Episode #106: How long did it take to write your book? -with Shelly Anand
Welcome Back to Kids Ask Authors! Today, we welcome Shelly Anand. She and Grace will be answering another fun kid question; “How long did it take to write your book?”
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel When the Sea Turned to Silver and the picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I am here with Shelly Anand, the author of the picture book Laxmi's Mooch, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali, as well as the co-author of the upcoming picture book I Love My Body Because with Nomi Ellenson, illustrated by Erika Medina. The art from Laxmi's Mooch is also featured in the picture book exhibit Asians, Everyday, which you can now see online. Hi, Shelly.
Shelly Anand: Hi, Grace. Thanks for having me.
Grace Lin: Thanks for coming on today. Are you ready for today's kid question?
Shelly Anand: Yes.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's kid question is from a kid named Genevieve, and Genevieve asks.
Genevieve : How long did it take you to write your book?
Grace Lin: How long did it take to write your book?
Shelly Anand: Oh, that's such a good question. It actually took a pretty long time. This was my first picture book that I ever wrote, and picture books are so different from when I was a kid. They're just more poetic and lyrical. It took a lot of practice and studying actually. I started had reading a lot of picture books, and I went to writing groups. And my agent helped me a lot in terms of giving me feedback. I would say it took me about two or three years to get Laxmi the way it is in print now from start to finish. That's a long time for a picture book, which usually only has about 500 words or so, but it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. And now I love writing picture books.
Grace Lin: That's wonderful. That is pretty typical. It takes me like a couple years to write even a picture book manuscript as well. I know kids are always so surprised, especially because a picture book has so few words. But just because it has few words doesn't mean it's easier to write. I think that's something they don't really understand sometimes.
Shelly Anand: Absolutely. Because sometimes you write something and then you and the place that's publishing your book or your editor might say, "Hey, maybe we don't need to write this because the picture or the illustrator will have this shown and there's no need to write it." And then just figuring out what words to share and how to make something sound like what it sounds like in your home. Like in Laxmi, it's a bilingual book, where Laxmi is speaking in Hindi with her parents. I had to decide which words to put in that would be easily understandable even for a non-Hindi speaker without direct translation in the script.
Shelly Anand: That took a lot of work too, and I had a lot of my friends who don't know Hindi or understand Hindi read it to see if they could pick up on what the meaning of the words was.
Grace Lin:
Oh, that's so interesting. What's also interesting is... How many words are in Laxmi do you think?
Shelly Anand: Ooh, I can't remember the word count, but it's somewhere between 550-600 probably.
Grace Lin: Yeah, and so it's like choosing each one of those words. You have to choose each one carefully because there's so few of them.
Shelly Anand: Exactly. Exactly. And it's balancing what you can show through illustration versus what you can show through words. Actually there's this really great picture book author. My kids love his books. His name is Josh Funk. And if you go to his website, he actually has resources for writers, and he has a whole guide on how to write a picture book. I actually used it. I found it really helpful. Because for example, when Laxmi gets embarrassed about Noah pointing out her mustache, I talk about her cheeks getting warm as a steaming hot bowl of Burmese aloo gobi. But I think I had originally said something like Laxmi was really embarrassed, so her cheeks became hot.
Shelly Anand: But the illustration shows that she's embarrassed, because her cheeks are getting hot and there's steam coming out of her ears. Sometimes descriptor words like that can come through the illustration.
Grace Lin: And what you added as a descriptor word wasn't just a description though, it gave so much more in terms of like the color of the culture and everything as well.
Shelly Anand: Yes, that was a lot of fun getting to talk about that, because aloo gobi is actually one of my favorite dishes. I love eating a bowl when it's piping hot. That was one of the first kind of original lines in the book was about that.
Grace Lin: Awesome. I'm so glad that Josh Funk's website was so helpful. Josh has been on the random questions, as well as the Kids Ask Authors Podcast too. Kids can look up his episodes as well. Thank you, Shelly, for answering today's kid question.
Shelly Anand: Absolutely.
Grace Lin: And thank you, Genevieve, for asking such a great one.
Shelly Anand: Yes, thank you Genevieve.
Grace Lin: Bye!
Shelly Anand: Bye.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Ava! Ava is going to review, Laxmi’s Mooch by Shelly Anand and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali.
Hi my name is Ava, the book I would like to talk about is Laxmi's Mooch. Written By Shelly Anand and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali. This book is about a girl named Laxmi. Laxmi has a mooch which is little hairs above her lip. Laxmi starts to become very self conscious about her mooch until she learns she isn't the only one. Her mom and relatives and even friends have them too. Soon everyone wants a mooch. I liked this book because it teaches that your differences from other people make you special and unique and you are not alone.
Thank you Ava!
More about TODAY’S AUTHORS:
Shelly was born and (mostly) raised in Georgia by immigrant parents from India. She is a civil and human rights attorney fighting for immigrants and workers from marginalized communities.
Shelly’s debut children’s book, Laxmi’s Mooch, came out in Spring 2021 and is inspired by her own experiences growing up and having a mooch that other kids noticed. She hopes kids (and adults) reading the book can celebrate their mooches and body hair! Writing Laxmi and bringing her to life would not have been possible with out the love of support of her family and her amazing agent and friend Saba Sulaiman.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Please visit the Asians, Everyday exhibit found online at the Carle Museum featuring Shelly Anand.
“Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Grace Lin curated this online exhibition, launched May 2021 in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Asians, Everyday showcases positive Asian American representation. The selected artworks and books, featuring contemporary characters and stories, celebrate our common humanity by depicting Asian Americans living their everyday lives.”
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