One day, down by the pond, Simon meets another dog just like him. And that dog has a bone just like his, only better! How will Simon ever get him to trade, when the other pup knows all the same tricks…?
Max's Boat Pick:
SIMON AND THE BETTER BONE
By Corey R. Tabor
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (May 9, 2023)
Hi Corey! Thanks so much for stopping by again. Can you share how Simon and the Better Bone came about? How did you choose Aesop's "The Dog and His Reflection" for your retelling? CT: "I ended up doing a retelling kind of by accident. I was walking around Green Lake in Seattle (which is one of my favorite places and actually where I would get the idea for my book Mel Fell a year or two later), and I was watching the swallows flying over the lake. When swallows are hunting they dive and skim along the water, catching bugs on the surface. The water was really smooth, which made it look like the birds were playing tag with their own reflections.
Sketch of birds by Corey R. Tabor:
Around that time I had been reading several books that experimented and played with the picture book form. Two of my favorites were The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee and Shadow by Suzy Lee.
As I watched the swallows I was thinking about those books and got the idea of doing a vertical book where the book’s gutter would be the dividing line between the sky and the water—about a swallow who befriends her own reflection.
I worked on it off and on for a couple of years but just couldn’t get the story to click. Then I remembered Aesop’s "The Dog and His Reflection" (a story I remember my mom reading to me as a kid) which I realized would fit perfectly with my reflection idea. So I decided to do a retelling of Aesop’s fable and, just like that, my swallow became a dog."
Early sketch from Simon and the Better Bone:
How wonderful that Green Lake inspired TWO of your books! I'm also amazed that you came up with the idea for Simon and the Better Bone BEFORE Mel Fell. I suppose that each book has its own way of coming together—in its own time. Are there any more retellings in the works? "I don’t have any other retellings in the works, but it was a fun and interesting way to write a picture book, and if the right idea comes along I could definitely see doing another one."
What are you most enjoying reading with your son these days? "We’ve been reading (and rereading and rereading) Search for a Giant Squid by Amy Seto Forrester and Andy Chou Musser. It’s a fantastic, beautifully illustrated, nonfiction choose-your-own-adventure picture book. We’ve read it so many times that I’m pretty sure we’ve done every possible storyline and found every ending."
What's next for you? "I’m just finishing up work on my next picture book, Ursula Upside Down, which is a format-flipping picture book about an upside-down catfish. And I’ve also got a new Fox I Can Read book called Fox Has a Problem coming out soon."
When Wally, the world's greatest piano-playing wombat, hears Wylie play, he becomes envious. Wally tries toe-tapping and ball-twirling as he plays piano, but every time Wally thinks he's one-upping the competition, he discovers Wylie can do all the same tricks. Wally has had ENOUGH!
Max's Boat Pick:
WALLY THE WORLD'S GREATEST PIANO-PLAYING WOMBAT
Written by Ratha Tep and illustrated by Camilla Pintonato
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press (April 13, 2023)
Hi Camilla! Thanks for joining today! Can you tell me how you got started in picture books?
CP: "I fell in love with picture books exactly thirteen years ago, when I came back almost by accident to visit an exhibition I remembered I saw once in my childhood and which took place every year in a small town called Sarmede, near the home of my maternal grandparents. The exhibition consisted of a few rooms on the first floor of the town hall and that year the guest of honor was Beatrice Alemagna. I think I stayed there for two and a half hours. When I went out it was dark and I was very clear what I wanted to do in life. I haven’t looked back since."
An interior spread from Wally the World's Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat:
I'm so grateful that you loved the manuscript and took on Wally! You really brought him to life. What was your initial reaction upon reading the text? What most drew you in? "When our agent, Debbie Bibo, showed me the manuscript, it was love at first sight! I love ironic stories that touch upon the problems that both adult and children might have. I also loved the ‘timing’ of the early scenes. Wally plays the piano only to realize there’s another wombat who plays better, so he adds to his routine—and is outdone each and every time! It is all very comic but also sweet. I mean, I really feel for Wally.”
