Author-2-Author with a picture book team: Pamela Duncan Edwards & Henry Cole

One of the great things about children´s picture books is that they not only tell a wonderful story using creative words, but they also expand the imaginations of our children with fun and exciting illustrations.

Livingstone Mouse, by Pamela Ducan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole, accomplishes both. When the main character is told by his mother that it´s time to find his own nest, Livingstone asks her, "Where´s the greatest place on Earth?"

The mother´s answer sends the adventurous mouse on a journey to make his new home in China. Along the way Livingstone Mouse stops at several places thinking that he´s found China, only to learn that he´s somewhere else. With each location Livingstone experiences something that drives him to move on, such as the arguing of two cockroaches, the bad smell inside a shoe, or the burning taste of hot sauce (which features one of my favorite illustrations in the book by the way). Eventually Livingstone finds the perfect place and is thrilled that it´s even called China. Of course it´s not the China you´d find on a map, but the cozy comforts of a white and blue teapot.

Children´s author Pamela Ducan Edwards is an accomplished writer with several published children´s picture books including, Roar! A Noisy Counting Book; Some Smug Slug; The Worrywarts; Clara Caterpillar; Wake-Up Kisses; Rosie's Roses; The Leprechaun's Gold; and Gigi and Lulu's Gigantic Fight, which were all illustrated by Henry Cole. Pamela was born and raised in northern England before moving to the United States in the Washington D.C. area. One of her greatest inspirations was her father, who wrote children´s stories for magazines in England. Pamela taught preschool for eleven years before becoming a children´s librarian here in the U.S.

The man behind the illustrations in Livingstone Mouse is Henry Cole, a children´s illustrator with over 50 books under his belt, including some that he´s both written and illustrated. A former elementary science teacher, Henry´s favorite book topics revolve around nature. He´s had the opportunity to work with several well known authors, such as actress Julie Andrews who starred in "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" and is a regular visitor to elementary schools. Henry grew up in Purcellville, Virginia, and currently lives in the Washington D.C. area.

The Questions

C. L. Vaughn: First, I´d like to say thank you to both Pamela and Henry for the opportunity to ask these questions. After reading Livingston Mouse I looked into the other published books you´ve both worked on and saw that you two have worked on several books together. Can you tells us how you both met and what you feel makes you work well together?

Pamela: I have always worked with children. When I came to the US in 1978, I decided to become an elementary librarian - the best decision I ever made. Henry taught at the first - and only school - I joined. It took us a long time to realize, but after fourteen years teaching together it dawned on us that we both had the same ambition - to write and illustrate books for children. We obviously weren´t very quick on the uptake but, once the decision was made, our writing and illustrating tools flew!

Henry: Pam and I taught together at a small elementary school outside of Washington DC for years…about fourteen years. I taught science to grades 1-5, and Pam was librarian to the same kids. After (too long) a time we discovered that she liked to write, and I liked to illustrate. Pam wrote a story and I drew a few pictures for it; we submitted it to an editor I knew in New York…and we were on our way.

C. L. Vaughn: Pamela, as a fellow writer I´ve found that some stories take a great deal of thought to figure out all of the ins and outs, and yet some literally beg to be written. What was your inspiration behind the story of Livingstone Mouse?

Pamela: One day I found a mouse in my mailbox. She had made a tiny nest out of my mail. It made me laugh to think that she was going to bring up a family in a paper nest that wasn´t big enough to hold her.

C. L. Vaughn: Henry, I read in an interview you did with Harper Collins that you prefer to use acrylic paints and colored pencils for your illustrations. Do you have a favorite brand that you like to work with?

Henry: The paints to me don´t seem to matter as much as the paper…I always use Arches Hot Press 90-lb watercolor paper.

C. L. Vaughn: Out of all of the books you two have worked on together which one is your favorite and why?

Pamela: Heavens! That´s almost impossible to answer because I tend to get so involved with the current one that it´s my total favorite at the time. I would have to say, however, that the Leprechaun´s Gold is up there for me because my only thespian success was when I was ten and I was given the starring part in a school production dressed as a leprechaun. An agent did not discover me!

Henry: I have several favorites, for different reasons. I like "Bravo, Livingstone Mouse!" because I had such fun doing those illustrations, and I really like those pictures. I also like Livingstone as a character. I like "Honk!" and "Clara Caterpillar" because the characters are such good ones, and I like the way the pictures ´go´ with the words. I like "Fosdyke" because it was our first together, and I like "Gigi and Lulu" because of the message…and because I love the idea of a large pig and a tiny mouse being best friends.

