 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Home
> Librarians@Random >
Editor's Corner May 2009 Want to know what excites an RHCB editor? Tune in to the Editor’s Corner each month to get the inside scoop on a different editor’s latest and greatest project, from tomorrow’s bestseller to a literary masterpiece!
Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet is a project that I really enjoyed working on. Being involved with the creation of a chapter book series has been a rewarding and consuming experience. We always hear librarians and teachers say that there’s a need for more books for second- to fourth-grade boys. Well, Calvin Coconut is the guy for those readers. Calvin is a fourth-grader who lives in Hawaii on the island of Oahu , with his mother and little sister, Darci. He tries hard to be the “man of the house,” but he’s a spirited kid, and trouble always seems to find him. I’ve never actually met Calvin, but I feel like I know him. This series is actually based on Graham’s own childhood. After a working dinner with Graham, where Wendy and I sat down with him and went over his list of future ideas and situations for Calvin books, I can tell you, this is a setting ripe for exploration. One of the odder ideas that’s jumped out at us: “Julio becomes frightened when his younger brother seems to be growing fangs.” That’s a story we’ll all be waiting to read! Graham is a natural storyteller, and he’s had so much fun writing Calvin’s stories. Not to say that it didn’t take some editorial work to help these books come together. For the first book, Graham’s challenge was to nail down Calvin’s voice and character, to create a kid that would seem as real to the readers as their own friends and classmates. The voice in a chapter book has to stand out: every sentence has to convey Calvin’s personality, his unique outlook on the action. We want to live and experience every moment from inside Calvin’s head. One thing that helped give more spark to Calvin’s voice was switching the point of view from 3 rd to 1 st person.
Last but not least, the series as a whole needed a visual identity. Angela Carlino, designer extraordinaire, and Jacqueline Rogers, the illustrator, have given Calvin Coconut a kid-friendly look that matches the tone of the stories. Jackie says this is one of the most enjoyable projects she’s ever worked on. She literally drew her sketches all over the rough text layouts Angela had sent her, in a way that’s playful and moves across the page, full of action. She brings terrific expression to her figures, and also indicates the ethnic mix of the characters. Angela came up with the Hawaiian pattern as a background that highlights the title of each book in a different color. Graham Salisbury is a dream author to work with. He never fails to express his appreciation of our work, from the WLB editorial team, to Angela’s design, to his publicist, Noreen Marchisi. He loves the whole RHCB family. But as much as we invest a part of ourselves into this series to help make it the best product it can be, without Graham, and the inspiration of his wild and wonderful boyhood in Hawaii , there would be no Calvin Coconut. We hope kids will fall in love with Calvin as much as we have. Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet is now available in hardcover and Calvin Coconut: Zippy Fix arrives this September! And to end with a fun fact courtesy of Calvin Coconut: Hawaii ’s state fish is the Reef Trigger Fish, or Rhinecanthus rectangulus. But in Hawaii we call it by its real name: Humuhumunukunukuapua’a.
|
|
Featured Editor: Caroline Meckler, Associate Editor,
Wendy Lamb Books 
