Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Meet Flora. Here she is, about to disappoint a sparrow who has asked for her baby brother, Crispin. Just a little while ago, Crispin had very much turned Flora’s day upside down, and let’s say she wasn’t feeling too sisterly. But, after a strong gust of wind blows Flora and Crispin away and all kinds of forces of nature (an eagle, the clouds, the moon, a rainbow) ask for Crispin’s hand, Flora discovers that she’s not quite that ready to give him up for good after all, as tempting as it might be — and even though little brothers can do things like spill your paints and altogether ruin your artistic process. Yeesh.

Flora’s Very Windy Day (Clarion, August 2010) sprung from the pen of Jeanne Birdsall, pictured left, and the paintbrush of Matt Phelan. Just as this beautiful picture book will, Jeanne’s previous novels on the Penderwick family will blow you away. I know. Ouch. Excuse my terrible pun. But it’s true. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, published in 2005 by Random House/Yearling, is—if you haven’t already read it and its 2008 sequel yourself—wonderful and funny, and it was Jeanne’s first novel, no less. The superb writing therein was acknowledged by The National Book Foundation as a 2005 National Book Awards Winner in the category of Young People’s Literature. The reviews for The Penderwicks on Gardam Street were nothin’ to sneeze at either. My favorite, which really nails the charm of both Penderwick titles, comes from School Library Journal’s starred review: “This is a book to cherish and to hold close like a warm, cuddly blanket that you draw around yourself to keep out the cold.”

And Flora? I already mentioned this book is beautiful. I mean to tell you BREATHTAKING. Matt’s watercolor and pastel illustrations are a study in line, movement, and color. It’s also funny and poignant and moving — but without being too cloying about it all. But of course. Those familiar with the Penderwick tales know Jeanne wouldn’t subject us to that. I just hope she keeps on keepin’ on with the picture books, ’cause this one is a gem, emotionally-resonant on multiple levels. Writes The Washington Post, “Matt Phelan’s lighter-than-air vignettes seem to float between earth and sky, capturing the emotional dynamics of the story, from silly to scary to sad, and from hostile to hilarious to happy. It’s a rare marriage of words and pictures that ends, as all good stories should, with chocolate chip cookies and a hug.” To that “rare marriage of words and pictures” comment, I say—well, I’ve already said—this one is a Caldecott-contender. In my book. In the Caldecott contest goin’ on in my head anyway.

I asked Jeanne and Matt if they’d like to visit to talk about Flora, and lucky me, they obliged. Matt shared some art and early sketches. He visited 7-Imp not too long ago (2009) for an extensive interview, so feel free to re-visit that. Since he has already been Pivot’ed, I made sure to give that questionnaire to Jeanne this time, as well as ask her about Flora and her future Penderwick titles. Let’s get right to it, and I thank them both for stopping by and sharing…

7-Imp: I know authors may get weary of being asked about inspiration, but can you talk about the genesis of Flora’s Very Windy Day? It’s a really beautiful book. Did you have a say in Matt as the choice of illustrator?

Jeanne: When I was three or four years old, my mother made me go outside one very windy day. I was certain that I’d be blown away by the wind and, although I wasn’t, I held this against my mother for years, poor soul. I doubt that I had the sense to tell her about the wind blowing me away –- I probably just moaned or cried, which naturally would have made her want to get rid of me all that more quickly.

{Ed. Note: Jeanne is pictured below, as a child, and annoyed, she said, because someone is bossing her around.}

Anyway, for a while I thought of writing a story about a child who did in fact get blown away, and how her mother felt terrible about it and grieved for the rest of her days. But even I could see that wouldn’t be much fun for little kids, so I came up with two children, one to fly away, and one to bring him safely home.

I’d love to take credit for choosing Matt to illustrate the book, but that all goes to our editor at Clarion. I was, however, delighted when she told me he’d agreed to do it. I was already obsessed with Matt’s cover for Susan Patron’s The Higher Power of Lucky, with its glorious sweep of movement, and the contrast between the subtlety of Lucky’s face and the big, bold shape of her dress.

7-Imp: What was it like to see his art on this one for the first time?

Jeanne: I cried. Well, first I gasped a lot and stared googly-eyed at how simply gorgeous the art was. But there was much more to it than just beauty. I had written a story in which the action is driven by feelings, yet I couldn’t describe any of the feelings. I couldn’t say: Flora is torn between her desire to permanently rid herself of her little brother and her unconscious understanding that, though she doesn’t like him now, he could eventually grow up to be tolerable, like maybe by the time he’s twenty or so, and besides, she doesn’t want to turn into the kind of person who allows small children to be ripped apart by gigantic eagles.

And since the story doesn’t make sense without the emotions, I had to trust that I’d given the illustrator enough information to let him work out the emotional structure, and then expose it all in pictures. It seemed like an awful lot to ask, and I still don’t know how Matt did it, but he went beyond what I’d hoped for, creating intricate layers of emotion I hadn’t even imagined.

A good example of Matt’s genius is on the last page of the book. My text ended on the penultimate page, and though I felt I’d ended too abruptly, I had nothing else to say. I had to trust that if the illustrator agreed about the abruptness, he would come up with a solution. (But I didn’t note that on the manuscript—I didn’t note anything at all, not wanting to get in the way of the illustrator’s visual imagination, which was sure to be much richer than mine). Matt did agree and came up with the perfect solution—the last page, with those two vignettes of the siblings and their chocolate chip cookies. That’s when I started crying, when I first saw it. I found out later that he had to fight with the powers-that-be for that solution, but he did, because he was right. Boy, was he. {Ed. Note: One of Matt’s sketches for the final image is below.}

7-Imp: Can you talk a bit about what it was like to have your first novel so acclaimed? And what it was like to get The Call about the National Book Award (assuming there is a Big Call)? What does it mean to you to have such an award tacked onto that book?