C. L. Vaughn: Becoming a published author or illustrator is an uphill battle that takes a lot of hard work and a pinch of good luck. Can you share with us how you both became published?

Pamela: Good luck are the two right words. It´s so hard to break into children´s publishing these days because there are so many celebrities jumping on the bandwagon. But luck was on my side the day I visited four New York publishers with the first book Henry and I produced together – Some Smug Slug. Three accepted it. But the first turn down was from the first publisher visited and it was embarrassing thinking I might have to go through this rejection three more times before I escaped back home. We have continued our relationship with the editor we went with have had fifteen great years of guidance and friendship. To get published today involves determination. I would advise calling the publishers, asking for the name of an editor of the type of book you want to submit, writing to that editor to ask if you may submit and then sending the manuscript with a VERY SHORT note attached. Definitely do not say that you have read the story to your class, your child, your niece, the boy next door – publishers hate this. If you send to a named editor, your manuscript will get read.

Henry: Extra large pinch of luck. I submitted a story to an editor who liked the story and the pictures right off (Jack´s Garden), so there was a foot in the door. Pam and I are lucky in that we hit it off with our editor…it´s so important to have a good relationship with an editor, and we lucked out at finding the perfect fit for us. It´s very unusual for an author and an illustrator to submit a project together and have it work out. Lots of times an author will submit work with pictures included, pictures either by them or by a friend or their Great Aunt Delphine, and most editors don´t want to have to go through the process of telling the author that the pictures are that good, etc.

C. L. Vaughn: To help gain exposure and experience as a writer I tried my luck with self publishing some of my short stories on lulu.com as well as Amazon.com´s Kindle. What are your opinions on self publishing? Do either of you feel self publishing is a viable route for an author to pursue?

Pamela: I honestly don´t know a lot about this but I do come across authors who have done it and have been very successful. Certainly if your book takes off, you can earn a lot more money this way because traditionally children´s authors only get about 5% royalties on each book sold. But self-publishing does take a lot of work and energy.

Henry: I´m sorry to say I have no experience at all with self publishing and couldn´t tell you if it´s viable or not.

C. L. Vaughn: How important do you feel it is for writers to join writing/illustrating associations such as the Society of Children´s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)?

Pamela: I would say it´s definitely a good thing because you get insights into the publishing world and hear about opportunities.

Henry: I have made some nice contacts through those types of associations.

C. L. Vaughn: Coming this April I will be attending my first writing conference here in Washington State. I´m looking forward to the entire experience and hopeful networking; what tips would you give someone like me?

Pamela: Don´t tell your manuscript from beginning to end because people tend to glaze over. Just drop a few enticing tidbits and you might get someone expressing an interest. (Be sure to make a mental – and the physical – note of who that might be. I´ve missed opportunities because I can´t always remember who said what to me).

Henry: Try to meet as many people as you can. Smile.

C. L. Vaughn: Henry, from start to finish, what is the average amount of time it takes you to complete the illustrations for a children´s picture book?

Henry: If the pictures are complicated and intricate, or take lots of research, they may take months and months. Otherwise, because I like doing what I do for a living so much, I work on a project many hours a day…and it takes me about two months to complete illustrations for a more simple story. The dummy, or the mock-up ´rough draft´ of the pictures takes more time…that´s where you´re developing characters, figuring out the layout and space for type, etc.

C. L. Vaughn: Pamela, while my story ideas can come from anything from a catchy title I like to something funny I see, I tend to write my stories from the ending first. I also will jump around from story to story and part to part. Do you have any particular process behind your writing?

Pamela: My ideas tend to come in flashes from nowhere. Once I´ve got the tiny seed in my head I work on it mentally for weeks, maybe months, before I put anything to paper. Usually I´ve more or less got the whole manuscript mentally written before I write anything at all. After this, I edit and edit and edit and get out all the extraneous words.

C. L. Vaughn: I noticed that you both have spent time as elementary teachers. How often do you use that experience when writing and illustrating children´s stories?

Pamela: Absolutely all the time. I often have a mental image of a class of children when I´m writing. I find this stops me being ´clever-clever´ with my words and writing to the adult rather than the child. Also, before I submit anything, I always read it into a tape recorder and then listen to it trying to imagine that I´m a child. Sometimes, I don´t understand what I´ve written! That´s when I know I need some editing.

