What We're Reading: January 2012

It just so happens this is the 1-year anniversary of my monthly "What We're Reading" series! As I write and write in my continuing quest for kidlit greatness, I shamelessly use my children as an excuse to read and read picture books and study them for my own gains. Mwaa-ha-ha-haaaa. I didn't intentionally set out to be a blogger or a reviewer, but I enjoy talking picture books and craft, so "What We're Reading" has been a decent excuse to examine the work of published masters and put my own thoughts and impressions to the keyboard. You can find my very first entry here, or use the blog archive at right to find other entries. Enjoy!

LIGHTS OUT
by Arthur Geisert
You can immediately recognize an Arthur Geisert book when you see it. First, every book he creates is not hand drawn or painted, but rather etched. Etching is a painstaking and time-consuming process that involves scratching the artist's designs through a wax coating onto copper plates, followed by a series of acid baths. The plates are inked and rolled through a press, and the final prints are then hand colored. The effect is distinctive and beautiful. Second, every Geisert book features pigs as the main characters. Lots and lots of pigs. I only recently came to discover Geisert's work, and once I did, I checked out every title in the library to show the kids. Though they loved them all, Lights Out seemed to be their favorite. The story is simple, and the most relatable to kids. A little pig is ready for bedtime, but doesn't want his light to go out until after he's fallen asleep. His parent's tell him "If you can figure something out--go ahead." So, we are then walked page-by-page (and wordlessly--another Geisert trademark) through an amazing Rube Goldberg machine-like contraption that winds in and out of the house and eventually turns out the light at just the right moment. Wordless picture books can be tons of fun. My kids were empowered to walk me through the intricate story, making the sound effects as they went along. Two thumbs... er, snouts... up. Side note: Unfamiliar with Rube Goldberg machines? Allow the awesome and innovative rock band OK Go to give you a crash course here.

SPOON
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Illustrated by Scott Magoon
I have a soft spot in my heart for stories about inanimate objects. I love rooting for toasters and vegetables and tractors and such. Eventually, I might have written a story about a spoon, if Amy Krouse Rosenthal hadn't already done it so brilliantly. This little tale of a young spoon who yearns to be a fork or a knife is completely charming and perfectly crafted. My kids especially enjoy picking out which of Spoon's large family of ornate desert spoons and serving spoons are their favorites. Ms. Rosenthal has had her finger on the pulse of picture books for some time now and her growing catalog of modern classics is a constant source of inspiration. From the ingenius Duck! Rabbit! to the astoundingly constructed origin story of the alphabet in Al Pha's Bet, Ms. Rosenthal and her lucky collaborators are churning out some really fun picture books. And, I'm pleased to say that Rosenthal and Magoon are returning to the world of cute cutlery in a followup book to Spoon, titled Chopsticks. This pair of characters made a cameo in Spoon, and now they're off on an adventure of their own. Available January 31.

OH NO! (Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)
by Mac Barnett, Illustrated by Dan Santat
What do you get when you take inspirations from Godzilla, The Iron Giant, super hero comics and Japanese manga, Frankenstein, and Honey I Blew Up the Kid and then mash 'em all together with ultra-hip retro style? Total awesomeness. OH NO! is strong enough for a kid, but made for a dad. Set in San Francisco (which takes a major beating in this book), a feisty young girl puts catastrophic events in motion when her science project goes on a rampage across the city. Of course, the only way to subdue a giant robot is with a gargantuan toad in a smackdown for the ages. If that weren't enough, the end pages even contain detailed schematics of the girl's robot and other contraptions. Dan Santat's work here is primo. I find myself sneaking this book into every book pile when I sit down to read with the kids. This one's for me. Happily, the aptly titled follow-up OH NO! NOT AGAIN! is due out in June. Oh yes!

To App or Not to App...

It was a packed house at this weekend's SCBWI San Francisco/South Saturday Series panel discussion. Titled "Picture Book Apps: A Brave New World", the panel included Mary Cole, agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency and blogger at kidlitapps.com, Sam Berman, co-founder of book app developer Grids Interactive, and Alan Katz (via Skype), a children's picture book author and writer of the Ruckus Media book app, Andrew Answers.

My big 5 takeaways were:

1. Unless you're a majorly huge app publisher like Ruckus Media, Oceanhouse Media or Loud Crow Interactive, the chances of making any money off your cute little book app right now are slim to none.

2. Once you put out a book app, you won't be done with it if you want it to stay on the charts. As technology advances quickly, you'll have to update your app to keep up with the newer ones.

