A Big Mooncake for Little Star tells the scrumptious story of a celestial little girl who helps her mama bake a mooncake. When it's done, all big and round like a rising orange moon, Mama places it into the nightsky to cool.

There it sits, smelling quite delicious.

Little Star tells her mama she'll wait until it's time to eat it, but then...after falling asleep, she forgets about waiting. She throws off her bed covers, pats her soft feet toward the Big Mooncake and begins to nibble-nibble-nibbles at its edges.

Little mooncake crumbs fall into the darkness and sparkle there like stars.

Night after night, Little Star nibbles, and with each nibble the mooncake wanes like the phases of the moon.

​Will there be any mooncake left for Mama?

A 2019 Caldecott winner, A Big Mooncake for Little Star is a timeless story written and illustrated by Grace Lin and published by Little Brown Books for Young Readers. It is a nod (with a multi-cultural flair) to the beloved book Blueberries for Sal, written and illustrated by Robert McClowskey, published in 1948, also a Caldecott medalist. The sparse yet beautiful text and striking illustrations both make A Big Mooncake for Little Star glow. And it certainly proves true the writing adage "less is more." 

Kids, ages 4-7, will delight in having this book read to them. And with a Lexile measure of 430, emergent readers will enjoy reading it by themselves. This book is sure to find a special place in the hearts of all little ones who've had to resist the too-soon nibbling of blueberries in pails or mooncakes glowing warm and smelling delicious in the nightsky. 

Alvina, thanks so much for allowing me to interview you!

Delighted to oblige!

First question for you. Despite being an über busy vice-president and editor-in-chief at Little Brown Books for Young Readers, why did you decide to volunteer your time to mentor a children's book author from a diverse background, even without knowing if the manuscript you chose from the selections you received from The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary would ultimately be publishable?

I have worked my whole career trying to bring diverse voices to children's books. As an industry we are working really hard to publish books written and illustrated by authors and illustrators from all walks of life. So when I heard about working as a mentor with The Word, a non-profit whose vision aligns with my own, I felt like it was something I wanted to be involved in. Actually, I wanted other Little Brown editors to get on board, too, and they were happy to do so. Aside from critiquing at SCBWI conferences, I was also really interested in seeing how a mentor-mentee relationship worked. 

So very generous of your time, Alvina! Okay, here's question two. (Admittedly, this question makes me feel awkward since I'm way more comfortable highlighting the work of other kidlit authors and illustrators, but if I don't ask it, I won't have much of an interview, will I. So here goes.) Why did you choose to mentor me and my middle-grade manuscript Mama's Chicken & Dumplings? 

I was presented with three choices. As I read the first fifty pages of each middle grade, I was looking for something that had the most potential. A manuscript I could help. I fell in love with the voice and the characters found in Mama's Chicken & Dumplings. I responded to it. Even if this manuscript is not the one that gets published, perhaps this kick will bring its author to the next manuscript that will. 

Ha-Ha! I believe its author appreciates the editor's kick. Okay, here's my last question for you. Why would you encourage other editors in the children's book community to carve out time from their busy schedules to mentor writers from all walks of life?

If editors are serious about bringing a range of inclusive books for readers from diverse backgrounds, then there's nothing quite like getting involved in mentoring like this.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Alvina. But I really have to go now. I've got a manuscript to revise, and I'm in the midst of obsessing over chapter one. 

Happy to stop by! But chapter one? Really? Do we need another kick?

A chocolate-covered truffle kick might do the trick.  

Alvina and Dionna's editor-writer mentorship program is sponsored by The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary. The program pairs four aspiring writers from underrepresented groups with an experienced editor who provides substantive feedback to help raise their already strong manuscripts to their best position for submission to potential agents and editors.

The program offers each author an opportunity to gain knowledge from experienced acquiring editors. It does not, however, guarantee publication. It is free of cost to the authors due to the generosity of the volunteer editors. Learn more about The Word's 2019 mentorship program HERE and read a PW Bookshelf article about it HERE.

