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Simont & THE STRAY DOG
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman>
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 12:15:25 -0500
Ruth Gordon has posed two questions, the first about Marc's early work. His first children's illustrations graced two books in 1939: THE PIRATE OF CHATHAM SQUARE: A STORY OF OLD NEW YORK by Emma Gelders Sterne, and THE CASTLE IN THE SILVER WOOD AND OTHER SCANDINAVIAN FAIRY TALES retold by Ruth Bryan Ownes, both published by Dodd, Mead, and Company. Marc remembers that THE PIRATE was the first he was asked to do.
I have never yet managed to get my hands on these books. Neither are picture books, and both were illustrated with occasional black-and-white pieces. In this respect, they were similar to the work Marc did immediately after the War, when he established a lasting relationship with editor Ursula Nordstrom and illustrated his first book for Harper: Meindert DeJong's novel BILLY AND THE UNHAPPY BULL (1946). The black-and-white images in this book are full of vitality, and characters' emotions are accessible and clear. Think of the energy and expressiveness of THE HAPPY DAY (1949), only with fewer gray tones (more dark ink against light paper), and "sharper" edges.
To my knowledge, the color illustrations by Marc that have in print the longest are in Robbie Trent's picture book THE FIRST CHRISTMAS (1948). This book is a masterpiece of simplicity and even contains a couple of loyal sheep-guarding dogs who share Willy's economy of line.
Dr. Gordon's other question was about Marc's new book, THE STRAY DOG, which bears the attribution: From a true story by Reiko Sassa. She asks what Marc did to Mrs. Sassa's original story: Was it cut considerably or amended from an anecdote? The short answer might be "Yes to both." The long answer follows below for anyone interested, and the story starts in 1983.
Reiko Sassa is a librarian at New Yorks Japan Society whom Marc became friends with through his interest in Japanese art. One of his illustrations of a dog (in Karla Kuskin's THE PHILHARMONIC GETS DRESSED) inspired Mrs. Sassa to tell him the story of how her family had adopted a stray dog.
The facts of the story were roughly that while on a family picnic the Sassas met a friendly dog. At the end of the day they left him on the picnic grounds where they had found him. A year or so later, they returned to the picnic grounds and discovered the same dog. They inquired about the dog, and park rangers informed them that the dog was a stray and that they were going to have ASPCA come an remove him. The Sassas were more than happy to prevent that necessity by giving the dog, whom they named Scott, a home themselves.
As often happens to authors and illustrators, this was presented to Marc as a great idea for a children's book. Never one to discourage an enthusiastic librarian, and sensitive to the merits of a good dog story, Marc encouraged Mrs. Sassa to write up the story herself. In due course she did so and sent it to a Japanese publisher for consideration. Her version of the story was some 30+ pages long and covered more than one adventure.
Marc was intrigued, though, by the core of Mrs. Sassa's anecdote and through the years remembered her telling him about it. As they remained in touch and nothing seemed to come of Mrs. Sassa's submission, they agreed Marc might make a go of it with his own version.
In addition to creating specific details, Marc added in the character of the older sister, shortened the time between picnics to one anxious week, and created a dramatic confrontation with the dog?tcher, heightening the story's emotional range and the reader's involvement. He started his work for the book by selecting key images, and, at an early stage envisioned THE STRAY DOG as a wordless picture book. The idea for the story came first (in that original 1983 discussion), followed by the images, and the words were the last pieces added. As Marc says, by the time he put in words, only a very few were needed or appropriate, and he claims that the book practically wrote itself. His very thorough understanding of the picture book genre may have had something to do with it, too!
Marc himself will be writing about the book's creation in an upcoming issue of the RIVERBANK REVIEW, but I hope this gives some sense of how Marc crafted a poignant and satisfying picture book from its start as a casual conversation.