3. There are plenty of exciting numbers to show how many hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads are out there just waiting to download your book app. Between December 25 and 31 of last year, 1.3 billion apps were downloaded around the world. Not all were BOOK apps, but it's still a staggering number. The trick is "discoverability". Unless you've got Apple featuring you on their App Store's main pages, you'll just be one app in a billion.

4. As Mary Cole put it, we're still in the Wild West phase of book apps. No one knows for sure how its all gonna go down, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. Tensions are high between the traditional publishers and Amazon over royalty rates. And app development is still mostly in the hands of professional app development companies. You want your story turned into an app? Get ready to shell out thousands of dollars. Some day, we'll all be able to self-publish amazingly interactive book apps with a few drag-and-drops and the click of a button. But not yet.

5. There's a new breed of app that's grabbing a lot of attention lately with flashy 3D graphics. Branded as a "story app", there are a few cases out there now where digitally animated videos are being chopped up into page-turn formats and springled with text or "edutainment"-style content. Check out The Numberlys and The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. These are beautiful to watch, but are much more of an interactive cinematic experience than, say, a book app that feels more like a static book with a dash of movement or highlighted text. Then, of course, there are game apps, which will certainly add more story-based play as demand rises. Just you wait until there are Angry Birds book apps tied into the forthcoming feature-length film! Down at the bottom of the pile are the lowly e-picturebooks. Basically PDFs of your book with no interactivity for download on e-readers like Kindles. The sad truth is that kids (who are permitted to use iPhones and iPads) will be dazzled and gravitate to game apps and story apps before they cry for a third viewing of Green Eggs and Ham.

If I've learned anything by attending writers' panels and reading writers' blogs, it's that there is no one way to becoming a successful writer. And success is in the eye of the beholder, of course. Nowadays, you can take the slower road into traditional publishing, or you can self-publish an ebook onto the web in a matter of hours. Book apps can happen relatively quickly (months vs years), but it's not a viable industry for individuals quite yet.

So, what do traditional books and ebooks and book apps and story apps and all the rest have in common? As always, don't do it for the money--do it because you love it.

PB Writing in the Tablet Age

Over the past year or so I've gained a few gadgets and apps that have become essential parts of my writing process. I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone, but what the heck. By the way, I'm a Mac guy, so I mention Apple products below. But if your a PC, don't fret. There are PC/Android/Etc. versions available, too. If you have an app or gadget that makes being a children's writer easier, please share in the comments!

YES, YOU CAN WRITE STORIES ON AN IPAD...

Step 1. Apple's wireless keyboard
As much as I really wanted to use my iPad 2's touchscreen interface to WRITE my stories, it just wasn't working for me. The onscreen keyboard is too small and typing anything longer than a quick email reply is a mushy, uncomfortable, error-prone affair. But I didn't want to go out and buy a $1,200 MacBook Air (though it was tempting) just so I could type up Word documents on it. Enter Apple's wireless keyboard. At first, it seemed silly to buy a keyboard for a device that's all about NOT using a keyboard, but I am way over it now. It's actually a great companion to the iPad and effectively converts my tablet into a laptop. On those nights when I'd rather sit and write at the kitchen table instead of going to the desktop computer in my office, I just grab my keyboard, set it in front of the iPad, and go! In fact, the combination of real keyboard typing and being able to grab the screen for highlighting text or jumping to another app is fun and smooth.

Step 2. QuickOffice Pro HD and Dropbox
Microsoft Word for iPad doesn't exist. But the next best thing is QuickOffice Pro HD. This $20 app is basically a lite version of the Office Suite. There aren't a ton of formatting options, but what I love about it is the ability to access and edit on my iPad the existing Word docs of manuscripts that I've saved on Dropbox from my iMac. Or, I can create a document in QuickOffice on my iPad, save and close, then reopen the doc in Word elsewhere. And speaking of Dropbox, if you're not backing up your manuscript files on the Cloud, people, you're just asking for trouble. Go get a free Dropbox account, drag your "Story Manuscripts" folder from your desktop or laptop into Dropbox, and live free knowing that should some disaster occur, your files are safe (and accessible) in the Cloud.

GET THAT MOUSE OUT OF THE HOUSE

Apple's Magic Trackpad
Last summer I cut the cord. The mouse cord. Like discarding some burdensome, vestigial tail, I evolved into a mouseless world, and I will never return. It all started with a nasty bout of carpal tunnel in my right arm. Using the mouse on my desktop computer was extremely painful. There had to be another way. There was. Apple's Magic Trackpad is just an oversized version of what you'd get on a MacBook. But you can set it anywhere on your desk, and the multi-finger swipes make screen navigation quicker and easier than with a mouse. After a few minutes of practice, it becomes second nature. America! Throw away your mice! Convert to a trackpad and join the evolution. 

