Strike up the band! It’s time to celebrate…a new book is born! And this one is written by one of my long-time CPs, Carrie Finison and illustrated by the fabulous Daniel Wiseman. Back in 2012, when I was first dipping my toes into the world of writing kid lit and had just joined 12×12 in its inaugural year, Carrie reached out on the 12×12 FB page to start a critique group. I hopped on board…and the rest is history! I remember seeing EVEN STEVEN in its earlier drafts…and I can tell you that I loved it even in its infancy.

And now we are so lucky, because Carrie has stopped by to chat with us.
ME: Welcome, Carrie. Thanks for stopping by! Can you share a bit about what inspired you to write EVEN STEVEN? And maybe a little about the path to publication?

CARRIE: I’m so happy to be here, Vivian. And I’d love to share what inspired the story…and more!

The inspiration for Even Steven: A Book About Sharing might have (/PROBABLY DID) come from my children literally using our kitchen scale to weigh out brownies, using tape to make a dividing line exactly in the middle of their seats in the car, and using a timer to make sure no one got more than their fair share of computer time. I’m sure most parents and anyone with a sibling is familiar with these scenarios. Kids love making sure things are even!

Challenges on the path to publication:

I had the title and character name “Even Steven” in my head for quite a few years before I started writing. I imagined the character of Steven to be a kid who wanted everything to be so exactly even that he sometimes got himself into ludicrous situations. But I kept getting stuck with HOW to present this character in a way that kids would consider funny but not ridiculous or baby-ish.

It wasn’t until a year or two after my book Don’t Hug Doug, also illustrated by Daniel Wiseman, was released that I realized that the same format might work very well for Even Steven. I wanted to place the reader in the role of “knowing better” than the main character, Steven. In order to reinforce that, the cast of characters in the book all know better than Steven – and they tell him so!

The format of dialogue balloons, paired with narrative text, enables both the characters in the book and the reader to acknowledge the humor and silliness of the situations that Steven creates with his insistence on perfect evenness. Instead of the reader thinking, “I’m supposed to believe this?” the format places the reader and book on the same side, both saying, “Can you believe this kid?”

At the same time, Steven is very earnest in his desire to share. Sharing becomes a puzzle that he’s trying to figure out – with a little help from the other characters in the book, and the reader. I hope it’s a puzzle that readers will have fun solving with Steven, and in their own lives.

Buy the book:
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/763244/even-steven-by-carrie-finison-illustrated-by-daniel-wiseman/

About the author:

Carrie Finison writes children’s books with humor and heart that are fun to read aloud. Her books include Dozens of Doughnuts and the sequel, Plenty of Pancakes; Don’t Hug Doug, an ALA Notable Children’s Book; Even Steven: A Book About Sharing; Lulu & Zoey: A Sister Story; Hurry, Little Tortoise, Time for School; Pigs Dig a Road; and Touch a Truck Day, a lift-the-flap board book. She lives outside of Boston with her husband, son, and daughter, and two cats who permit her to work in their cozy attic office. 

Website: www.carriefinison.com
Instagram: @carriefinison

About the illustrator:

Daniel Wiseman is the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of The World Needs More Purple People by Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart. He has illustrated many books for kids, including Goodbye Brings Hello by Dianne White, Play This Book by Jessica Young, When Your Lion Needs a Bath by Susanna Leonard Hill, and the Baby Scientist series by Laura Gehl. He lives with his family in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Website: www.danieldraws.com
Instagram: @d_wiseman

Thank you all for spending your precious time with us! I should have an update soon on the #50PreciousWords Literacy Initiative. And I’m still in prize distribution mode for #50PreciousWords…I’m about half-way through the list and it’s been a pure joy to connect with so many amazing writers…the people in the kid lit community are very special, that’s for sure! And the prize donors are incredible also…I’m grateful to all of you!