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Visit Teachers.Net Bookshelf for a look at more works
by
Emily Arnold McCully

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Kathleen - Teachers.Net welcomes its first Caldecott award winning illustrator/author, Emily Arnold McCully. Emily, is Mirette On The High Wire your favorite because of the high honor it received?
Emily Arnold McCully - Kathleen- I am certainly fond of it as Mirette has rewarded me in many ways. But i'm usually fondest of the most recent work. in this case it is beautiful warrior- not most recent, but recent and a labor of love
sea/2 - ooohhh, what is beautiful warrior about?
Emily Arnold McCully - well, sea, BW is about a buddhist nun in late ming china who is a great martial artist. in my book she saves a peasant girl from a terrible, indeed impossible marriage and teaches her some spiritual lessons a la kung fu in the process
Kathleen - Emily, what are you working on now?
Emily Arnold McCully - Katheleen- i am working on a sequel to mouse practice, the next mirette- mirette and bellini cross niagara falls- then a wordless kitten book (set, Nat, on Doyle far,)- then a book set in venice at time of vivaldi's height.
Kathleen - Have you encountered any resistance from publishers over your strong and independent female characters?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- certainly not. However, there are wistful requests from editors and buyers for boy books, so called
Kathleen - Which of your books, if any, caused the most dissention between you and an editor?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- Dissension hasn't really been my experience. There is sometimes lots of negotiating over plot and so on and these days more than i like of marketting predicitons- will this or that sell, usually in the classroom lots of
sea/2 - Emily, is the reading level comparable to Mirette? (china story)
sea/2 - did Disney "steal" your idea??? PLEASE stick with your instincts! we need more girl heroes!
Emily Arnold McCully - i dont know much about reading levels. it is a story that ought to be read to children until they are at least in 2nd grade, perhaps 3rd.
Emily Arnold McCully - sea- disney's story is about a soldier girl and mine a martial artist and nun- she lived at shaolin temple, which still exists.
sea/2 - my upper 2nd love Mirette! it's on my chalkshelf (and I can't wait to tell them I talked to the author!!! :)
Kathleen - My favorite lines from Mirette on the High Wire when she was begging Bellini to teach her: "That would not be a good idea, once you start, your feet are never happy again on the ground." "Oh, please teach me!" Mirette begged. "My feet are already unhappy on the ground." Did those lines flow easily from your , or does that kind of lyric require a lot of your blood, sweat and tears to achieve?
Kathleen - "My feet are already unhappy on the ground" tells us alot about Mirette
Emily Arnold McCully - I wish i could remember exactly how the lines were written i can say that most of what i learned about high wire walking came from a book by philippe petit. he is preparing now for a major walk near the grand canyon next summer to be televided. i probably
Kathleen - Emily, but the lines in that part are so perfect, do you struggle over every line?
Emily Arnold McCully - usually i do. of all my books, mirette was the easiest to write it is the only one created in dummy form instead of ms., then dummy
Kathleen - Emily, is Belline really Petit?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- a great part of him is petit, the rest the great Blondin
Kathleen - Emily, do you consider yourself more an illustrator or an author, or both?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I used to consider myself a writer but now i feel more an illustrator. but of course both. Illustrations must accompany a text
sea/2 - emily, could you please explain "dummy" form? (your illustrations are outstanding, too!)
Emily Arnold McCully - sea: a dummy is simply a book in which sketches for the story are experimented with- i move pieces here and there and use a book so that i can turn pages and therefore see if story works as a book
Kathleen - Emily, Would you explain the different types of illustration you use in your books? For example, there is little similarity between the illustrations in Grandmas at the Lake and Mirette On the High Wire. What are the 2 methods/media used in those books?
Emily Arnold McCully - the media are the same. but grandmas are humorous, cartoon style pictures and drawn with line. mirette was the first book i painted- using no line, just brushes. (at rhe suggestion of the art director, who was brilliant)
Nat - and pastels
sea/2 - Thank you. So... you do your story first in pictures, then the writing (of the story) to match? [Mirette appears with so much motion!]