NEVER FORGET

Ideas are everything. They are the seeds of great stories. So, I am surrounded and well armed with ways to ensnare those ideas before they might disappear.

Siri for iPhone 4S is great for taking a note on the go. Just say, "Take a note. Research North American dung beetles" and she'll make a digital note that automatically syncs with my iPad.

Evernote is a robust app that also syncs across all devices. If, like me, you have multiple running lists, Evernote organizes them nicely.

I took handwritten notes during my last two SCBWI conferences using a stylus and an app on my iPad called Notes Plus. It takes some getting used to, and sometimes putting pen to paper is just quicker and easier, but the beauty of taking notes digitally is having them organized and readily accessible, rather than being lost in some random spiral notebook that I can't find because it's buried under all those other random spiral notebooks. Notes Plus also syncs to Dropbox, so your precious notes will have an extra level of backup.

I don't buy all my books through Amazon, but I keep a running tab of the ones I want or need to check out in my Amazon Wish List. If someone mentions a good book, I can quickly find it in my Amazon app and add it to my Wish List for investigating later. Plus, I've made great discoveries through the "Customers Also Bought..." list they provide for each book.

KEEP UP WITH THE BLOGOSPHERE

Is it just me, or are there WAY too many children's writer blogs out there to follow? It's ridiculous. Tag that onto Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ (which I still can't figure out what to do with) and you could spend hours a day trying to keep up with it all. I guess some people do. I'm sorry, but I can't stand visiting Facebook. It gives me a stomach ache to look at my "Wall" and the menagerie of quips and kid photos that pass through my "News Feed". And Twitter just makes me dizzy. (Dude, I sound like a grumpy old man.) Seriously, for a long time I had accounts and avoided them like the plague.

Then the Flipboard app for iPad came along and put all those posts into a pretty magazine format. I don't know why, but it makes a huge difference. It just feels less oppressive and I can scan and flip past the stuff I'm not interested in more efficiently.

For finding, subscribing and following the ever-growing list of bloggers out there, I couldn't do without Google Reader on my iPhone. When I'm waiting to pick up Nate at school or sitting in the Jiffy Lube lobby, I can pop open Reader and scan all the children's writer blogs I keep tabs on without ever having to physically visit their sites. It's like having a personal assistant read me only the interesting parts of the morning paper.


So that's it. Technology. Love it or leave it. When we find a bit of tech that makes life easier, we always say "Man, how did I ever get along without this before?" The answer is, you got along just fine. But if you're an aspiring kids writer like me, still working toward that first publishing deal, keeping up with the industry and hearing the stories and advice from other writers is extremely valuable. Long live the Internet! In the Age of the Tablet, it doesn't matter how you tell your stories or get your information. What matters is that you're telling them, and you're getting it.

12x12 in 2012: Kick-off

Happy 2012, everyone. Trudi and I had a nice holiday break with the kids (including an amazing few days in Cabo), and with school starting up tomorrow (woo-hoo!), it's time for me to buckle down and get back to some serious work.

But before that, I'd like to thank everyone who voted and commented and "Liked" my MeeGenius Author Challenge submission, E is for Apple. The voting closed in December and we took a respectable 58th place out of 400 accepted submissions with 187 votes! Finalists will be announced January 31st. Alas, E is for Apple will not be moving on to the finalist round, but hey, it was totally fun to be a part of the competition. I received such an outpouring of support for this quirky little ABC book, so don't give up hope yet. I'll be submitting E is for Apple to other publishers, so who knows? Anything's possible.

In the meantime, I've spent much of the break planning how to approach my massive idea list generated through PiBoIdMo back in November. (See my PiBoIdMo posts below.)

Enter the next phase: 12x12 in 2012.

Writer/Blogger Julie Hedlund is hosting a great new writer's challenge that nicely follows the brainstorming frenzy of PiBoIdMo... Write 12 picture book first drafts over the 12 months of 2012. Oh baby, I am so in. I have always tended to need deadlines, assignments, lists and structure, so 12x12in'12 is just what the doctor ordered. In some ways it seems like a lot, and in others, not. One full, rough draft of a picture book in 30 days is totally achievable. Now do that 12 times in a row, without fail. Okay, that takes commitment, but still not impossible.

