HATFIELD — With the publication of her 400th book imminent, author Jane Yolen mentions delight, surprise, wonder and astonishment “that I am still around to see it happen.”
And although she is 82, she just might reach the 500 mark.
“I have 130 unsold manuscripts. I have about 30 already under contract and written and about 10 more promised, some written, some not,” Yolen said.
Inspired by her family, her new husband “and every single thing I read, watch, find, dream about or fear,” Yolen’s 400th book, “Bear Outside,” portrays the relationships people have with their inner selves. It will be published on Tuesday, March 2.
The book’s illustrator is Jen Corace, whose work was the inspiration for this book. One day, Yolen came across — and fell in love with — Corace’s work, especially with a picture of a little girl peering out of the mouth of a bear. “The child (did) not look frightened. She (looked) … empowered,” Yolen has said.
In “Bear Outside,” a girl explores the many ways she expresses herself by imagining that she wears a bear as her personal protective shell. They go everywhere and do everything together. The bear is like a suit of armor and a partner all in one, protecting her from bullies and giving her strength to be bold when she needs it. In turn, she listens to and takes care of the bear.
The author hopes readers will take from the story the understanding “that if you pretend long enough to be brave, you can become it and then pass that bravery on.”
Admittedly, that philosophy has not worked for her and snakes yet. “And no, don’t ask me to try!” she said.
“Bear Outside,” published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, is targeted for children from about 3-7 and the grownups who read with them who also can take something from the book. “It is a story, and we take from a story what we need to (then) pass it on,” she said.
The first two published books under Yolen’s name were published in 1963: a nonfiction book about women pirates — “Pirates in Petticoats” — and a concept picture book in rhyme, “See This Little Line” about making art.
“So, even at the beginning, I was already working across genres, something that would expand over the years and last a lifetime,” she said.
Yolen published her first poems as an undergraduate at Smith College in Northampton some 60 years ago. Her work has changed over the years: She is a little more deliberate, less surprised at what she writes.
“I have developed a set routine for writing which couldn’t have served me in my early years when I either had a full-time job (I was an editor) or had three children,” Yolen said. “That routine? Write all day.”
Explaining how she comes up with so many ideas for her books, Yolen said, “I could say I have a low threshold of boredom so keep looking for something new to do. I could say storytelling makes me extremely happy. I could say it’s a comfortable spot for me since I couldn’t do my three childhood desires — being a prima ballerina, owning a horse farm and/or being a lawyer like Uncle Jerry whom I adored.”
In fact, in her stories she has done even more — gone to the depths of the sea with a mermaid, landed on the moon, moved back in time, moved forward in space, made best friends of Emily Dickinson and of pirate queen Grania O’Malley, read books with Ben Franklin’s son and walked with dinosaurs.
Yolen considers herself a storyteller, sometimes telling those stories in rhyme and poetic lines, sometimes in long narratives, sometimes in comic book styling.
“Sometimes, my storytelling is more in the teaching or explaining mode, about how to do things — like go birding or cooking,” she added.
Yolen has five or six more books coming out this year, including several picture books, several easy-readers for emergent readers, two books of adult poetry, a novel that begins where “Moby Dick” ends and a board book called “Something New for Rosh Hashanah.”
Her books have won awards including the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, the Jewish Book Award and two Christopher Medals.
Her 400th book, “Bear Outside,” has 32 illustrated pages in hardcover. It retails for $18.99.
For more information, visit janeyolen.com.
Jane Yolen's "Bear Outside." (Neal Porter Books; courtesy of Holiday House Publishing)
"book" - Google News
February 28, 2021 at 05:31PM
https://ift.tt/3kwbHxb
Prolific children’s author Jane Yolen readies 400th book - MassLive.com
"book" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Yv0xQn
https://ift.tt/2zJxCxA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Prolific children’s author Jane Yolen readies 400th book - MassLive.com"
Post a Comment