The Humblebee Hunter by Deborah Hopkinson, for Earth Day

"One summer afternoon Mother and Cook tried to teach me to bake a honey cake."

The narrator of Deborah Hopkinson's The Humblebee Hunter, Inspired by the Life and Experiments of Charles Darwin and his Children (Hyperion, 2010) is Darwin's daughter Henrietta, or Etty.  I suppose I can't blame her for not wanting to be in the kitchen on a summer afternoon (I have a pet peeve about girls in books who are interested in science never liking needlework or cooking).  She is otherwise a wonderful narrator, at first reflective about her father and family's scientific curiosity, and then excited to take part in an experiment--counting the number of flowers a humblebee visits in one full minute--that also gets her out of the kitchen.

Deborah Hopkinson was inspired to write about Darwin's family life by a visit to the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History (the image above is of the garden at Down House, where the experiment would have taken place) and The Humblebee Hunter, while technically historical fiction, captures what it must have been like to grow up in the Darwin household.  There's no reason (apart from scary Colony Collapse Disorder) you couldn't observe a humblebee in your own garden, though--I did, and my count was the same as Etty's!

A note about the pictures:  I always adore Jen Corace's work.  Its slight formality is perfectly suited to the period and the story of The Humblebee Hunter, as are its precise and graceful brown ink line and watercolor palette.

Read more about The Humblebee Hunter in Deborah Hopkinson's "Behind the Book" column for BookPage and her post at Wonders and Marvels (my new favorite blog, subtitled "A Community for Curious Minds who love History, its Odd Stories, and Good Reads").  And go humblebee hunting on the next sunny afternoon!  Or, if you're so inclined, bake a honey cake and read this book instead.  Highly recommended.

Summer Birds: Maria Merian and Margarita Engle

I'm delighted to welcome Margarita Engle back to bookstogether, in advance of the publication of her first picture book, Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian (Henry Holt, April 2010) and in honor of National Women's History Month.

This year's theme is Writing Women Back Into History, which is precisely what Margarita is doing for Maria Merian, a 17th century Dutch naturalist and artist whose work greatly advanced our understanding of the metamorphosis of the butterfly.  Margarita graciously answered my questions about all aspects of Summer Birds, from research to writing to seeing the the illustrations (by Julie Paschkis) for the very first time.

Anamaria Anderson (AA):  How did you first become acquainted with Maria Merian and her work?

Margarita Engle (ME):  More than twenty-five years ago, I was an agronomy professor and botanist.  I stumbled onto a book of Merian's work in a library's rare book room.  I fell in love with her artwork, and her courage as a scientist and explorer.

After learning as much as I could about her life and travels, I wrote a story about her for South American Explorer Magazine.  They paid me with a t-shirt showing South America as a butterfly's folded wing, with rivers as veins.

I also tried to write a children's story, but that was something new for me, and after a couple of rejections, I put the manuscript in a drawer, and did not touch it until a couple of years ago.  A couple of years ago, while cleaning my desk, I rediscovered it, revised it slightly, and sent it to Reka Simonsen, my editor at Holt.  I didn't expect her to accept it, but she did, and her choice of Julie Paschkis as the illustrator was genius.

AA:  What were some of the challenges of distilling your scholarly work into picture book format?

ME:  I grew up in a room filled with animals.  My sister and I were constantly "rescuing" caterpilllars, tadpoles, and other creatures, both large and small. It was easy to retrieve memories of my astonishment as I "discovered" metamorphosis.  For this picture book, I really wanted to portray Merian's childhood "aha" moment, that instant when she realized that she should trust her own observations of life cycles, rather than believing the superstitions of adults.  It is one of scientific history's most marvelous examples of truly original thinking.

AA:  How did the process of writing a picture book compare to writing a verse novel (such as The Firefly Letters; Henry Holt, 2010)?

ME:  The picture book experience was intense.  This is a characteristic shared with each individual poem in a verse novel.  It feels like tunnel vision, or time travel.  I basically can't see or hear anything except that one poem, or in this case, Merian's aha moment.  Nothing else in the world matters, during the writing process. 

AA:Summer Birds is beautifully illustrated by Julie Paschkis (also one of my favorites).  What was your reaction when you saw the illustrations for the first time?

ME:  They took my breath away!  Julie Paschkis planted my little seed of a story, and grew a whole world.  She did such a beautiful job of combining Merian's childhood sense of wonder with accurate science, as well as the fantastic medieval superstitions of adults.  People have asked me how an illustrator could "compete" with Merian's real artwork, but once they see this book, I am sure they will agree that Paschkis accomplished the impossible.

AA:  Do you have favorite details of the art you would like your readers to notice?

