IDEA CLONES

How many times have you written a story or thought of an idea, only to read or see something similar, somewhere else, a day, a month, or a year later?

I wonder what Dan Santat, creator of The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend and the creators of Big Hero Six thought when they first saw each other’s chubby white guy protagonists.

BEEKLEIIIBigHeroSix

Did they notice the physical similarities?
If so, did they say, “Oh, look! Great minds think alike! I’m so flattered!”? Or, did they say words you shouldn’t express in picture books or PG movies?

FeastIIdea clones haunt me.

I had just finished a manuscript about a dog who glories in the food of his master, loses all hope when his master changes his eating habits, and regains hope again when a meatball plops on his tail. Then I saw the short film The Feast.

My heart plopped like that meatball.ANNOYINGABC

I wrote an alphabet manuscript revealing the ABCs through children’s name. Then I read Annoying ABC by Barbara Bottner, an alphabet book revealing the ABCs through children’s names.

Annoying? Yes.

I wrote about an ostrich who wants to fly. FLIGHTSCHOOLThen I read Flight School by Lita Judge, about a penguin who has an ostrich friend who wants to fly.

Seriously?

I changed the character to a pig. Then I saw a television commercial with a flying pig and remembered Mo Willems’ Today I Will Fly.

Is nothing sacred?

So I changed the protagonist to a giraffe. FLYDUMBOFLYThen I saw Birds Can Fly and So Can I, by Noa Nimrodi.

Sigh . . .

How about a Mouse? Or better yet, an elephant, you say?

You’re killin’ me.

Idea clones aren’t new:

Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.
Abraham Lincoln

Idea clones don’t haunt the pros.

SeenArtThe most successful artists don’t sweat over being original, they sweat over being authentic.

Look at Beekle. Dan Santat knows his creation is a totally different guy than Big Hero Six. He’s laughing all the way to DreamWorks Animation, with his Caldecott Medal.

ArtNMaxLook at Art. He’s the central character who makes for funny wordplay in Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s Seen Art?, David Wiseman’s Art and Max, and Kelly Light’s Louise Loves Art.

Everyone loves Art. No one cares that his name isn’t original.

 

LOUISELOVESARTReally, there’s not an original idea out there. If you can imagine it, someone else can and likely has. It’s like naming your child “Ava,” thinking you’ve thought of the most original name in the world.

Luckily, no one else is going to create an Ava or an Art just like your Ava or Art. So, in our own small way, we can be original in our authenticity.

Here’s to chubby white guys, Avas and Arts. We look forward to seeing more of you in the future.

ART & MAX

Welcome to KidLit Gems!

Join Louise Aamodt, Kristi Janikula Herro, and me for a coffee-style chat about favorite children’s books and the elements that make them shine.

This month’s theme: Illustrative Gem

NameplateAnnasGemIART & MAX
Text and Illustrations © 2014, David Wiesner

ArtNMaxPicture Book

Fiction

Age Range:
4-8 years

Level:
Preschool-3rd Grade

Clarion Books,
An Imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Well  . . .  you could paint me. ~ Art & Max

ART & MAX: Three-time Caldecott Medal winner David Wiesner blew me away with this “Art”ful treat. His entertaining, sparsely worded storyline takes readers on a creative adventure through a lizard skin canvas. Art’s opaque scales flake off to a pastel then watercolor undercoating to a line drawn outline, then back again.  Look also for Max the Chameleon’s blend-action. It’ll make you snicker.