​Illustrations are used with permission from the publisher.

Brave Ballerina brings to life the story of Janet Collins, a woman lesser known in African American history, a woman who refused to hide her identity, a woman who graced the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as the first African American principal dancer at the Metropolitan Opera House, despite the closed doors that stood before her.

As a young girl, she and her family were determined not to allow the obstacles of segregation to squelch her love for dance. Her mother sewed costumes to pay for her lessons. Her family and community supported her, attending her recitals. Professionals--both white and black--recognized her talent and propelled her forward. 

Brave Ballerina is a beautifully told picture book biography published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. It is lyrically written by Michelle Meadows and lushly illustrated by Ebony Glenn, one of my favorite up-and-coming illustrators. (Read my interview with Ebony HERE.)

Children from all walks of life will love this book. They will love the simple yet poignant language of the rhyming text. They will love the illustrations with their graceful lines that will remind them of ballet dancers. And they will love the sepia tones that hint of the old photographs from the 1930s and 40s, the book's setting. But the most important reason children should read this book is because Janet Collins was a brave ballerina who had a get-back-up-again determination that will encourage them to do the same. ​

Picture book writers are advised to leave room for the illustrator when composing their text. Flashlight Night, written by Matt Forest Esenwine and illustrated by Fred Koehler. shows perfectly how this is accomplished. Koehler's art plus Esenwine's spare text equals a picture book narrative with depth, one that is sure to capture the attention of any young reader.

The illustrations shout what the text whispers.

What happens when kids with imagination turn on a flashlight at night? The illustrations answer!

Adventure lurks in the dark! 

​For instance, note this text with this illustration:  

Notice how the image adds a layer to the story that is not stated in the text. It's like biting into a chocolate cupcake and discovering delicious raspberry cream filling! YUM! The text doesn't try to control the story's narrative by stating every detail. It allows the picture to show what the pool water becomes in the rays of the flashlight--a storm-tossed sea!--and that a toy has become a pirate ship or a flotation device a giant purple squid ready to attack.

What fun!

The author left room for the artist's imagination to unveil scrumptious narrative details.

Picture books like Flashlight Night--ones that marry words and illustrations in such a clever way--are the kinds of books that kids will beg to read, heads beneath bed covers, flashlights in hand. At least, until someone yells, "Lights out!"

Salutations, Karen!  So happy to have you here! Please, do tell about your journey to becoming a kidlit author.

Glad to be here, Dionna!

​To answer your question, I’ve always loved to read, but I didn’t start writing books until I had read The Artists Way  by Julia Cameron. Part of The Artist Way program is to free-write three pages a day. You write about anything—how grumpy you feel, what you ate for breakfast, what is annoying you. You just dump. The idea is that by page three you have cleared away enough of your brain clutter to find out what is underneath. And for me what was underneath was the dream of writing a children’s book. The beginning of my manuscript The Hayley Show was started in my morning pages. Although I didn’t sell it, that book got me my agent.

In 2010, I joined SCBWI, which became a wonderful source of support and information. Through SCBWI, I learned about Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program. And it was at VCFA that I wrote Charlie & Frog. 

Why did you decide to write this story, one that features the Deaf community?

I never planned to write about the Deaf community. I always felt that my writing life and my life as a sign language interpreter were separate entities. But all those years I was interpreting, this story was percolating—I just didn’t know it. One of my advisors at VCFA, A.S. King, wanted me to write something new. She felt I would grow more as a writer with new material. So I began writing short stories. And then one day, while sitting at my computer, this story started to come out of me. And Frog, who is Deaf, came to me clear and strong. Her character was easy to write. 

What about your characters and their friendship mirrors your life-experiences?

I tend to be more like Charlie, the quieter one. Frog fights for what she wants and has never met a stranger. Not that being quiet means weakness. Charlie is anything but weak. But Frog helps Charlie find his own strength by modeling her own power and inner drive. That is true for me, too—my closest friends show me how I can embrace my own strengths. Also, as a kid, I had fun exploring with my best friend. I wanted Charlie & Frog to have that same freedom to explore the village of Castle-on-the-Hudson. And who wouldn’t want to ride a gondola across the river on their own? Sign me up!

