The Magical, Vulnerable Illustrator

I rarely edit picture books, but I do currently have two on my desk 

and consequently I've been thinking a lot about illustrations and illustrators. The reason I don't edit a lot of picture books is that though it may seem like an easy endeavor (matching pictures to very few words), it's actually quite a delicate art and in order to pull off a successful picture book, an editor needs to have a true eye for it and have a clear vision for how the words and illustrations will work together to tell a memorable story that resonates and creates an enjoyable experience a very young reader will want to have again and again and again...It's the rare picture book I really have that kind of vision for. Every children's book editor has an internal age that generally reflects the sorts of books they work on. My internal age is probably a twelve-year-old/sixteen-year-old split, which explains why the majority of my list is middle grade and young adult.

Editors with an internal age of around four years old are the editors that have the most consistent and admirable vision for picture books. These editors have worked with authors and illustrators to create some of my favorite picture books like I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen or Grandpa Green by Lane Smith or The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf and Brothers Hilts or One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and David Small or Meet Me at the Moon by Gianna Marino. So while I may not be the consummate picture book editor, I do have a real love for picture books. If I wanted to I could have named a hundred picture books I love and really...I almost did. But even for these picture books I love, I don't know that I would have had the vision when the project was unformed or raw to see it through to publication. I don't know that I would have read the initial manuscripts and known just who should illustrate, already seeing the picture book take form in my head. If the project began with illustrations, I don't know that the story would have easily revealed itself to me. Crafting a picture book is a real honest to goodness talent. It's a very specific eye that can shape a picture book. It's a very particular kind of editor who again has that consistent vision. And for me, it's the very rare and special project that invites that vision in me. I'm happy to say it's happened on occasion and reaped such wonderful picture books as Hope's Gift, Tea Cakes for Tosh and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honoree Ellen's Broom all written by the incomparable Kelly Starling Lyons as part of her picture book trio on African American life and history; and illustrated by the acclaimed Don Tate, Caldecott Honoree E.B. Lewis and Coretta Scott King Honoree Daniel Minter, respectively. In each case, the stories Kelly wrote really spoke to me and the pull of the projects were undeniable and the vision was immediate and organic. It was the same with Geoffrey Norman's Stars Above Us, a story about a girl waiting for her soldier father to come home, also illustrated by Caldecott Honoree E.B. Lewis. I read the manuscripts and saw the world come alive in my head. Seeing the illustrations come into the office and seeing what was once only in my head, in the author's head, in the art director's head suddenly exist in the world is a truly remarkable thing. Illustrators are remarkable.

Though I can't yet talk specifically about the two picture books  

currently on my desk, I can say how exciting a process it is to see picture books come together. To see finished art for the first time, to see how an illustrator has made an author's words much more than words and created a whole world to get lost in. I can speak to the vibrant colors, the ambitious choice of mediums like collage or the bold stylistic choices that artists make that are both poignant and fun. A picture book often begins with the words, which are a magic all their own, but the magic of both words and art working together leaves me in awe of illustrators--they are quite literally bringing a spectacular flight of fancy to life and sending children to bed with those proverbial sugar plums dancing in their heads.When art comes into the office I can practically see that curious four-year-old decked out in footed pajamas mouthing the words along with mom or dad pouring over the pictures, discovering something new and wonderful with each read. There is certain joy in working on a picture book. As I write this, I realize perhaps I should strive to publish them more often.

What's also got me thinking about illustrators, though, is how disarming it can be to watch the anxiety in an illustrator's face when he or she brings in their art. I can practically see the "Will they like it? Please like it" written all over their faces. Presenting one's art exposes one's vulnerability. And that vulnerability is also part of the process of creating a great picture book. It's part of the magic. In that vulnerability I can see that four-year-old the illustrator once was and who in their heart they draw for looking out at me. And then there's the sweet relief when I and the art director and the author all smile and nod and agree it is wonderful because illustrators put so much of themselves into illustrations for children that it is, indeed, always wonderful, requests for revisions notwithstanding. Picture books are exciting. Not to diminish the importance of the words or the authors because it is also exciting when an author perfects a picture book text, but it becomes real when the illustrator does their thing. Today, art came into the office and two books became real. There was vulnerability, relief and magic. Illustrators are magic.

Stacey