Have you ever seen a child who is enchanted with rocks or sticks? This book is for them.
E. B. Goodale can often be found wandering in her local arboretum, looking for the perfect stick. She is the author/illustrator of The Moon Remembers, Also, and Under the Lilacs, and has illustrated many other books for children, including Windows by Julia Denos, and The Bees of Notre-Dame by Meghan P. Browne. She lives with her family under a big old tree in coastal Massachusetts. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram.
ROBIN AND THE STICK is a picture book for the very youngest of readers. It tells the simple story of Robin who loves a good stick. Until one day there is a branch at the end of the sidewalk. What’s the difference between a stick and a branch? Well this little kiddo is determined to find out. This is the struggle of “too little” that many young readers will appreciate (especially with the clever solution).
Welcome E.B.!
Me: Can you share about your creative journey? When did you start creating art professionally? How did that bring you to being the illustrator of this book
E.B.: My journey has had some twists and turns but has always been a creative path. I started making art professionally soon after graduating from art school when I started selling my art and being hired for commissions. From there I also started designing stationery for Smudge Ink, a letterpress stationery company, which was a big milestone in figuring out how to make my illustrations appeal to a more commercial market. I got my first book contract in 2015, and have been busy in children’s publishing ever since!
Me: You have written and illustrated multiple picture books (as well as book covers and stationery) at this point in your career. There are some similar themes, but many differences as well. What gave you the idea for this story?
E.B.: The idea for Robin and the Stick was really born out of becoming a mother and observing my son grow. He was such a curious and hard-working baby and through his eyes, I could see the world in a more curious way. My other work up until Robin has been much more a recalling of my own childhood or inner feelings.
Me: I love the way you illustrated this book. The softness and textures are fantastic and your color choice reminded me ever so slightly of The Snowy Day. Can you tell us a little bit about your illustrations for the book? Did you work with traditional media or digital or both?
E.B.: I wanted the imagery to feel effortless and easy to take in, which is why I designed the book to have a limited palette with one bright pop of color. I was striving for a timeless, classic feel, which is perhaps what evokes The Snowy Day. (I’ll take that compliment!) I created the art traditionally using monoprint and painting. I also designed the font, which was a fun new challenge.
Me: Your story is deceptively simple. It really captures a young child’s obsessions, as well as struggles and accomplishments so accurately. Was the manuscript always this tight? Or did it come about through revision? How many revisions did it take to get your manuscript to this final state? Did it go through many revisions or was this a gift of the Muse?
E.B.: In some ways Robin and the Stick was a “gift of the Muse” in the sense that it’s not terribly different from the first draft. I did lots of revisions, of course, but my revisions were not necessarily on the text. This book in particular really called for not just writing a tight story, but for creating an entire package. There were lots of different ways I envisioned Robin, the artwork, the subsequent stories…but the writing itself stayed pretty consistent through all that work.
Me: I understand that this book is going to be a series. Can you talk about how that came to be? How did you market the books? Were they a package set from the beginning?
E.B.: It is! The second book is Robin and the Moon (October 13, 2026) and the third is Robin and the Flowers (Spring 27.) From the moment Robin arrived in a draft, I had a sense that there was more for Robin than just one story. Each story came quickly and naturally and pretty much all at once. I wasn’t always sure they would be 3 separate books- at one point I thought that maybe it was one book, with little chapters, which is why it is sometimes still hard for me to refer to each book without talking about the others. They really do work as a team to create “Robin’s World.” So yes, they’ve been a set from the beginning, and I’m really happy with this final iteration of them being 3 small books.
Me: That’s fantastic. Congratulations! What is one thing that surprised you in either writing or illustrating this story?
E.B.: How hard it is to make something simple. Every detail is exposed, so it has to be just right. In this case, both the art and the writing are spare, so it was a lot of fine tuning to make sure the result felt satisfying.
Me: Any advice for other new picture book writers and/or illustrators?
E.B.: Read! Read to yourself and read to a child! Being immersed in books has always helped me to find my voice amongst the crowd. There is so much inspiration out there!
That is so true! Thank you for stopping by my blog today E.B.
Dear readers, this book publishes next week. “Simple” is a disguise for stories and illustrations that are incredibly hard to get just right and that is certainly the case here. The writing and the illustrations here are spare, but they are cleverly designed to be that way. Trust me when I say, this is a book you won’t want to miss.