Teddy, Let's Go! A Debut Picture Book Review, Author & Illustrator Interviews, and a Giveaway!

 Today, I have the honor and delight to introduce a fellow Matthews, North Carolina writer, Michelle Nott. Michelle is celebrating the publication of her debut picture book, Teddy, Let's Go (Enchanted Lion Books: December 2022). After the review, make sure you read my interviews with Michelle and Nahid Kazemi, the illustrator. It'll make you want to pass this sweet multi-generational book along to your child or grandchild.

REVIEW

I have reviewed hundreds of picture books, but I can't remember any that open with three wordless pages. These pages depict Teddy's "birth." 

Here is one of the spreads:

Following these sewing scenes, the reader meets Teddy's creator. "The wavy-haired woman with love in her eyes pulled me close and whispered in my ear."

Teddy "floats" into his new home and is introduced to his owner. "This...is Teddy," the wavy-haired lady says. 

A nose as small as mine rubbed against my cheek.
We were made for each other.

Teddy goes everywhere with the little girl.  They eat mushy vegetables together and both need a bath. They celebrate their first birthday with cake and party hats. When she begins to talk, Teddy names her.

She soon had a name for everything. "Here's my Rabbit and my Giraffe
and my Teddy and my...my...my."
So I called her by her favorite word: My.

No matter what they did together, Teddy always listened for his name and knew what would come next, Teddy, let's go."

My grows up and...

One summer, I climbed into My's backpack
and we rode a bus to camp.

Teddy was often left behind in the cabin (which he guarded) and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do next. He watched and the screen door sprung open, and laughter blew in. (I had to include that line because I love it!)

Teddy and My return home after camp and Teddy hiked to the top of her dresser. 

Some days I didn't see much of My. 

But when she noticed me alone, she always

 reminded me how strong I was 

and how high and how far I could go.

And when it was time to settle down, I listened.

"Teddy, let's go!"

After their seventh birthday when "Teddy whispered happy dreams in her ear," he felt something different. Days and nights passed. He listened. Then one day, A small voice cried. My went still. I stretched out my arms and legs so My would know I was still there.

My scrubs Teddy and sews some loose stuffing back inside of him. Then she says, "Teddy, let's go!" She closes one door and opens another.

"This," she said ,"is Teddy."

I floated down to our first bed and to a new baby. This was our moment. 

I listened...and whispered happy dreams in his ear. 

                                                    ****

I love so much about this sparsely written and beautifully illustrated picture book. I love how the author brings the story full circle in the same way that Bevan, A Well-Loved Bear did. I love Michelle's lyrical language, her use of repetition, and the threads that connect the grandmother to her granddaughter and then connect My to her baby brother. And as a daughter who learned to sew on my mother's Singer sewing machine and has made her share of stuffed animals and pillows with my own daughters and granddaughters... I love how My sews up Teddy just like her grandma. 

As a special treat, you are going to hear how both Michelle and Nahid drew from their own childhood experiences to write and illustrate Teddy. AND you'll also hear how their vision for the wordless pages was exactly the same without ever consulting with one another. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Carol: What was the inspiration for Teddy, Let's Go!

Michelle: I was inspired to write this story by the teddy bear that my grandmother hand-made for me when I was born. I still have it right here on a shelf in my office. But I was sitting in my children's bedroom, when they were around kindergarten age, with them and Teddy when I started to think about all the adventures this bear has been on through my childhood. I then envisioned different scenarios that he may experience with my own children. Although the book is not autobiographical, it is heavily inspired by childhood imagination, milestones, and intergenerational love. 

Carol: What was your path to publication?

Michelle: As mentioned, the idea for this story occurred when my children were quite young. At first, I wrote it as a bedtime story for them. Once I discovered SCBWI and CBI, I revised and shaped it in hopes of publication. After querying it for  a couple years, I often read that it was lovely but "too quiet." So, I put it away. 

Fast forward to my daughters in high school, I queried Essie White with a middle grade novel who really liked my writing and asked if I also wrote picture books. I sent her three --two that were more commercial and Teddy Let's Go! She signed me for Teddy. A couple years later, she sold the manuscript to Enchanted Lion Books with Nahid Kazemi as the illustrator. I could not have been more thrilled!

In a very early draft, I had paragraphs describing the grandmother sewing and stitching Teddy together. All that description was lovely for an oral story at bedtime, but entirely too much for a book. Nor would it be necessary. I cut it all before submitting it to agents. I didn't even add an illustration note. And then, I saw the PDF of the final art by Nahid. She had brilliantly illustrated in the first wordless spreads just what I had imagined in my head.

ILLUSTRATOR INTERVIEW

Carol: What medium did you use? I love how the images are soft and almost pastel-like. How did you achieve that effect?

Nahid: I use chalk pastels in a way that looks like watercolor. In order to get this effect, I've made them powdery. For the red, I used cotton instead of a brush. When I illustrate, I use stuff like cotton, brushes, tissue paper, and cotton swabs.

Carol:  Out of curiosity, why did you picture the grandmother with a very old Singer sewing machine? The story appears to be a contemporary story except for the hand-turned machine. (Reader: this illustration is not pictured in my review.)

Nahid: Your question about a hand-turned Singer sewing machine is very good. This machine belonged to my mother when I was a kid and we made a lot of creative stuff with it. 

Carol:  I was wondering about the wordless pages in the beginning. Was that something you and the art director came up with?

Nahid: It was my suggestion. I wanted kids to know how Teddy was born. Indeed, I wanted to depict giving birth to Teddy so that it might be a metaphor for giving birth to the baby. This book was a very challenging book. It took a few years to work on the illustrations and I changed most of them a few times in order to get the best result.

                                                    *****

Now you know some of the layers that went into creating this special book.

PREORDER! AUTHOR SIGNING!

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, you help authors when you preorder their books. You can find Teddy, Let's Go at your local bookstore or here and here. 

If you live anywhere near Charlotte, NC, come meet Michelle and purchase a copy of her book at Park Road Books on November 19. 

GIVEAWAY

If you are interested in winning this book (and who wouldn't?) please leave a comment by October 27. This time, if you are a parent or grandparent OR are expecting a baby or grandchild in the near future, I'll put your name in twice. U.S. addresses only. Remember, if you are new to my blog, don't forget to leave your name and email address! 

Congratulations to Emily Weitz, a new subscriber to my blog, who won Bug On the Rug from last week's blog.