Everyone's A Critic Part 01: Get Over It...

Having had the pleasure of writing a few picture books, I've also had the misfortune of reading more than a few rejection letters. And were it not for my discovery of Amazon's KDP self-publishing platform, I'm sure I would've let those letters discourage me, because I've always put as much of myself as possible into my work, which means it's always been way too easy for me to take criticism personally. And believe me, along the seemingly impassible path between idea and finished product, everyone's a critic. But receiving the right kind of criticism can be a helpful, if not essential, learning experience, as long as you can learn to take it.

Unfortunately, none of the rejection letters I've ever received were helpful in any way, because none of the publishers who rejected my work ever took the time to give me a clear idea of what I could've (or should've) done differently. But I've recently been in touch with an Australian pen pal who did, and I'd like to share some of what she thought could be improved upon in my third book, Freckled Kelly: The Koala Who Loves Sunshine And Hugs...

Here are some of the thoughts that I found most helpful...

First, congrats again on getting your books published - my kids and I all enjoyed reading this one.

Before diving into the hard stuff, she prefaced her critique with something positive, which made it a lot easier for me to read the following...

I see your illustrations go in sets of 3, where each set of 3 sequential illustrations are very similar. I’d guess this was a deliberate choice, but I think the book could be more dynamic if you had a bit more variety. I do really like your SNIFF, TRIP!, SPLOOSH! etc additions to your illustrations… and all the illustrations are super cute.

I've explained why I use similar backgrounds in a previous blog entry, as well as my preference for writing/illustrating to the rhythm of three. And I fully intend to get away with that style choice for as long as I can. But what was eyeopening about my Australian friend's observation was the idea that not everyone is as obsessive about the number three as I am. In fact, I've recently decided to illustrate a story written by another author that'll probably demand completely different backgrounds on every page, and the current page count of that story is only divisible by five (which freaks me out).

As an illustrator I have some influence over a picture book's final page count, but as the author of this blog I have total control. So I'm only going to quote my Australian friend once more, for a grand total of three excerpts from her kindly-worded email...

On pg. 12 - You’ve misspelled bright “brite” - this is very jarring and looks unprofessional. Not sure if it was deliberate, but it doesn’t seem to have relevance to the story, so I’d definitely change that quicksticks.

I don't actually speak Australian, but I used the term quicksticks in the book because I am actually a fan of Australia's only gigastar, Dame Edna Everage...

I think my friend was having a bit of fun when she threw the word back at me, but she was absolutely right about my misuse of the word brite. I just wish I'd run the book by her before I published it!

But I'm not the only author to make mistakes, and I don't think any potential author should feel overly self-conscious about theirs. So, to help alleviate that potential stress, I've decided to do the unthinkable. I'm actually going to criticize Margaret Wise Brown's beloved children's classic, Goodnight Moon.

It's a book I remember having as a kid, but as an adult, I don't like having too many possessions. So my current copy is a PDF that's been digitally squeezed into the incorrect aspect ratio. Here are the first two pages...

And (apart from the aspect ratio) here's the first problem: the curtains on the book's inside don't match the curtains on the book's cover... see the difference? The curtains on the cover are red and green, but the curtains on the inside are green and yellow. As an illustrator who's used to working with similar backgrounds, I strive for consistency from page to page and therefore wouldn't want to make such an obvious mistake. I also notice that although there's a set of tools beside the fireplace on the book's inside (on the fireplace's left), there are no tools on the cover. And if you look very closely, you'll notice that the crown molding on the mantel is drawn differently on the cover, i.e., having only one layer versus two (and there's no molding around the fireplace's face).

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

Immediately struck by the fact they're black and white, I had to wonder whether there was something wrong with my PDF. But this is the way the book was originally designed in 1947, when color printing was more expensive. So the book's original publishers may've done this on purpose to save money, but I don't think it would've cost them too much to add a period at the end of each sentence, and I'm sure that contemporary publishers would insist on proper punctuation.

Here are the next two pages, in color...

Again, I don't know why there are no periods at the end of the two sentences, nor do I understand why those sentences have been placed in opposite corners at both the top and bottom of the left and right pages. To keep things easy for the reader, I think text should always be in a consistent place, either on the page opposite of an illustration or in a specially provided blank space at the bottom. Otherwise, readers have to spend extra time finding text from page to page.

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

And again, the next few problems are primarily punctuational... but where did the quiet old lady (who is in fact a rabbit) come from? The rocking chair she's sitting in was empty before, and I would think that if she's there to see the little rabbit kid off to bed, she would've been in the room from the story's beginning.

Here are the next two pages, in color...

