Author: Bonny Becker
Illustrator: Kady MacDonald Denton
Candlewick Press, 2008
On Thursday, we picked up Mirette's sister Lily (she's 24 and lives in Seattle!) and headed to Mockingbird Books to hear Bonny Becker speak. It was a great thing to do on a stormy day. We were first, so Mirette and Lily played with the awesome train set while I browsed and bought a few books (A Visitor for Bear, Olivia, and a Fancy Nancy sticker book).
Before long, the place was hopping with toddlers, including a handsome teacher with a gaggle of kids crawling all over him. Bonny read A Visitor for Bear aloud, followed by another bear book more appropriate for the younger set, A Birthday for Bear. Mirette was fidgety, but I was loving seeing a real live kids' author with lots of kudos and awards to her name.
During the question and answer session (which given the age of the kids wasn't too introspective in nature), she asked the adults if we had any questions about the writing process. She said that often adults that turn out for these types of readings are interested in writing children's literature themselves. In fact, she wrote her books because she was reading aloud to her grandkids and thought she could write something better. She didn't know WHAT she was going to write—just that there would be a bear who was grumpy and a mouse who was sophisticated and old English.
She also said that she did not have a say in picking the illustrator. I think that is such a bizarre fact (and one that I knew even before I started this blog) of the children's book publishing world. Why can't the author pick the illustrator (or vice versa if the pictures were created first)? It just seems so wrong. The author must put his/her words out there to the world and HOPE to get an illustrator that works for the vision.
Bonny's story is delicious. It's fun, funny, and filled with great words like Vamoose! The interplay between grumpy bear and sophisticated mouse is endearing. But she also got REALLY lucky. She got a fantastic illustrator. What if they had given her someone horrible? Would the book still be a bestseller? I guess I am geeky enough to spend time wondering about these types of things.
What I really want to say, though, is that Bonny Becker is a delightful person and her books are gems. I really love this story. It's special and adorable and I can't wait for us to read the entire series.
Here's a link to her website:
http://www.bonnybecker.com/index.html
Kady MacDonald Denton's website is very utilitarian, but here it is anyway:
http://www.kadymacdonalddenton.ca/
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