FLORA and FLAMINGO: Meet Molly Idle

Molly Idle, Author and Illustrator

Walker Children's, 2013

I’m so excited to share this blog-stop “virtual interview” with readers. I’ve been a fan of Molly Idle’s work for several years. This year she hit the trifecta of publishing with simultaneous releases of three remarkable picture books: ZOMBELINA, (written by Kristyn Crow), TEA REX, and FLORA AND FLAMINGO.

Viking Juvenile, 2013

2013 is quite a year for remarkable picture books, proving once again that this format has (and will continue to have) a vigorous and relevant role in the world of publishing, and in our literary lives. Earlier this spring I interviewed Jesse Klausmeier about her own release of OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK, after which she introduced me to Molly Idle (again, virtually). 
Jesse's title and Molly's FLORA AND FLAMINGO share the distinction of receiving mentions among  reviewers eyeing contenders for the 2013 Caldecott Award. (I've been assured that these mentions in no way carry a jinx-factor, which allows me to repeat them here.) Each of Molly’s 2013 releases has been met with acclaim, but none more so than the innovative wordless book, Flora and Flamingo. She was kind enough to answer some questions about creating this book to share with you here.

Without further ado, welcome Molly! Congratulations on your amazing year. 
*Extended pause for applause.*

Molly: Thank you so much for your kind words about Flora, and for featuring this interview on your blog.

Chronicle Books, 2013

Who came to you first, Flamingo or Flora?

Ah, which came first- the flamingo or the egg? The answer (in this case) is the flamingo. My knack for nomenclature misinterpretation was a running gag when I was growing up. For years, I thought Lee Iacocca and The Ayatollah were the same person (their names sounded exactly the same to me!) I was 10 before I realized that A.A. Milne’s characters, Kanga and Roo, when put together, made "kangaroo". To me, that was just who they were, and it never occurred to me that it was also what they were... (sigh)

And, for years, I thought "flamenco dancing" was "flamingo dancing". So, the idea of a dancing flamingo had been playing about in my mind for a long time. It was only when I started thinking about a dancing flamingo as a character for a picture book that I began looking for his partner.

I can envision you researching and investigating the movements of a flamingo, but how did you settle on this particularly shaped and sized child? Did you have a model or are you a trained dancer? 

Oh. my goodness no- I am not a dancer.  I do love to watch dancers though. Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor* are two of my favorites. Two more of my favorites are my nieces, Sarah and Katie. When they were about 8 and 10 they came to visit my husband and I for summer vacation. In the evenings they would choreograph dance routines which they would perform for us on the front porch. At the time they were both in that round tummied, growing-out-before-growing-up stage. They were also completely, blissfully, oblivious to all of the body image insecurities that plague young women. They thought that they were fully awesome just the way they were...  and they were right. And to my mind, they were the perfect models on which to base the dance partner for a flamingo.

About Flora’s flippers and swim cap (which are not only charming, but genius, in my opinion), were they the end result of a variety of hair/foot design trials, or did Flora arrive in your imagination fully geared up?

Both the swim cap and flippers were there from the very first sketch. In fact, neither character changed from my initial sketch (which is a first for me ). But the detail of the flowers on Flora's cap came after I had finished coloring in the pair for the first time. As I stood back and surveyed them, I just thought she needed a little something extra... And in thinking about the rubbery surface of her swim-cap, I remembered these rubbery non-slip stickers that had been on my bathtub growing up. They were shaped like daisies, and I thought- "That's it!"

When you settle in to your incredible workspace, sip your java, and gaze out the window, is music playing? Click here for an extensive Chronicle Books interview with Molly to find out more about her work habits and spaces. And take a few minutes to watch BOTH videos embedded in this link.

Most always... When I'm working on final art, I have different mixes for different projects, and they help get to me in the groove, and to switch grooves when needs be. I love the company of background noise in the studio. But when I'm working out initial sketches, or when I'm writing, then I have to turn everything off.  It sounds melodramatic, but, to really get deep down inside a story or a compositional problem, I want (like Greta Garbo) " to be left alone."

In other interviews I’ve read, you mention the fantastic art and design teams at your various publishers. Can you tell us a bit about those collaborations as compared to your animation collaborations?

In animation, the artists I worked with had an incredible sense of imagination and play, but the production environment itself was extremely regimented. It has to be when you have an enormous team, creating thousands upon thousands of images. Even after having been a part of it, it never ceases to amaze me how the hands and minds of so many individuals can collaborate to create such a unified vision. It’s awesome! But, as a small cog in the works, it can also mean subjugating your individual style for the sake of consistency. 

That is why I find making books so freeing. For while it is still very much a collaborative process, I'm never asked to make my work like that of anyone else. The editors and art directors I get to work with instead push me to create the best work I can make... Whatever it may be. They are like magic mirrors up to which I hold my work, and when they reflect it back to me I see what is working and what can be made better. (And it can always be made better.) That kind of collaboration is really exciting!