How did you find a home for Charlie & Frog at Disney-Hyperion and why were you pleased?

When my agent tried to sell The Hayley Show, I had about seventeen rejections (I lost count!), and one editor who was interested, but who couldn’t convince her publishing house to buy it. Ten years later, I was fortunate to have five editors who wanted Charlie and Frog! (Moral: Don’t give up! Keep writing!)

My editor at Disney-Hyperion, Tracey Keevan, is terrific. Tracey happened to watch a documentary about Martha’s Vineyard one week before she received my manuscript. Two hundred years ago, Martha’s Vineyard had a large Deaf population. Both hearing people and Deaf people signed on the island. When looking back, islanders often couldn’t remember who was Deaf and who was hearing because everyone signed. Tracey was excited to work on this story after watching that film. And I was thrilled that Disney-Hyperion hired a Deaf artist, Carlisle Robinson, to illustrate the inside chapter artwork of Charlie & Frog!

What are you working on now, and why are you enjoying it?

I am currently promoting my second Charlie & Frog book--The Boney Hand! It was published in June 2019. I love the characters and setting of Charlie & Frog, so it’s wonderful to be immersed in them again. I am also working on a picture book. Picture books just make me happy. And it’s a nice change of pace from a middle-grade book, as they are so different from each other.

Karen Kane’s path to Charlie & Frog led her from a small village near Rochester, NY, to the bustle of Washington, DC. The people she met along the way inspired her writing with their warmth and humor, especially those in the Deaf community. Karen graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, Karen spends her days as a sign language interpreter at Gallaudet University or lost in the stacks of her local library. Charlie & Frog, her debut novel. was nominated for  a ​2019 Edgar Award Nominated Book in the Best Juvenile category! Find her online at Karen Kane Books.

Salutations, Angela! Thanks so much for stopping by to chat with us. So, how did you find your way to becoming a kidlit artist?

I always knew I wanted to do something creative. However, it wasn’t until college that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator. There were so many majors in art school. It was difficult to pick just one. Thankfully, I had a 2D-design teacher whose work inspired me to study illustration. His work was similar to Lane Smith’s traditional illustrations, and it reminded me of how much I loved the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. It rekindled my childhood obsession with creating books. 

From there, it wasn’t a direct shot into doing kidlit. I studied general illustration and thought I would be an editorial illustrator. There was such a prestige about that type of work. Still, outside of class I found myself drawn to children’s book illustration. I even placed in an international children’s book illustration competition called Teatro while I was still a student. Despite that, it wasn’t until the last semester of school when I took a children’s book illustration class that everything aligned. 

For the first time, I could play with camera angles, humor, and a rhythm. I could tell stories, something I always loved. I could get lost creating a whole world for a book. I also had an excuse to read a ton of a kidlit! With some hard work and some luck, I started getting interest in the work as soon as I graduated. Then I was recommended to SCBWI by Abigal Samoun, who at the time was still an editor. She now has her own literary agency called Red Fox Literary. 

SCBWI really helped launch my career. I received my first small book from Children’s Book Press at Illustrator’s Day in San Francisco. More importantly my book,  Maria Had a Little Llama, began as assignment from a SCBWI Spirit conference in Davis, California. I am happy to say I’ve been illustrating for over ten years and writing six years professionally. 

​What do you love about being a children's book creator? 

I love telling a narrative and being able to draw things that I find amusing. I’ve always been on the sillier side so this is the perfect outlet for me. Also I adore the marriage of words and pictures. As a child, I could get lost reading a book and that never went away. Now, more and more, it’s the interaction with the kids that really motivates me. Seeing what they relate to during school presentations—not just what I relate to—gives me inspiration.  

As you've been honing your craft over the years, what's one of the biggest things you've learned so far.

