Il Sung Na | VIVIAN KIRKFIELD – Writer for Children

Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends! Today’s author is a kidlit friend of mine…and we are both part of the New England SCBWI chapter. I love her books…and she has graciously offered a choice to whoever wins the giveaway: either a copy of BEAUTIFUL NOISE or a Picture Book Critique (nonrhyming under 800 words). So, please make sure you leave a comment.

BEAUTIFUL NOISE: The Music of John Cage

Written by Lisa Rogers

Illustrated by Il Sung Na

Published by Random House Kids/Anne Schwartz Books (October 10, 2023)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Creativity, persistence, mindfulness, acceptance, listening

Synopsis: From Random House Kids: Open this unique picture book and meet John Cage, the pioneering, inspiring composer who believed all sound—from the crash of a slamming door to the whirr of a blender to the whoosh of the wind—was music.

For John Cage, music was everywhere: in the hum of the refrigerator, the screech of a garbage truck, the patter of the rain. But other people disagreed. They felt that, surely, a pianist on stage must actually play their piano to create music…not just sit there. And in no way was it melodic to turn a musician’s mic on and off as they do play their instruments–it was just chaos!

John Cage found sound in silence, and knew that all noises were unique. All you had to do was listen to hear it.

Told in second person and paired with exciting illustrations as innovative as Cage’s music, here is a picture book–perfect for any budding musician–that celebrates the genius of a nonconforming musician who always stayed true to his artistic vision.

Why I Love This Book
1. I love books that introduce children to people they probably never heard of!
2. I love books where the text is like a melody – lyrical and engaging!
3. I love books filled with glorious illustrations – what a wonderful opportunity for kids to see how color and lines can combine to create action and emotion while telling a story.

I was chatting with Lisa and mentioned that we all love to hear about the path to publication for our Perfect Picture Book Friday books…and she graciously stopped by.
Welcome, Lisa! Can you share a bit about why you wrote this story and how it came about?

Lisa: Thank you so much for featuring BEAUTIFUL NOISE, Vivian. I’m happy to share.
I was a listening kind of child who paid close attention to the world around me. Growing up on the beach, I remember listening in vain for the ocean to be completely silent. Later, I learned about John Cage and his “silent” piece, so when in 2016 I saw a photo of him listening intently to the vibrations of cactus spines, I knew I wanted to explore the life of this intriguing, brilliant, innovative person. I dove into research, but there was so much to share about him! I wrote polished draft after polished draft, trying many different paths to the story, but couldn’t get to his essence in a way that would resonate for children. Other projects intervened, until early one morning in 2022, the words and structure of this book came into my mind. I was thrilled that Anne Schwartz, who edited my debut, 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow,” decided to take on Beautiful Noise, and ecstatic when award-winning illustrator Il Sung Na agreed to illustrate my words. Il Sung created an unbelievably beautiful sonic environment for this story that is nothing short of genius. His magnificent illustrations included creating a visual glossary for each sound word I used. It’s so fun to seek and identify each sound image as you enjoy the world of this book!

WOW…thank you so much, Lisa. I loved hearing your path to publication for this book. And thank you, also, for providing the craft activity! I remember making these with my kindergarteners and with my own children.

RELATED ACTIVITIES:
Make a Rain Stick

Photo courtesy: https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/diy-rain-stick-craft/

This cool rain stick craft is easy and ingenious! https://www.giftofcuriosity.com/diy-rain-stick-craft/

BEAUTIFUL NOISE launched on October 10 and is available right now!
https://www.wellesleybooks.com/book/9780593646625
And it also helps to add it to your I WANT TO READ shelf on Goodreads.

Here’s a little bit about Lisa and how you can connect with her:
Lisa Rogers became inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian, but her love of reading began early with poetry, fairytales and folktales. She holds degrees in English from The College of William and Mary and Boston College and received her library science degree from Southern Connecticut State University. Her award-winning titles include her debut, 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS AND “THE RED WHEELBARROW,” HOUND WON’T GO, and BEAUTIFUL NOISE, which has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

A former daily news reporter and editor, Lisa lives with her family and sweet, obstreperous hound near the Boston Marathon route, which she has run four times. Find her at lisarogerswrites.com.

