What Book Changed Your Life?

Last weekend, at the Rutgers One-on-One Conference, author Bruce Coville discussed a fan letter he had received. A reader credited him with her decision to join the Peace Corps. She loved his book so much, she even cited it in her application essay. It’s clear that My Teacher Is an Alien changed that young woman’s life.

Everyone has a book like that, one that absolutely changed your life. I remember the greatest compliment I ever received came from an African-American actress, Dee Watson, who said, “You’d make a good Atticus Finch.”

Why was that the greatest compliment? Because To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life.  It has stayed with me decades after I first read it, and while it’s impossible to live up to the standard set by Atticus, it’s not impossible to model your life after the example set out in Harper Lee’s masterpiece.

Life-changing books  are common in young adult stories as teens enter their formative years. It’s also true of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, originally written for adults but that serve as de facto YA on high-school reading lists. Lives, decisions, and character are shaped every year by classics like Black Like Me, 1984, Pride & Prejudice, Crime & Punishment, etc. And no list, no matter how complete, includes the thousands of picture books, middle-grade and

YA titles children cling to every day.

Fortunately, adults can find books that reach them, too; maybe even make them see the world in a whole  new way. I recently re-read Tommy Moore’s A Ph.D. in Happiness From the Great Comedians. It lifts your spirits in a way far beyond “the healing power of humor;” it can change your entire outlook by presenting practical steps drawn from the world of stand-up comedy. It my case, it even justifies the years I spent in comedy and the fact that humor remains my primary tool for dealing with problems and reaching people. One book – a how-to book taken from the ways legendary comics view and treat the world – really can help you understand how you can live your life.

But it’s children’s authors and their books that have the biggest influence. Adult personalities are largely shaped and readers seek out books of interest to them, but children, particularly young children, are an (largely) empty canvas. They’ll face new ideas, new concepts, new challenges. They’ll read a book ten times (or have it read to them!) and still pick it up an 11^th time. Even books that aren’t particularly challenging but that are delightful nonetheless – Fox in Socks, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc. – still create lifelong readers.

So whether it’s My Friend Flicka, Tom Sawyer, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew or something no one has heard of (or you’re too ashamed to admit – hey, I loved The Five Chinese Brothers as a kid), there was a book that changed your life.

So let me know – what book changed your life?

Being Funny in Picture Books

In honor of one of the great all-time kid holidays, April Fools’ Day…

Knock, knock!
Who's there?
Ivan.
Ivan who?
Ivan to tell you a joke.

What’s better than a child sitting on your lap laughing over a joke that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard? It’s a bonding moment for both of you.

So how did the writer come up with that joke? How did she make it work?

There’s an old saying: “funny is funny.” Ahh, not so much. While some of the rules are the same, there are differences when it comes to writing comedy for kidlit.

Writing Humor for Children

1.      Wacky Is Wonderful, but don’t overdo it. Kids like crazy, but know when to pull back. Make your story relatable. Kids will buy almost any premise from Page 1, but you have to make sure they still buy it at page 30. Kids can accept a prince turned into a frog, but a fly turned into a prince turned into a frog who’s now forced to eat flies may be a bit much. Study P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go! as a way to build wacky.

      2.      Ignore the Rule of Three – unless it works. Comedy often has the rule of three: the first two are normal and establish the pattern; the third breaks it and gets laughs. With young readers, you can often use the Rule of One. Insert jokes right after the situation has been established, a funny line, a remark, etc. Children accept the situation as normal right from the start. Mo Willems, in his latest, I Broke My Trunk!, uses the Rule of Three when Gerald explains how he balanced a rhino, then a hippo, then a hippo with a piano, on his trunk. This builds in absurdity and a hippo with a piano is funny, but he saves the big laugh for one line at the end from Piggy. You should feel comfortable doing the same.

      3.      Build, Build, Build. Associated with #2 is Start Small and Escalate. Never make the second scene smaller than the first. If you have a child walking down the street on a blistering summer day and he spots a friend riding a Slip ‘n’ Slide with a penguin, the next scene probably shouldn’t be grandma sipping iced tea in front of a fan. Embrace the wacky and build on it.

4.      Create Humor From Characters – A great rule for just about any story. Would your character say or do that? Don't just have your character say something that is funny just to insert a funny line. Even consistently funny characters have a style. Is your character funny by playing it straight (The Pigeon)? Funny by being mischievous (The Cat in the Hat)? Weird, odd, cute, over-the-top?

5.      Remember Your Audience. One parent joke per book is fine. Kids will roll with it and accept it as part of the story (see Nick Bruel’s Bad Kitty for great examples of this), but too many jokes over their head will lose them. If you can write jokes everybody gets, great, but focus on your audience first. Parents may curse you after the 30^th reading, but their children will ask for a 31^st time. And they might just ask for your next book, too.

6.      They’ve Never Heard Old Jokes Before – but your editor has. An old joke may be fine; children don’t know the classics. But your editor will want originality and parents may groan. An old joke now and then may be OK, but why are you trying to be funny if you can’t write jokes? Come up with your own. It will help you sell your manuscript to a publisher and the parents.

7.      Sometimes It’s Just a Sketch. Sometimes a kid’s book is just a sketch. I felt that way with Mo’s I Broke My Trunk. It’s funny, but it strikes me as a sketch, whereas We Are In a Book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and others have more depth. The point is, you can write just a sketch. As long as it’s funny, it has a place in children’s literature. Children don’t know it’s just a sketch.

