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Meet the Author Interview Conducted
by Rob Reid
You have adapted folktales from all over the
world. Please describe the process from your initial search for
stories to adapting them for young people.
EK: I hate to burst the bubble about what a hardworking guy
I am. A lot of people think I'm a latter-day Indiana Jones, journeying
into the heart of darkness to retrieve secret tales that have been
lost for centuries. I wish! The truth is more prosaic. The sources
of nearly all my stories are a lot closer to home. The most valuable
source is my local library, a ten-minute walk away. I'm over there
several times a week to check out the new book shelf. Its amazing
how much I find. Three Samurai Cats is a tale I discovered one afternoon
while leafing through a newly arrived book that looked interesting.
All the Japanese terms in the story came from the Japanese dictionary
on the shelf across the room.
Someone may tell me a story. I may discover an interesting anecdote
in the newspaper. It might turn up in a book I've had for years,
but that I haven't looked through recently. Mostly what I do is
hang loose and keep myself open for whatever may come along. The
first question when a story captures my attention is why do I like
it? What about this tale attracts me to it? Is it something amusing?
Bizarre? The next question is why would children like it? Would
they understand it? Would the background be familiar? Can I provide
the necessary information without bogging down the tale? I may discard
ten ideas for everyone I actually begin to work on. From then on
it's a matter of bringing out the qualities I like and trimming
the ones I don't. Essentially, my goal is to write a story that
I would like to read. I write the tale over and over again. Settings
change, characters change, the plot changes. I'm chipping away until
I get to the sore of the story - or at least what I think that core
is. It's no accident that the longest draft is usually the first.
As Michelangelo said about sculpture being a matter of uncovering
the figure within the stone. I see retelling folktales as uncovering
the story within the tale. The story's the key. It's all about the
story. That's what young readers want most of all. Tell me a story.
Describe your relationships with your various
editors in getting your stories published.
EK: Finding an editor who wants to publish these stories
is hard. I work with several outstanding editors and I consider
myself fortunate that they want to work with me. I began writing
for Cricket magazine. I owe my career to Marian Carus, who not only
encouraged me, but also taught me how to rework and revise a story.
Writing for magazines is an excellent way for a new writer to begin.
Different editors are looking for different things in stories. A
Story that's right for one editor might not work for another. Dianne
Hess at Scholastic doesn't want to see a lot of violence in a story.
Margery Cuyler at Cavendish has a taste for offbeat and unusual
tales. Beverly Reingold at Farrar always asks, "So what's the
point? What are children supposed to get out of this?" Regina
Griffin at Holiday House is open to anything but she is not going
to accept a story unless it strikes the right cord. All of them
are my favorite editors with whom I've published some of my best
books. That's why, when I submit a manuscript to a publisher, I'm
thinking more about the editor who's going to read it. The publisher,
ultimately, is a letterhead. Other than the editor, I may not know
one single person there. That's why it's a disaster for a writer
when your editor leaves. The editor's contribution to a story is
greater than most readers - and writers, unfortunately - realize.
An editor never tells you what to do. Mostly, they ask questions.
Why did you choose to A rather than B? What is the purpose of this
character or dialogue? It's a Socratic interchange. A good editor
starts me thinking about ways to make the story better. She asks
the questions; I have to come up with the answers. At times we disagree.
Then it becomes a matter of discussion. "I know this is your
favorite par, but I don't see how it contributes anything to the
story." Or, "You can do that , but it will cost you sales.
Think about it." Sometimes I convince the editor that I'm right.
More often, she convinces me. We both have to feel that the decision
is the right one. Sometimes, with hindsight, we can see that we
made mistakes. But that's the process. We're only human. I have
a lot of respect for my editors. A good editor, I believe, is more
precious than rubies or diamonds.
In addition to being a writer, you are also
a story teller. How do the two go hand-in-hand?
EK: I don't think I could write the way I do if I hadn't
had storytelling experience. First of all, telling stories gives
you a thorough sense of what stories are, where they come from,
how they work and what you have to do to hold an audience's attention.
You also learn that the story is fluid. It changes every time you
tell it. There is no definitive version. There is only "the
now." The most important story, to paraphrase Jon Muth's book
The Three Questions, is the one you are telling. As I write a story,
I think of myself as telling it. I read it over so I can hear it
aloud. I visualize an audience and how it reacts. Many of my books
grow out of stories that I've been telling for years or am learning
to tell. It's why I feel that a story is the heart of any book.
A book will succeed or fail on the strength of the story. Good intentions
do not make up for a weak tale. If you want children to listen to
you, then you have to give them something worth listening to. With
me, it comes down to telling them a good story.
One of your most popular series is the Anansi
books with Janet Stevens. How did the first book come about?