Luckily, I studied illustration, so my learning curve with the craft has been easier. I think the biggest things is learning how to draw kids well. It’s been a bunch of practice and studying different illustrator’s work. I’ve even created a graduate character design for a children’s book course at the Academy of Art University. When it comes to being an author, the learning curve has been larger. I often force myself to write for practice and I read children’s literature as much possible.

Probably the biggest learning curve though, is realizing the amount of promotion and business skills you need to have. People assume because it’s a creative field and everything can be done at home that you don’t have to network or promote, but that’s a huge part of the job. After all, this children’s literature is its own business.

​What types of manuscripts do you love illustrating and why?

My favorite books to illustrate are ones that either feature animals and/or have plenty of room of interpretation. Probably one of my favorite books to illustrate was MARTA! BIG AND SMALL. It has minimal text so I was able to come up a with concept for where these animals lived. That was great collaborative project. I also love illustrating my own stories because there is even room to be creative!

What are you working on now and are you having fun?

I am working on a picture book with Candlewick. It’s still in the early stages, but it’s about a girl who is scared of bees. Coming up with expressions and reactions has been so much fun. I’m also working on a few story ideas. I find that it’s important to always be generating new projects for myself. It keeps me busy and hopefully it turns into a book! 

Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City but grew up in the great state of Texas. She is the author and illustrator of several children's books and a two-time recipient of Pura Belpré Illustration Honor. Her debut middle grade, Stella Díaz Has Something To Say, was a New York Public Library and a Chicago Public Library pick for Best Books for Kids in 2018, winner of SCBWI Sid Fleischman Award, and an ALA Notable. When Angela is not in her studio or visiting schools, she teaches at the Academy of Art University. She is represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency.

Please, leave a comment about which event you love attending! For additions or corrections, drop me a line via Contact Me. ​ Illustrations used with permission.

Salutations, Susan! Thanks so much for stopping by to share with us the ins and outs of what you do as a copyeditor for publishers of books written for younger audiences.

Hi, Dionna! Glad to be here. What do you want to know?

Once an author sells a manuscript, when does a copyeditor step in with his or her red pen?

The minute a contract is signed, an author is welcomed to the editorial process, where the manuscript will be honed and polished to its greatest shining potential, most likely with help from a copyeditor.

But what, exactly, does a copyeditor do? 

Once the author and editor have ironed out the big-picture components of the story—plot and character development, structure, pacing—most likely through a few rounds of revision, the manuscript heads to copyediting. Here the focus on the text goes from wide-angle to close-up. The copyeditor puts the manuscript under the microscope, correcting errors, querying questionable passages, and preparing a style sheet, a record of editorial choices that's used throughout the production process to keep everyone on the same, well, page. 

Through several reads, the copyeditor will scour the manuscript word for word, sussing out errors and inconsistencies. He or she will correct faulty spelling, grammar, punctuation, and usage and ensure consistency in spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization. The copyeditor will track continuity of plot, setting, and character, keep on top of chronology, and fact-check people, places, and events for accuracy. He or she may also eliminate wordiness and clichéd writing, smooth out transitions, and revise sentences for flow and readability. 

WOW! I had no idea a copyeditor did so much! Is there more?

Whenever the copyeditor comes across a confusing or possibly incorrect passage in the manuscript, he or she will flag it with a query. Just like it sounds, the query is the copyeditor’s question to the author on behalf of the reader. If a phrase, sentence, paragraph, or turn of events doesn’t seem to make sense, instead of revising the passage directly, the copyeditor will ask about it in a query, leaving the tweaking up to the author. The helpful copyeditor will often suggest a possible revision in the query.
 
The copyeditor will also format the manuscript to comport with the publisher’s in-house style guide. The style guide is a compilation of editorial preferences specific to that publisher. For example, some publishers like signs, labels, and words on T-shirts to be set in SMALL CAPS. Others prefer ALL CAPS. Or Initial Caps. Or “Initial Caps with Quotation Marks.”

But what if editorial changes are made, and the manuscript evolves?

