phrase, “because I love books.” I love both ice cream and frozen yogurt; can’t we have both? I’ll make a bold prediction: e-book poetry anthologies will actually make print collections of poetry more popular than ever. I think a lot of people who are new to poetry will take a chance and spend $2.99 to buy an e-book anthology like PoetryTagTime, which will lead them to discover a bunch of poets that they’d never heard of before. You can’t read Allan Wolf’s poem in P*TAG about burping up kittens in Shanghai without wanting to read more of his work–which is currently mainly available in print books only.

What’s up next on your to-read e-book list? Do you have any favorite e-books that you’d recommend?

Each week I have a new favorite! Today’s favorite, though, is an OLD book: Opposites by Richard Wilbur. The line drawings come through really well on the Kindle, and the poems beg to be read again and again, of course–even just one poem at a time, when the mood strikes. That’s a great thing about a poetry book: you can read it a poem at a time and not feel like you’ve “lost your place”–and the poems are so short that you can read one on your phone while you’re waiting in line!

***

Thank you, Janet.

And the good news is that since doing the interview, Gift Tag has been released and is now available to buy… Time to get e-reading!

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Carol at Carol’s Corner.

We are so excited to welcome renowned illustrator and author Ed Young to PaperTigers. There just aren’t enough superlatives to describe his work, and his versatility is perhaps summed up by the conversation I had with Younger Brother when he asked me why I was so excited the other day:

Me – I’m going to be speaking to Ed Young on the phone today.
Y.B. – Who?
Me – You know, Ed Young, who wrote the book you picked off my pile the other day – The House Baba Built?
Y.B. – Oh, yes, I liked that.
Me – Come on, let’s go and pull some of his books off your shelves… Here we are, Tiger of the Snows – Ed Young illustrated that.
Y.B. – Oh, I love that.
Me – And Wabi Sabi …
Y.B. – I really love Wabi Sabi [... digression into discussion of whether certain bits of our home aren't wabi sabi].
Me – and Yeh-Shen … and Lon Po Po … Beyond the Great Mountains … Sadako … Seven Fathers [etc. etc.]
Y.B – …[interspersing the above with comments of surprise and appreciation, culminating in "He did all these?!?" before settling down with a pile of all these favorite books.]

I think he can be forgiven for not realising they all came from the same artist’s hand…

So head on over to the PaperTigers site for our interview; I assure you, you’re in for a real treat. Among other things, Ed shares with us some of the challenges of creating his wonderful new picture-book The House Baba Built (Little Brown and Co., 2011); his passion for calligraphy; and how he sees the future as a world without books…

Founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker, Walker Books is Britain’s leading independent publisher of high quality books for children of all ages. From a modest start, with just 18 titles in 1980, the company now produces over 300 paperback and hardback titles a year, more than any other children’s book publisher in the UK. A sister company, Candlewick Press, was set up in the US in 1992, and Walker Australia was launched a year later. Publishing purely for children for over a quarter of a century, Walker Books offers a diverse range of books, including picture books, board and novelty books, anthologies, fiction and non-fiction.

Denise Johnstone-Burt, Publisher and Associate Director at Walker and one of Britain’s leading children’s book editors, kindly answered our questions about the company, the children’s publishing industry in the UK, and Michael Foreman’s A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, one of the books selected for inclusion in the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers project.

Interview by Aline Pereira, former Managing Editor of PaperTigers and currently an independent writer, editor and editorial consultant specializing in multicultural children’s books.

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Please tell us about your path to becoming a publisher and Associate Director at Walker Books.

I joined Walker Books as a publisher and Associate Director twelve years ago from Andersen Press where I was Editorial Director, and where I had been working for ten years.

You run a varied and successful list of authors and illustrators, which includes former Children’s Laureates Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Browne, and Kate Greenaway winner Michael Foreman. When it comes to children’s books, where is your passion? What kinds of stories do you mostly enjoy publishing/reading?

I couldn’t pick one type of book over another – it wouldn’t be fair. I love them all!

The most important thing for me in regards to authors is good quality writing. It doesn’t matter if it is a picture book text, a piece of factual non-fiction or a novel – the quality needs to be there. I also look for emotion and humour.

As far as illustrators are concerned, I look for an artist who understands about telling story through pictures. It is extremely difficult to do, as you know, but when it works (for example with Michael Foreman’s work) the story speaks to the reader, whatever their age.

What attracted you most to Michael Foreman’s A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope, when you first read it?

I loved the way A Child’s Garden was about such a sensitive and important idea seen through a child’s eyes. It felt as though it represented a bit of Michael’s thoughts, a special bit that you could partake in by reading the story. A Child’s Garden is spreading the idea that everyone can do something even in the most dire situation.

Can you tell us a little bit about what working with Michael is like, and about the process of bringing A Child’s Garden to life?

I have worked with Michael for more than twenty years, and it has always been wonderful. We always discuss the story, the shape of it, what it’s about and the approach he wants to take. In the case of A Child’s Garden, Michael came in with the story and read it to me and Ben Norland, Walker Books’ Art Director. We knew instantly that this was a story we had to publish – its message was so important. We discussed how the colour in the book should reflect the growing hope expressed by the text, and Michael took the idea and ran with it.