EK: I first heard Anansi stories as a kid at the Clarendon
Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Spencer Shaw told them to
me. At the time, he was a young man working for the library system,
visiting schools and local branches to share stories. Years later,
as professor emeritus of library science at the University of Washington,
he invited me up to Seattle for a conference. I instantly recognized
that wonderful voice. I also lived in St. Thomas in the U.S. virgin
Islands. I heard lots of stories about "Anansi, de spidah mon"
while I was down there. The Anansi stories came after Hershel and
the Hanukkah Goblins was accepted by Holiday House. My editor asked
me if I knew any good animal stories.. She was looking for material
for Janet Stevens. I nearly fell off my chair. No one had to explain
to me who Janet was. This was a one in a million opportunity, to
pitch a story to one of my favorite artists. What was the best animal
story I knew? Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. I'd been telling
it for years. My source for that tale is Ruth Manning-Saunders's
A Book of Sorcerers and Spells. It's called "The mossy stone."
Janet and I really hit it off. We made a good team.
And the other Anansi books?
EK: Anansi Goes Fishing, the second story that we did together,
is a retelling of an African tale, except that the addition of spider
webs at the end is mine. The idea came to me in a dream. Later,
janet and I were together at a Young Writers Conference in Akron,
Ohio. It was time to start thinking about the third Anansi book.
I asked Janet what she wanted to draw the old spider doing. She
said she wanted to have him get stuck - he gets in a tight place
and can't get out. "Like Winnie-the-Pooh at Rabbit's House,"
I said. One idea led to another. By breakfast, we had Anansi and
the Talking Melon.
Anansi and the Magic Stick was the story from hell. It took nine
years to get it to work. Forty-seven different versions. The source
was a Librarian tale called "The Magic Hoe." When Janet
read the first manuscript, she thought I had gone off the deep en.
"Anansi and the Magic Hoe? You can't be serious. We can't publish
a book with a title like that."
"It's a garden implement," I said, standing firm. "You're
nuts," said Janet. We left it to the teachers as aconference
in Minot, North Dakota, to decide. I read the story to them. Their
reaction: "Are you out of your mind?" "See!"
said Janet. The hoe became a stick.
Tell us about Gershon's Monster.
EK: Gershon's Monster is one of the oldest Hasisic tales
I know. My grandmother told it to me as far back as I can remember.
I have a personal tie to the story, in that the founder of the Hasidic
movement, Israel ben Eliezer, came from my grandmother's region
in Eastern Europe and spent his early years in the mountains around
her hometown. Some of my ancesters undoubtedly knew him. I have
several versions of the story in print, but I always felt I've gotten
it from the source. But remember, even when we retell and old tale,
we still bring something of ourselves to the telling. In the original
version the body of water is a lake and the monster a strange creature
that rises from the depths. I'm a kid of the fifties. My monster
comes out of the ocean. He's Godzilla rising out of Tokyo Bay!
Gershon's Monster is one of my best books, largely because I'm enchanted
by Jon Muth's watercolor illustrations. Jon is a brilliant artist.
He grasped the heart of the story immediately. I hope we'll do other
books together.
How important is it for you to share stories
and information about the Jewish faith with young people?
EK: Again, I see myself as a storyteller. The Jewish people
have been around since the days of the pharaohs. We have lots of
great stories besides the ones in the Bible. I loved these stories
when I was a kid; I love making up new stories out of old stories.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins owes a lot to A Christmas Carol.
The Magic Dreidels is Grimm's "The Table, The donkey , and
the Stick." Zigazak comes from and episode in Michael Bulgakov's
novel, The Master and Margarita. And The Chanukkah Guest is based
on Mr. Magoo cartoons. There are lots of good Jewish books, fiction
and nonfiction. Certainly more than there were when I was a kid.
I'm glad to contribute to their number. However, I see these books
as building bridges, not walls. I write books that children will
enjoy: Jewish children as well as non-Jewish children. You don't
have to be Jewish to love Hershel. You don't have to be African
to love Anansi.
Tell us about two of your newest books, Wonders
and Miracles: A Passover Companion and Don Quixote and the Windmills.
EK: Wonders and Miracles was seven years in the making. Dianne
Hess, my editor, and I wanted a book explaining the Passover seder
in a way that would attract anyone with an interest in the subject.
I wanted to capture the joy and excitement of the holiday. Passover
is a major festival that's at least 3,000 years old, so there's
a lot of material. Plus we had to leave room for songs, recipes,
stories and illustrations. The hardest part was deciding what to
cut. This book succeed because of the illustrations. Dianne broached
the idea of illustrating it with traditional Jewish art from the
Middle Ages. It took an extraordinary amount to time to track down
the art. Then there was the matter of getting permissions, plus
working on the actual design. But she did it. A strong text and
incredible art are an unbeatable combination. I delivered the text.
Dianne brought the artwork.