8.      Bodily Functions Are OK for Boys and Girls – but mostly boys. Girls think bodily functions are funny because they’re inappropriate, but editors and parents generally think they’re for boys, and at some point, they will be. Girls will outgrow them sooner. Low-brow can be OK, and some writers like Alan Katz (Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other Silly Dilly books) do it brilliantly and consistently, but if it’s not your forte, don’t force it. Just don’t be afraid of it either.

9.      Use Artwork Whenever Possible. Sometimes artwork sells the scene, sometimes it is the joke. If you’re an illustrator, you can punch up a scene with a look on a character’s face, motion lines and who knows what else. For you writers, don’t tell the illustrator what happens in a scene unless absolutely necessary, but don’t be afraid to list basic art notes if you absolutely have to. But if you have to, ask yourself if words are even needed for that scene. Rely on the illustrator. You’re a team!

Kids, like all readers want to be pulled in. Use humor to fill in around a compelling story. Funny can keep things moving, it can keep readers coming back for more, but humor isn’t the heart of your book, it’s the soul. Less tangible, but able to give it life.

Be aware that your reader will not have your voice, and so often comedy is not what you say, but how you say it. Parents and children may get better with each read (as they learn the words, rhythm, inflections, etc), but as a test run, have someone read your story back to you out loud. Does the comedy work in a cold read? Can they quickly grasp how to tell your jokes?

Oh, and remember, comedy is subjective. Someone will almost think it’s the driest thing they’ve ever ready. But as Jerry Seinfeld noted, he’s convinced every show he’s ever done someone walked away thinking he’s the worst comedian they’ve ever seen. And that’s Seinfeld! Or as comedian Tommy Moore says, “The audience is the variable.” Some of them will love you, some will not. Go back to the ones who do.

(Whew! Writing about comedy is hard work. Next time I’m writing about sleeping.)



5 Great Bedtime Stories for Your Young Reader

I’ve seen several newspaper articles that say bedtime stories are dead. Passé. You know, like newspapers. Or picture books. I don’t know. I have my doubts. Yes, I’ve largely stopped reading them to my 7 year old, who generally reads on his own at bedtime, but from ages 2 to 5 it was a nightly ritual.

 

Back then, it was all Thomas all the time. Thomas the Tank Engine books, stories I recapped from the series, and original stories as they came into my head. I also read plenty of Dr. Seuss, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and even my own rough drafts of children’s books (plenty of my picture books were born while putting Johnny K to bed).

 

So, do you still read bedtime stories to your children, or is The Baltimore Sun, et al, right?

 

5 Great Bedtime Stories

 

1.      Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea – a dinosaur defeats everything from spaghetti to pajamas, but he can’t beat sleep. Complete with a tiring *yawn* at the end, this funny picture book reminds your young dinosaur they have to sleep some time.
 

2.      Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson – Harold goes on plenty of dreamlike, moonlit adventures before returning home to the comfort of his own bed for a goodnight’s sleep.

3.      Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems – sure the pigeon does what every child does – fights to get away with staying up late, but the more he protests, the more tired he gets until zzzzz…

4.       Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp – Harry gives up going to bed to play with his best friend Horsie, the stuffed animal he sleeps with every night. They undertake an out-of-this world adventure captured in retro art right out of a 1950s comic book or the Sunday funnies.

 5.      Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown – OK, so this is the all-time classic kidlit goodnight. Rich artwork, simplistic story, and a child who says goodnight to everything. What’s not to love? A reminder throughout that bedtime is coming (and pair this with Peggy Rathmann’s Good Night, Gorilla for a funny ending…)

Hard to recommend 5 books when you want to list 50. I tried to stick to largely contemporary works, though Goodnight Moon and Harold were just too good to pass up. That said, I also love Maurice Sendak’s brilliant Where the Wild Things Are or the pastoral works of Kevin Henkes. Consider folktales filled with Jerry Pinkney’s wonderful watercolor, the traditional stories of Hans Christian Anderson, the long-winded but delightful works of Oscar Wilde…

 

So many great stories to put your little one to sleep. So what are your favorite bedtime stories? What tales do you remember best?

Fun Author Sites

It's no surprise picture book authors have some of the most fun sites -- for kids and parents. Here are a few of my favorites:

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel. I put this one first because it's my son's favorite. Johnny K loves Bad Kitty Mad Dash, sort of Frogger with our hero avoiding kitty litter, vacuums, and Uncle Murray. He also likes Go, Cat, Go where Bad Kitty does what good kitties do, too -- runs for no reason. Great fun!

It's no surprise Mo Willems makes this list. He does just about everything right. His GoMo.net focuses on Cat the Cat and so is aimed at younger readers (and web surfers), but Elephant, Piggy, and Pigeon all pop up. Some simple and silly games that will entertain Mo's fans (and their children).

Jamie Lee Curtis has a lot of games on her site. They're mostly the same games, with mazes and matches, but for every one of her books. In other words, fans of any one book can find a character they love; fans of many books can chase plenty of their favorite characters around!

Okay, yes, this one looks more like the TV show than the original books, but it was inspired by the Rev. W. Awdry's stories. It's also a lot of fun for the little ones who can't get enough of Thomas, in visual or printed form. Games, puzzles, activities, and of course, video.

How could any list  be complete without Dr. Seuss? There's everything here for Dr. Seuss fans -- games, puzzles, sound effects, blips, bops, gar ginkers and trum tupers. You'll see his best known and least known characters. It's like the Wikipedia of children's sites -- you could get lost in there!

I found that these sites actually encouraged my son to read more, from Thomas in preschool to Nic Bruel and his chapter books now -- they do a wonderful job of promoting the authors, their books, and the joy of reading.

Check them out when you get a chance. Just make sure you have some time to spare!

Know of another fun site? Recommend it below!