In the past, I wouldn't move on to a new story until I had exhausted and polished the one I was currently working on. But I'm finding that approach of "one-story-at-a-time" to be less practical these days. As my idea list grows and grows, I find myself dabbling and dipping my toes into multiple stories simultaneously. If one calls to me, I work on it. If the next day, that story hits a roadblock, I might set it aside, let it stew a bit, and move on to a different writing style for a while. Then, bam! That story I set aside comes rushing back to me with new solutions. Of course, eventually you gotta stop dippin' toes and just jump in the deep end and get a first draft written. Once a story starts to gain momentum, it takes priority. But most times you don't really know how good (or bad) your awesome idea is until you actually try to write it! So, working on multiple stories at different levels of completion seems to be fun and working for me, for now. And while I do that, 12x12in'12 will keep me in check. No dilly-dallying. Every month, AT LEAST ONE completed, beginning-middle-and-end, rough draft... if not more... we'll see. Anything's possible.

What We're Reading: Nov-Dec 2011

With all the PiBoIdMo and MeeGenius hubbub, I never got around to my November book review. So, I'm making up for it with an extra special, spectacular, double-sized, end-of-year posting. Let's go!

PINKALICIOUS and PURPLICIOUS
by Victoria Kann, illustrated by Elizabeth Kann
Last week, my family won a gift card to Books Inc. from a PTA drawing. Hooray for us. So, the whole crew went this weekend with the idea that everyone gets to pick ONE book. Nate immediately chose a Lego Harry Potter sticker book. Not quite what I was shooting for, but he's happy. Sophie was a little tougher. We searched and searched. At first it HAD to be a horse book, but none were to be found. Then, she honed in on the spine of a book she recognized. Pinkalicious. Great! Done! But then I noticed another book and said, "Sophie, you like wearing purple and look! Purplicious!" Then I asked which one she wanted. Of course, the answer was "Both." Sophie's a tough customer. At age 4.5, she knows what she wants. We debated in that bookstore on how everyone was just picking ONE book, but she wasn't budging. Then, she pulled out the big guns. "So-and-so in my preschool class has ALL the Pinkalicious books. She has LOTS of them." Really? We've already reached the peer pressure stage before Kindergarten? But we're not talking about dolls or makeup or shoes here. My little girl is fighting for BOOKS. How could I refuse? I forfeited my pick and Sophie left the store quietly. Needless to say, these books by a sister team are totally fun. With the bulk of our picture book collection skewing "boyish", it's nice to add a splash of pink and purple to the mix.

IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE
by Marianne Dubuc
I had no idea what a hit In Front of My House would be when I brought it home from the library. Nate absolutely loves it. Deceptively simple, the story takes the reader on a journey that starts, naturally, in front of a house, but quickly takes off to unexpected stops along the way. Each page turn is a colored pencil drawing that is somehow connected to the preceding and following pages. For example: Beyond the forest... [page turn] a mountain. At the very top of the mountain... [page turn] a cave. At the back of the cave... [page turn] the dark. In the dark... [page turn] a growl. But this is not your standard picture book layout. It goes on like this for 118 pages! And every one is perfectly fun. The best part is, Nate insists on reading it to me now. That's when a book becomes more than a book. It becomes a great memory.

HERE COMES THE GARBAGE BARGE!
by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Red Nose Studio
You just have to see this book to believe it. It's based on the actual 1987 events of a garbage barge that drifted up and down the east coast all the way to Mexico and back in search of a port to dump 3,168 tons of Islip, New York's trash. That's enough to catch your attention, right? But what makes this amazing book really stand out is that all the illustrations are actually photographs of miniature sculptures made out of--you guessed it--garbage. The look and atmosphere are so unique and entrancing with an edge of creepiness and mystery. Utilizing a grimy color palette, dramatic lighting and depth of field, it feels little like a Tim Burton stop-motion film. And if you're wondering how Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studio did it, you're in luck. Inside the dust jacket is a behind-the-scenes look into how he created the mesmerizing imagery. In spite of the smelly subject matter, Here Comes the Garbage Barge! is quite refreshing!

ZITA THE SPACEGIRL
by Ben Hatke
Continuing with Nate's (and my) enjoyment of hybrid picture book/comic book/graphic novels, we discovered Book One of Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl. This page-turner is just edgy and dark enough to be cool and eye-popping, but not so intense that Mom starts to question my parenting. Zita and her friend Joseph discover a portal to another world. But when Joseph gets captured and yanked through the vortex, Zita dives in after him. Then its a weird and wild rescue mission as Zita encounters all sorts of creatures, making strange friends along the way. The tone is spot on, the illustrations are funny and filled with neato sci-fi junk, and the story makes us definitely look forward to Book Two...

