Authors
Author, Lisa Shanahan, and illustrator, Emma Quay, are looking forward to responding to your questions about their Bear and Chook books.
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Bear and Chook books rap
Discussion for the book rap hosted by School Libraries & Information Literacy Unit
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"Bear and Chook" and "Bear and Chook by the sea" by Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay. Covers reproduced by permission of Hachette Children’s Books.
© 2012 Bear and Chook books rap.
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November 20th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Dear Lisa and Emma,
We have the hardcover Bear and Chook and the paperback version, with Bear on the mud castle.
We took a vote and the majority of the children (especially the boys) preferred the paperback Bear and Chook cover with the aeroplane. Our Teacher Librarian, Mrs Mead, prefers the other paperback cover. Perhaps children and adults see different things in each cover?
Ffrom 1/2C and 2H,
Eastern Creek Public School
November 20th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Dear Lisa,
How did you choose the titles from the two books?
Amelia and the 2B9 Rapid Rappers
Cambridge Park PS
November 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hi Lisa,
2 Penguin Trailblazers absolutely love your stories and have been really busy writing new adventures for Bear and Chook. Some of us have, at times, been “stuck” for ideas. So our question is:
What do you do when you can’t think of anything else to write?
Also:
Have you read “Purple Snow” by Eric Lobbecke?
It is about a cockatoo who visits the North Pole and becomes friends with a polar bear. Like Bear and Chook, they become good friends. Cockatoo brings Polar Bear to Australia to show him that Australia really has purple snow… jacaranda flowers falling!
As we know you love this time of year, we took a photo of Bear and Chook riding a jacaranda flower wave! Bear certainly is a fabulous surfer!
We look forward to hearing from you and… enjoy the purple snow!
2 Penguin Trailblazers @ Pennant Hills Public School
“I think, with a proper surfboard, I could ride that purple wave…”
November 24th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Hello Jackson & the 12BW1 Smartibles,
You are absolutely right – I did look at chickens and polar bears before I illustrated “Bear and Chook”. I went to a farm to sketch and take photographs of roosters, as well as going to my local library to look at reference books about them and study their stages of development from newly-hatched fluffy chick to scrawny, stubby-winged youngster to fully-grown rooster. I wanted Bear and Chook to be young, so Chook is at that half-grown stage: he doesn’t have all his tail feathers yet, his fledgling wings won’t lift him far off the ground, and his wattle and comb are still growing. At the farm I watched the chickens and roosters strutting and pecking and scratching about. It was important for me to understand the way they moved, in order for me to draw Chook well.
Unfortunately, I didn’t having any real polar bears nearby to go and watch. Instead I found books about them in the children’s section of my local library (I always look in the children’s section first, because the books there often have more pictures in them). I found photographs of young polar bear cubs in the books, but of course the pictures in the books weren’t moving. I wanted to understand how polar bears move, too, so I found a great documentary about polar bears in the video section of the library (yes, it was a few years ago, so it wasn’t on DVD). I watched that video over and over again, and paused it to sketch the bears.
Once my mind was full of the jerky, nervous movements of chooks and the heavier, lumbering movements of polar bears, I could begin to draw my characters in a convincing way.
It was thrilling to see real polar bears when I visited Sea World on the Gold Coast a few years later. Of course I’d rather see them in the wild, but I don’t think I’d like to meet one up close!
Thanks for your insightful question, 12BW1 Smartibles.
Emma
November 24th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Dear Emiko, Chloe, Jordan and Winmalee 2/3JE,
Thanks for your questions!
Jordan, I wrote the first draft of Bear and Chook very quickly but I went onto to do a lot of redrafting and refining to make sure that every word was the right word in the right place and that it read out loud well. This whole process took quite a few months. I wrote the first draft of Bear and Chook by the Sea in probably the same amount of time (perhaps a few weeks) but this time there was less work to refine it. I don’t know why! Some stories come together quickly and easily and others take their time. When I wrote Bear and Chook by the Sea, I think it was a little easier because I knew the characters so well.
Some people think that because picture books are often short that this must also mean they mostly take a short time to write. This is not always the case! My picture book Gordon’s got a Snookie, took almost a year to write! And another picture book of mine, that is in production at the moment, took around five years to finally come together!
One time, my older son, who was seven at the time, poked some fun at me about this, when he said, ‘They take so long to write but they are so quick to read!’
In some respects, I think writing a picture book can be harder than writing a novel. I think I can say this because I have written both! But most people don’t believe this about picture books until they give it a go themselves!
Emiko, for some time after I had written Bear and Chook, people encouraged me to think about a sequel. For ages, I had been wrestling with what would happen next. Then one day a phrase drifted into my head: ‘Bear and Chook were fast asleep when a breeze came sniffing and licking.’ I knew that breeze was warm and that it was invitational, a holiday breeze if there ever was one! Funnily enough, I later realised that the answer to where Bear and Chook would go next was answered in the first book, if only I had the eyes to see it, from the moment Bear climbed the mud castle and waved from the turret, saying to Chook, ‘I can see the sea…’
Will I write another story about Bear and Chook? I don’t know, Chloe. I hope so! But perhaps it will be a few years down the track. Both times, each story began for me whilst I was daydreaming on my bed. It’s a little harder to get away with that kind of thing with three boisterous, bed-bouncing boys to look after! I will say that if an idea comes tugging, it will have to something special, something that catches me completely by surprise, something that captures something new and fresh about our two old friends.
