Meara's Grandad lives by the mysterious lake of Loughareema. Some days it’s full and shimmering, and some days it's completely empty! Grandad has plenty of stories about why it vanishes. Is it mermaids? Narwhals? Giants? Meara doesn't believe any of these stories, but with a little imagination she may eventually discover the ‘real’ reason . . .
Max's Boat Pick:
THE VANISHING LAKE
By Paddy Donnelly
Publisher: O'Brien Press (May 30, 2022)
Thanks for popping by, Paddy! I'm thrilled to call Ireland home and am in awe of its wondrous landscape. In your author's note, you mention growing up near the actual Loughareema, which disappears and reappears every so often. Was this story idea bubbling inside you all this time? Were there different ways you had tried to approach the story before landing on the characters of Meara and her Granddad? PD: "I hadn't thought about Loughareema (the real Vanishing Lake) in a long time. I guess when you grow up with something like that on your doorstep then you take it for granted. But now having lived away from Ireland for many years, I get a renewed sense of wonder when I go back home to visit and see these magical things which Ireland has in abundance. I'd love to write a few more stories about interesting places and phenomena from Ireland, so maybe down the line there could be more books based in reality.
When creating this particular story I started with a lake which would mysteriously vanish and reappear, and then plopped a child character (Meara) in there. Naturally she would be curious why the lake was vanishing, and went in search of the answer. I had her grandad live at the lake, so that there was a character to bounce. Meara is very much rooted in the real world and only believes what she can see and explain, while her grandad is full of fantastical stories of mermaids and giants. This enabled me to keep creating wilder and wilder tales from grandad, which keeps those pages turning."
Interior spreads from The Vanishing Lake:
In your process, do the illustrations or the words come first? "It's different if it's for my own stories, or if I'm illustrating another author's story. If someone else has written the words, then they've been refined and refined before it gets to me. When it comes to creating my own author illustrated stories, I tend to have both the images and words appearing in my head at once. Sometimes I just start with one image of something I want to illustrate, and then I try to work out a sketchy beginning, middle and end. Once I have that, then I can start writing some words. And usually the writing process gives me ideas on things to change in the illustrations, and vice versa. It’s a messy process!"
Who are some of your favorite Irish picture book creators? "There are so many beautiful books coming out of Ireland at the moment, it's very hard to choose! I'm a huge fan of Steve McCarthy's work, but especially his recent picture book, The Wilderness. It's an adventurous tale about the The Vasylenko family, but especially litle October who prefers the warm and safe comfort of the inside world. Steve's illustrations are stunning. Be Wild, Little One by Olivia Hope and Daniel Egnéus is a beautiful picture book which highlights the beauty of nature.
I also really love Girls Who Slay Monsters by Ellen Ryan and Shona Shirley Macdonald. It explores the strong female characters of Ireland's ancient myths and legends."
My dad is the best. We love hanging out together. Recently, he got this banana. At first, we had a great time with the banana — it does cool stuff and it’s really fun. But lately he’s spending too much time with the banana. He’s distracted, and he’s not enjoying the things he used to enjoy, like hanging out with me. I don’t think this banana is good for him. It’s time to take action.
Max's Boat Pick:
BANANA
By Zoey Abbott
Publisher: Tundra Books (March 7, 2023)
Thank you for joining Max's Boat again! So I have to ask: What inspired Banana?
"A number of years ago I was walking in my neighborhood and saw Fred from across the street and half a block down. He was on his way to work at our local bakery. Fred saw me and waved. I waved back. Fred was carrying his lunch in his arms, including a loose banana. Fred started to mime with the banana (pretending it was a leash, a guitar, a phone, etc ) which made me laugh pretty hard. Later I started doodling a story about a magical banana."
Interior spreads from Banana:
For those who love Banana, can you recommend one or two other books you think they might also enjoy? "Gosh, this is such a hard question! I don’t think I can answer this yet as I’m not sure where Banana fits, category wise. Each person who reads the book seems to have their own take on what it’s about. So, I will keep you posted on where this banana lands and what books become its kindreds.
But I will say … you know how if you get a minivan (a random personal example) then you start seeing minivans everywhere? Well, the same goes for bananas. If you write a book about a banana you start seeing bananas and banana books everywhere, too.
For example, I have two friends (Kate Berube and Carrie Tillotson) here in Portland, OR who also have books featuring bananas! Their banana books are, respectively, Second Banana, written by Blair Thornburgh, and Counting to Bananas, illustrated by Estrela Lourenço.