Don Quixote and the Windmills is really the brainchild of my good
friend, Leonard Everett Fisher. Len called me several years ago
and asked me to write a text. I asked why he needed me because he
can write a story as well as I can. "I don't want to write
anymore," he said. "I'm almost eighty years old. All I
want to do is paint and play with my grandchildren. You write the
story. I'll do the pictures." Walking in Cervantes' footsteps
was a challenge. The windmill episode isn't really a story; it's
an incident. Plus I had to give the reader a lot of background information
about Don Quixote and introduce a lot of characters (Sancho Panza,
Rocinante, Dulcinea) before the story actually gets started. I read
a lot of Cervantes in Spanish and English to get the flavor of his
language. Then I pretended that I was Cervantes, telling the story
of Don Quixote and the Windmills to a group of children. I think
it worked.
Len and I have more books coming out. The next is The Hero Beowulf,
then Blackbeard's Last Fight. After we finished the Blackbeard story,
Len said "Whew! Knights, monsters, pirates - I need a rest.
Let's do Rip Van Winkle." So we did.
What other new Eric Kimmel books can we look
forward to in the upcoming year?
EK: I'm always working on something. I just completed a chapter
book for early readers about an episode in the life of Louis Armstrong.
It's called A Horn for Louis. Random house will publish it next
year. This may turn into a series about defining moments in the
early lives o importatn artists. I'm not sure who I'll do next.
Ptasy Cline, Hank Williams, Marc Chagall and Rudolf Nureyev are
possibilities. My biggest project, if I can ever find a publisher
who wants it, is a history of the caliphs of Islam. I've read volumes
of books about Middle Eastern history since I was in high school.
Incredible material, wonderful stories and characters - and hardly
anyone in our country know anything about it. All of a sudden given
the international situation, "long ago and far away,"
has become current and near. I have a some sample chapters out.
As for books coming out this coming year: watch for Cactus Soup
(Cavendish), Hayyim's Ghost (Pitspopany), The Castle of
the Cats (Holiday House), The Hero Beowulf (Farrar).
Do you have any final say in the final look
of the book, such as selecting the illustrator?
EK: I have almost nothing to do with the final look of the
book. I do have considerable say in selecting the artist, although
not the final word. The artist works with the editor, so I'
D be foolish to insist on an artist who is not acceptable to the
editor. Similarly, the editor wants me to be happy, so she won't
insist on an artist whose work I don't feel is right for the story.
After that, my job is done. I might be called in if there's a technical
problem. For the most part, I don't see the final pictures until
the editor sends me a copy of the mechanicals. By then, the book
is done. People are often shocked when I tell them that. They shouldn't
be. I wouldn't accept an artist telling me how to write. I'm not
going to tell an artist how to draw. I believe that everything the
artist needs to know is in the text. Are the pictures different
that what I imagined? Usually. They're better.
You've worked with dozens of illustrators.
Are there any you haven't worked with by would like to one day?
EK: Anyone I would like to work with? David Wisniewski. But
that will never happen. For the rest of my life, he's going to be
the one that got away. I met David several years ago when I was
doing school visits in California. We were staying at the same motel,
so we had a chance to hang out. He showed me the mechanicals for
The Golem. It hadn't come out yet. It knocked me out. This was the
definitive golem. I had a collection of Bible stories coming out
for Simon & Schuster. I had long admired David's work. I asked
if he'd be interested in illustrating them. David jumped at the
chance. He told me he could get started immediately. He's always
wanted to do a collection of Bible stories. I called my editor.
I pleaded, I begged. But I couldn't make it happen. She just couldn't
see David being an artist. Then The Golem came out and won the Caldecott.
My book would have been David's next. The collection Be Not Far
From Me ultimately came out with amazing artwork by David Diaz,
another Caldecott winner. I have no complaints. But David Wisniewski
is the one who got away.
Is there a book you are most proud of writing?
EK: The book I'm sot proud of writing is one that hardly
anyone knows I wrote. It's called In the Mouth of the Wolf. I wrote
it twenty years ago with my friend, Rose Zar. It's the story of
Rose's experiences in occupied Poland during World War II. It's
an incredible tale of survival and courage under pressure. Rose
had a set of false papers that allowed her to pass as a polish citizen.
She ultimately found a job as a nanny in the home of the SS commandant
of Krakow. The challenge was to tell Rose's story in Rose's voice.
It's some of the best writing I've ever done. The book gives me
chills when I read it. Rose died three years ago, but I still hear
her voice in the words.
Finally, how's the banjo playing coming along?
EK: The banjo playing is going great. I practice a lot. I've
started fooling around with the guitar, just learning cords. We'll
see where that leads. Maybe I'll be able to add the guitar to the
list of instruments I currently play: banjo, nose flute, Jew's harp,
concertina, harmonica. Think of me as a one man band - horrible
thought.
Rob Reid is a full-time instructor specializing in children's Literature
and Literature for Adolescents at the University of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire. His latest book is Cool Story Programs for the School Age
Croud from ALA Editions.
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Exciting News!
Eric Receives Two Major Honors
Read More Here>>
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