A First Grade Interview with Ame Dyckman & Dan Yaccarino, creators of BOY + BOT!

BOY + BOT is the story of a boy and a robot who become friends. It is created by one fabulous duo, Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino.

I brought this great book to school, along with a giant BOT, to share with some of my friends in first grade. And thanks to my nice friend Ame Dyckman, the kids got to interview the author and illustrator of a book, which was very exciting!

                            


First I told the kids about BOY + BOT's illustrator and showed them a selection of books Dan has illustrated and written, along with some of the stuff he's done for television. Television is impressive, of course, but the kids really ooohed and ahhed over all of the books that Dan has done. Pretty cool.

Then I told the kids about Ame and showed them her photo. Did they love her hat with ears? Affirmative. Did they love that she has pink hair? They certainly got excited about it! Did they think it was cool that she wrote a book and they got to ask her questions? Absolutely. And they were even more amazed when I showed them on the globe that Ame (and Dan too) live all the way across the United States far away from us here in Washington.

I think we got a lot of learning done just by talking. We talked about what authors and illustrators do. How they can work anywhere. How they work together along with the publisher. What a publisher is. We even got some geography in there. And we hadn't even started the book yet! But when we did there was lots of wiggling, giggling, and excitement!

After the applause died down, and we talked about misunderstanding and friendship(which is what BOY + BOT is all about), we did some creating of our own and made Bot inspired robots! The kids really got into it and enjoyed coming up with their own robot designs. Some even made baby bots to accompany their big bots. How cool is that! And, of course, the kids came up with questions they wanted to ask Ame and Dan. They wrote them on the giant Bot!

Here is Mrs. VanWoert's first grade reading class' interview:


How did you decide what Boy + Bot were going to look like? –Skyler

Dan: I just drew what my favorite robot would look like.


How long did it take to figure out what Bot was going to look like? -Laurelii

Dan: A few days.


How did you color the pictures? –Katelyn

Dan: I used a special paint called gouache (pronounced "gwash").


What did you use to make the illustrations? –Dakota

Dan: A paint called gouache on watercolor paper.


Dan, were you good at drawing when you were seven? –Reagan

Dan: Not as good as I am now, but I drew every day, so I got better.


How did you learn to draw? –Victor

Dan: By drawing every day.


Why is Bot red? –Katey

Dan: I like red. All robots should be red.


Why do you choose to illustrate other authors books as well as your own? -Heather (Okay, I couldn't resist asking Dan and Ame each a question as well.)

Dan: It's fun.


What is your favorite color? –Kayla

Dan: All of them.

Ame: My favorite color is blue, like the sky. (And often, my hair!)



What does Boy + Bot = ? -Jasper

Ame: Best friends forever!


I like your book. Why did Bot go swimming? –Kyra

Ame: Thanks Kyra! I like you name. Why did Bot go swimming? It was hot. (Don't worry. Bot is waterproof!)


How did you think of the story? –Kylar

Ame: I love robots. And I love friendship stories. I thought, "I'll write a robot friendship story!" And once, when I rolled down a hill, I got poked by a rock. So, I wrote that in, too.


Do Boy + Bot have names? –Jasper

Ame: Bot's real name is Bot. Boy hasn't told me what his name is yet.


Does the inventor have any other inventions? –Elijah

Ame: Lots! Right now, the Inventor is working on an automatic swinging hammock. (He's been a little dizzy lately.)


Does Bot have to work for the inventor or does he just get to play? –David

Ame: Bot has chores. When his chores are done, he gets to play. Watt (the little light bulb robot) is the Inventor's helper. This makes Watt happy.


You did an Unread interview with me way back in 2009! Now that you are a published author, how have things changed for you? -Heather

Ame: Now I get to write my name in a book and not get in trouble. But what do I love best? When kids and grandparents and teachers let me know they like Boy + Bot. That's the greatest thing ever!

And mine and Ame's definite favorite question:
Did it take more than one day to make the book? -Joey

Dan: Yes, it took me about three months to make the paintings.

Ame: And Joey, if you count the whole entire process (from the day I finished the 1st draft of the text for BOY + BOT to the day it went on sale), it was about 1,225 days! Do I hope you like our book? Affirmative!

*You may have noticed a lack of kids in the photos of this post! That is because there are rules and there was no time to deal with permission slips and all that. I do have permission to show one kid, who happens to be my personal helper on all things first grade related.

Swarm Capturing is Fun!

