Babe To Teens, Past
A Youth Column
By Jan Fields

An Interview with picture book author Lisa Wheeler

     As the mother of a five year old, I read a lot of picture books. The ones that become family favorites combine certain qualities – lyrical writing, humor, and beautiful illustrations. These are qualities often found in the picture books by Lisa Wheeler, and several of these books are among our family favorites. This month, I am delighted that Lisa was able to find time to answer some questions about her books, about the writing process, and about her visits with school children. I hope you enjoy meeting Lisa and check out one of her books at your local library or bookstore. They will certainly brighten up a mom and toddler book snuggle.

Jan: So many of your books that I've read have been in verse or contained a strong verse element (like Porcupining with its songs.) Are they all in verse or mixtures of prose and verse? Could you ever see yourself writing a novel in verse?

Lisa: Several of my books (Porcupining, Old Cricket, Turk And Runt, and the Fitch & Chip series) are not in verse. I think language has rhythms and I’ve often had people think some of my non-rhymers were rhymed because of the lyrical language I like to use.

I would love to write a free-verse novel—have actually attempted it—but I have a picture book attention span with a novelist’s ambitions.

Jan: Does perfect meter just flow out of you like a river? How do you manage to find the perfect rhythm every time?

Lisa: Rhythm sets the mood. If I am writing an adventure—like Avalanche Annie—my meter needs to reflect that. It has to catch the reader up like a snowball going downhill. For an upcoming book about the mammoth migration, I chose a marching beat to mirror the movement of the mammoths.

It wouldn’t do to use alliterative soft ‘S’ sounds and a sleepy cadence in a rollicking adventure. Nor would it be wise to use a sharp or energetic rhythm in a bedtime book.

As the ‘director’ or ‘orchestra leader’ of my books, it is my job to set the mood.

Jan: Some of your books are a bit longer than cozy read-alouds. Do you have a preference between the shorter books and the longer ones?

Lisa: My preference is to write tight and write short. Except for my EZ’s and Seadogs: An Epic Ocean Operetta (a picture book for older readers) all of my books are under 1000 words.

When I’ve lead workshops for aspiring picture book writers I encourage them to cut their story down to bare bones and let the art tell some of the story. After all, they’re called ‘picture’ books for a reason.

Jan: Did you always know Farmer Dale was a dog? What kinds of surprises have illustrators brought to your books?

Lisa: My second favorite thing about my job is getting art in the mail. I love to see what another creative mind envisioned when reading my words. It’s exhilarating! When I first saw the art for Farmer Dale’s Red Pickup Truck, I was a bit confused because I didn’t recall writing a dog into that book. Upon further study, I realized that the dog was indeed Farmer Dale, who I had envisioned as a human being. I was delighted!

When someone else illustrates your story, it’s like they are the other parent to your child. I may have given “our baby” his sturdy frame, but my illustrator partner gave him his blue eyes.

Jan: I know you got to visit with a porcupine -- much like Cushion from Porcupining. Do you try to "meet" animals related to your characters? Can you tell us a little about your porcupine visit.

Lisa: My meeting with the porcupine was total serendipity. I was visiting a school and it just so happened that they also had a wildlife group visiting that day. Toward the end of the day I was told that their menagerie included a real live porcupine and would I like to meet him. Well, of course!

I was surprised at how absolutely adorable he was. Just as cute as Cushion! And the coolest thing was this porcupine was named Hokey Pokey, which happens to be the title of the Porcupining sequel that comes out in January. (Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story, Jan 06, Little, Brown, and Co.). So I truly believe we were destined to meet. Hokey Pokey was an orphan and had been raised by his human handler, so he was very gentle. I was allowed to hand feed him kibble and pet him (going with the quills and not against them, of course.) I have a picture of us together, but it isn’t very clear and he looks like a stuffed animal.

Jan: Now, I may be a bit humor-impaired but Old Cricket seemed far less "laugh out loud" funny than the rest of your books that I've read...and I notice that he's the one that won an award (The Mitten Award). Do you think awards tend to bypass the books that make us laugh?

Lisa: I’ve wondered about that myself. I think Old Cricket appeals to readers because it has a classic feel to it—like an Aesop’s Fable. Its humor is subtle and, as you may have noticed, it is not in rhyme. I get letters from librarians who love it for story time. It’s also one of those books that can lead to discussion about consequences of one’s actions (or inactions, as it may be) and teachers seem to like it for their classrooms.

I’ve noticed that humor doesn’t get as much play in the award department overall (neither does rhyme), but every once in awhile a funny books wins a major award and brings balance to the world.

Jan: Do school visits make you nervous? Do you make a lot of them? Can you tell us a little bit about what classrooms can expect from a Lisa Wheeler school visit?

Lisa: I am never nervous about school visits. Kids are a wonderful audience and they are so forgiving. Plus, I visit so many classrooms I have my presentation down.

I am not fond of assembly style presentations, as I have age-appropriate talks. I prefer to do 4 talks per day to smaller groups, sorted by age/grades. For instance, my presentation for Kindergarten is only a ½ hour because that is about as long as that age group will sit still. I incorporate hand-plays and props and overheads to keep their attention. I don’t think that—for any age group—an author should just read their books. I spent a lot of time preparing educational programs that go with my books and my writing life. I believe in imparting a bit of knowledge about books, stories and writing.

Plus, I like to have fun with the kids! I get many letters about my giant cheese and my Top-Secret Cow Files.

Jan: What are you working on now?

Lisa: I always work on two or three things at the same time. While I have a few stories circulating at various publishers, I am working on a rhymer about bad habits and putting together a new school talk with a pirate theme.

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