One day, I was studying Nancy Coffelt’s picture book, CATCH THAT BABY! Illustrated by Scott Nash (Aladdin 2011). I realized Nancy must have had to write a lot of art notes for this story. If you give CATCH THAT BABY a read, you will see how I came to this conclusion.
I had the good fortune of having Nancy as an instructor for my advanced course with The Institute of Children’s Literature, and we have continued to stay in contact. I emailed Nancy and asked her if she would have time to share with me the proper way to submit a manuscript with art notes. Not only was she gracious enough to help me out, she is also allowing me to share this information with you.
This year, Aladdin released a second Baby Rudy book UH-OH BABY! Also written by Nancy Coffelt and illustrated by Scott Nash. To give me examples of how she handles art notes for these “art note dependent” books, Nancy has shared a VERY EARLY draft (she wants me to stress “very early draft”) of UH-OH BABY! What I am sharing today is a work in progress. The fun thing about this is if you read the final product, you will be able to see the evolution of UH-OH BABY! from rough draft to published book.
Before I offer what Nancy shared with me, I want to clarify a few things.
- What I am presenting is the actual manuscript format that Nancy uses. I kind of see it as being more of a script. This format works best for her art note dependent stories.
- “Off screen” means the character that is speaking is not visible to the reader.
- “Panel” or “panel sequence” means several panels of illustrations on one page or spread.
Now for Nancy’s email to me. Although she sent me the complete manuscript, I have opted to share only a portion of it.
(email) Alayne, I am pasting a very early draft of my latest book UH-OH BABY! Everything that is in brackets is an art note. Since I already had a working relationship with this editor, she understood that the bracketed areas were art notes. But if this were a new relationship I would have made it clear that’s what they were. A cover letter would be a good place to state that information. Perhaps under the title on the manuscript a brief note such as: Art notes are in brackets–might be a good idea as well.
Page 4-5: [half title]
[Page 4: Mom opening present.]
Mom: It’s wonderful!
[(panels) Rudy looks on. Rudy runs off.]
[Page 5: Rudy finds ladybug.]
Page 6-7: [Title page, panel sequence, Rudy runs back to family.]
Page 8-9: [Rudy presents Mom with ladybug.
Mom: Hello Rudy! What do you have?
[Ladybug flies off.]
Mom: Oopsie, Rudy!
Rudy: No oopsie! Wonderful!
Page 10-11: [Brother walking past, Rudy holding blocks]
Brother: Hello Rudy! What are you doing?
[Rudy looks at blocks and then frenzied Rudy building action. In all the frenzied action scenes, no one is watching so the outcome is always a surprise.]
Rudy: (off screen) Wonderful!
Page 12-13: [Big reveal-amazing block construction. Mom and brother are so impressed]
Crash! [Buddy crashes into block tower and it collapses: no dialogue; like a comic book]
Mom: Rats!
Rudy: No Rats! Wonderful! [off to the next one…]
Page 14-15: [Rudy and Buddy in the backyard.]
Dad: Hello, Rudy! What are you up to?
[Rudy looks at flowers and then frenzied Rudy garden action]
Rudy: (offscreen) Wonderful!
Page 16-17: [Big reveal—Rudy briings in a flower sculpture of Buddy? Mom and Dad are so impressed]
Slurp! [Buddy jumps on Mom, muddy footprints everywhere, sculpture flies apart]
Mom: Icky, Rudy!
Rudy: No icky! Wonderful! [and off to the next one… Can Rudy look a little less enthusiastic with each exit to show he’s getting either discouraged or frustrated?]
Page 18-19: [Sister painting]
Sister: Hello, Rudy! What’s going on?
[Rudy looks at art supplies and then frenzied Rudy art action]
Rudy: (off screen) Wonderful!
Page 20-21: [Big reveal—amazing collage type painting of Mom. Mom and sister are so impressed]
Whoosh! [A gust of wind blows the pieces of paper all over]
Mom: Shucks, Rudy!
Rudy: No shucks! Wonderful! [off he goes…]
A big thanks to Nancy Coffelt for giving us an inside look at her creative world.
ABOUT NANCY
Nancy Coffelt began her career as a fine artist and soon branched out into illustration and writing for young people. While she is known for her bright oil pastel imagery and humorous picture books, Nancy’s young adult work has an edgier side. Her books have garnered praise ranging from starred reviews from Kirkus, Horn Book and SLJ as well as her FRED STAYS WITH ME receiving an ALA Notable mention as well as the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award.
Nancy lives, paints, writes, teaches and obeys the whims of her family’s two small dogs in Oregon.
Here are links to Nancy’s books currently in print.
Aunt Ant Leaves through the Leaves
SOME OTHER EXCELLENT POSTS ABOUT ART NOTES
Susanna Leonard Hill: Oh Susanna – How Do You Handle Illustrator Notes in Picture Book Manuscripts?
Picture Book Den: How do you present a picture book text to a publisher? By Ragnhild Scamell
Tara Lazar, Writing for Kids: Art Notes in Picture Book Manuscripts
KidLit.com: Should You Include Illustrator Notes in Your Picture Book?
I’m going to bookmark this! Thanks for giving us a sneak peek of how to do this! I’ve always wondered….
Same here, Marcie. I have always wondered, which is why I reached out to Nancy and kept a lookout for the other great blog posts I linked to. It seems, like many things in writing, even thoughts on how to handle art notes is a tiny bit subjective. So, I feel that in the end, all we can do is take all the info people are offering, look at what our ms seems to need, and go with what feels right for us.
Thanks for sharing Alayne and Nancy. This is so helpful to “see” how it is actually done.
I’m so glad you found the post helpful, Wendy. Sharing what we learn is one of the many wonderful things about our writing community.
This is great for me too, Alayne – even though I illustrate too, I like to share my ms with my crit group without illos. And thanks to Nancy for being so very generous!
I’m glad it is helpful for you Julie. I never dreamt that it might be helpful to writer/illustrators as well. Good to know.
Thanks! The links are really helpfully too!
I agree, Rena. I thought there was some good info on those other blogs. Glad you found value in the post.
Thanks for sharing this. I try to avoid them. After a weekend of being told I NEED them, I’m loving the example you share here.
I hear ya, Stacy. There are many different opinions about art notes – some say don’t use them, others say use them. It is good to know that someone (it sounds like experts from a conference or something?) drilled it into you all weekend that you NEED to use them. I guess the biggest trick is to use them right. I’m glad these examples helped. Did you see the links at the bottom of the page? There is more good info and examples in those blog posts. Best of luck stepping into the art note world.
This is great, Alayne! What an opportunity to see the work-in-progress like this. Thanks for a very illuminating post!
Thank you for your two illuminating posts in “Oh Susanna.” Your last post was so timely, since I was preparing to post this one. I felt so much more confident in sharing because I had other blogs (such as yours) to point people to. I think all of the posts (mine and the ones I linked to) do an excellent job of taking some of the mystery out of art notes. I really appreciate Nancy Coffelt’s kindness in sharing and her great examples. It inspired a new picture book for my May 12 x 12 commitment.
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Thank you for sharing my post, Emily. I hope your readers find it helpful and informative.
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Johnell, I tried to comment on your blog post, but it didn’t show up. I tried a different browser and it locked me out saying it wasn’t secure because of some kind of certificate. It is an excellent and informative post. Thank you for including my blog post in your list!
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