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What Is It About Picture Books?
by
Lori Mortensen
Ever since I was a little kid and excitedly checked out Where the Wild Things Are
from the Gregory Gardens Elementary School library for a special
birthday night reading, I've had a special place in my heart for picture
books. Within a mere thirty-two pages, they manage to be funny,
touching, clever, rambunctious, surprising, suspenseful, and memorable.
When
I was small, writing them was the farthest thing from my mind. I was
short and shy, but whenever I opened them up, I was instantly drawn away
into worlds far away from my ordinary home on Jennie Drive.
Later
as a dance major in college, I spent most of my time sweating and
spinning across the dance floor. But when there was a lull in the
action, I'd find myself wandering around the children's section of the
campus book store. As I paged through the picture books, I idly wondered
how someone became a part of such a magical endeavor, but it wasn't
really a question. Wherever authors lived, they lived far away from me
and somehow it seemed as if only people who were born to the profession
had the right to claim it.
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| Come See the Earth Turn by Lori Mortensen |
So when did I begin writing? I was a
stay-at-home
mother of three when I was reintroduced to children's literature and
secretly wondered-could I write a picture book? The idea was stunning,
as if I'd challenged the laws of the universe. What did I have to say?
What did I want to say for my children, and the child in me?
Many years later, that's still the exciting reason I sit down at my
keyboard and bring a story to life. When I sit down at the keyboard, the
screen becomes a vacant world, that I fill as I please with characters,
plots, and themes that take shape from my own thoughts, feelings, and
motivations. Sometimes it's hard to get started, but once I do and I
know where I'm going, there's nothing more exciting than wrestling with
words on the page until they fall into their proper place
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| Cindy Moo by Lori Mortensen |
What
is it about picture books? They're a lot harder to write than they
look. Picture books are so short, I'm sure many people pick them up and
think they could knock one out in five minutes if they just had the
time. The text is so short, how could it take any longer? Short as they
are, however, the beauty of pictures books is how they pack so much into
so little-character, drama, rhythm, rhyme, and meaningful undercurrents
of theme. When they unfold across two eager laps in a chair, it's an
invitation to share a new world together through extraordinary pictures
and words. Some of my favorites? King Bidgood's Bath by Audrey and Don Wood; The Night Moon Fell Down, by Linda Smith; and The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neil.
Clever.
Awesome.
Ringity Zingity.
What is it about picture books? I love them and I love writing them.
There's nothing I'd rather do (although dancing comes close.) And if
children ever think that any of my picture books such as Cindy Moo, In the Trees, Honey Bees!, Come See the Earth Turn - The Story of Leon Foucault, and my upcoming book, Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg are clever, awesome, or ringity, zingity, then I'd be delighted.
Maybe
one day, it'll be my book that's tucked under the arm of an excited
child on their way home for a special birthday night reading.
ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF
In the Trees, Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen!
AT OUR
Lori Mortensen
is an award-winning author of over three dozen books and more than 100 stories and articles that have appeared in Highlights, Ladybug, Jack and Jill, The Friend,
and many other publications. Like a
detective on the trail for a clue, Lori follows her writing interests
wherever they lead her-sometimes to a fascinating French scientist who
proved the earth turned (Come See the Earth Turn: The Story of Léon Foucault, Random House 2010) and other times to the remarkable insider activities of a honey bee hive (In the Trees, Honey Bees!
Dawn Publications, 2009, winner of multiple awards including the
NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Book for Students K to 12.) Her titles
with Picture Window Books, Capstone Press, Stone Arch Books, KidHaven
Press, and Marshall Cavendish Benchmark Books include early
readers, biographies, American history, mid-grade nonfiction, and first
graphic novels.
For
the past six years, Lori has also been an instructor for the Institute
of Children's Literature helping hundreds of students explore the
fascinating world of writing for children.
Her latest release is Cindy Moo, a
rhyming picture book with HarperCollins (2012) featuring a spunky cow
that sets out to prove that cows really can leap over the moon. This
hilarious picture book will have readers of all stripes (and spots)
cheering for its determined heroine. Look for her rhyming picture book Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg from Clarion next spring about a cowpoke determined to pop his dirty dawg in the tub. Of course, Dawg will have none of it.
Rollicking
verse with page-turn surprises makes this uproarious tall tale a
rootin' tootin' read-aloud. To learn more about Lori and her books,
visit her website at www.lorimortensen.com. Visit her blog at Lori Mortenson's Blog! and view her book trailers at YouTube.
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speech-language
pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for
Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute
of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading
list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers
including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random 
Acts of Haiku." 
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