Emily Arnold McCully - sea- no, the story really must be anchored in text and editors usually want to see words first. mirette was an anomaly in that respect. i do try to get motion in pictures, make them seem to have life as i am not a meticulous artist at all
darthy/AL - Which of your books would be best to read to the lowest 20% of first graders, remedial reading???
Emily Arnold McCully - i suppose the grandma books, now monk the mouse and several that i illustrated but didi not write. another way to go is with my wordless mouse books- sadly many are out of print. but kids can tell the story and then write it out with lots of reading benef
Kathleen - But the "low" readers would benefit from the hearing the rich stories of the other books too!
Mary K&1 - When did you know that you wanted to write and illustrate - at what age? Who encouraged you? At what age did your talent become evident?
Emily Arnold McCully - Mary- this will be a long answer- i naturally took up writing and illus as a small child- loved books, saw the world in story terms very early. parents very literary and encouraged me and so did teachers and librarians.later i wanted to write for adults. I was drawing at 3 or so, trying to represent things and my mother told me to practice
Mary K&1 - Do you have a web site? I searched, but didn't find one, although you are discussed on many.
Emily Arnold McCully - Mary- no, don't have one. Nat and I are talking about putting one up. only he could do a good job
Kathleen - Site with bio, info:http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/kidspage/mccully.html
Kathleen - Who are the artists and illustrators you most admire? Is there one you try to emulate?
Emily Arnold McCully - k- no. i love a variety of approaches
Kathleen - Emily, is there another type of illustrating that you haven't used but hope or plan to?
Emily Arnold McCully - i'm not sure because my technical range is not broad. it was really fun to return to humorous, energetic drawing for Mouse Practice. I want to be freer, always, and perhaps try new media
sea/2 - emily, what inspires you to select your heroines?
Emily Arnold McCully - sea- selection is hit and miss I read about someone and try to find out more- it's all a matter of what passes my way or is part of the history I am reading for my own pleasure and education
Kathleen - Emily, is there a pattern to how your books germinate? Did the Bobbin Girl begin with your interest in an historical period, or from a picture in your mind of a strong young girl who needed a place in historical fiction?
Emily Arnold McCully - Kathleen- Bobbin Girl came about because a friend was writing a screenplay about LOwell and the film fell through. I was reading about the mils and thought I'd use the situation. It was certainly appealing as girl story. Also as labor one
Mary K&1 - Can you tell us a bit about the process that you follow when writing a book? What comes first? and then what?
Emily Arnold McCully - Mary- First a spark of interest. then research. then try to get story line, then research for pictures. then sketches, then dummy (story and pictures together) then finished art
lala - WHat is the best piece of advice you ever received as a writer? Can you give any advice to those who would like to be published?
Emily Arnold McCully - lala- best advice is something along lines of: write what you care about, don't try to imagine what anyone wants to read. And that is what I would tell anyone else
sea/2 - Just curious... do you have a daughter? Is there a special reason you identify/portray girls rather than boys?
Emily Arnold McCully - sea- no, no daughter. two sons. but when i was a child the only exciting books i found were about boys. eventually i decided to try to fill the gap myself and have been told by people that there is still a great nbeed for books about persevering, risktaki
aim123 - What books or authors have had the most influence on you ?
Emily Arnold McCully - aim-i would have to say that the ones that have had most influence are all adult authors- jane austen, george eliot, etc.
Kathleen - Emily, how is a Caldecott Medal presented? Is there a ceremony? Did you receive a real medal?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- caldecott is presented at a grand gala banquet. The recipient gives a speech- as does newberry winner. the audience numbers in the thousands and it is a heady experience
Kathleen - Emily, that sounds wonderful!
Kathleen - Emily, was it a surprise?
Emily Arnold McCully - it was a total surprise it never entered my mind as a possibility
sea/2 - Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed learning more about you. Thank you so much visiting! :) I must go. Congratulations on the Caldecott, too!!! (sorry K, but had to sneak my comment in)
Kathleen - sea :-)
Emily Arnold McCully - sea- thank you very much
lala - Have you ever written a book, illustrated it, felt it was wonderful, yet nothing ever happened with it?
