A Note from Miss Kate (The Lavender Librarian) and Stefanie (Library for the Kind)
It makes my heart happy that this book exists. It’s a charming story about a loving relationship between a child and her favourite uncle. The story is relatable to all children: there’s a sense of jealousy whenever a cherished adult has a new and important relationship.
The thing that little Chloe fears is that her uncle getting married means losing his affections. Of course, Uncle Bobby’s betrothed is loving and welcoming. The couple make a special effort to include Chloe and to share new experiences. In the end she sees that she’s really gaining a new person who loves her.
This is a book to share with every child. The themes are as universal as they are specific. Most children feel jealous or threatened when there are changes to family structure. We don’t have enough books about favourite relatives getting married. I suggest reading this book with a child any time a family is about to gain a member.
This book went through changes between the years of 2008 and the republished edition in 2020. Both versions feature a marriage between two men but in the 2008 version they are drawn as animals. While the book had pushback when it was originally released, it makes one wonder if the banning would have been more extreme if the newlyweds were human. Thankfully the book thrived and Uncle Bobby, and his groom to be, emerged as people in 2020 and are on bookshelves across the world.
Check out this great video from Nina’s Kids Club! She opens by talking about how much this book would have meant to her growing up.
And if you love Drag Queen Story Hour as much as we do make sure you’re checking out our website regularly! We have an interview coming up with the delightful Bella Noche!
Just last week I had a patron request “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding”! It is such a delightful picture book. What was your inspiration in creating it?
Thank you so much! Back in 2005, I was trying to break into children’s books. I had written and illustrated some stories, and I knew I wanted to write a new book about a child who got to be in a wedding. One of my nieces really enjoyed picture books that ended with a wedding.
I decided to make it a same-sex wedding because same-sex marriage had just been legalized in Massachusetts. It was a joyful time.
In 2008, when you published the original book, did you get pushback in regards to same sex marriage? Was there pushback in 2020? How were the reactions different? How were they the same?
Many, many people had a problem with Uncle Bobby’s Wedding when it was first published. They had plenty to say in comments sections on articles, and some of them felt moved to email me. They called the book “filth” and “garbage” and “a product of Satan.” A couple of them told me they had taken it out of the library and burned it.
So far, since the new edition has come out, the response has been almost completely positive. I saw one negative comment on GLAAD’s Instagram post about the book, but that’s all I’ve seen. People love the new illustrations!
The illustrations in both versions of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding are beautiful. The 2008 version has a delicate whimsy comforting vibe and the new version is so vibrant and full of life. Can you tell us about the art update and the characters transformation from animals to humans.
When Little Bee Books offered to publish the new edition, they wanted to illustrate it with people and to use a different illustrator. They didn’t say why. I thought about it for a day or two and decided I was fine with it. I already illustrated the book once!
I think Lucia Soto’s illustrations are wonderful, so beautiful and sassy. I wrote the book about people in the first place, so it’s great to see them. And I always meant for the couple to be mixed-race.
Illustrated by Lucia Soto
I also noticed that some of the words were updated in the later version of the book as well.
Notably the lines:
“How can Uncle Bobby get married?” (2008)
And
“Why is Uncle Bobby getting married?” (2020)
Can you tell us about this decision?
To be honest, all the changes came from my new editor. He sent me some thoughts and suggestions and we went back and forth a lot, discussing every word.
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding was the first book I had published. I was still learning how to write for children. I still am. I’m grateful to every editor who has worked with me. I’ve learned a lot from all of them!
I absolutely must ask you about your other works! “Bear Needs Help” and “A Perfect Day” are just perfect for storytime programs. The art is so clear and visually friendly. Not to mention, the messages in the books are so important to teach to little ones. When you created these books, did you have reading to a group in mind?
Thank you! I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t think about reading to a group. I was just enjoying putting the stories together with very few words, and playing with a new, simple art style.
I was hoping that, since the books have so few words, that children might be able to read them themselves. I’m really glad to hear that they work when you read them to a group! I have read Bear Needs Help to a number of kindergarten groups and I agree that it works well. I’ve never been able to read A Perfect Day to a group of children in person, because it came out during the pandemic. I hope to, someday.
You illustrated so many books that you didn’t author. Your art varies from book to book. How do you know what style to use? Do you get author input?
The preliminary decisions about the artwork are made between the illustrator, the art director, and the editor. Once I’ve done sketches the art director sends them to the author, and then the author has the opportunity to share their thoughts. In the case of nonfiction books, it’s very important that the illustrations are completely accurate so the author is a very important part of team all the way through the process.
When the art director sends me a manuscript, I read it over and over and just think about it for a week or two. I usually have more than one idea about how I might illustrate it, and at some point I do thumbnail sketches and try to visualize it. Sometimes I do a test piece of the finished art.
Once I’ve decided on a vision for the book, I send the art director and editor sketches, thumbnails, and a sample piece or two. If possible, we meet in person and talk it over.
Getting to the finished style and design takes a lot of intermediate steps!
“Seashells: More Than a Home” is a nonfiction picture book with a story. Did you find it more of a challenge to create the illustrations for a book with a story that includes facts?
All three of the Melissa Stewart’s books (Feathers: Not Just For Flying; Seashells: More Than a Home; Summertime Sleepers) were very challenging to illustrate as well as exciting and satisfying. Melissa’s writing is so wonderful and the things she writes about are really interesting. I see my job as trying to find create another layer to the book, adding information in the illustrations as well as making them intriguing and beautiful, if possible.
I love drawing feathers and seashells, so I dived right into both books with gusto. Summertime Sleepers was the most challenging book of the three. All the animals in the book are sleeping, so I had to figure out how to add some liveliness to the pictures!
Do you have any future books in the works that we can look forward to?
The next book is an interesting project, that should be public around May. I can’t discuss it now, unfortunately. But Summertime Sleepers came out less than a year ago, and was just given a Sibert Honor by the American Library Association, so that would be a good one to check out!
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. ALSC administers the award.
How can we support you and your lovely work?
Thank you for asking! My first thought is, read lots of books, mine, books by other people, it doesn’t matter. My next thought is, read banned books! The spate of book challenges going on right now is absolutely shocking. So many of the books that people are trying to get rid of are really, really good.
And any time people enjoy a book, consider writing to the publisher, or to the
author/illustrator via the publisher. It means so much to the creators of children’s books to hear from people who like them.
With all these book bans, @levarburton's life just got a lot more difficult pic.twitter.com/hkaa3jH0uB
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 16, 2022
The Thank you
You can learn even more about Sarah on her website!You can also follow her on Instagram, and Twitter so you don’t miss any of her exciting upcoming releases!
-Stefanie
