What do you know about America’s favorite sausage?
Christine Van Zandt is a freelance editor, writing coach, and award-winning author. Her nonfiction picture books include the Mighty Models series (The Legendary Life Story of the Lever and The Legendary Life Story of the Cogwheel), Milkweed for Monarchs, and A Brief History of Underpants. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, or LinkedIn.
HOT DOG! THE HISTORY OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE SAUSAGE is a nonfiction picture book all about hot dogs. I never knew there was so much to learn about the subject! I even learned about a hot dog preference in Alaska that I’d never heard of before (and I’m still researching). This book takes a delightful approach with a dachshund narrator conveying all the information with a bit of tongue in cheek. The illustrations also make information kid friendly in the best ways. This is a fascinating approach to a topic that is sure to grab many young readers’ attention.
Welcome Christine!
Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey. When did you start writing picture books? How has that brought you to writing this picture book?
Christine: I’ve been writing in one way or another for as long as I can remember. Though I was an English lit major with a specialization in kid’s lit, I didn’t try my hand at a picture book until we had our daughter. I bought her books before she was even born and rekindled my love of picture books. Once I was on that path, I started keeping notebooks with possible book ideas—a good excuse to buy cute notebooks! That was also around the same time I started working as an editor so I’ve been fortunate to have reading and writing in my life pretty much on a daily basis.
Me: I love how many facts you’ve crammed into this book! What gave you the idea to write a nonfiction picture book all about hot dogs?
Christine: Hot dogs are a favorite kid (and adult!) food and, when I went looking to see what books were out there, I found there wasn’t one as I imagined: funny on every page and with an adorable dachshund as the narrator.
Me: The way you’ve written this book is brilliant. Your sense of humor really shines through. While it could be a boring list of facts, it’s not! How many drafts did it take to get to this final state? Were there a lot of revisions or was this a gift from the Muse?
Christine: There were many drafts over a five-month period. If I had to guess, I’d say 30-40 drafts. This is the book I’ve sold quickest. Other manuscripts I’ve worked on (and am still working on) for years. I’m thankful that I have excellent critique partners and an editorial agent; lots of eyes were on the book as it moved along. Once it was sold, of course there was more back-and-forth with the editor and team at Macmillan.
Me: Can you tell us a bit about your research process for this book? How long did it take you to research all the different facts and tidbits that went into this story? Any favorite discoveries or research methods?
Christine: I pulled all the hot dog and sausage books I could find: fiction, nonfiction, children’s, adult. From there, I tracked facts that seemed solid—and explained in the book that history has contradictions.
Me: Your back matter is fantastic, including a timeline and other assorted facts. I was delighted to also see a recipe. Have you made this yourself? Do you have a favorite way to eat hot dogs?
Christine: I love this recipe and was happy that it ended up making the cut. It was a favorite around our house when our daughter was younger. I usually eat hot dogs boiled because it’s quick and easy but we recently bought a hot dog rolling machine and, boy, does that make a great hot dog because they get evenly browned with an almost-crispy texture.
Me: Steven Salerno’s illustrations in this book are absolutely wonderful. I mean those end papers in red and yellow like ketchup and mustard? What an incredible idea! Not to mention all the other details he included. Did you have any illustration surprises? Any favorites?
Christine: I was thrilled to have Steven on this project. His art has caught my eye many times over the years. He really dug in and researched. I was impressed by his thoroughness. The historical detail along with the crazy-funny dachshund was just perfect. I hadn’t envisioned Frank de Wienerdog wearing the Bavarian hat but, as with the scenes, Steven adds such detail: the hat has a German flag hat band, a tiny US flag, and a red feather. Wow, right?! While the historical scenes are so well done and the people are what I think of as Steven Salerno characters, my favorites are the images of Frank: him on the cover, in a snowsuit, and in the hilarious “how you dress your dog” spread.
Me: Any advice for aspiring and/or new picture book writers?
Christine: Read picture books regularly, especially ones published in the past five years. Join a critique group (or several), and engage with the kidlit community. Realize it’s typically a long process: the stats are 3-5 years from when a manuscript is polished and you begin querying until it connects with an agent. Write for kids because you enjoy kids and writing. Keep writing. It may be the first or the twenty-first manuscript that finally sells. By writing regularly, you learn how to find your voice and refine your craft, and, when a manuscript attracts an agent’s attention, they will typically ask to see 5-7 additional polished manuscripts so you want to have those ready. And, since I’m an editor, I have to add: consider hiring an editor anywhere along the process and/or getting critiques from professionals at SCBWI events.
That is great advice Christine. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
Dear readers, this book was published just a couple of weeks ago. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, I highly recommend tracking it down. It’s a hilarious take on a yummy subject with plenty of nonfiction facts that will keep readers engaged. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it!