Counting + Eating + Animals = board book genius!
Jessie Atkin writes fiction, essays, and plays. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, HerStry, The Writing Disorder, Space and Time Magazine, and elsewhere. Her full-length play, “Generation Pan,” was published by Pioneer Drama. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook, or Twitter.
OODLES OF NOODLES is a board book that combines counting with animals eating. Did I mention that it rhymes? This one will knock your socks off with unexpected combinations on every page that will leave little readers wondering what comes next and begging for many re-reads.
Welcome Jessie!
Me: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey. When did you start writing kidlit? How has that brought you to writing this board book?
Jessie: I’ve been writing kidlit since I was a kid, haha. Ask any of my middle school or high school teachers and classmates, and I always had a notebook at hand. I got really serious about it after I graduated college and started sending out queries to try and land a kidlit agent, probably around 2013, right before I entered my MFA Creative Writing program. My focus was always on MG and YA novels. But when my twin sister announced she was pregnant with my now two-year-old niece I wanted to write a book that she could enjoy as soon as possible. My agent was great and was absolutely up for representing this board book along with my other manuscripts, and lucky for all of us (my niece most of all), this was the first manuscript that got picked up.
Me: I love this concept of counting, fun rhyming words, and animals eating! What gave you the idea for this book?
Jessie: It started with the rhyme “These are the poodles who love to eat noodles. Oodles of noodles for all of the poodles.” I had a golden doodle in high school, and a friend and I just started repeating that rhyme to one another. That rhyme stayed with me all these years and became the jumping-off point for the whole book when I learned I was going to be an aunt.
Me: Nutrition and healthy choices are such hot topics sometimes. What made you want to play with food in your story? Why have a bunch of animals who are having fun eating such a variety of things?
Jessie: Food was always a central part of my growing up in a big family (I’m one of four kids). We had family dinners most nights, and our house hosted all the holidays every year. So, when I imagine families reading this book together, I see food as something that can connect everyone not only to the story but to one another. I also think that while nutrition and healthy choices are important, finding joy in food is also a great way to help people pay attention to what they are eating in a 100% positive way.
Me: It’s not every day you see internal rhyme, assonance, and end rhyme in quite this way. What inspired you to play with similar sounds like this? Do you have a background in poetry?
Jessie: I have a background in fiction, nonfiction, and playwriting, haha. I would say that poetry is probably my weakest literary muscle (until now!). But I also know what I enjoy, and I was obsessed with rhyming poetry as a kid (hello Shel Silverstein). A lot of the early board books and picture books I still remember were those that rhymed, so I knew I wanted to lean into that when I started writing “Oodles.” Whatever I’m writing (yes, even the novels!) I always do at least one edit where I read the whole piece out loud to myself. Rhythm, along with rhyme, makes a huge difference, and I really wanted as similar experience and sound here to the stories I remember enjoying. I love a good audiobook, but I also know that it’s really the early board books and picture books that are read the most out loud, and I think rhyming really adds to that experience for kiddos.
Me: The illustrations by Moesha Kellaway are pitch perfect. They’re so colorful and lively. I love the variety of poses the flies are making. Any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?
Jessie: I adore what Moesha did with these illustrations. I was so so lucky when she signed on to illustrate. Everything she did looked better than any images I’d had playing around in my head. She really understood the spirit of the book, and I love the fun she had with the small details on every page. A personal favorite is the “these are the snakes who savor the steaks” page. The fact that she dressed the snakes up in party hats was just perfection.
Me: What is one thing that surprised you in creating this book?
Jessie: I think the editing process surprised me. Again, my first experience as a creative/kidlit writer was with novel manuscripts. I in no way thought that picture books or board book writing was easy, but there certainly are fewer words. I thought, maybe, once I had the rhymes down, I was good, I wouldn’t have too many other changes. But it’s also like my experience with playwriting (usually also fewer words than a novel), when you’re really focusing on the economy of words, every single syllable has to be prefect. There is absolutely nowhere to hide. And it’s just not something I thought about until I was in it.
Me: Do you have any advice for new or aspiring picture book writers?
Jessie: Be persistent. This was not my first piece that went on submission (novel or picture book). Ideas are important. Art is important. Fun is important. But be prepared to keep pushing, keep putting yourself out there. The hardest part isn’t the writing (I don’t think so anyway), but just remembering to put one foot in front of the other so that eventually, a story of yours will hit the shelves.
That is great advice. Thank you for stopping by my blog today Jessie.
Dear readers, this book publishes in a couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for it. It’s such a joyful combination of all the aspects it includes. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it.