Secrets of Best-Selling Children's Picture Books

The holiday shopping season is starting in earnest, and I'll be hunting for children's picture books for the youngest members of the clan. Can I fall back on my own kids' favorites, or has time eroded their appeal? Well, I was happy to see that the list of the top 100 picture books for the 21st century, chosen by the readers of the School Library Journal, did include my own children's faves with Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown at spots No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 respectively. That got me to thinking about what factors give these books their timeless appeal. Studying the comments of numerous editors, publishers and educators, I put together the following list of secrets to picture book success: illustrations that are colorful, varied and original; interesting, lovable, iconic characters to whom the child relates; humor or emotional appeal; an engaging and authentic concept or story line; text that is well written and plays with word meaning, repetition, rhythm and rhyming to fit the story context; interactivity that encourages the child to participate in story-telling; learning that is subtle and not didactic or boring; and re-readability, because little children engage with a book by repeating the experience again and again (so it better not be a book taxing adult patience). Looking at the list, you realize that, except for illustrations, classic picture books and classic adult literature share secrets to success: strong characters, engaging plot, good writing, and emotional connection. Perhaps an early diet of enriching picture books promotes adult reading enjoyment. Can't hurt! Shop the top-100 picture books at http://www.slj.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/SLJ_Fuse8_Top100_Picture.pdf

Already Feeling Overwhelmed by Holiday Decor

It's that time of year when printed magazines and online social sharing are dominated by holiday decor. This year, I was feeling especially uninspired as I began to haul out old ornaments, yet I couldn't find the motivation for the effort and expense required to create a new seasonal look. I considered stealing holiday ideas for my house from the nation's most famous house, the White House. The newly published Christmas with the First Ladies: The White House Decorating Tradition from Jacqueline Kennedy to Michelle Obama is by Coleen Christian Burke, a professional holiday decorator who was among the volunteers helping to deck the halls with Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, and it highlights themes for a range of tastes. But I don't have an army of volunteers to trim my tree or helping hands for all those "handmade ornaments and crafts" on a presidential scale. I've never been a big fan of craft projects, to be frank, which is why I also hesitate to buy the popular Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts. I am attracted to the holiday memories of my regional childhood found in Christmas with Southern Living 2014, especially the recipes, but I am intimidated by the complexity of the elegant decor--those gorgeous floral and wreath arrangements, themed Christmas trees and beautiful gift wrappings. Then it occurred to me: Why should I craft new decorations when I already have a big box of "handmade" holiday items thanks to my children's 20 years' worth of school projects? Each child's holiday decoration had several seasons on the mantel or Christmas tree before being stored away--and forgotten. With bright paint and a heavy dose of glue and glitter, cardboard, paper, Popsicle sticks, pine cones, feathers, clay, felt and ordinary objects had been transformed into the vehicles of warm memories. When I resurrected the keepsake ornaments and ranged them on the mantel, I realized that these relics of childish holidays shown with an innocent joy that no commercially perfected bauble or well-meaning adult craft could capture. It was decor to suit the family meaning of the holiday in a way no copy of First Lady chic or magazine glamour could deliver. That's not to say it's not fascinating to see the changing trends in holiday style exemplified by White House decor, so if you're interested, you can check out Burke's book at http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-First-Ladies-Decorating-Jacqueline/dp/1608870464/

Mysteries Need to Kill Off These Clichés

Many mystery fans probably share my unhappy experience: By a few chapters into a mystery novel, I'm bored. The main culprits are cliché characters and cliché plot devices. Here are some of the cliché characters that I would like to see mystery writers kill off for good. First on my list is the sardonic, hard-boiled detective who drowns his or her problems in alcohol but still shines at sleuthing. Authors, if you think excess alcohol consumption is de rigueur to show the inner pain of the hero/heroine, don't forget to show how that alcoholism also undermines clear thinking as well as romantic performance. Next on my list is the omniscient Sherlock Holmes-type who lacks people skills but is endearingly quirky as he/she outwits criminal masterminds. Really, these characters are both too fey and too infallible to operate believably in the real world. Finally, there's the tough, cool sleuth who has a secret soft and sexy side just waiting to be awakened (once you can get past the old personal trauma or "daddy issues" or injustice that's hardened his or her shell). I think these protagonists are created simply to justify sex scenes and often borrow from romance novels: sexy bad boy, noble warrior, damsel in (secret) distress. When it comes to villains, No. 1 on my list of overused devices is the insane serial killer genius. These people are driven by bizarre motives and macabre urges but somehow remain mentally astute enough to engage in elaborate plots, ruses and false personas. These characters proliferate in novels because they commit difficult-to-solve crimes (plus crimes that are especially gruesome), but the insane-killer ploy comes at the expense of emotional connection and intellectually satisfying mystery-solving for me. Another trite character that I could do without is the proud and dominating matriarch or patriarch who will do anything to protect the family honor or family secrets. As soon as these characters appear, you know they are guilty -- if not of murder then of driving someone else to commit murder. For more clichés that can kill good mystery writing, check out the Booklist article on "Criminal Clichés" at http://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=6162402

Finding Mysteries North of the Border

I recently began reading the best-selling How the Light Gets In by award-winning Canadian mystery author Louise Penny. It's another entry in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series set in the Quebec village of Three Pines; this time, Gamache comes to the tiny town as a personal favor to look into the disappearance of a once-famous woman, only to find himself stalked by the same evil that turned her village sanctuary into a deadly trap. Since Penny is one of my favorites, I began to think about other Canadian mystery writers to explore. One place to start is the list of winners of the Arthur Ellis Award for Canadian crime fiction (named after the nom de travail of Canada's official hangman). The award is given annually to authors residing in Canada (regardless of original nationality) as well as Canadian-born authors. The 2014 Ellis winner for best crime novel is The Devil's Making by Sean Haldane, a psychotherapist/neuropsychologist and poet. The mystery's protagonist is a young English-immigrant policeman in Victorian-era British Columbia, who seeks to solve the murder of an American "alienist" (archaic term for psychiatrist) while navigating the tensions between Native American, British and American residents in the colonial outpost of Victoria. Two more Ellis Award honorees are Giles Blunt, author of the 2013 Ellis crime fiction winner Until the Night, which is part of his popular John Cardinal series set in fictional Algonquin Bay, Ontario, and Peter Robinson, the English-born Canadian resident who produced the popular Inspector Alan Banks series set in the villages of Yorkshire, which spawned BBC's "DCI Banks" TV series. Beyond the Ellis awards, there is Man Booker Prize finalist Emma Donoghue, an Irish-born Canadian resident, whose new mystery Frog Music follows the efforts of a French burlesque dancer in 1876 boomtown San Francisco to solve the murder of her friend, a notorious and secretive young woman, in a "lyrical tale of love and bloodshed." Even though she is a U.S. writer, I think personal favorite Kathy Reichs deserves a place among the Canadians when her forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan mysteries (basis for the "Bones" TV series) are set in Quebec and based on her actual experience with the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale of Quebec province. For more top-notch Canadian crime fiction, see the Arthur Ellis Award finalists and winners at http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Awards/Ellis_Awards.html