Illustrator acquaintance, Emmeline Hall, attended a recent Wiesner keynote.  Tidbits she shared: 1.) Salvador Dali’s work inspires Wiesner’s landscape and sky, 2.) and Roadrunner cartoons, his Acme props. 3.) Wiesner is pronounced Wheeze-ner, not Wise-ner. Emmeline encourages everyone to delve into his magnificent blog, especially his interactive and creative process pages. (See this older David Wiesner Blog, too. Fascinating!)
~ Anna
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Ta-da! What do you think? ~ Art & Max

David Wiesner took the classic archetype of opposites to explore the artist’s creative process. I love the idea of starting the story with a blank slate, because for any artist, any medium, it is that very freedom, that can often times be so overwhelmingly stifling. So stifling, in fact, that you may feel the need for some reptilian armor to overcome it. Unless, of course, you allow yourself room to explore and laugh, which is what Wiesner seems to hint at, when he allows the armor to crumble into a new and exciting form of expression.
~ Kristi
__________________________________________________________________

More detail, I think. ~ Art & Max

What a great example of focusing first on the story, and letting the message (explore the world in your own joyful way) come subtly through. If you like those old Sesame Street videos showing how crayons or noodles are made, you’ll love seeing Max recreate his friend.

A few years ago I visited the Dali museum in Florida. I can imagine how much inspiration a children’s book illustrator would find in there. Kids don’t see the world the same way as most adults, and there’s no doubt that Salvador Dali viewed things differently, too!
~ Lou

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Book Review: Art & Max by David Wiesner

GEMrub

Watch for Lou’s Gem next!

We want to hear from you!
What children’s book is your Illustrative Gem?

APRIL’S THEME – PLANTING SEEDS

GRANDPA GREEN

MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group calls Grandpa Green “the book grownups read to those still growing.”

GRANDPAGREENIIPicture Book Fiction
Age Range: 5-9 years
Grade Level: Kindergarten-4th
Published by Roaring Book Press,
Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings
Ltd Partnership

Text and Illustrations
Copyright © 2011 by Lane Smith

 

Peek inside.

Peek inside.

AWARDS

A Caldecott Honor Book
A New York Times Best Illustrated Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book
Silver Medal Society of Illustrators
An Amazon Best Book
Kansas City Star Top 100 Books
A Barnes & Noble Best Book
A School Library Journal Best Book
Seven Impossible Things Top Ten
A Time Out New York Kids Best Book
Junior Library Guild Selection
Starred Review by Publishers Weekly
Starred Review by School Library Journal

WHY GRANDPA GREEN IS A KEM GEM

KKRISTI’S TAKE
GRANDPA GREEN ornamentally grows our imagination, and creates a place like paradise. This quiet story dedicated to a grandparent derives its energy from the wonderfully clever illustrations. What makes GRANDPA GREEN standout from other sentimental picture books that chronicle a life are the clever, conflicted, laugh-and-cry moments; especially the ending. GRANDPA GREEN reminds both the young and the old that there’s a resolution to every problem, even the ones that seem the most unfortunate.

Lane has created a masterpiece with humor and heART.

Favorite line
“But the important stuff, the garden remembers for him.”

KEM Sapphire
EELISE’S TAKE
Using an art form within an art form, Smith has done it again. His illustrations of topiary designs are brimming with texture, humor, and profound depth as they explore pieces of a fictional gardener’s biography. While some shapes are immediately apparent, I found I could not rush through this book. Each spread demands that the reader pause, or else risk missing a visual surprise. A dramatic four-page gatefold at the ends elaborately reviews the entire story of the gardener’s well-lived life.

Smith’s quiet story explores a wide range of universal emotions, and undoubtedly sparks imagination and discussion across generations of readers.

KEM Diamond


MGrayMARRAS’ TAKE
Wowee! Wow! Wow! I want what Lane Smith eats for breakfast. Who else would have thought to narrate a story about a long and fulfilling life through a great-grandson’s guided topiary tour? Smith’s enigmatic illustrations and elegant silence drew me to one conclusion. Each page turn dazzled me with a new truth.

GRANDPA GREEN covers the three “r’s” of relationship, reverence, and remembering. The Ancient Greek symbol of regeneration and rebirth, GREEN, provides the perfect color scheme for a book about the generational gift of life–and the ultimate last name for Great Grandpa. This timeless and gentle book will bless generations to our great-grandchildren and beyond.

Favorite line (Kristi and I didn’t compare notes. Honest.)
“But the important stuff, the garden remembers for him.”

GEMrub

What do you like most about GRANDPA GREEN?