To keep track of all editorial decisions made while working on a manuscript, the copyeditor will create a style sheet. This document lists character names and info, unusual words not in the dictionary, treatment of words and numbers, story timeline, and other issues specific to the manuscript. This helps all those working with the text at the publishing house—editors, copyeditors, proofreaders—keep things consistent. That way, green-eyed Tasha Clark of 212 Erie Place who turned fifteen on page 6 doesn’t become brown-eyed sixteen-year-old Sasha Clarke of 221 Eerie Court on page 206.

When the copyeditor is finished, the manuscript will be returned to the author's editor, who might add more comments before forwarding it to you. 

Do authors sometimes get overwhelmed by all the corrections and suggestions?

An author can, understandably, feel overwhelmed by the copyeditor’s corrections and queries. All those marks! My advice to them is don’t freak—the copyeditor’s working in your best interest. However, the book is, of course, the author's—so the author shouldn't think every correction or revision must be accepted. There’s a magic word in copyediting: stet. It means “go back to the original.” The author can override any of the copyeditor’s marks with that simple word (though the editor may disagree and discuss with the author why).

Remember, the copyeditor’s always got the author’s back. Your copyeditor’s mission is to help make the book its absolute best. Once all the issues spotted in copyediting are addressed and resolved, the manuscript will be ready to move to production, continuing its transformation from words tapped out on the computer to that gorgeous book in a reader's hand.  

Authors should feel privileged to have your red pen and sharp copyeditor's mind keeping watch over their manuscripts, Susan! I know I'm honored to have your trusty red pen upon the Highlighter, the newsletter serving the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI, of which I am the content editor!

​How might publishers contact you?

They can find me at SusanVanHeckeEditorial.com, my copyeditor's website and thanks again for having me, Dionna! 

The pleasure's all mine!

It's such an honor having you here, Rashin! I love your art. It's full of light and love, and it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. And I'm sure children reading your books feel the same!

Thank you! I'm happy to be here!

Why did you decide to write and illustrate SAFFRON ICE CREAM?

The reason I wrote this story was because I wanted to open a new window by sharing my immigration story with kids. I wanted to talk about real Iranian families and culture. There are a lot of misconceptions about Iran in the media, and that makes me sad. I also wanted to share with my audience all the wonderful moments I had growing up in Iran. At the end of the day, everyone loves ice cream, and I hope one day kids will experience the awesome taste of Persian ice cream—saffron ice cream—for themselves!

Would you describe the events in SAFFRON ICE CREAM as autobiographical? 

SAFFRON ICE CREAM is based on my life but some part of it is fiction. In 1979, I was born in Khorramshahr, a border city next to the Persian Gulf in the southern part of Iran. I was only nine months old when Iraq attacked Khorramshahr and the long eight-year war started. We lost our house and everything we had. My family, with many other refugees, had to move to the northern part of Iran by the Caspian Sea, where I spent most of my childhood. We spent many summer times going to the Caspian Beach. Despite the war and all the difficulties, my amazing parents created a happy childhood for me.

After moving to New York, I was excited when I planned a trip to Coney Island Beach. It was a flashback to all my childhood memories. I was curious. Would there be any rules like those we had on our Iranian beach? Would there be saffron ice cream?

​While fine-tuning SAFFRON ICE CREAM, what was it like working with Arthur Levine, your editor, and Marijka Kostiw, your art director? 

When I met Arthur at the SCBWI conference in New York, we talked about a new story idea about Iran. Later, I came up with the Caspian Beach idea. Arthur suggested “Saffron Ice Cream” for the title and I loved it. Arthur was such a kind soul to work with and an amazing editor. He was there for me through the whole process. He helped me to add more adventure and whimsical touches to my manuscript. 

Marijka was fun to work with and a wonderful art director. She kept me updated about the latest feedback from the design and marketing team. Arthur and Marijka gave me all the space and freedom to draw and experiment with different ideas and techniques. They were always supportive. When I was drawing the dummies, they helped me have a better visual understanding about New York City, encouraging me to include subway signs and outfits from different cultures. It was such fun—our teamwork!