In a mini-interview with Jeremy Holmes on your blog, you said the design of his book THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY opened your mind to alternative interactive picture book design. Can you tell us more about your choice for fold-down flaps for FLORA AND FLAMINGO?

Yes, yes I can! 

I pitched the idea for the book to my agent, as a straightforward wordless picture book, and while she liked it, she asked me to think of of some element that would necessitate it being a book rather than, say... a short animated film. Could the story, she asked, have some element of interactivity?

And it was like a lightbulb popped on over my head! I knew right then that the interactivity needed to be that of the reader determining the poses  in which the characters would relate to each other. And I knew the way to achieve that was to have the characters appearing in opposing flaps.

I didn’t know if it was possible to print something like it in a cost effective way, nor did I know how to construct it. But I knew it was the way I needed to tell the story, and I set to work. Once I had muddled through the paper engineering, and about 4 rolls of double stick tape, I had the assembled first draft of the dummy, and we sent it off to Chronicle!

This spring you released Flora and the Flamingo from Chronicle Books, Zombelina from Walker Childrens,  and Tea Rex from Viking Press within weeks of each other. That must have been exciting, but were the deadlines and other development processes simultaneous? How do you handle projects when that happens?

I learned a lot about time management in working through the books I had published this year! Yes, FLORA, TEA REX and ZOMBELINA were all in the works simultaneously. It was like a year long  game of round robin in my studio!  Rather than try and spend a bit of time each day on every project, I  finished each book in stages. I dove into the sketches for Flora, and when they were finished, I sent them off for notes and then started in on sketches for Rex. When they were finished, I jumped into character design for ZOMBELINA. By the time I had finished that, I had revision notes back on the sketches for Flora... And round and round it went. 

Are you free to tell us about any of the projects you are working on currently?

I'm working on another round robin schedule right now. I've just wrapped up work on CAMP REX (Viking, April 2014), and now I'm working on  FLORA AND THE PENGUIN (Chronicle, Winter 2014), RODEO RED, written by Maripat Mohr (Peachtree, 2015), and the third REX book!

In the mini-interviews on your blog (which I recommend to my readers here) you ask the same questions for each illustrator. Which of those questions were you hoping someone would ask you?

Yes, Juana Martinez Neal, Mikela Prevost, Laura Jacobsen and I have asked the same questions of all of our interviewees for the past few years during National Picture Book Month. But this year, we are changing up our format, and the question I would most like to be asked, is the  new final question I’ll be asking in this November’s round of Mini Interviews. But I don’t want to give it away. So... I'll just say...Check back in with me in November!

Thank you, Molly, I really enjoyed this virtual conversation and hold out hopes of meeting you in person someday.

Cheers, Sandy- the feeling is mutual! :)

So there you have it. readers. If this doesn't send you racing for a copy and exploring Molly's other books and online links, you're either in a summer snooze or early hibernation. Don't miss this one! 

*If you have ten minutes to spare, I beg you to watch this YouTube video of Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. In particular notice the interaction, facial expressions, and body language between the two of them starting at about 6:50 minutes into the video. Am I the only one who sees the roots of Flora and Flamingo’s friendship here? Brilliant!

I just loved Molly’s references to classic cultural icons- makes me practically giddy to see current generations giving appreciative nods to timeless talents.

So, Did You...OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK?

Chronicle Books, 2013

In the last post I shared an interview with Jesse Klausmeier, author of the recent release OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK, illustrated by Suzy Lee. 

Center Spread

I hope by now you've had a chance to get your hands and eyes (and hearts) on this uniquely formatted book that nests progressively smaller books inside each other. The dense layering of detail, images, and meaning beg for frequent rereading and close observation. It's a  testament to the physical book, and to literacy.

It's also an invitation to explore, compare, consider, and celebrate the depths and joys of picture books in general, and this one in particular. For example, as each interior book reduces in size, its respective "reader" increases in size: ladybug, to frog, to rabbit, to bear, to giant, who holds the tiniest book of all.

Another pattern spans front end papers to back. The illustrations within transition from minimal color and detail to progressively richer and livelier content and co-mingled color as each book and "reader" interacts with the next.

What I particularly enjoyed was having the giant join the original/actual reader outside the physical limits of the book. From the title to the back cover, the reader becomes a player in the process and the playfulness of this innovative book.
In my mind I can picture the reader sitting in the giant's lap while they share this amazing experience.

I'm a huge fan of picture books of all types, targeted to any age. There are some select few, though, that provide a remarkable experience such as this. They stand before the reader as mirrors, reflecting the shared responsibility of the book and the reader to grasp the magic wand and say the magic words together.


