Henry Herz Fractures a Fairy Tale ~ by Patricia Toht

Fracture. Sounds painful, doesn't it?

Illustration from
Squibs of California, Or Every-day Life Illustrated

But a fracture is anything but painful in the hands of Henry Herz, because Henry has been fracturing fairy tales! 

LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH,
Pelican Publishing

His newest picture book, LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH, is a clever take on the old childhood tale Little Red Riding Hood. The story is set in an ocean reef, where Little Red innocently heads off to deliver crab cakes to her grandmother. But a big, bad tiger shark is on the hunt for a tasty seafood snack! Little Red must use her cuttlefish defenses to save the day. Readers will cheer her on while learning a bit about sea life in the reef, too.

I recently tossed a line to Henry, asking for tips on fracturing fairy tales, and he was generous with advice.

Henry: "Before we discuss fractured fairy tales, let's first unpack the term 'fairy tale.' Fairy tales are commonly defined as children's short stories featuring fantasy creatures and magical enchantments. 

THE GOLDEN BOOK OF FAIRY TALES

"Thomas Keightley indicated that the word 'fairy' derived from the old French faerie, denoting enchantment. 

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's illustration from
ELVES AND FAIRIES, 1916

Fairies have been flitting around literature for centuries, from Morgan le Fay (King Arthur), to Tinkerbell (J.M. Barrie's PETER PAN), to Holly Short (Eoin Colfer's ARTEMIS FOWL). You can find them in modern picture books, too, like Doreen Cronin's BLOOM, and [Henry's other new release!] MABEL AND THE QUEEN OF DREAMS, inspired by Queen Mab in Romeo and Juliet.

Henry's other 2016 release,
MABEL AND THE QUEEN OF DREAMS,
Schiffer Publishing

"But today the term 'fractured fairy tale' seems to have broadened to mean the recasting of a story, whether technically a fairy tale or not. WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY from IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE or WEST SIDE STORY from ROMEO AND JULIET are two examples of recasting stories that were not originally fairy tales. By 'recasting' we mean a new version in which the author changes the setting, the character(s), the story arc, and/or the theme.

"When I consider writing a fractured fairy tale, I start with the choice of source material. For me, it must be both a story I love and a story sufficiently well-known so that readers will recognize the provenance, or origin, of the fractured version. The latter is critical, both for market appeal, and because much of the charm of a fractured fairy tale derives from when the reader notices and appreciates the differences between the two stories. A musical analogy would be a 'cover,' like this pair of Slovakian cellists shredding AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck':

"I find the most critical writing decision is which aspects should be changed versus which aspects should be kept the same. I generally try to keep the theme intact, although it's okay to add a layer. For example, in LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH, the setting is changed from forest to underwater, and the characters are swapped for aquatic creatures. I also changed the story arc so that the heroine resolves her own challenge. This makes her more empathetic and adds a layer of ingenuity to the original theme of beware of strangers. 

"In INTERSTELLAR CINDERELLA, Deborah Underwood not only put the story in space and makes Cinderella a skilled mechanic, she also transformed the story into rhyme!"

I would like to thank Henry Herz for his insights, and I encourage you to check out his new books. If you would like to try your hand at fracturing a fairy tale, readers, begin by studying some mentor texts - Henry provides a list here.
Tara Lazar also offers some advice here. 

Go forth and fracture! Just don't get hurt in the process...

Writing Poetry for Kids - Where to Begin? ~ by Patricia Toht

Recently, several of the GROGgers had a discussion about poetry for kids. "How do you get started?" some wondered. "What's the best type of poetry for a beginner to try?" 

I am one of the poets in the GROG group. I've always enjoyed rhyme. My favorite childhood books were rhyming ones.

One of my favorites is missing --
MISS TWIGGLEY'S TREE
by Dorothea Warren Fox 

As an adult, my love of rhyme continues and my collection builds. 

Only a small part of my poetry collection.

And so my first suggestion to hopeful poets is, before you start your poetry-writing engines, prime the pump. Check out a stack of children's poetry collections. Read, read, read! How do the words feel in your mouth? Smooth? Jumpy? What phrases jump out? Revel in the author's word choices.

You can also find books about writing poetry. For all beginners (child and adult alike), I recommend those that are written for children. They boil poetry down to its basic elements and give wonderful examples. I've chosen poetry forms from three of these books to get you started.

From KNOCK AT A STAR: A CHILD'S INTRODUCTION TO POETRY by X.J. Kennedy

A Takeoff Poem (or Parody)

Choose a rhyme that you already know and make some changes to it. Kennedy gives the example of the common childhood verse, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Author Lewis Carroll changed "star" to "bat" and rewrote the rhyme:

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!

How I wonder where you're at!

Up above the world you fly.

Like a tea tray in the sky.

Because your brain is already familiar verse, it makes it easier to conform to the rhythm. Try Humpty Dumpty, I'm a Little Teapot, Little Miss Muffet, or another childhood favorite.

