Thank you for joining us for part four of our conversation with nationally published children’s book author, Lynne Jonell. If you missed parts one, two, or three, click here.
Lynne, in addition to writing picture books, you write books for the middle-grade age range (9-12) as well. Can you tell us more?
The book is titled “Emmy & the Incredible Shrinking Rat,” published by Henry Holt & Co., and it will be released in August of 2007. Booksellers are now taking pre-orders for it. I’m so pleased that I finally wrote a novel that someone thought was worth publishing!
The book is about a girl who tries hard to do everything that is expected of her, and yet remains unnoticed; her parents are always leaving on trips, the kids at school don’t seem to see her, and her one friend is a rather sarcastic Rat, the class pet that lives in a cage next to her desk. Emmy isn’t sure why she’s the only one who can understand him, either.
In fact there’s a lot of mystery in this book, and most of it centers around the activities of Emmy’s nanny, Miss Barmy, who isn’t quite as pleasant as she appears to be. As Emmy tries to figure out how to get her parents back to their normal, loving selves, she teams up with the Rat, a boy named Joe, various chipmunks, and a Professor of Rodentology… and in the end everything turns out well, though for a long time it doesn’t appear that will be the case!
You can see a sneak preview of the first two pages on my website.
You mention on your website that you live in a house on a hill. That sounds so gorgeous. Do you find that your surroundings inspire you?
Well, it’s a small hill, and I’m in the middle of a residential area, so it’s not like I have these vistas of grandeur outside my window. But I do love it. I like to be up high, and since my office is on the second floor, that’s even better. I’m happiest when I can look out into the branches of trees and see sky beyond.
And in the winter, when the neighborhood kids come over to slide on the hill, I do get inspired, just listening to listen to their voices. The sound of children at play must be one of the top ten reasons God made ears.
You illustrated one of your books, “Bravemole,” and worked with illustrators on the rest. Is it hard to work with an illustrator? Do they “get” what you envision for the book?
Actually, I didn’t really work with the illustrators. The publisher chose the illustrators, and then the art director worked with the illustrators. Now and then I would be able to make a comment or two, and especially in my later books that was possible, but normally the publishing houses like to keep the author and illustrator separated.
Why is that?
My guess is that they figure they have two massive egos on their hands, and it would be safest to not let them collide… the official reason is that the artist must be free to create in his or her own way, as the muse leads, and the writer’s input is not only unnecessary, but might be restrictive.
I noticed a section called “Kids Ask” on your website, where your readers can contact you with their questions. What a great idea! What has been your favorite kid question so far?
That’s really hard to say. They’re all so charming! And some of the best aren’t even questions. One of my favorite recent letters said, “Dear Lynne Jonell, you are a very good drawer. Too bad I can only draw monsters.”
That’s a great letter!
We’ll conclude our interview with Lynne Jonell tomorrow. In the meantime, be sure to visit her website and check out those first chapters she mentioned.
Related Blogs:
Picture Books by Lynne Jonell and Petra Mathers
Children’s Picture Books about Losing Baby Teeth