Jeanne: I’ll start with the call, which for the National Book Awards is more of an Intermediate Call, in that Harold Augenbraum, the Executive Director of the NBA, calls to let you know that you’re one of the finalists in your category. If I remember correctly, he left a message on my machine to call him back, which I did, with no idea what the National Book Award Foundation would want with me. When I reached him and he explained that I was one of the finalists, I completely missed the part about the Young People category, and thought that this very nice man didn’t understand that I’d written a book for children. (Remember that this was my first book and I didn’t know anything about the business. Nothing. I’d heard of the Newbery, but that was about it.) But I didn’t tell him so, because for a few heady moments, I wondered if maybe they were deliberately putting The Penderwicks in there amongst the adult books, which became hilarious when I calmed down . . . and even more hilarious later when I found out that the adult (fiction) category that year included writers like William Vollman and Mary Gaitskill.

As for winning—and you find out you’ve won at a black tie dinner in Times Square—there’s no way of gauging how much of an effect the award had on my sales or career. (The other four finalists—Deborah Wiles, Walter Dean Myers, Chris Lynch, Adele Griffin—all continue to be brilliant, and mine is certainly not the biggest career among us.) But it made a great difference for my self-confidence. I was already into my fifties and didn’t have decades (well, maybe two and a half if I were lucky) in which to find a voice. And, too, I already knew that I wanted to write four more books about this family. Here came both permission and encouragement all in one—very heavy—trophy.

7-Imp: Tell me a bit about your writing process/”craft.” Do you outline plot before you write or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up?

Jeanne: I start with a character or a feeling and then think a lot then write down what I’ve thought of, and then think some more and write that down and, after a while, I go back and rearrange stuff and think some more. At some point I get annoyed with all the confusion and put everything into a semi-formal outline, and then I have to think a lot more, and so on. I’m slow, that’s for sure.

7-Imp: What advice would you give to aspiring children’s book authors, particularly those wanting to write picture books?

Jeanne: Growing up with a bossy mother and a bossier older sister made me allergic to getting advice, and almost as allergic to giving it out. Except for the obvious. Read, read, read, read, read, and in the case of picture books, look, look, look, look, look.

7-Imp: Are you working on any new projects that you can tell me about? Can you give us any kind of sneak-peek into The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, and do you still plan five Penderwick titles?

Jeanne: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette—coming out next spring—takes place in Maine, beginning about a month after the very end of the second book. Only part of the family goes this time—the three younger sisters and their Aunt Claire. This means that Skye is the acting oldest sister, and anyone familiar with the Penderwicks will be able to imagine the difficulties involved with that set-up. It’s been a lot of fun to write.

I’m now in the beginning throes of the fourth Penderwick book—yes, there are still five planned—which will take place back at home on Gardam Street, but after a gap of almost six years. The fifth book will take place after another gap of time, and will be a return to Arundel. That’s all I’ll say. Bad luck to go into any more detail, though I’ll admit that there are already scenes for the last book floating around in my head.

7-Imp: If you could have three (living) authors—whom you have not met—over for coffee, who would you choose?

Jeanne: It would depend on my mood. If I wanted to be awed and elevated, I’d ask Hilary McKay, Markus Zusak, and Nick Hornby. If I wanted to laugh, I’d ask Lisa Yee, Jarrett Krosoczka, and Nate (N.D.) Wilson, which is cheating, because they’re already my friends. If I wanted to talk mysteries, I’d ask Laura Lippman, Kate Atkinson, and that would be plenty. And since this is a total fantasy, if I wanted a really great day on the boardwalk of Ocean City, New Jersey, I’d ask Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, and maybe most important, Dave W. from Bridgeton, but only if he remembers me and the summer of ’66.

7-Imp: What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

Jeanne: I once had dreams of becoming a professional sports photographer. Madness.

7-Imp: Is there something you wish interviewers would ask you – but never do?

Jeanne: I always want to be asked about my fantasy ambition, which used to be to host Saturday Night Live, but is now to be on The Colbert Report. And maybe Glee.

7-Imp: What is your favorite word?

Jeanne: “Atavistic.”

7-Imp: What is your least favorite word?

Julia: “Brassiere.”

7-Imp: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Jeanne: Optimism, and lots of sleep.

7-Imp: What turns you off?

Julia: Narcissism and habitual drunkenness, particularly in tandem.

7-Imp: What is your favorite curse word? (optional)

Jeanne: “Rats!” (Kidding.)

7-Imp: What sound or noise do you love?

Jeanne: Bernadette Peters singing Sondheim.

7-Imp: What sound or noise do you hate?

Jeanne: I won’t tell you, because then I will be in your power.

7-Imp: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Jeanne: I’ve already attempted so many before ending up here where I belong.

7-Imp: What profession would you not like to do?

Jeanne: Anything other than this.

7-Imp: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Jeanne: “Nice books.”

FLORA’S VERY WINDY DAY. Copyright © 2010 by Jeanne Birdsall. Illustrations © 2010 by Matt Phelan. Illustrations and sketches reproduced by permission of the illustrator and the publisher, Clarion Books, New York.

Author photo of Jeanne Birdsall used with permission of Clarion Books.

All other images—with the exception of the book covers—from Jeanne Birdsall.

The spiffy and slightly sinister gentleman introducing the Pivot Questionnaire is Alfred, © 2009 Matt Phelan. Thanks to Matt, Alfred now lives permanently at 7-Imp and is always waiting to throw the Pivot Questionnaire at folks.