An interior spread from Wally the World's Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat:
Your feelings for Wally really show, because your take on him is just SO perfect, from his vivid expressions to his tux. How did you approach the initial character development? What did you most want to convey? “I wanted a sweet wombat, an animal that immediately inspired empathy. I wanted him to be a bit clumsy but combative, tenacious, and convinced of his greatness (hence the outfit of a serious pianist). He was more adult-like in my early sketches, but I gradually realized that I had to make him smaller and ‘defenseless,’ because in my opinion the fact that he ‘fights but doesn’t win’ is also very sweet.”
He definitely is all of those things—clumsy, combative, and convinced of his greatness! I know you work digitally. What do you use? “I use a graphic tablet and many Photoshop brushes. Although I work digitally, my approach is very analog. If I have to erase something, I don’t press cmd-z, but I use the eraser every time. I take this manual approach with all my other techniques. This makes the illustration less perfect and more alive.”
What are your favorite illustrations from the book? “My favorite sequence, as you probably know, is definitely the opening one in which the two wombats compare themselves with one another. I specifically repeated the scenes to make it quicker to read and to emphasize the text’s pressing rhythm. Another very nice scene is the one where they enjoy cookies, and then practice together in a more calm manner. This not only reminds us that they are just two little animals, but also conveys the importance of balancing hard work with fun. As an Italian, this makes me think of my coffee breaks with others, and I believe this is a great lesson, too.”
An interior spread from Wally the World's Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat:
Who are some other illustrators you admire and what do you think they do especially well? "There are so many. I'll mention just a few that I really love: Oliver Jeffers for his absurd irony, Jon Klassen for his iconic designs, Beatrice Alemagna for her magical atmospheres and Marc Boutavant because nobody makes animals as beautiful as he does!"
What are the contemporary picture books that you hope will become the classics
of the future?
"On my dream list:
Little Bird by Germano Zullo and Albertine
What is a Child? by Beatrice Alemagna
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
The Wall in the Middle of the Book by Jon Agee
The Forest by Riccardo Bozzi, Valerio Vidali and Violeta Lopiz"
What do you think the best picture books do? "For me, the best children’s books teach without doing so explicitly, using irony and simplicity.
Chris Haughton is a master of this, and he achieves it in all of his books. But if I have to pick a favorite, it would have to be Little Owl Lost."
Rory’s dad, Fox, is a tailer. The BEST in the business! Animals come from all over to have their tails made by him. Rory helps his dad in the shop and one of his jobs is measuring the customers for the tails - which isn't always easy! But Rory is bored of making the same old tails. He has his own amazing ideas . . .
Max's Boat Pick:
FOX & SON TAILERS
By Paddy Donnelly
Publisher: O'Brien Press (September 2, 2022)
Thanks for coming onboard, Paddy! Can you tell me the origin story behind Fox & Son Tailers? Love the wordplay by the way! PD: "Thank you! It actually started with the first spread from the book where you see a little street, filled with animals running about doing 'human-like' things. I really wanted to just illustrate that scene. I didn't have a story in mind. I started to then think what shops they would have in this animal-filled town. Would rhinos come into a shop to get their horns sharpened, and things like that. At some point I thought maybe the story could centre around a hat shop. And then when I had the idea to have animals come in to buy different tails instead, I knew I had a fun story on my hand. Then the creativity really started flowing, and the story very quickly wrote itself."
Interior spreads from Fox & Son Tailers:
Your illustrations are so detailed and fun. Who are some illustrators you're admiring these days? "The list is endless. I love Karl James Mountford's The Circles In The Sky and Steve McCarthy's The Wilderness would definitely be up there.
Mark Janssen's Island is a firm favourite, as are any books by Jacques & Lise - especially Oskar. The Comet by Joe Todd-Stanton is an incredibly beautiful book. And I also love Molly Mendoza's Skip."
What forthcoming books are you most looking forward to getting your hands on? "I think the book I'm most looking forward to is The Skull by Jon Klassen. I'm a huge fan of all his books, and this one looks so intriguing."
What would be on your list of 100 best picture books of all time? "Ooh, that's a very tough question. If I really had to choose one, maybe Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan. It's incredible."