Funny
kidlit writers Marcie Colleen (Love,
Triangle and the Super Happy Party Bears chapter book series) and Audrey
Vernick (Bogart and Vinnie, and
co-author of Bob, Not Bob!) join
their literary agents, Susan Hawk of Upstart Crow and Erin Murphy of Erin
Murphy Literary Agency, to talk about women, humor, and children’s books.
Erin: It’s a pleasure to be in this virtual space with you all! The first
thing I want to ask of you, Marcie, is who are your favorite funny picture book
writers and illustrators who happen to be female? For me, other than present
company, the folks who pop immediately to mind are Ame Dyckman, Deborah
Underwood, Pat Zietlow Miller, and Lucy Ruth Cummins. (Full disclosure: Pat and
Deborah are EMLA clients.) Those four are all funny in different ways. And Ame
and Lucy make me laugh on Twitter ALL THE TIME.
Marcie:
Wow! You named some powerhouses there. I would have to
add Tara Lazar, Tammi Sauer, Samantha Berger, and Julie Falatko. These women
are always making me laugh out loud in the children’s section of the bookstore.
And I have used many of their books for inspiration. In fact, I even used the title and concept Tara’s 7 ATE 9 as
inspiration for LOVE, TRIANGLE. You know you are funny when your title and
simple concept induces laughter.
Erin: I adore 7 ATE 9 and I am so glad there will be sequels! I’m sure Tara
would be honored to know you were inspired by her work when you wrote LOVE,
TRIANGLE.
Susan: Ah, funny women and books – this is fun! I’d add Kate Beaton, Abby
Hanlon and Laurie Keller. And we haven’t even gotten to novels, where I think
of Polly Horvath, Lisa Lewis Tyre and Shelley Tougas (those last two are
Upstart Crow clients). From my own childhood, I think of Ellen Raskin’s picture
books, which are droll and clever, and reading them made me feel smart. I love this about certain
sophisticated, funny books for kids – as a child, having the feeling that you
get the joke too - that’s golden. I’m a fan of all kinds of funny – silly,
slapstick, goofball, odd, you name it – but this particular kind of humor, the
kind that winks at the kid and invites them in, I appreciate that very much.
Audrey: Oh, I love that, Susan! I hadn’t thought of that as a category, but
that’s exactly right. I remember reading a review once that said something like
the book would especially appeal to kids just learning that books can be
sarcastic too, and it seemed like the highest praise there could be.
Marcie:
My question is why are many of these women forgotten
come awards time? I mean, sure they make lots of state lists, etc. But big time
awards usually leave out the funny...and funny women at that. Is this just like
the Oscars in which funny is considered less worthy?
Audrey: I think this transcends gender. You rarely see any funny books win
awards (other than the Sid Fleischman, an award for humor). I think you put your
finger on it--funny is considered less worthy, perhaps easier than a book that touches your soul in a different way. I’d
love to see the publishing world offer up a Golden Globe response--instead of
lumping comedies and dramas into Best Picture, as the Oscars do, providing a
category for each.
Susan: Absolutely agree that funny is overlooked. What’s so confounding is
that it’s so hard to get right! I think most writers know how tricky humor
really is, but more broadly there is the idea that it’s not to be taken
seriously. And, in not understanding how carefully crafted it must be, we miss
what a deeply powerful tool humor is. Editors are always asking for it, kids
love it – because we all love to laugh, but also because humor gives a story
the punch that makes it stay with a reader forever. ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT is a
great book about overcoming differences and preconceptions, about accepting
people for who they are, but you remember it because it made you laugh so hard,
right?
Erin: I noticed that the Golden Kite Award for picture book text often
recognizes funny books, but the Charlotte Zolotow Award, also for picture
books, doesn’t seem to tip that way. It’s too early to call which way the
Margaret Wise Brown Award might go, on the aggregate, as it’s only been given
out twice. I thought that perhaps awards focused on text only would be more
likely to recognize humor, as humor is just so difficult to pull off well in
such a short format...but firstly, it doesn’t necessarily bear out, and
secondly, credit is certainly also due to the illustrators of funny books!