And I’m finding cute little banana details in all sorts of picture books. Here are a few favorites I've recently come across (from left to right): A World of Your Own by Laura Carlin, Bedtime for Bo by Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold and Mari Kanstad Johnsen (translated from Norwegian by Kari Dickson) and Why Do We Wear Clothes? by Helen Hancocks."
What are some forthcoming books you're looking to getting your hands on? "Here are a few books I can’t wait to get my mitts on!
Sorry Snail by Tracy Subisak (imminent)
Bunny and Tree by Balint Zsako (imminent)
Pelican Can by Toni Yuli (2024)"
What do you think the best picture books do? "When my kids were very little some of our favorite reads were by Barbara Helen Berger: A Lot of Otters, Grandfather Twilight, and When the Sun Rose. They are soft and lyrical, some are allegorical and all are transporting.
Speaking of Barbara Helen Berger, can I share a quick story? One morning my son woke up at 5 am a total mess, crying and out of sorts. As I carried him downstairs, I remembered it was his birthday. He was two. I said, 'It’s’ your birthday! You were born on this day.' He said, 'Show me.' So, in my hazy fog, I took a quilt and a stuffed animal and made myself a ‘belly.’
As I told him the story he started punctuating my narration with short pithy phrases which, it dawned on me, were lines from a Barbara Helen Berger book, All the Way to Lhasa. When I got to the part of his actual birth via c-section he whispered, 'Emaho!' - one of the last lines of Berger’s book when the main character finally reaches the holy city of Lhasa after a long and treacherous journey. In Tibetan, 'Emaho' apparently is 'an exclamation of wonder or amazement.'
I think this is what the best picture books can do - give us the vocabulary to talk about things that are ineffable (especially when we are pre-verbal or very newly verbal).
Great books give us vivid metaphors for making beauty and sense of the world. They can show us things that are true about ourselves that we didn’t know how to put into words."
Before her grandchildren climbed the towering tree, explored its secret nests, raced to its sturdy trunk, read in its cool shade, or made pies with its pecans… Nell buried a seed. And just as Nell’s tree grows and thrives with her love and care, so do generations of her close-knit family.
Pick by Carter Higgins, A Story is to Share:
NELL PLANTS A TREE
Written by Anne Wynter and illustrated by Daniel Miyares
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (January 31, 2023)
Anne and Daniel! Thank you both for stopping by. Anne, can you tell me the origin story behind Nell Plants a Tree? AW: "I was trying to write a book about a grandmother and how her actions improved the life of her grandchild. I knew the heart of the idea was good, but the story wasn’t working at all. One day I got an email from my husband’s aunt, encouraging us to plant more trees in our communities. And that’s when it clicked that I should make it about a tree and how Nell’s planting of the tree impacted future generations. When I was a kid, it seemed like all my family members and family friends had pecan trees in their yards - so that was the natural choice for the kind of tree at the center of the book."
An interior spread from Nell Plants a Tree:
Amazing! Some of the best stories seem like they just come to you, don't they? (Or perhaps some of the best writers are just more attuned to ideas as they present themselves.) Daniel, what was your initial reaction upon reading the text? What most drew you in? DM: "The first time I read Anne’s manuscript I was really smitten by the parallel journeys that she had so elegantly woven into the story. There’s Nell as a young girl bringing this tree up through love and wonder so that the future generations of her family could delight in it just as she did. Then there was also the growth of her family mirroring the growth of the tree as if they shared the same roots. To me this seemed like a very challenging visual statement to make, but an enormously meaningful one. Also, my Grandmother had pecan trees lining her yard. Growing up we’d go spend every Sunday afternoon there. When the pecans started dropping, we had to go out and pick them up. This story instantly brought back all of those sweet Sunday afternoon memories. It was a no brainer. I had to go for it!"
A process shot from Daniel Miyares's studio during the making of Nell Plants A Tree:
The parallel journeys are indeed so elegantly woven. But I can see how they would present enormous challenges. Daniel, how did you approach the artwork? DM: "For this book I ended up making it with gouache paints, ink drawing and collage elements on paper. Most of the time when I’m working on a new book I try to explore and experiment my way into the final art."