Henry: ALL the time. Being in the classroom for 17 years was a GREAT way to ´know the clientele´. It irks me sometime that so many people in children´s´ books have so little contact with children! I think it´s vitally important. Pam and I spend a lot of our ´school year´ presenting to schools… it´s a good way to be reminded of who your readers are, etc.

C. L. Vaughn: Have either of you written anything in the adult literature genre? And if so, do you feel it is more challenging writing for children or adults?

Pamela: Are you kidding? Twelve-year-olds know more than I do these days. I can categorically state that I will never be seen on the New York Times Best Seller List for adult literature.

Henry: I´m currently writing a racy, tell-all adult book about Pam´s life. Quite a challenge let me tell you.

C. L. Vaughn: Pamela, being that you were born and raised in England; I can imagine that you have a good size following in the U.K. Is the writing market different there than it is here in the U.S.? Have you noticed a difference in how receptive the children are here vs. the U.K.?

Pamela: No, children are the same the year over. The UK market is different, however, in that picture books only go up to about seven years of age because children are taught to read fluently at a much earlier age. After seven children are reading much longer books. So my UK manuscripts tend to be for the younger children.

C. L. Vaughn: Do either of you two read your unpublished work to school children to get feed back?

Pamela: No never. Children tend to not want to hurt feelings so they´ll say they like anything you give them.

Henry: I don´t.

C. L. Vaughn: I usually will use Microsoft Word when creating and writing my stories, but I have seen several "writer´s programs" out there. What programs do you use when writing?

Pamela: First my head tosses around the story until I´ve got it right, then pencil so I can cross out and dig frustrated holes in my paper, then Word.

Henry: Word.

C. L. Vaughn: I´ve read that putting a lot of research into your novel to ensure that all of the facts are correct is becoming more and more important. But with how short children´s stories tend to be, how much research goes into your stories and how important do you feel it is?

Pamela: Lots of research. You need to get everything checked and re-checked because you can be sure someone somewhere is going to pick up a mistake. Especially necessary, obviously, when it´s non-fiction.

Henry: Super-important for both the written word and for the illustrations. As soon as someone sees a mistake in either, the book is not a trustworthy source of information.

C. L. Vaughn: Pamela, I´ve seen that there are extension activities for Livingstone Mouse at, (http://www.ccfpl.org/intranet/children/PDF%20files/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20Livingstone%20Mouse.pdf), when you write a children´s story do you also think of the learning activities for the children while the story is being written, or do extension activities come after the book has been published?

Pamela: I guess because I taught for so many years I´m subconsciously aware of a book´s potential in the classroom but I would never write to that end. It would make for a very dull book indeed. Usually it´s the publisher who will ask for learning activities because they are the people who pay for them to be produced. Henry and I help with these if asked.

C. L. Vaughn: Over the last few years we´ve seen several children´s books become movies, Dr. Suess for example. Have either of you thought about pursuing a movie contract for one of your books?

Pamela: It would be great but the publishers have special departments dealing with these things. It wouldn´t be up to us to find outlets.

Henry: I can think of nothing more exciting than to see a character that began on your drawing table end up in a darkened movie theater talking, singing, moving…that would be the best.

C. L. Vaughn: Reading has become very important to me as I grow as a writer, do you find that reading has helped you with your writing? And what do you enjoy reading? Any favorite authors?

Pamela: I always have my head in a book. I can´t imagine it would be possible to be a good writer if one were not an avid reader. My main reading delight is European history, both novels and non-fiction. As far as children´s authors are concerned: as a child I loved stories that took me into lives different to mine. I so object now a days to the way everything has to be so realistic. Does a child in a slum dwelling necessarily want to read about life in a slum dwelling? Wouldn´t it be great to imagine that you could indeed be a little princess for a while?

Henry: Love reading. I´m most interested these days in non-fiction, so most of my spare reading time is spent on that. Right now I´m reading Benazir Bhutto´s book, The Swamp (about Florida), and The Bush Tragedy.

C. L. Vaughn: And last by not least, are you two currently working on any soon to be published books together?

Pamela: Looking forward to PRINCESS PIGTORIA.

Henry: We just had two books come out, Jack´s Treehouse, (HarperCollins), and Old House (Dutton). Next is a version of the princess and the pea, tentatively entitled "Princess Pigtoria".