I hope you will all connect with Lisa – and check out her other books. We all know how important it is to support authors and illustrators and publishers – otherwise, there will be no more books like this one. We can support our favorite books by:
Buying them (links in the blog post)
Reviewing them
Putting them on your WANT TO READ shelf on Goodreads (There is a link for that in the post)
Telling friends about them (if you share on social media, that really helps)
Asking your local library to purchase copies for their collection.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend. Leaf peepers had better get peeping…the colors are gorgeous…but after a few more rains, we’ll have bare branches and a carpet of colors on the ground.

If new books are like babies, maybe cover reveals are like ultrasounds. What do you think, my friends?

The lovely Sandra Nickel has a new picture book in the pipeline, due to launch in September 2022 – and I’m HONORED to be sharing the awesome cover of BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH, illustrated by Il Sung Na and published by Carolrhoda Books.

OH MY GOSH! I LOVE THIS COVER! I am right there with big bear…and definitely right there with little fish. And I’m wondering, what is going to happen? And aren’t those the feelings a great picture book cover is supposed to elicit?

Here’s a little bit about the book:
Bear Loves Being Big!
At the carnival, she wants to win the biggest teddy bear of all. But instead she wins a fish. A very little fish. Bear and Fish can’t possibly have anything in common, can they?
Although Fish might look small, she proves to be bigger than Bear ever thought she could be, and Bear learns that sometimes even a big bear can be small in the big, wide world. Gentle, accessible prose by Sandra Nickel is paired with richly textured illustrations by Il Sung Na in this sweet story of an unexpected friendship.

And here’s a little bit about the author:
Sandra Nickel is the author of picture book biographies about the inventor of nachos (Nacho’s Nachos), the discoverer of dark matter (The Stuff Between the Stars), and the first woman meteorologist (Breaking Through the Clouds). She is the winner of a Christopher Award, a Finalist for the Golden Kite Award, and holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can keep up to date with Sandra at:
https://sandranickel.com/https://twitter.com/senickel https://www.facebook.com/sandranickelbooks
https://www.instagram.com/sandranickelbooks/

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:
Il Sung Na was born in Seoul, South Korea. He writes and illustrates picture books including A Book of Sleep and That’s My Carrot!, and he also illustrates the work of other authors, such as My Tree by Hope Lim. Currently based in Kansas City, Il Sung spends his time teaching illustration and working on new books. You can keep up to date with Il Sung at:
http://www.ilsungna.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ilsungna/

And I thought, since BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH is about a bear (and a fish), you might be interested to know that today is a special day for bears.
Oh yes...it’s National Winnie the Pooh Day.
You mean you didn’t know it was National Winnie the Pooh Day?
Hahaha…neither did I. But I love that there is a day to celebrate the birthday of the author who created the Winnie the Pooh series, A.A. Milne.
If you and your children love bears, why not check out one of the Winnie the Pooh classics. Here’s a audio version of the original classic (narrated by Christopher Plummer) available for free on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OdYMhVlhqA0
And here’s a read-aloud of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (narrated by Maurice Evans) https://youtu.be/wij7zg0MV-w

And if you’d like to Pre-Order a copy of Sandra Nickel’s upcoming book, BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH, here is a link from Bookstop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/14501/9781728417172

I hope you all have a wonderful week…please stop back for Perfect Picture Book Friday when we’ll be featuring PLANTING FRIENDSHIPS by Melissa Stoller, Shirin Shami, and Callie Metler Smith. And skip back on Saturday when we’ll be turning the Will Write for Cookies spotlight on author Maxine Schur and illustrator Milanka Reardon and their new book, CHILD BY THE SEA.