I WANT MY HAT BACK
by Jon Klassen
I loved this book when I found it at the bookstore. I marveled at its simplicity and beautiful design. I chuckled at its cleverness. I noticed the praise its been getting online, making many best books of 2011 lists. I couldn't wait to get it home and read it to the kids. "This book is so funny!" I told them. "Come, sit down. Check this out." We read it. I got blank stares. Maybe I read it wrong. Maybe they just weren't in the mood. Or maybe I Want My Hat Back isn't that kind of book. The humor isn't "adult" per se, but there is a certain wink and nod kinda thing going on. Granted, my kids mostly go for slapstick before deadpan jokes. But I'm not giving up! Maybe it's one of those books they'll have to warm up to. We'll try again. This book is too good to only read once.

THE BOG BABY
by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Gwen Millward
The Bog Baby is simply gorgeous in every way. There's a little bit of magic going on here, and it totally gives me the chills. The spindly, curling, detailed illustrations are a wonder to explore, and the cautionary tale of honesty and bringing wild creatures home gives the story a deep, important feeling. Two little girls discover a Bog Baby in the forest and carry him home. They keep him secret and enjoy playing with him. But, of course, the Bog Baby can't survive in a bucket eating cake crumbs. I brought this book home for a couple reasons. First, it's just an enchanting picture book. And second, because my children LOVE bringing Bog Babies home. For us, it's mostly snails, salamanders, ladybugs, rolly pollies, and crabs. We've had a few tears over the injustice of leaving crabs at the beach where they belong. And on several occasions I've snuck insects and tiny lizards back outside once the kids grow bored with them. I just can't let them die! My kids are still just a little too young to understand that animals aren't toys, but hopefully, The Bog Baby can gently encourage them to love nature and treat it responsibly.

PiBoIdMo Day 30: Ideas

I had an idea last night: "I'll write a poem about ideas." So I did.

IDEAS
by Tim McCanna

Ideas are out there. They want to be found.
Look high in the sky. Dig deep underground.
Ideas are easy. You just have to think.
The hard part is finding the ones that don't stink.

A few might be perfect. While others might not.
They could be alone. Or there may be a lot.
This one is silly. That one is great.
Here's one that's nice, but a little too late.

Ideas for poems, ideas for books.
Ideas for builders and painters and cooks.
Ideas can change the whole world in a day.
Or take years of trying for someone to say.

They rattle around in our hearts and our heads.
We keep them in journals tucked under our beds.
And once in a while, when the timing is right,
Maybe early one morning, or late in the night...

You have an idea that feels like "The One."
It's simple and crazy, fantastic and fun.
The greatest idea you'll ever conceive!
How quickly it came is quite hard to believe.

And once you calm down, here's a question or two:
So what happens next? Now what do you do?
Go write it. Go sing it. Go teach it. Go fly it.
Go bake it. Go build it. Go for it. Just try it.

Your super idea could be a success.
It might be a flop. It's anyone's guess.
Ideas are only the first step of many.
Ideas are magic. So... do you have any?


It's been a great month of brainstorms. I met my projected goal of 100, and now I'm very excited to get cracking on some of them. Special thanks again to Tara Lazar, who had the excellent idea of PiBoIdMo. See you next November!

MeeGenius? MeeHopeSo.

The presidential elections are still a year away. But if you've got a hankering to do some voting now, then here's your chance, baby! VOTE FOR MEE!

The folks over at MeeGenius (the hottest kids' ebook publisher on the World Wide Web) are hosting their second annual Author Challenge. Grand prize is $1500, a publishing contract resulting in the winning manuscript being made into an awesome, illustrated ebook, and free access to the MeeGenius library for a year to the school of the winner's choice.

Just over 400 submissions were made back in October, including my manuscript, E is for Apple. Tired of the same old ABC books? The way I see it, the first letters of words have been stealing the show for far too long. E is for Apple celebrates the LAST letters of words through fun rhymes and unexpected subjects. Observe:

Tuba and Scuba end with A.
Crab and Cobweb end with B.
C is for Static. D is for Toad.
E is for Apple and Pie a la Mode.

STARTING TODAY! NOVEMBER 28 THROUGH DECEMBER 18, head on over to www.meegenius.com/challenge/e-is-for-apple-by-tim-mccanna to read E is for Apple and all the others. Winners are chosen by a public vote (This means you!), and the MeeGenius gang will also push through some of their preferred picks. Remember, you don't have to vote for mine (please vote for mine). What's most important is that you get out and vote (for mine, please).

Thanks for your support!
Tell your family and friends!
VOTE FOR E IS FOR APPLE!
LAST LETTERS DESERVE EQUAL ATTENTION!