Ignoring the punctuation, the illustration itself has fundamentally changed... see the lamp? Look at the light emanating from it and try comparing it to the first illustration. The moon and stars outside tell us that it's already nighttime, and the lamp and fire are apparently the only sources of light in the room. The fire hasn't died down... so why has the room suddenly gone dark enough to accentuate the lamp's light? If the rabbit kid's going to bed, the room should've been either dark from the beginning, or the illustrator should've shown the quiet old lady turning off an overhead light when she entered.

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

And here are the next two pages, in color...

Again, ignoring the punctuation, and the fact that the text appears in unpredictable places... why is the room getting darker? Did you notice the full moon rising in the background outside? If anything, the room should be filling with moonlight.

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

The thing the mittens are hanging on is called a clothes horse, and it appears no less than three times in previous illustrations. Examine those, then take a close look at the clothes horse again in the illustration above, then try looking at it again in the illustration below...

What's with the magically disappearing/reappearing socks?!?

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

And here are the next two pages, in color...

Again, ignoring the punctuation, and again, ignoring the fact that the text appears in unpredictable places... isn't the story getting repetitive? I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that in the next few pages, the little rabbit kid (or the narrator, or whomever it is that keeps wishing things goodnight) is going to say goodnight to something, or someone, or some kind of animal...

Wait... WHAT?!? Who's nobody? There was no nobody in the story before... and if nobody is someone that can be referred to as nobody, then should nobody be capitalized?!? How am I supposed to punctuate this paragraph? Should I be putting nobody in quotes? Italicizing it? I'M COMPLETELY LOST!!!

Am I the only one who's noticed that the old lady never stopped whispering "hush?" Should that sentence have been punctuated: Am I the only one who's noticed that the old lady never stopped whispering "hush"? Or would it have been better to write: Am I the only one who's noticed that the old lady never stopped whispering, "Hush."? AAAAAaagGhhgAaH! WHY'S EVERYTHING SO COMPLICATED!?!

Here are the next two pages, in black and white...

And here are the final two pages, in color...

Thank God that's over. Wait... IT'S OVER?!? Nothing happened! There was no exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, or resolution. Had Margaret Wise Brown (AKA some freak from the 40s) never heard of Freytag's Pyramid?!? The weird little rabbit kid never went anywhere, did anything, or learned anything! There weren't even any cool monsters, aliens, unicorns, or on-trend narwhals! He (if the weird little rabbit kid is a he) just said goodnight about a thousand times and went to sleep. THAT'S IT!!!

So, in addition to my being able to find something wrong on almost every page, the book doesn't even tell a story. And yet, it's one of the most popular children's books published in the last 100 years, having sold tens of millions of copies and having been spoofed umpteen times (times umpteen).

Again, I remember having a copy when I was a kid, and I remember liking the red and green pictures, but I didn't like the story nearly as much as I liked Where The Wild Things Are, The Big Orange Splot, or You Will Live Under The Sea (by Fred and Marjorie Phleger). And I'm not the only person who didn't like the story that much. In fact, when the book was first published, I know of at least one person who hated it...

Her name was Anne Carroll Moore, an American educator, writer, and early advocate for children's libraries who (from 1906 to 1941) headed children's library services for the entire New York Public Library system.

And she was a progressive, i.e., the kind of librarian who replaced SILENCE signs with large-print illustrations from picture books, reimagining the library into a venue for puppet shows, kid-friendly musical performances, and the country's first story hours... so why did she hate Goodnight Moon?

As far as I know, she never complained about the magically disappearing/reappearing socks, but she did think the book was unbearably sentimental. And because she hated it so much, she fought hard to keep it out of the library's catalog long after she was forced to retire. So hard in fact that (because other libraries, booksellers, and critics looked to the New York Public Library to set their own standards) Margaret Wise Brown never lived to see the book's success.

But again, the book was a colossal success in the long term. And its success has nothing to do with magically disappearing/reappearing socks, or missing punctuation marks, or inconsistent colors on curtains, or what one critic thinks, or even what one child thinks, because not all children think alike.

In her own childhood, Margaret Wise Brown had a ritual of saying goodnight to the toys and other objects in her nursery, and (despite her critics) there's nothing wrong with her wanting to share that fond memory through her book, in her own way.

I spent most of my childhood dreaming up fantastic adventures, with fantastic creatures, in fantastic places, and (despite the handicap of never having learned to type) there's nothing wrong with my wanting to share those dreams in my books, in my own way.

And if you're an author, illustrator, or any other kind of artist, there's probably nothing wrong with you wanting to share whatever it is you want to share in your own way, because there probably isn't a one best way to do anything. However, since sharing anything with anyone means facing criticism, you'll just have to remember to take it as it comes and that it's up to you to pick and choose what criticisms you take seriously. And if you're ever worried about taking things too seriously, try remembering a quote from the great Dame Edna Everage...

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself. After all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century.

And since I enjoy a good joke, my next blog entry will be entirely focused on criticizing myself, or, rather, the things I did wrong in my id blog on Yola.