Audrey: Have there been any recentish releases that have tickled your funny
bone? Three relative newcomers I’m excited about are:
Author/illustrator Marianna Coppo’s PETRA (I
can’t wait to read her forthcoming A VERY LATE STORY)
Bunmi Laditan’s, THE BIG BED (You may know her
as creator of THE HONEST TODDLER), illustrated by Tom Knight
Cate Berry’s PENGUIN & TINY SHRIMP DON’T
DO BEDTIME! (Prediction: Cate is a force of nature and she will knock us all
down with her funny), illustrated by Charles Santoso
Marcie:
Oh, I had the pleasure of creating a Teacher’s Guide
and Reader’s Theater script for Cate Berry’s PENGUIN & TINY SHRIMP book. It
is very funny! And I love how it breaks the fourth wall and addresses the
reader.
Others I am looking forward to are:
HARRIET GETS CARRIED AWAY by Jessie Sima
POTATO PANTS by Laurie Keller
ERASER by Anna Kang
In fact, I wish I wrote ERASER. What an
adorable concept!
Erin: Looks like I have a new to-buy list for my next bookstore trip!
Audrey: Question for the agents: Do you perceive any difference in how editors
respond to funny picture books written by men and those written by women? I ask
because I harbor a belief that women’s funny books are expected to also show
heart.
Erin: You and I have talked about this quite a bit, Audrey--and on the flip
side, in the last week a client expressed frustration that men can get away
with sweet-emotion-driven topics (like LOVE) but if women tried that, it would
get called sappy. I think in general women have narrower acceptable parameters
and part of what I hope from this month of posts is that by drawing attention
to that, we’ll see those parameters widen and have more gender parity. Susan,
have you noticed this kind of response with editors, when it comes to funny
texts written by women? Marcie and Audrey, would you say any of the examples
you’ve mentioned are just straight-up funny for funny’s sake, without a balance
of “heart”?
Susan: How interesting! I haven’t noticed that humor from a female writer has
to have heart, but now I’m going to go back and look. I wouldn’t be surprised
to find that it’s the case. There’s also the issue of the unwritten rules about
what works for kids. I think adult gate-keepers want to protect kids, and
believe they can only understand and relate to certain themes/ideas etc. That
doesn’t do them justice -- kids are quite sophisticated readers and thinkers.
It follows that they can understand and appreciate humor that’s more
sophisticated too – that they don’t require “heart” to the degree we assume. I
think this is an issue in kids books generally, not just with humor.
Marcie:
Interestingly, I have seen a handful of picture books
recently published, written by male rockstar authors that do not have heart and
layers that fall flat for me. They seem one-note and silly for silly’s sake.
Not sure a woman would get away with that...but at the same time, definitely
not the kind of “funny” I want to be known for writing.
Erin: The one that always comes to mind for me that is massively successful
and subversively funny but completely lacking in heart is I WANT MY HAT BACK.
Audrey and I actually have joked-not-joked about sending out one of her more
straight-up funny projects under a false author name, a male name, to see if
the reception is different, but firstly I don’t think editors would appreciate
the switcheroo, and secondly, it doesn’t really get to the heart of the
problem, even if it might prove vindictively satisfying. I think just lifting
up funny female voices, as we’ve done here, is part of the solution. For funny
authors (all authors, not just women) who don’t also illustrate, suggesting female
illustrators can certainly lead to raising the numbers of funny women getting
the spotlight. I love that Audrey’s illustrators for her two newest picture
books are women, thanks to the editors and art directors involved: Diana
Schoenbrun for TAKE YOUR OCTOPUS TO SCHOOL DAY and Jennifer Bower for THE
FUNNIEST MAN IN BASEBALL. Any other ideas or words of parting wisdom?
Marcie:
Let’s make a vow to keep shining a light on funny
female authors, ok? If a rising tide raises all ships, perhaps a giggling gale
could power the sails of many other funny kidlit books authored by women in the
future? Maybe we can vow to celebrate funny female voices on social media every
Madcap Monday or TeeHee Tuesday or Witty Wednesday.
