Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.
Polly's Party (Post 107)
Polly's Party (1992), is a hard-backed picture book which I wrote in reaction to a review that suggested my books reflected too many nuclear families from the same culture. After silently commenting (because one does not publicly reply to reviews) that my parents, grandparents, parents-in-law and I myself were all representatives of nuclear families from the same culture and weren't we always advised to write what we know, I settled down and wrote Polly's Party.
I sent it to one of my editors as a kind of joking gesture... see what I can do if I choose to write about what I do NOT know?... and to my astonishment I was asked to tone it down a little. The wheelchair bound character regained her ability to walk, and the book was published.
It's a gentle rhyming story about Polly, who invites all her friends to her birthday party. Her friends include children from different cultures, a dog, an elderly neighbour, her grown-up dance teacher, a little girl of three and a stray Italian cousin who happens to be visiting. A lovely time is had by all, proving (if it needed to be proved) that friendships come in all sizes.
So, that's Polly's Party. The pictures have presents hidden in them and the whole confection is bright and pretty. I have no idea what point is proved by my little joke that turned into a fully-fledged picture book.
I sent it to one of my editors as a kind of joking gesture... see what I can do if I choose to write about what I do NOT know?... and to my astonishment I was asked to tone it down a little. The wheelchair bound character regained her ability to walk, and the book was published.
It's a gentle rhyming story about Polly, who invites all her friends to her birthday party. Her friends include children from different cultures, a dog, an elderly neighbour, her grown-up dance teacher, a little girl of three and a stray Italian cousin who happens to be visiting. A lovely time is had by all, proving (if it needed to be proved) that friendships come in all sizes.
So, that's Polly's Party. The pictures have presents hidden in them and the whole confection is bright and pretty. I have no idea what point is proved by my little joke that turned into a fully-fledged picture book.
About the Blog
Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)
The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, post a comment and I'll get back to you.
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