Emily Arnold McCully - lala- in years past, i tried to produce several stories- wrote, illustrated and submitted them. all rejected, nowadays i am fortunate in that most of my ideas come to fruition. but some are so altered in the process they could not be recognized o
Kathleen - Emily, do you see any trends in children's literature? You mentioned that editors and publishers sometimes push you toward a market, what market is out there now?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I am afraid i know little of the market. some editors do push trends, such a multicultural- which may be succeeded by something else now. books about pirates, books about holidays- that sort of thing
Emily Arnold McCully - B Seuling could answer the market question very well
Emily Arnold McCully - k- are you already talking to Barabara?
Kathleen - You know Barbara Seuling?
Kathleen - Yes, Barbara and I have had contact for as long as I've known you ;-)
Emily Arnold McCully - I have met her. i believe she is a partcipant in a Bank St College writers group I attended years ago
Kathleen - Emily, do you get together with other authors/illustrators?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I do- at PEN and Author's Guild sometimes, and at conferences.
Kathleen - Emily, do you visit schools? If so, whom would we contact to arrange a visit?
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I do visit schools, arranged usually through publishers. ASt the moment I am overdoing it- too many last month, this month and have vowed to cut back. So now is not the time to ask me- sorry
Kathleen - Emily, when I met you, you were promoting an event of special interest to women? What was that event?
Kathleen - Was it a voter registration effort?
Emily Arnold McCully - where were we? I hate not knowing but it's incrreasingly the case that I forget stuff
Kathleen - You ran out of flyers that day and I didn't receive one, so I don;'t know either!
Kathleen - At UCONN Book Fair
Emily Arnold McCully - Now I remember- it was the White House Project- raising awareness of women qualified to be president
Kathleen - Oh, yes! Now I remember!
lala - As you can probably tell, I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I admire your work so much! How long did it take you to get noticed and how did you do it?
Kathleen - lala, be sure to come back on Wed night with Barbara Seuling!
lala - Absolutely I will!
Emily Arnold McCully - lala- i struggled for years to get work as an illustrator to support my writing. An editor saw a poster I made and asked me to illustrate a children's book, so I entered the field that way. I tried to write children;s books but it took years to find my voice and sell a story
Emily Arnold McCully - k- i met michael at an author event last fall and liked him enormously. i plan to go see his studio when i am settled upstate
lala - At least there's hope! :-) Looking at your books now, though, I wonder what publishers think when they reject an author. I haven't gottem brave enough yet !
Kathleen - Michael seems like an extraordinary gentleman
Kathleen - nat, are you still here? jump in and chat
Emily Arnold McCully - lal- you can't read their minds. each editor is just one person, with limitations and prejudices, etc. How to Eat Fried Worms, which I illustrated years ago was rejected 23 times
Kathleen - Emily, you might have met him at UCONN, you were there on the same day and hour
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I think Nat went back to work- hope so
Nat - i was just rememberin about the poster
Kathleen - lala, see that should encourage you!
Emily Arnold McCully - K- of course that's where we met
lala - Emily - thanks for letting me speak to you and I enjoy reading your books to my Third Grade classes.
Kathleen - Do you have the poster?
Emily Arnold McCully - Lal - thak you. good luck i adore third graders
lala - - Yes! I tdefinitely encourages me! I'm just running out of room to store them so I might as well try!@
Emily Arnold McCully - K- yes, I do. It went up in the NYC subway a week before a strike.
Nat - is it the Book Power one?
Kathleen - Emily, so, how do you feel about live chat now?
Emily Arnold McCully - Nat- no, one done much earlier, before any children's books. Book Power 1969 featured you as a baby.
Emily Arnold McCully - K- I got used to it. Kind of fun. I have a bit of a backache, but if I do it again will definitely be more relaxed. Everyone was great and you did a fine job
Kathleen - I'm reluctant to let you go Emily! Would you consider returning to Teachers.Net sometime?
Emily Arnold McCully - k- sure
lala - Thank you and good night all!
Emily Arnold McCully - thanks to all of you keep up your wonderful and vital work
Kathleen - Emily, I thoroughly enjoyed this session. It is nice that Nat accompanied you. I hope you'll both come back. :-)Thank you to all participants.
Emily Arnold McCully - goodnight
Kathleen - Good night, Emily :-) you did a terrific job!