From HOW TO WRITE POETRY by Paul B. Janeczko

A List Poem

Try a free verse list poem. A free verse has no set rhythm or rhyme.  Pick an interesting topic -- Janeczko includes "The Perfect Friend," "What Cats Do," or "How to Make a Rainbow." Write a list of anything and everything that comes to mind about your topic. Then read over your list. Can you narrow its focus? Maybe "What Cats Do" becomes "What Cats Do at Night." Which words or phrases seem to fit your topic best? Cross off those that are vague or unclear. Focus on word choice - use your thesaurus for more exact words. Try switching around the order of your list. How does the rhythm sound? Is there sense in how the reader moves from one thing on the list to another?

A wonderful example of a list poem is the picture book, THE QUIET BOOK by Deborah Underwood. The author lists all the different types of "quiet," such as "Coloring in the lines quiet," "Hide and seek quiet," and "Bedtime kiss quiet." 

From POEM-MAKING: WAYS TO BEGIN WRITING POETRY by Myra Cohn Livingston

A Haiku

A haiku is a Japanese form with three lines and seventeen syllables. The first and third lines have five syllables and the second line has seven. Traditional haiku celebrate something in nature. Write in present tense, like it is happening right now. Keep the focus narrow. Livingston says to "present a picture of something you want your reader to think about further." She gives this example by Joso:

That duck, bobbing up

from the green deeps of a pond,

has seen something strange...

Choose your words well, with strong verbs and specific adjectives. Writing a powerful haiku takes time and lots of tweaking!


So, fellow GROGgers and other readers, are you ready to try your hand at some poetry? You can do it! Good luck!

Wordless Spreads in Picture Books ~ by Patricia Toht

And now, for a few words (well, more than a few) about wordless spreads in picture books...

In my newest PB manuscript, I'm choosing to ignore two strong suggestions for picture book writers:

1) DON'T write in rhyme!

2) DON'T include illustrator notes!

I'm a published poet, so I feel I have some justification for writing a rhymed text. But what about those illustrator notes? As Deborah Underwood once said, "It's not the illustrator's job to tell you what to write -- just as it's not your job to tell her [or him] what to draw." I agree, whole-heartedly! So...why the notes?

Long-time readers of the GROG may recall my fondness for making picture book dummies by laying out my text in spreads that mimic a finished book. When I did so with the new book, I discovered a spot where I could cut lots of text by letting an illustrator go crazy with a wordless spread.

Before hitting the "submit" button, I thought it wise to study up on picture books that contained just one or two wordless spreads, to see if my suggestion made sense. I knew of several books to consider, and a shout out to members of PiBoIdMo bolstered my list.

A few of the books I studied.

I discovered some interesting things:

From my sampling (16 books), a wordless spread was more likely to occur in the second half of a book.

Wordless spreads were as likely to occur in books authored and illustrated by different people as those by author/illustrators. 

In many of the books, the spread served as a pause or slowing of pace, a chance for the reader to reflect. 

The spreads served other functions and conveyed varied messages (sometimes more than one, which is why the percentages below add up to way more than 100%!).

• 50% were humorous (many LOL). A majority of these happened in the second half of the book.

I love the "naked centerfold" in Peter Brown's MR. TIGER GOES WILD!

 • 50% demonstrated change, either within the character or in his/her situation.

• 33% portrayed setting out on a journey or adventure

The zoo animals hop aboard a bus in
A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE
by Philip and Erin Stead

• 33% showed a difference in size or scale. This contrast between two characters, or between a character and the surroundings, elicited a variety of emotions from fear to loneliness to sweetness to wonder.

• 25% portrayed the culmination of a quest/resolution of a problem.

• One book introduced the main conflict through a wordless spread early on (pages 10 & 11).

Watch out, Billy Twitters! A blue whale is coming your way!
BILLY TWITTERS AND HIS BLUE WHALE PROBLEM
by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex

• The spreads were all worth their weight in wordless gold-- with the illustrations doing the work of many, many words.

Tara Lazar mentioned that her upcoming book, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK, contains a wordless spread. I asked her about it.

Me: Where does it occur?
Tara: The wordless spread is in the second-to-last spread in the book, right before you make the final page turn.

Me: What's its purpose?
Tara: It restores a sense of calm to the reader and conveys that everything has been settled. (Or has it????) It gives the bears some time to return home.

Me: Did you request the wordless spread?
Tara: This wordless spread was not in the original manuscript. It was suggested by my editor and illustrator after we made changes to the resolution. It helps with the pacing and sets up the final guffaw.


In the end, I feel a bit bold to suggest the wordless spread, but I feel it's the best vehicle to show lots of activity and a passage of time. Reassuringly, my sleuthing uncovered QUEEN VICTORIA'S BATHING MACHINE by Gloria Whelan and Nancy Carpenter. 

Like my manuscript, this story
1) is written in rhyme
2) is rooted in history
3) contains a wordless spread at the same spot that I am considering 
4) shows the resolution to a problem



And so I am emboldened to go where manuscripts are suggested not to go -- to submission, WITH illustrator notes! Wish me luck!

Thank you to Tara Lazar! (Visit Tara here.) Thanks also to PiBoIdMo members for your suggestions!