A picture book is a true blending of skills, of story-telling through words and pictures. Yet, ironically, most authors never communicate with their illustrators. In most cases, authors interact only with the editor, who in turn works separately with the illustrator. That was my experience in working on The Hunter, an ALA Notable, with Ed Young. The first contact I had personally with Ed Young was in a signing line at IRA a few years after publication. In contrast, illustrator Ard Hoyt and I have collaborated on each of our picture books, including our newest release, One-Dog Sleigh. I now can’t imagine it otherwise. Creating with an illustrator is magic. Together we
get to share that magic with
young readers everywhere.
Time and again, I’m asked how
creating with Ard Hoyt actually
works. For starters, we’ve agreed
we’re both overgrown 12-year-
olds who share a similar sense of
humor, so that helps. In reality,
it’s about communicating. I want
to allow Ard to have as much
creative license to interpret my
story as possible without dictating how some-thing might be rendered. In return, I always feel his whole-hearted respect for my craft as a writer.
Though I live in Minnesota and Ard lives in Arkansas, that hasn’t kept us from communi-cating. We e-mail back and forth with questions, and we often speak together at library and reading conferences. Ard often tells audiences that my books “illustrate them-selves,” but I know my stories--including SOME CAT!, on this year's Show-Me Award list--would not have met with the same enthusiasm without Ard’s illustrations. He brings each page to life, filling it with endearing and whimsical characters who brim with energy.
In The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town, Dirk scours the town for something to stop his “itchin’ and twitchin’” and his “jumpin’ and rattlin’,” but no one seems able to help. Except young Sam, who’s “curious as a tomcat” and has been following Dirk all day--and who can sometimes be fidgety and in a little trouble, too--knows the perfect solution . . . When everyone else in town is taking cover, Sam bravely steps into the outlaw’s shadow and leads Dirk Yeller to the one thing that has helped him--the new library in town. Sam finds that Dirk Yeller isn’t a real strong reader when he “turns red as Ma’s blue ribbon tomatoes.”
Together, Sam helps the outlaw
sound out word after word, and
side by side, they turn one page
after another. Ard’s illustration
of Sam and the outlaw, sitting
cross-legged and reading
together, should make any book
lover’s heart melt, because
finally, “sure as shootin’, Dirk
Yeller is sittin’ still.” And without
giving away all of the “ah-ha”
revelations and satisfying
“ahhhhh” moments at the story’s
end, suffice it to say
that all ends well. Of our picture book, Kirkus Reviews concluded, “Hoyt’s marvelous caricatures are worth thousands of words, making this hilarious tall tale not only a plug for books and reading but an outsized winner.”
The Author-Illustrator Collaboration:
Creating with Ard Hoyt--Again!
by Mary Casanova
Mary and Ard at a book signing
12
Collaboration Collection