So, we were driving back from feeding our bees at our farm in town. Enjoying that we had an actual day off. The first in ages! We've closed the restaurant for a while. No one had soccer practice. It was sunny and warm and lovely.

Unfortunately, my husband has a really good eye...for swarms of bees. And when he sees one, he can't just pass it up. I pointed out that the swarm was in a really tall tree. Yes, of course we could get a ladder. But the branches were really skinny. It was more like a giant bush. It had danger written all over it. Alas, he has no fear.

So, we got permission from the tree owner. We borrowed a ladder, some rope, a saw, and some pruning shears from a friend who said, "heck no!" he wasn't going to come watch.

I held the ladder. It was leaned against a few rather spindly branches and the man without fear climbed up. He tied a rope around the branch with the swarm on it. Just about that time a couple of guys showed up who thought that seeing a swarm like that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn't bother to mention that we captured five of our own swarms last year. I mean, the guys were super excited. Plus now we had helpers! While my boys looked on from the comfort of the car, I held the ladder, the new helpers pulled the branch down with the rope, and the man cut the branch.

Of course at this point, one might think we had a plan. One of the guys asked just that as the branch fell and we were showered with bees. I shouted to my boys to close the car door. Twice. (They seem to take after their dad in the fear department.) Our manly helper men ran around flailing and shooing bees off themselves. My husband sat in the tree, bees swirling all around him while I held onto the ladder with all my might because he had gotten so far out on that skinny branch it looked like it was about to snap. Bees rained down on me like angry black and yellow hailstones.

I had to laugh. I mean, I can't honestly say that I wasn't a little bit afraid. It would be silly not to be when there are 30,000 or so bees that could sting if they really wanted to. But they didn't. Bees usually only sting when they have a hive to protect or when they get squished. I actually felt pretty dang calm. I must be getting used to this beekeeping thing a little bit.

I had taken some photos to show you, but as luck would have it, my phone died today. Just imagine a big buzzing ball dripping from a branch. If you do want to see a photo of a swarm, google images has lots.

And yes, I do have a couple of bee stories swirling about here somewhere. Now that it's bee season I might just have to pick them up again.

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Sara Sciuto, Full Circle Literary

As promised in yesterday's Monster List of Picture Book Agents post, here is an extra agent listing. Why? Am I mad? Well, as I was gathering information on agents I actually had duelling posts and they were both so good that I couldn't wait to share them! So, today I am happy to feature Sara Sciuto.

Sara is the newest agent at Full Circle Literary and she is actively building her list. That is a great opportunity for a writer on the agent hunt! Sara states in an interview at Mother. Write. Repeat., “While I'm not specifically seeking out picture books right now, if a superbly well-written PB with a quirky or humorous narrative found its way to me I wouldn't pass it up!” So, if you have something that fits that description you may want to give her a try.

There is a great article by Sara in the Spring 2012 edition of SCBWI L.A. Kite Tales. She talks about what she likes to see in a query and states that she does not want to see picture books over 800 words, and the shorter the better. Scroll down to page 21 to read the article.

Sara introduces herself at the Full Circle Literary blog and you can read Sara’s bio at the Full Circle Literary website. Be sure to read the Submission Guidelines while you’re there!

Stacey O’Neale has an interview with Sara where she gives her opinion on social media for writers, among other things.
You can learn a lot on Sara's tumblr, Mental Slush. She has a post on her query response policy that may be of interest if you're planning to query her.

You can find Sara on Twitter @sarasciuto.

Best of luck with your agent querying!

This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Agency

Since I am a slacker (Ha ha! I've hardly had a moment of rest in I don't know how long. This running a cafe and a farm, and having three kids in sports stuff is hard work.) and am late on my agent post, I'm going to give you two posts in the next two days--as long as life cooperates! First up, Michelle Humphrey of Martha Kaplan Agency:

Sherrie Petersen has a great interview with Michelle on her blog, Write About Now. Be sure to read the update at the end of the interview. Plus she has tons of great links, so go there and check them out!
You can find Michelle Humphrey on Twitter @m_humphrey.

Michelle lists the books she represents on her Linkedin page where she says, “I'm looking for young adult and middle grade fiction, picture books, and narrative non-fiction (history, pop-cultural criticism, women's studies). Please feel free to send queries to michelle@kaplanagency.net.”

There are some nice comments about Michelle and talk about her response times on Querytracker.

Michelle represents Tracy Marchini and Caroline Starr Rose.

