Episode 49: How do you pick your book titles? -With Patricia MacLachlan
Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Kids Ask Authors with Grace Lin and Patricia MacLachlan!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello. I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today I am here with Patricia MacLachlan, the author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, and The Poet's Dog. Hi, Patricia.
Patricia M.: Hi, how are you?
Grace Lin: Good. I'm so glad you're here. Are you ready for today's question?
Patricia M.: Yes. To all the children, yes.
Grace Lin: Today's question is from a boy named [Vaschra 00:00:30]. His question is, how do you pick your book titles?
Patricia M.: Okay. That's an easy one. Sarah, Plain and Tall, that won the Newbery was about a woman who came from one coast to marry a widower and be a mother to the children. She was Sarah. She was plain and tall. I've just written a book called Wonderous Rex about a dog who helps a woman who's having trouble writing. He takes his paw on this P-board and brings up quotes and things that help her write. I want that dog, because when I'm stuck, I'd like to have the dog there.
Grace Lin: I think we all would.
Patricia M.: All my titles are very close to what the book is really about.
Grace Lin: Do you ever have problems with coming up with a title?
Patricia M.:
Not so far, but it'll come to that because I've written a lot of books and I'm getting older, so that's the way it goes. I actually just wrote a book called Yellow Dog with my daughter, Emily. We write books together. It's about our Cape house. We look out over the river that goes to the bay, and this beautiful yellow dog swims to the bay and back again with a swimming woman, so we've made up a story about that. See how easy it is.
Grace Lin: Do you ever have two titles and you can't decide what to choose from?
Patricia M.: Yes, but I have a writer's group of people, and sometimes they will say, "Oh, this one is much better," or my daughter says, "That one's much better."
Grace Lin: I always have a horrible time with titles. I always try to pick titles, too, that are close to what the story's about-
Patricia M.: Without telling.
Grace Lin: Yeah. But sometimes my stories, I feel like, are so dense that it's kind of hard to figure out which one is the best. I know from my book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, I had five or six different titles, and they were all completely nixed by my editor. I was like, "Never Ending Mountain, The Old Man in the Moon. He was like, "No, no, no." I know for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, we struggled with it so much that my editor said, "We need something very poetic, like the last line of your book [crosstalk 00:02:46].
Patricia M.: That's what I do often. I like to lead people into the book if I can, sneakily in a sneak.
Grace Lin: Yes. That's how I ended up with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. It was my title, but it's interesting to hear that you choose very similar things.
Patricia M.: Exactly same thing.
Grace Lin: There's your answer, Vaschra. I hope you liked your answer. Thanks so much for your question and thank you so much, Patricia.
Patricia M.: You're welcome.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Alison Morris! She’s reviewing “Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom” by James Howe and illustrated by Brett Helquist.
Hello, hello, hello, friends. I want to ask you, what do you think would happen if Harry Potter, the book, actually featured dogs instead of people? What if I told you there's a book in which this already happens? Would you want to read it? I think the answer is yes. The book that you want to read is called Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom by James Howe. And it is exactly, as I said. It is a parody of Harry Potter, meaning it's kind of a pretend version of Harry Potter, featuring dogs as all of the characters. And the main character is a dog named Howie, who gets invited to the Dogwiz Academy for Canine Conjurers. If this sounds like a good time to you, you should pick up a copy of Howie Monroe and the Doghouse of Doom by James Howe.
More about today’s authors:
Patricia MacLachlan is the celebrated author of many timeless novels for young readers, including Newbery Medal winner Sarah, Plain and Tall; Word After Word After Word; Kindred Souls; The Truth of Me; The Poet’s Dog; and My Father’s Words. She is also the author of countless beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily. She lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
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.
Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore, Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
