Today’s picture book looks at how to deal with fear while exploring our connection to nature with even the tiniest of creatures.

Cynthia Mackey is the author of Katie Shaeffer Pancake Maker and The Lullaby Monsters and her poetry appears in The Dirigible Balloon and Little Thoughts Press, Hit the Road magazine. She was mentored by highly acclaimed Canadian author, Jean E. Pendziwol. With a Bachelor of Education degree, Cynthia views children as capable beings and works to bring elements of joy, playfulness, and social-emotional learning to her writing. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or BlueSky.

IF A BUMBLEBEE LANDS ON YOUR TOE is a picture book poem in many layers. First the lyrical text guides the reader through their fears to think of slow moving calm things on snails and African sunsets. It weaves beautiful imagery in the lines alone, but the illustrations take those lines to a whole other place, a theater of the mind! The illustrations are lush with color and detail that remind me of art nouveau. These are truly mind-blowing visual interpretations of the text that left me gobsmacked. 

Welcome Cynthia!

Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey? How has that brought you to writing this picture book?

Cynthia: Thanks for interviewing me, Jena. I started writing for children about ten years ago. It began with a book (Katie Shaeffer Pancake Maker) I wrote and self-published to use with my own preschool class and my writing grew from there. I took courses and attended workshops online, exchanged work with critique partners, and studied current picture books on the market. At first, I was going for quantity and wrote somewhere between 15 – 25 manuscripts from 2017-2020.

One of my favorite classic picture books is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I thought it was so brave when Max becomes king of the Wild Things. I thought that kind of bravery and the ability to face fears would be a good theme for a picture book. My Mom had a quote on her fridge for a long time that I really liked, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.” – Susan Jeffers

At the same time, I was also thinking about the problem of bees and how vital they are to our lives. As pollinators of so much of the food we eat, it would be a different existence without them. Yet so many people view them as pests who need to be controlled or eliminated. I wondered what would it take for us to live in greater harmony with bees? What if we were less afraid and more curious?

Me:  I love this story! I don’t think I’ve seen a picture book quite like this! I’ve seen the theme of nature being nothing to fear, but not in such a lovely lyrical text. The manuscript just sings! What gave you the idea?

Cynthia: Thank you for the compliments! I’m a music lover so when you say the manuscript sings, that means a lot.

I had been thinking about the problem of how to show children who might be afraid of bees that bees are actually beneficial to us. In 2020, I accepted a new position as a nature preschool program manager. I wasn’t sure what to expect doing daily outdoor education. I knew there would be a lot of unexpected factors to navigate. It was a time when fear was everywhere, especially since we weren’t sure how COVID was transmitted. I was doing daily yoga practice to help myself cope with anxiety. It helped me tremendously.

During one of our daily outdoor picnics, a bumblebee landed on a child’s ankle. The child’s response was outwardly calm, more than I might have expected. He impressed me with his stoic response to the bee. I wondered what might have helped him be so calm about it. I noticed all the children in the group were more curious than afraid of the bumblebee, and I speculated that maybe being outdoors daily had done something to make them braver and calmer.

I knew about forest bathing and how research has shown cortisol (stress hormone) levels reduce after being in nature. When I wrote the poem, it was a way of exploring all the creatures that children see around them and what we have in common. For example, if you’ve ever watched a bunny freeze, it is incredible how still they can be and their brown fur can completely camouflage them, keeping them safe from harm. I thought about how much children love the game of freeze dancing and the movie, Frozen.

Me: This is perhaps one of the most beautiful picture books I’ve seen in quite some time.  It’s so poetic.  Was it always this tight?  Were there a lot of revisions of the manuscript to get it to this incredible state? Or was it like this from the first draft?

Cynthia: Thank you so much. The first draft was not this polished. Back in 2018 I tried to write the story with a bunny as the main character and it had a traditional story arc. It didn’t work and I put it aside. After our picnic with the bumblebee, I wrote it in the lyrical voice. That version came out strong. I did a few revisions, but once I switched to the lyrical voice, it came together quickly. I had to work on the transition from feeling the fear to becoming brave. That’s the part that changed the most. Yeehoo Press asked for a revise and resubmit but in the end, we went with the original manuscript.  I decided to cut a few more words once the illustrations were complete.

Me:  The illustrations by Vikki Zhang are stunning! I love how she interpreted every bit of your story in such a creative and lush way. Her illustrations remind me of art nouveau.  Did you have any art notes for her to work with?  Or did she create those images all on her own?

Cynthia: Vikki Zhang was the perfect match for illustrating this manuscript and I think my editor, Luyang Xue knew right away how much Vikki would enjoy doing the art work. When I saw Vikki’s portfolio, I felt the best thing to do would be to trust her ability as the illustrator and leave it to her to add her creativity to the book. There were no art notes at all. I’m so happy I believed in the process because I cannot imagine it turning out better than it did. It’s a true collaboration!

Me: Were there any illustration surprises for you?  Any favorites?

Cynthia: My first surprise was that Vikki was in Paris and had incorporated the Paris Opera House into the illustrations! The glorious chandelier and grand staircase make a big statement in the book. I like how Vikki’s artwork hints at the idea of ‘stage fright’. It makes the book more relatable for adults.

I was delighted to see the upside down snail inching under the daisy and the jewelry box with the key reminds me of one I had as a child.

I could go on and on about the layers and detail that Vikki added but one thing I want to highlight is the swirling page of yellow and black stripes that almost look like a spinning top. As an educator, I’ve been working with children to help them overcome fears and one thing I’ve learned is that for children who are extremely stuck in their anxiety, spinning or twirling are activities that can help them come out of it. I’ve been exploring this idea further with children in my teaching practice and if I ever get the chance to do a master’s degree, I would study it to understand better how and why it works. I can say that spinning in space, spinning tops, and things like pinwheels seem to really engage children even when they seem the most stuck with worry. I’m so happy to have that scene in the book with the words circling round to emphasize the feeling. 

Me: What is one thing that surprised you in writing this story?

Cynthia: When I started writing If a Bumblebee Lands on Your Toe, I knew that we are all connected to nature but the process of writing the story made me feel it on a deeper level, and I didn’t expect that. I didn’t realize how much of my life experience I would pour into the book. It’s a story I couldn’t have written without a lot of personal and professional growth.

Me: I love that. Any advice for new picture book writers?

Cynthia: A picture book needs to capture something universal you want to say about the world or about the experience of living. As the writer, you need a personal connection to the story. For me, it helps to think deeply about the layers of it, to let the ideas percolate, and to avoid rushing the process. A picture book can be one moment in time, like the moment when a bumblebee lands on your toe.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today Cynthia.

Dear readers, this book is published on May 20th. You won’t want to miss it. It’s a visual feast with poetic language that will have you reading it multiple times to catch more and more. It really is a treat!