Ruth, the moderator, handles both art and text in her Ellie McDoodle series, while David handled the art for Shutta's accolade-winning new book, Dozens of Cousins. So the speakers had a variety of relationships with putting words and pictures together.
Often people assume that a writer picks an illustrator, or tells the illustrator what to do. But in traditional publishing, the publisher typically chooses the illustrator and works separately with that person. There are notable exceptions, and family writer/artist teams. But as the panel said, there is a kind of editor's alchemy in bringing the two separate parts together. One thrill of getting a picture book published is in seeing how the artist has expanded on what you wrote. Growing up with a visual-arts background, I have always been able to see what could be on the page--but then the artist brings a new dimension.
Another thrill is having your work mean something to a reader. An audience member explained that her young foster son had never responded to books until my sheep couldn't get their jeep to go. He got it! What a privilege to learn something like that in a festival program!
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| Me, David Catrow, Shutta Crum, and moderator Ruth McNally Barshaw |
Shutta and David had the privilege of meeting for the first time at a BookFest gathering. Here they are after the panel discussion, with Dozens of Cousins. Ruth went on to give her annual drawing demonstration for kids. I sewed a cover onto a copy of poems by the festival's children's authors, and listened to discussions of "A Mysterious Sense of Place" and "Cherchez la Femme," on a woman's point of view.
Thanks for a great community effort!
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| Kerrytown BookFest Organizer Robin Agnew of Aunt Agatha's Books, volunteer Lauren Houser, and mystery author Cara Black enjoy the sunshine at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. |