ME:  I love the way you can peek under the dust jacket, and see an entirely different illustration on the hard cover of the book, in a dramatically contrasting color scheme.

[Another] one of my favorite details is a ship with sails made of butterfly wings.  What a beautiful way to convey a child's dream of exploring!  That image of an adventurous ship with fragile wings is worthy of Merian's courage as an adult, when she really did sail forth to explore South America's rain forest, at a time when women did not travel.

AA:  That is a gorgeous image!  Could you tell us a little about your next picture book project?

ME:  My next picture book is about wilderness search and rescue dogs.  I know this subject from personal experience.  My husband is a volunteer K9 handler, with two dogs who search the Sierra Nevada mountains whenever a hiker gets lost.  My role is hiding in the forest so the dogs can practice.  I've spent many wonderfully quiet hours alone in the woods, waiting to be found.

AA:  And your next verse novel?

ME:  My next novel in verse is Hurricane Dancers, to be published by Holt this time next year.  It's about the first Caribbean pirate shipwreck, and in particular, about the native Cubans who were encountered by the pirate and his hostage, a wounded conquistador.

I already knew that I have ancestors who were pirates, and I was already working on this book when I learned that I carry a genetic marker for Ciboney/Taíno ancestry.  I descend from a tribe that has been considered extinct for five centuries.  Anyone who has grown up with tales of genocide knows the emotional impact of discovering that there were survivors.

AA:  Thank you, Margarita.  I can't imagine a more perfect voice for that story, and for this one.

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian is a beautiful book, one that works wonderfully well both as a biography of a little-known woman naturalist and as an introduction to metamorphosis for young picture book readers and listeners.  Highly recommended.

[Nonfiction Monday is at The Miss Rumphius Effect today.  Thanks, Tricia!]

Nonfiction Monday

Nonfiction Monday is at bookstogether today!  This is the first time I've hosted Nonfiction Monday since announcing my new (although not exclusive) focus on art and museum-related children's books, and to celebrate I'm featuring an interview with Bob Raczka, author of The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art (The Millbrook Press, 2009) and many other books about art, the seasons, and poetry.

Please leave a link to your Nonfiction Monday post in the comments, and then check out the interview (and read the book!) to find out more about Vermeer's gossipy milkmaid, among others.  I'll update this post with your links throughtout the day.  Happy Nonfiction Monday!

Early birds

MsMac is in with a review of Becky Levine's book on critique groups at Check It Out.

Mary Ann Scheuer at Great Kid Books is sharing the Wimpy Kid Movie Diary.  She says, "This movie-tie in goes beyond the simple repackaging, and is a fresh look at what it's like to make a movie - interesting info and lots of fun!"

Practically Paradise explores teaching standards with Enslow's series America's National Parks.  "Let's get those students interested in nature and our great parks again."

Zoe at Playing by the Book reviews a cookbook that's great for kids today.  N.b. her five year old daughter has been making dinner from it every Saturday night!

Sarah posted about Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar at In Need of Chocolate.

Over at Abby (the) Librarian, Abby's got a review of FDR's Alphabet Soup.

Jama has a review of Jill Esbaum's Everything Spring at Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup.  By the way, that is the cutest duckling ever.

Angela reviewed Spies of Mississippi at Bookish Blather today.

Jennifer of Jean Little Library reviewed Jane Yolen's new picturebook biography, All Star!

Shirley has The Grand Canyon today at SimplyScience.

The Wild About Nature blog has a review of The Robin Makes A Laughing Sound: A Birder's Journal.  They were also able to interview the author, Sally Wolf.

On Bookends, Cindy and Lynn are reviewing a terrific multi-age picture book, Shake, Rattle & Turn That Noise Down!: How Elvis Shook Up Music, Me and Mom by Mark Stamaty.

Afternoon delight

Today at The Book Nosher Robin is looking at a picture book about Jacob Lawrence.

Jeannine posted Biography Meets Mary Poppins and Peter Pan, which is about knowing a bit about an author before approaching a book.

Launching a week of Russell Freedman at Challenging the Bookworm, Freedom Walkers. Upcoming attractions include Who Was First? and Children of the Great Depression, with a bibliography at the end of the week.

Jen is in with a review of Nubs this week at Jen Robinson's Book Page.

Shelf-employed's post is on Sonia Sotomayor: a judge grows in the Bronx.

This is Lauren's first time participating in Nonfiction Monday (welcome, Lauren!)--she's got a review of Lois Ehlert's Planting a Rainbow at A Boy, A Book and A Dog.

Anna of Lost Between the Pages is in with The Forbidden Schoolhouse.