First, if you haven't done so yet, find and OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK. Then take a look at these other titles that share the mirror and magic of picture books.

Chronicle Books, 2011

PRESS HERE, by Herve` Tullet, is as interactive as they come, and utterly intriguing for readers of every age.

Roaring Book Press, 2010

Next, IT'S A BOOK, by Lane Smith, and its gentler boardbook version, IT'S A LITTLE BOOK.

Roaring Book Press, 2011

How hard can it be to understand "It's a Book"? If Gorilla gets it, and Mouse gets it, why can't Jackass? Maybe, when he unplugs for a moment, he will.

Hyperion, 2011

And, finally, YOU'RE FINALLY HERE, by Melanie Watt.
On Goodreads I said this:

This book blends the character strength and second person voice of Don't Let The Pigeon Ride the Bus with the ironic and slightly snarky approach of It's A Book. That's quite a high bar,  but this sassy little rabbit holds its own in such lofty company.


Are there other magic-making books you'd like to recommend?

Do As I Say...OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK!

Chronicle Books, February, 2013

When a new release garners lots of attention I try to let others shine the spotlight and instead offer up titles that may have been overlooked in the shadows. OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK, by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee has hit the shelves with a splash. Recent reviews and interviews can be found at Publishers Weekly for Children, Mr. Schu's blog, School Library Journal's Hundred Scope Notes, a starred Kirkus review, Read, Write, Repeat, and Chronicles interview with Jesse and Suzy.

The book trailer makes it clear that this book(s) speaks for itself.

So why shouldn't I pass on this title with such other noteworthy commentators already offering their thoughtful insights and accolades?
That's easy- because Jesse is a member of our Wisconsin Regional SCBWI and agreed to answer some questions about her debut picture book when I asked. How could I pass that up?
Welcome, Jesse! Here we go...

You've said you loved books as a child, so which ones do you remember most?

Three that stick out are:

• ·      The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone illustrated by Michael Smollin
• ·      The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• ·      Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak

Back page copy

Has anything about those influenced the way you write for kids today?

Absolutely!

The Monster at the End of This Book was the first book I experienced where the narrator spoke directly to the reader. Because Grover spoke directly to me, I became one of the main characters. In Open This Little Book, the reader is the character that kicks off the story. The directive to open this little book instantly engages the reader and demonstrates that she or he plays an active role in the book.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar stands out for its innovative design. As a child, I found the collages and the die-cut pages captivating. I had never seen anything like it and that novelty is something I hoped to achieve with Open This Little Book.

Little Bear was the first “big kid book” I read on my own. The feeling of accomplishment when graduating to solo reading is unforgettable. In my writing, especially for the youngest crowd, I do my best to put as few words on the page as possible so that they can memorize the text and confidently share it with others.

Photo credit: Julia Moberg

When you first held a copy in your hands, what were your first thoughts, or what surprised you most about this book?

I guess the biggest surprise was that my book was genuinely real. Until I physically held a copy, I couldn’t fully comprehend that I was actually being published. The editing and design process passed in a haze of excitement and anticipation. I’m still getting used to seeing my book in bookstore windows. My friend Julia sent me these pictures of the French version of the book in the window of a Parisian bookstore! 

Have you been able to share your book directly with kids yet? Can you tell us about that?

Yes! This is truly my favorite part of being an author. I love watching kids get drawn into the story by physically leaning closer and closer in towards the book as they open the smaller and smaller books within. 

CeCe, 11 & Neela, 9

I had the pleasure of having a four-year-old read the story to me. She prompted me to guess what character would be found within each little book based on the clues in the covers.

But I think the most memorable moment was when my 11-year-old niece Gwyn read the book and really studied each page. She flipped back and forth to compare how each character’s world changed throughout the book, commented that it was important that Giant was blue and a girl, and savored all the delicious details in the last illustration. Having the book appeal to such a wide age-range is truly heartwarming.

Jesse Klausmeier
Photo credit Alicia Bozewicz.

Any advice for someone with a desire to write for kids?

Sure! My two biggest pieces of advice are:

• ·      Join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (www.scbwi.org). I met my agent and editor through the SCBWI and I can't recommend it enough. You'll have access to their amazing resources, conferences, local chapters, and supportive community.
• ·      Read! Become an expert in your genre and read as much as you can within it. Read and study the books that have won awards, are on the best-sellers list, are recommended by your librarians, and re-read the books that you loved as a child.

Thanks, Jesse, for sharing your thoughts, reactions, and advice here, and for the creation of an amazing new book. Next week I'll take a closer look at it, along with a few other books that explore the very nature of books. OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK and some select others demonstrate that a physical book has a unique and important place in our lives, and always will. The fact that it is receiving such a warm and enthusiastic welcome assures me that I'm not alone in my conviction. Take a look at your earliest opportunity and see if you agree.