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May Author-Educator: Deborah Underwood

5/11/2015

17 Comments

 
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Deborah Underwood is an author with a wide range of ability.  Many of us have read the first two books in her humorous CAT series and the third (Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat) is set to release on May 19.  She has numerous fiction picture books, including Bad Bye, Good Bye, The Quiet Book, and Part-Time Princess, among others.  But, you may not know that she has twenty-eight nonfiction picture books published, as well, and her newest release, Interstellar Cinderella is a rhyming fractured fairy tale. 

As we learned during ReFoReMo and continue to learn through this blog, mentor texts can help us analyze the picture book craft and strengthen our own writing. As you research Deborah Underwood's two newest mentor texts, keep your eyes open for these strengths:
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Interstellar Cinderella
-Character development is huge here! Cinderella is an independent, intelligent girl with dreams and perseverance.  She thinks outside the box and succeeds at what she puts her mind to.  She is not the Cinderella of ages ago, but a very current, stand-up-for-yourself version, that will leave girls (and women) feeling empowered.
 
-Rhyme and rhythm are consistent and lively...nothing boring about them.  Are you working on rhyme?  Read it aloud 10 times and internalize the meter.
-Surprise ending! Yes, even a fairy tale can have a surprise when it is fractured. This version sets itself apart as a clever, unique Cinderella retelling. If you are writing a fractured fairytale, or hope to one day, consider comparing different fractured tales to the original versions. Notice which ones stand out and why. 
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Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat
-Metafiction: Because this book encourages interaction between the narrator and Cat, it plays with the fiction form. Take note of how the interaction takes place.
-Page turns leave us in suspense and propel us forward to read more.
-Distinct voice & character: Even though the narrator tells the story, notice how we get a distinct grasp on Cat's character and how this voice flavors both the narrator and Cat. Even without talking, Cat's "sign language" and facial expressions convey a determined, moody "catitude". Interplay between text and illustrations is a biggie in this series!
-Humor: Kids love to laugh and Cat will not only keep them laughing, but make them want to reread the story over and over again.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah as the May Mystery Author at the Carrie On... Together blog.  Take a peek into her writing process HERE and consider conducting an author study on all of Deborah's work.  You will find her fiction titles HERE and nonfiction HERE.   (Extra bonus: There is a GIVEAWAY going on at the interview!) Enjoy!
17 Comments
rita antoinette borg link
5/11/2015 09:28:32 pm

Thanks for this interview. It was very interesting.

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:06:21 pm

You are welcome, Rita! I hope you are able to access some of her books as mentor texts, as well. :) You can't go wrong with any of Deborah's books. :)

Reply
Mary Warth
5/12/2015 12:36:25 am

Thanks for the great post. I love to add to my mentor text list!

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:06:48 pm

Yay, Mary! Keep reading!

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Kirsti Call
5/12/2015 03:44:30 am

I always love your reviews and insights, Carrie.

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:07:14 pm

Thanks, Kirsti!

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Jilanne Hoffmann
5/12/2015 04:39:38 am

Hard to believe the San Francisco Public library doesn't have Interstellar Cinderella on order. I just suggested the title, and I placed Here Comes the Tooth Fairy Cat on hold. They have 31 copies of that title on order. Yay!

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:07:55 pm

Woah! 31 of the same title! Must be a big library system. :)

Reply
maria gianferrari link
5/12/2015 10:24:56 am

I LOVE Deborah's cat books--they're so hilarious, and the simplicity of the illustrations as well as the use of white space is just brilliant!

And Interstellar Cinderella has to be one of the best titles out there, and the book does not disappoint--very fun!!

Reply
Damon Dean link
5/12/2015 03:46:22 pm

I will be studying Deborah's rhyme and rhythm in Interstellar Cinderella. I get bogged down and want to seen how she kept it fresh and clean.

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:09:32 pm

You won't be disappointed, Damon. Read it ten times outloud. I learn so much from reading and rereading great rhyme over and over again. It internalizes the rhythm and makes you notice new things.

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Penny Parker Klostermann link
5/13/2015 01:57:15 am

Thanks for the mentor text studies! I can't wait to read these two and see if I can apply their elements to some of my WIPs.

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:10:16 pm

You are welcome, Penny! I bet you will be able to apply the elements. It is so much fun to experiment!

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Myrna Foster
5/13/2015 08:07:16 am

Thanks for breaking these down. I look forward to reading them.

Reply
Carrie
5/14/2015 05:10:41 pm

You are welcome, Myrna! Enjoy!

Reply
Taurean J. Watkins (@Taurean_Watkins) link
5/17/2015 08:22:12 am


I'm very particular about stories that "break the 4th wall" as they can be a little awkward for me as a reader, though as a writer I do see the appeal and have experimented with this more.

The medium also influences how well it works. I love it most in video content since it's more natural to address the viewer depending on the format of the content. I'm working on making video content on T.A.A.'s YouTube channel be more interactive.

But with books it's a bit trickier since you're imagining cues that you'd see visually in a video. especially in novels when you have few or no illustrations to guide you a bit like you have in chapter books, early readers, and picture books, of course.

A good exercise for novelists such as myself would be to take a character that doesn't rely on words and bring that character to life solely through words, not easy, but certainly possible, and while you want to avoid the overdone physical description, you do want to give the reader some idea, and while some writers (and lay readers) make the argument they want to "imagine how the character looks themselves" there are still readers who want some idea to jumpstart their imagination.

My debut novel "Gabriel" gave me major trouble here, and while it will have some illustrations, I still want the words to give the reader a strong sense of a character's visual appearance, especially if it plays into a key character trait.

For example, Gabriel will sometimes hold his tail when he's nervous or upset. Being an inventor he'll also mumble to himself as he brainstorms ideas.

Rum will grit his teeth or hiss when he's annoyed or exerting his dominance.

Think how differently we'd imagine Harry Potter if we didn't know he wore glasses and had a lightning bolt scar. (and the cover didn't depict it either)

As a reader, I generally like to be immersed in the story's world without the characters directly addressing me, but like with most things, it hinges on how the author and/or illustrator pulls it off that makes all the difference.

Deborah does a great job with her "Cat" books.

It helps that the narrator has a simple, universal tone, versus a more particular tone like the gleefully glum narrator in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" or "The Book Thief", both of which are very particular, and while memorable, aren't for everyone.



Reply
Carrie Charley Brown
5/17/2015 01:23:25 pm

I'm happy you are exploring the form you are writing, Taureen. We focus soley on picture books here at carriecharleybrown.com and ReFoReMo, but I know that others are writing in multiple forms and genres. I appreciate you sharing from a different perspective. :)

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