EDDIE AND THE FIRE
ENGINE by Carolyn Haywood.
I read this book
when I was five years old. I loved it so much,
I bought a copy of it recently off of Ebay.
Was I reading a 189 page book at age five because I
was a child prodigy?
Of course not. I started reading at age four, because when I
was growing up every one of my cousins wanted to become a teacher. And I was
their only student.
And guess what? They did become teachers. All except one. She
became an interior designer.
So, at this year's
Christmas Cookie Exchange, I sat next to one of my cousins who became a
kindergarten and special needs teacher. I mentioned to her that I was working
on a book about counting.
Now, understand, I
had some grand ideas about the illustrations for this book. (I did not write
the book. I am the illustrator.) Marbles
being flung this way and that - toys falling from the sky - jacks as
huge as baseballs.
But ... before I
could go into it all, my cousin said, "Oh, yeah, my kids love counting
books. Especially the boys - with superheroes. They love to shout one, two,
three, four, …"
Hmmm.
"One, two,
three, four, .."
I was
reminded:
Counting books are about counting.
Counting books must be
orderly - not chaotic.
Counting books are about interaction. They must have READILY
identifiable quantities of objects, at that age. It's not enough to include the
right number of objects. You have to make them easily recognizable AND countable
- FROM A DISTANCE.
A counting picture
book is still a book. It must still be high interest, with character and story. But here, the numbers
and the objects and the colors are the stars.
Lesson Learned:
Know your audience. See your book
through the eyes of the children you are illustrating for. Stick to your
purpose. And, STILL, add fun and character and story. The challenge is - make
it exciting and cohesive on all of these levels.
So …
Trust me. I will
still make all my drawings about character. I will still sketch 50 versions of
each page before I pick the one I will illustrate. However, I will also REMEMBER to give kids
plenty of things to count! That is, out loud.
One more thing.
A counting book is a group activity. That means, counting books are almost ALWAYS read
aloud. Kids count aloud - in front of a
parent, adult, or a teacher. The book itself, is just part of that experience.
So, fellow writers and illustrators, let's uphold our end of the bargain!
Have a great
Christmas!
Carolyn Dee Flores
P.S. My five
favorite counting or math books of all time!
Go, Dog. Go! By P.D. Eastman
Bears On Wheels - A Bright and Early
Counting Book By Stan and Jan Berenstein
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish By Dr. Seuss
365 Penguins By Jean-Luc
Fromental Illustrated By Joelle Jolivet
Tyrannosaurus Math By
Michelle Markel and Doug Cushman
BTW, fortunately, I
have great text by the author, a great publisher, and a great art director to
help guide me through this journey.
