For artist Nikki McClure, the move to children’s books started with her distinctive annual calendar. The many people who have been captivated by McClure’s calendar art included a publisher and a children’s book agent.
Her first picture book, All in a Day, was written by the prolific and award-winning Cynthia Rylant, and became a New York Times bestseller. For Mama, Is It Summer Yet?, released last year, McClure was both writer and illustrator. Her latest work, To Market, To Market, was released in May.
McClure’s storytelling has emerged to be as distinctive as her meticulous cut-paper illustration, with a down-to-earth focus.
To Market, To Market follows a mother and son as they visit the Olympia Farmers’ Market, stopping at the stands for apples, kale, smoked salmon, honey, blueberry turnovers, batik napkins and cheese.
The simple storyline is interspersed with fuller descriptions of how the different offerings are made and the people who make them. For a young child, you can read just the story of the visit to the market, skipping over the lengthier descriptions.
Seattle’s Child talked to McClure about her break into children’s books and her art:
SC: Tell us about how you create your artwork, the technique you use.
McClure: I draw sketches and then I transfer it to black paper, and then I take an X-acto knife, with a fresh blade in it, then I start cutting away. When it’s all done, it’s like a piece of lace where it’s just black paper that’s left, where it’s all cut away to make an image. I scan them and add the color digitally on the computer … I’m actually having a show of 15 years of my work Aug. 18 through Oct. 30 at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland.
SC: What made you decide to do children’s books?
McClure: I’ve always wanted to do children’s books, ever since I was a child. But I never knew that it was possible, so life kind of led away from children’s books. Once I’d realized that I could be an artist, that it was possible, then I could do children’s books. So I actually made books on my own and self-published them, so I’ve always been making them; it’s always just been under-the-radar, Kinko copy-type books. I had also been making my own calendar through the years, and through that calendar reached both a publisher and a children’s book agent. I got the call from both of them the same week.
SC: You started as an artist, then illustrated a picture book written by Cynthia Rylant. Now, you’re writing as well as illustrating your own books. Was that a difficult transition?
McClure: (With All in a Day, written by Cynthia Rylant) I had to take these words and craft a story to it that was this other person’s vision, like barging into the room and saying, ‘Here, I think you should paint this wall red.’ So it was really hard for me. I had to turn off that second-guessing and just trust that what I was doing was all right. And then transitioning back to writing as well was hard, too, because I couldn’t be Cynthia Rylant … Once I get one more book done, then I get to do another illustration job, and it’s really exciting because I feel like, phew, I don’t have to worry about the words.
SC: To Market, To Market seems like it could appeal to children – and adults – of different ages. Did you have an age group in mind when you were writing it?
McClure: I always write for my son, and as he grows older his interests change and move forward, so this is kind of the bridge between picture books and a more informative book. He’s 6 now … I have to admit he could sit in your lap and be read to the whole day; he has an extremely long attention span. For my role model of a child, I have one who loves books, and I love that time together. So I wrote a book that has lots of lap time and lots of questions and wondering about things.
In some ways, I try to write for all ages. In To Market, To Market you could just read the pages where they’re in the market to a 2-year-old … It can be read at many levels. I can even see a 12-year-old picking it up and doing some research on apple grafting or something.
SC: The folks at the farmers’ market you write about are all real people, right? They’re not “modeled after.”
McClure: Real people and real names, and these are their real tattoos … There was an article in the New York Times a while ago about the new breed of farmers that are urban. They’re young punks or entrepreneur people who are stepping out from regular job work. I wanted to really kind of show that as well, that there’s this new generation of farming … It’s possible to be a farmer and this is how you can do it, and it’s just normal.
SC: What else would you like to say about your art?
McClure: I really love making the pictures, and each picture is a new challenge … It’s very meditative for me to make it, and also I just make pictures from my world, my life and it’s all real, so the work for the calendar is all real. Sometimes in a children’s book you can put a bird landing on your shoulder and make magic happen. All in a Day is my backyard. But I made it boundless … because for a child the backyard is as big as a universe. When I look out my window right now, I see the two birch trees that are part of All in a Day … Also, for mothers who try to figure out how to make time for art, it’s right there in your backyard.