Anne Hoppe Sr. Editor HarperCollins Children's Books
Received on Mon 09 Apr 2001 12:15:25 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 12:15:25 -0500
Ruth Gordon has posed two questions, the first about Marc's early work. His first children's illustrations graced two books in 1939: THE PIRATE OF CHATHAM SQUARE: A STORY OF OLD NEW YORK by Emma Gelders Sterne, and THE CASTLE IN THE SILVER WOOD AND OTHER SCANDINAVIAN FAIRY TALES retold by Ruth Bryan Ownes, both published by Dodd, Mead, and Company. Marc remembers that THE PIRATE was the first he was asked to do.
I have never yet managed to get my hands on these books. Neither are picture books, and both were illustrated with occasional black-and-white pieces. In this respect, they were similar to the work Marc did immediately after the War, when he established a lasting relationship with editor Ursula Nordstrom and illustrated his first book for Harper: Meindert DeJong's novel BILLY AND THE UNHAPPY BULL (1946). The black-and-white images in this book are full of vitality, and characters' emotions are accessible and clear. Think of the energy and expressiveness of THE HAPPY DAY (1949), only with fewer gray tones (more dark ink against light paper), and "sharper" edges.
To my knowledge, the color illustrations by Marc that have in print the longest are in Robbie Trent's picture book THE FIRST CHRISTMAS (1948). This book is a masterpiece of simplicity and even contains a couple of loyal sheep-guarding dogs who share Willy's economy of line.
Dr. Gordon's other question was about Marc's new book, THE STRAY DOG, which bears the attribution: From a true story by Reiko Sassa. She asks what Marc did to Mrs. Sassa's original story: Was it cut considerably or amended from an anecdote? The short answer might be "Yes to both." The long answer follows below for anyone interested, and the story starts in 1983.
Reiko Sassa is a librarian at New Yorks Japan Society whom Marc became friends with through his interest in Japanese art. One of his illustrations of a dog (in Karla Kuskin's THE PHILHARMONIC GETS DRESSED) inspired Mrs. Sassa to tell him the story of how her family had adopted a stray dog.
The facts of the story were roughly that while on a family picnic the Sassas met a friendly dog. At the end of the day they left him on the picnic grounds where they had found him. A year or so later, they returned to the picnic grounds and discovered the same dog. They inquired about the dog, and park rangers informed them that the dog was a stray and that they were going to have ASPCA come an remove him. The Sassas were more than happy to prevent that necessity by giving the dog, whom they named Scott, a home themselves.
As often happens to authors and illustrators, this was presented to Marc as a great idea for a children's book. Never one to discourage an enthusiastic librarian, and sensitive to the merits of a good dog story, Marc encouraged Mrs. Sassa to write up the story herself. In due course she did so and sent it to a Japanese publisher for consideration. Her version of the story was some 30+ pages long and covered more than one adventure.
Marc was intrigued, though, by the core of Mrs. Sassa's anecdote and through the years remembered her telling him about it. As they remained in touch and nothing seemed to come of Mrs. Sassa's submission, they agreed Marc might make a go of it with his own version.
In addition to creating specific details, Marc added in the character of the older sister, shortened the time between picnics to one anxious week, and created a dramatic confrontation with the dog?tcher, heightening the story's emotional range and the reader's involvement. He started his work for the book by selecting key images, and, at an early stage envisioned THE STRAY DOG as a wordless picture book. The idea for the story came first (in that original 1983 discussion), followed by the images, and the words were the last pieces added. As Marc says, by the time he put in words, only a very few were needed or appropriate, and he claims that the book practically wrote itself. His very thorough understanding of the picture book genre may have had something to do with it, too!
Marc himself will be writing about the book's creation in an upcoming issue of the RIVERBANK REVIEW, but I hope this gives some sense of how Marc crafted a poignant and satisfying picture book from its start as a casual conversation.
Anne Hoppe Sr. Editor HarperCollins Children's Books
Received on Mon 09 Apr 2001 12:15:25 PM CDT