Daniel, what was your starting point and / or inspirations? DM: "When I began thinking about how to approach the artwork I wanted to consider the idea of a family's history and the love of one generation continuing to radiate onto the next. At first I played with different inks and brushes. It seemed like a way to get the emotion I wanted into the characters and settings, but I kept thinking about this quilt that my Grandmother had made and given to me when I left home for college. It was made of all these fabric scraps she had collected over the years. It was stunning, but she gave it to me under the condition that I would take it and use it. She didn’t want it in a cabinet or hope chest somewhere. She wanted me to be taken care of by it. I used it all through college and into my years here in Kansas City. It’s all tattered and torn now, as I think she intended it to be. This quilt was a tangible reminder of her care for her family that lives on beyond just that moment - kind of like Nell’s pecan tree. I liked that connection so I started painting and drawing shapes and then cutting them out and collaging them into my illustrations. In some cases like the end papers it directly suggests a quilt, but having the cloths of the characters overlapping one another as paper shapes felt right. As if through discovery and play the children were creating their own tapestry."
Endpapers from Nell Plants a Tree:
Daniel, I absolutely love how Anne's words kept you thinking about the blanket your grandmother gave you. And I love how you still have the blanket. Daniel, I know your grandmother had pecan trees around her own house. Do we see her house and surrounding pecan trees in the book? DM: "You don’t see her house, because it was a small brick house that my Grandfather built long ago and the porch wasn’t that big. I wanted to have a good sized porch in the book, big enough to hold the whole family. Porches are great hang out spots on a hot summer afternoon. You do though definitely see a pecan tree that I remembered from growing up. We used to play around them and pull on the branches all the time."
An interior spread from Nell Plants a Tree:
Anne, what do you think Daniel brought to the book that perhaps originally wasn't there? AW: "Too much to name! To start, when I wrote the manuscript I was worried the two timelines might be confusing. But thankfully Daniel created a visual language that brings so much clarity to the story. His illustrations have a sense of timelessness and a bit of nostalgia - it’s magical. Also his color palette is just perfect for this story. One detail I absolutely love is that Nell’s dress is yellow. Yellow is my favorite color!"
For those who love Nell Plants a Tree, can you recommend another title that you think they might also enjoy? AW: "When Grandma Gives you a Lemon Tree by Jamie L.B. Deenihan and Lorraine Rocha is another wonderful title about a grandmother, the process of caring for a tree, and the gifts a tree can provide."
DM: "I like What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? by Emma Carlisle. It talks about how we can be connected with nature and what is special about trees. That seems like a good pairing with Nell."
What are some other picture books that you love that celebrate family? AW: "A Grandma’s Magic by Charlotte Offsay and Ȧsa Gilland definitely comes to mind. My kids once read it to their grandma and it made her cry (tears of joy!) I Really Want to See You, Grandma by Taro Gomi is one of my favorites - so fun and unexpected. And of course, The Old Truck by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey is a modern classic about family generations."
DM: "A more recent one that I love is My Grandma and Me by Mina Javaherbin and Lindsey Yankey, and one way back from my childhood book collection is Little Bear’s Visit by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak."
What forthcoming picture books are you most looking forward to getting your hands on?
AW: "I’m super excited about Joanna Ho and Faith Pray’s upcoming picture book, One Day, which looks stunning. I’m a fan of everything Jessixa Bagley does, so I can’t wait for her upcoming book, Maurice. And of course I’m ready to get my hands on Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner. I could keep going but I’ll stop there!"
DM: "I’m looking forward to reading Sometimes It’s Nice to be Alone by Amy Hest and Philip Stead, Hands by Torrey Maldonado, and Big Tree by Brian Selznick."
What did you love reading to your kids at age three? At age five? AW: "At age 3, Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry and Tom Lichtenheld, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank, Blue on Blue by Dianne White and Beth Krommes, and My Red Balloon by Kazuaki Yamada were definite favorites. At age 5, Whoosh! By Chris Barton and Don Tate, Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown, and I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James were all winners. Another great thing about all these books is that they’re special at such a wide range of ages. They’re all still favorites in our home."
What did you love reading to your kids at age 3? At age 5? DM: "My children are now 14 and 11 years old. For my daughter her all time favorite was Antoinette Portis’s Not A Box. We’d read it every night before bed for years. She also loved Chloe, instead by Micah Player. For my son it was a book illustrated by my friend Bob Kolar and written by Margery Cuyler called The Little Dump Truck. They also both loved Paola Opal’s books, Saffy, Ollie, and Totty when they were real young. Oh, and also anything by Sian Tucker. We had The Little Boat, Going Out, and The Little Train."
What would be on your list of 100 best picture books of all time? AW: "What a question! That’s so hard! To avoid hand-wringing, brow-furrowing and page flipping, I’m going to pick one that definitely makes the list for me. A Big Moon Cake for Little Star by Grace Lin. Magical, breathtaking, satisfying, perfect. We never get tired of that book."
What would be on your list of 100 best picture books of all time? DM: "Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats would be one I’d put on my 100 best list."