Anna J. is in with an older post about poet and children's author Michael Rosen at Full of Grace.

Helaine is in with a snort-worthy (her adjective!) post on how to get boys to read in which nonfiction figures prominently:  Get Those Guys Reading!

Nonfiction Monday: The Vermeer Interviews

There's something about Vermeer that speaks to me and, I think, to a lot of people who are familiar with his work.  But he's never spoken to me quite as clearly as the figures in his paintings speak to Bob Raczka in The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art (The Millbrook Press, 2009).  I knew I wanted to feature The Vermeer Interviews at bookstogether, so--naturally--I asked if I might interview Bob himself, and he kindly agreed.  Read on for more about The Vermeer Interviews and Bob Raczka's latest Art Adventures.

Anamaria Anderson (AA):  Bob, your approach to Vermeer’s paintings in this book is so intriguing.  Which came first, the interview format or the subject matter?

Bob Raczka (BR):  Definitely the subject matter. Vermeer is one of my favorite artists, and I had wanted to do a book about him for a long time. I actually wrote four or five different versions before I settled on the interview format. In my slush pile at home, I have a Vermeer alphabet book, a book of cinquain poems about Vermeer, a “house that Jack built” approach to Vermeer, and a “day-in-the-life” version.

Interestingly enough, the idea to interview the paintings came to me when I was reading Ways of Telling by Leonard Marcus, his book of interviews with several children’s book authors.

AA:  What kind of research did you do to prepare for The Vermeer Interviews? Were you able to look at any of the 7 paintings you interviewed in person?

BR:  Unfortunately, I have never seen any of Vermeer’s paintings in person. My “bucket list” includes seeing every Vermeer that still exists.

However, I have read many books about Vermeer–everything from Girl with a Pearl Earring, a fictional account of how that painting came to be, to Vermeer’s Camera, a nonfiction investigation into his use of the camera obscura, an early version of the camera. And I spent a lot of time poring over details of the paintings in those oversized art books you can find at the library.

AA:  Which of the figures was the most forthcoming? Which was the hardest to get to know?  Do you have a favorite?  (I’m partial to The Milkmaid myself.)

BR:  The Milkmaid was very easy to talk to. I get the feeling she likes to gossip. The Geographer was also very forthcoming–a man of science who enjoys sharing his knowledge of the world.

The student in The Music Lesson was very hard to get to know. She seemed shy about her feelings for her tutor.

It’s tough to pick a favorite, but I would have to say Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, The Geographer and The Milkmaid rank at the top of my list.

AA:  I visit the Woman Holding a Balance at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. fairly frequently. Is there anything you would like me to ask her next time I see her?

BR:  First of all, apologize for me. I was limited to seven interviews for my book, and she was not included.

One thing you could ask her is whether or not she is Vermeer’s wife, Catharina. Many art scholars suspect that Catharina was the model for at least a few of the women Vermeer painted, but no one knows for sure.

AA:  The Vermeer Interviews is the 11th book in Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures series, published by The Millbrook Press. Would you tell me a little about some of the recent and forthcoming books in that series?

BR:  Of course. Action Figures: Paintings of Fun, Daring and Adventure, was the 12th, published in the fall of 2009. Designed to appeal to young boys, it features paintings of a boxing match by George Bellows, a cattle stampede by Frederick Remington and a shark attack by John Singleton Copley, among others.

AA:  What a great concept!  I think I know where to find one of those paintings, too [Copley's Watson and the Shark is part of the NGA collection].  What's next?

BR:  Speaking of Art: Colorful Quotes by Famous Painters is being published this spring. For each artist, I pair an interesting quote with a representative work. For example, Paul Klee once said, “A line is a dot that goes for a walk.” Pablo Picasso said, “To draw, you must close your eyes and sing.”

This fall brings Before They Were Famous: How Seven Artists Got Their Start. This book features paintings by Picasso when he was 8, Dali when he was 10 and Michelangelo when he was 12.

AA:  Congratulations!  I understand you also write children’s poetry. Do you have any poetry books forthcoming?

BR:  As a matter of fact, Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys is being published this fall by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It’s illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, of The Dot and Ish fame, and I’m very excited about it.

AA:  Me, too; I'll be sure to look for it in the fall.  Til then, where can readers find more information about you and your books?

BR:  Readers can visit my website at bobraczka.com.

AA:  Thank you so much, Bob, and congratulations again--this looks like an exciting year for you!  I hope you'll keep us posted at bookstogether, too.

Now, inspired by The Vermeer Interviews, I have a few questions of my own for Vermeer's paintings--and for my readers:  Which is your favorite Vermeer?  What might you ask it?