Oh, and she is obsessed with Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Bedtime Monster is on Nook Kids!

I got an email this morning telling me that Bedtime Monster is available on the Nook! Not only does it come in Bilingual English/Spanish and English only versions, on the Nook it comes in a Spanish only version as well. That is a first! I love seeing the cover with the title just in Spanish. You can really see more of Paul's shadow that Bonnie Adamson created:

This is the kind of thing that makes it fun to get up and check my email in the morning. I don't have a Nook, but maybe someday I'll be able to see it on one. I have seen it on the ipad and that was pretty cool!

Meeting with Writers. In Person!

I love my writing community. I have twitter, facebook (including a few rocking fb groups!), Verla Kay's blueboard, blogs, and my fabulous critique partners. Everything I do in my writing life is online except for when I write my first drafts down on paper. But, I only can stand to look at my computer so much before my eyes start bugging out and my body starts wanting to be in position other than sitting. And there's something to be said about getting together with people--in person.

I have to tell you, I've had this secret dream that all children's writers could just move to one localized area. An artists colony. A city of children's writers! Now that would be one whacked out awesome city! I know, I know, reality. That is not going to happen. But a girl can still dream!

As some of you already know, I lived on a secluded mountaintop for the last 16 years. It was a great place to be, but we never had many visitors. Why? Some people are actually a little scared of the one lane dirt road that winds out of town and eventually leads to the house, but mostly, people can't even figure out which turnoffs to take. No road signs can make things difficult. Getting together with other writers in person never even really crossed my mind. It just wasn't possible.

Then, when this new wacky thing happened and my family moved into an inn and opened a café I started thinking about that romanticized notion. Writers at cafés. I'm always jealously reading tweets from my buddy Lisha Cauthen, saying she's going to some sekrit writing spot. Well, why can't my café be a writing spot? Why can't writers gather here?

Even though the solitary introvert part of me made me a little hesitant, I couldn't resist. I put together a meeting for writers. I was definitely nervous. There are so many different kinds of writers and where I live is so rural, people are really spread out. I didn't know who would show up, if anyone at all. I didn't know if I would have anything to offer a writer of science fiction or a poet or whoever might come and expect that I had answers for them since I am a published writer.

I needn't have worried. It turns out that there are some other writers around here that just wanted to get together with other writers too. I listened to some poems. I taught someone about platform. I celebrated someones magazine publication! And I talked to a new writer about carving time out for yourself to write. It was a splendid get-together!

I love having writer friends. The more genres the better! Yes, I suppose it could get tough down the road when people are wanting critiques, but now that word is spreading and people have heard that we actually met, it seems like more people are interested. Who knows what kinds of fun this writing group will lead to? Perhaps we will sometimes break off into little groups, perhaps we'll schedule teaching sessions, or maybe we'll just sit around and talk about whatever we're working on at the time. We didn't come up with any solid plans at our first meeting, except that we're going to meet again.

How does your writing life work? Are you mostly online or do you have an in-person group? And what do you do in your in-person writers' group? I would love to hear about your experiences!

Monster List of Picture Book Agents--Deborah Carter, Muse Literary Management

I missed my Monster List deadline, the new one I gave myself even. Ha! But, I have not forgotten!!! So, today I am featuring Debbie Carter of Muse Literary Management because I found her Home Page interesting. On it she states: "Note to picture book writers: Will only consider writers who have at least three complete manuscripts and who’ve taken workshops in writing for young children." Okay, so an opportunity for some, but definitely not all.

Still, I found it helpful that on the Muse Literary Management page she lists her contract expectations right there. Writers looking for an agent can learn a lot from that information. Like no, once you have an agent they do not necessarily take on all of your work! Good thing to know if you didn't already. At the bottom of the page she also has some links to articles she's written so you might want to check those out.

If you are going to query Deborah Carter, be sure to read her Publisher's Marketplace page. She asks that you mention your favorite authors in your query.

She does have a couple of picture book authors on her Client Page and she lists some picture books on her Bookshelf.

You can learn a bit about Deborah in her Agent Advice interview at the Guide to Literary Agents blog and in an interview with her at the New York Public Library blog where she talks about her views on ebooks.

There is also an interesting response times thread for Muse Literary on Verla Kay's Blueboard.

Debbie is on Twitter and Facebook.

This post is part of the Monster List of Picture Book Agents. If you have any changes that you think should be made to this listing, please contact me or leave them in the comments. Thanks!