Wherever Michael goes he sketches and records the small moments that he sees around him. Mia’s Story was inspired by the children he encountered during his travels in South America. He brought in his sketchbooks and we developed the book together. We looked at the pictures, again with Ben Norland, and discussed how we could recreate the feeling that we saw in the sketchbook. The resulting book feels like a cross between a sketchbook and picture book, and has an autobiographical feel to it.

Since its publication in the UK and the US, in 2009, A Child’s Garden has garnered many accolades. Where else has the book been published, or have rights been sold to?

The book has indeed been very successful in the UK and the US, and has also been published all over the world. Foreign language editions have appeared in South America, Japan, China, Denmark, Brazil and Spain.

Do you have a favorite among Michael’s books?

It would be wrong to pick out one since Michael has created so many incredible books, but I loved working on A Child’s Garden with him, as it was, and is, such an important book. We also had great fun working on Say Hello (with Jack Foreman) and Mia’s Story.

Has the role of editors changed much since you first started in this industry?

The role of the editor has changed since I first started in publishing although there are things that are reassuringly still the same. For example, the thrill of receiving a story or discussing an idea with an author or illustrator is as exciting as it ever was, and the process of developing the idea and thinking about how to present it to the reader is still an enormously stimulating, exciting and creative process. It is a great privilege to be able to work creatively with authors from the very early stages of a book’s conception.

I always sit down with an author or illustrator when they have a new idea for a picture book, for example, and he or she will talk me through the new idea. Then we discuss what the story is about, what the emotional heart of the story is and whether the shape of the story is right.  We also talk more practically about whether it is the right length, whether there are parts which don’t quite work, and whether we can make them work, and so on. This conversation can continue over many meetings.

Things have changed, though, so it is much more difficult these days to attract attention to a new author or illustrator and to get them established than it was when I first started working as an editor. There are fewer outlets for books, which means we have to be very clear in our minds where a book might be sold and how visible it will be. This involves much more detailed conversation with sales and marketing, at all stages in the process of making the book, than before. There is only a limited amount of money to spend on marketing individual authors and titles, so I often have to discuss with authors what they can do themselves to help promote their work.

What’s a typical day like for you (if such a thing exists)?

I work partly from home and the rest of the time in the office.  For those days when I am in the office, I find that I spend most of my time either meeting with authors and illustrators and discussing their new or ongoing ideas, or working through projects with my fellow colleagues in design and editorial. I spend most of these days in conversation about books. We also have regular meetings with sales, marketing and production where we discuss the programme and the costings of different projects, as well as development meetings where we float new ideas. There is no such thing as a typical day at Walker Books.

What was your favorite book growing up?

I loved so many…The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner, The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico, Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson…

Can you give us a snapshot of the children’s publishing industry in the UK these days and how digital publishing is affecting things?

Wonderful books are published in the UK for children, but sadly there are fewer and fewer outlets where they are sold, and not many places where children can browse and choose books to buy. That’s why projects such as PaperTigers are so vital for helping keep children’s books visible.

Regarding the movement toward e-books, many children growing up today have never known a world without electronic methods of delivering information, so as a publisher, it is exciting to me to think about new story platforms. The methods of delivery may be changing, but good stories will always endure. We no longer sit round the campfire but children continue to read and listen to stories, albeit in new ways.

What is Walker’s digital publishing strategy, and how does it fit in with the company’s long-term goals?

After signing up for the iBookstore and with many other visible market places opening up for four-colour content, Walker is assessing suitability from both front- and backlist illustrated titles. We aim to support both fixed format ePub and ePub 3 along with other relevant formats in due course. [ePub is the abbreviation for electronic publication, a widely adopted digital file format.]

Walker has a long history of supporting children’s charities. Please tell us about some of the charity-related initiatives the company has developed or been involved with.

Last year we worked with the UK Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne and created a book in aid of Rainbow Trust (who work with families of children with life-threatening illnesses) which promoted visual literacy. In 2010 we celebrated our 30^th anniversary with a fundraising spectacular, which raised over £30,000 for the National Literacy Trust. We also have a volunteer reading scheme at our local primary school, which pairs Walker Books staff with children needing reading help.

Would you give us a taste of your Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 catalog?

We have some wonderful books coming up, including: The Pied Piper retold by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark; Pop-up London by Jennie Maizels; Aladdin (a magical three-dimensional carousel edition) by Niroot Puttapipat; How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne, and George Flies South by Simon James.

I am also very excited about the release of the paperback version of Patrick Ness’s new novel, A Monster Calls, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd [read Denise and Patrick’s joint interview to Publishers Weekly, about working together on this unusual project, here].

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Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Denise. PaperTigers is very grateful to Candlewick Press, the US Sister Company of Walker Books, for its generous discount for A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope in support of the Spirit of PaperTigers project. Congratulations on your great work, and we wish you continued success!

To find our more about Walker Books, visit their website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.