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| Deborah Bruss |
Deborah Bruss is the author of the new children's picture book Good Morning, Snowplow, illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson. Bruss's other books include Don't Ask a Dinosaur. Fancher and Johnson have worked together on more than 50 picture books. Bruss lives in Concord, New Hampshire, and Fancher and Johnson live in Northern California.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for
Good Morning, Snowplow?
DB: There’s a popular children’s bedtime
story about construction equipment. Before I had read it, I thought, “But
snowplows don’t get to sleep.”
The idea came easily, but how to approach
the writing was much more difficult. I often write in the first person
point-of-view, but I wanted to avoid giving the snowplow human thoughts and
feelings while creating a magical mood.
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the
book?
DB: Great question! Some children worry
about what will happen during a snowstorm. Others love them, just like I still
do. Either way, it’s comforting to know that adults and their trusty equipment
keep the world running.
Also, the story is about working as a team
and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. And maybe an accident
will be prevented by a 5-year-old backseat driver who sternly tells a parent,
“Don’t pass a plow when it’s slippery!”
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| Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson |
LF: We hope they find inspiration for
writing their own stories and creating artwork. Oh, and a little respect and
appreciation for the men and women who work hard to keep them safe. Not just
snowplow drivers, but parents, families, friends, teachers, medical
professionals, law enforcement, peace activists and others.
Q (For Deborah Bruss): What do you think
Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson's illustrations add to the book?
DB: Their illustrations blew me away! They
created a snowplow that has a can-do personality and that obviously enjoys its
work. This mirrors the attitude of the two snowplow drivers who came to my book
signings and told the audience, “I love to plow!”
Fancher’s and Johnson’s color palette
balances the darkness of a nighttime snowstorm with the bright colors that keep
a young child’s attention and gives the illustrations a magical quality.
When an illustrator adds a character who
isn’t in the text, it’s always fun. What better partner for the driver than a
dog with a calm personality.
Also, I’m always on the lookout for
characters who aren’t what most readers expect. In this case, the drivers of
the snowplow and the front loader aren’t white males. Also, it was a good
surprise to see the story set in the Midwest instead of a familiar snowy New
England town.
Q (for Lou Fancher): Who are some of your
favorite illustrators?
LF: We actually learn and value the work of
every person making visual art. That includes fine artists, illustrators,
graphic designers, filmmakers and more. Even an artist whose work we wouldn’t
say is similar to the art we make or whose art is still developing teaches us
important lessons about art’s possibilities.
Q (for Deborah Bruss): Who are some of your
favorite authors?
My favorite author from my childhood is
Robert McCloskey. I never tire of reading Blueberries for Sal to my
granddaughters.
Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon has been a favorite
ever since I read it to my sons in the 80s. Jane is one of those rare authors
who can write in many different genres including picture books about silly
dinosaurs, poems for all ages, epitaphs that are outrageously funny, and
historical fiction for middle-grade readers.
She’s also one of the queen-pins of the New
England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (NESCBWI), who
graciously shares her time, knowledge, wisdom and humor with other authors, be
they experienced or just beginning.
Doreen Cronin’s ability to write hysterical
stories with a minimum of words, such as Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type,
never bore me no matter how many times I read them.
Q: What are you working on now?
DB: I’m writing a middle-grade historical
fiction novel about Nazi spies in Maine, which was inspired by a (true?) family
story. The research was a blast. Trying to write it is like trying to catch a
swarm of fireflies with a jar. When you take off the lid to catch one, others
escape.
Also, ever since writing Don’t Ask A
Dinosaur with Matt Forrest Esenwine, I’ve been imagining clumsy or mischievous
dinosaurs becoming teachers or camp counselors or restaurant waitstaff.
LF: A new children’s book and with our
publishers finding more great manuscripts to illustrate!
We were honored to illustrate the story by
Deb Bruss. To take any writer’s work into the visual realm is a unique and
precious opportunity involving trust and the freedom to express ourselves, for
which we are always grateful.
Sure, there’s hard work, months of research
and tons of drawing, drawing, drawing—but always, as in the case of designing a
funky snowplow, there’s an element of fun!
Q: Anything else we should know?
DB: As a child, I didn’t read a lot
partially due to a slight, undetected learning disability. I didn’t figure it
out until I had read many thousands of pages out loud to my boys and discovered
that my eyes no longer backtracked every few words; they were able to track
smoothly across the page.
Writing was not a favorite subject of mine
either until I had an inspiring teacher in college.
Later, when my firstborn refused to read, I
wrote him a simple adventure story, which I then blindly submitted to a popular
press. An editor asked me to revise it, but I didn’t have a clue about the
process so I took courses, began writing humorous and educational essays for a
Sunday paper, and helped start a writing group.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Deborah Bruss.
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