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 11:14 am
To all the lovely, gorgeous rappers out there,
I have good news!
I know many of you are very keen for me to write another sequel for Bear and Chook. Sadly, I don’t have any news about that — but I do have some other exciting, happy dancing news! The best ‘jump up and down on the spot, run around the room, shrieking with joy’ kind of news there is in the world for a writer!
Last week, I had a new picture book accepted for publication. I can’t say much about it, except that it’s about a girl called Daisy and a dog called Ollie. And it was inspired by this gorgeous dog below!
Please click on the image to see a bigger version.
As you can see, Bonnie is a very good reader!
Although I know you might be a little disappointed that this isn’t news about Bear and Chook, I do hope you will do a little happy dance for me today and perhaps if you’re allowed, some tiny shrieks of joy!
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Dear Callum, Imogene and Winmalee1W,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words. It makes all the hard work much lovelier when people like your books!
When I was choosing the adventures Bear would take Chook on, it was important for me to be open-minded and to play around with all sorts of ideas. When I first wrote Bear and Chook, I had lots of ideas about the things Bear might choose. I wondered if he might choose to be a cook, a lifeguard, a fireman, a trapeze artist, a doctor, a fisherman or even a rodeo rider. I had to do lots of imagining. What would it feel like if Bear and Chook did this? What would it smell like? What would it sound like? What would it look like? Because after all, my text was going to need pictures!
I had to choose adventures that would increase the drama and tension each time. So Bear and Chook went from building to exploring to sailing to flying! And then when Chook suggested the most harmless of adventures, dancing on the stage, true danger struck! I liked that bit. It tickled my sense of humour. It seemed to me to be true to the flippy-floppy life we lead, that the things we think will be safest for us, often end up the most dangerous!
I think when I am writing, I’m always thinking of these sorts of questions. Could this be true? Could this possible? Could this be funny? What about you? What questions do you think about when you write?
Imogene, I will definitely have to schedule in some more daydreaming time about Bear and Chook and perhaps then, who knows, a story might come drifting my way!
Hope you enjoy this last week rapping! I have had such fun chatting to you!
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Dear Jackson and the12BW1 Smartibles,
No, I didn’t do much research or even look at bears and chickens. I could really ‘hear’ the voices of the characters so distinctly in my mind, that all I could think about at first, was trying to capture those voices on the page. It seems to me that the way I work is that I often hear the words of a story before I see the pictures!
Do you think that sounds odd? What about you and your friends? Do you see images flashing in front of your eyes like a movie when you write?
Happy Rapping,
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Dear Amelia and 2B9 Rapid Rappers,
Originally, Bear and Chook was called It Just Missed You, Chook! Mark Macleod, our editor, thought this title wouldn’t be memorable because it was so long. So I cut it down to the simpler title of Bear and Chook.
I’m so happy I did because it sounds so much better. This is why I love being involved with so many creative, clever people when I am making a picture book!
It made sense then to keep ‘Bear and Chook…’ in the second title and to add on ‘… by the Sea’ so that people would know this was a brand, new adventure with two old, familiar friends.
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Dear 1/2C and 2H at Eastern Creek PS,
I was fascinated to hear that most of you like the action-packed paperback cover better. The marketing people were right after all! But at least Mrs Mead is with Lisa and me. No… actually I’m very glad so many of you like the paperback – I’d much rather you did!
I thought you might like to see a couple more versions of the book: do these two covers look familiar?
Please click on the images to see a bigger version.
I think some of you might well be able to read both book titles. The book on the left is the Korean edition of “Bear and Chook” (doesn’t it look great with the Korean script!), and the one on the right is the UK edition. “Chook” is an Australian term, and in the UK it is not widely used – in fact, I didn’t hear anyone calling chickens “chooks” until I was watching Neighbours one day (Neighbours was very popular in England when I was at university)!
Because people don’t say “chook” in the UK, the title of the book was changed and this is how that particular edition of the book opens:
One morning Bear and Chicken sat by the pond,
watching the dragonflies skim and buzz.
‘What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked Bear.
‘An old chicken,’ said Chicken.
What do you think to that?
All the same things happen to Bear and Chook in the Korean and UK stories as in the Australian one, but in the UK’s “When I’m a Big Bear” can you guess what Bear calls out when his little friend disappears under the stage?
Yes, you’re right!
’Chicken? Chi-i-i-i-icken?’
;-D
Emma
November 24th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Dear 2 Penguin Trailblazers,
Thank you so much for the gorgeous picture of Bear and Chook riding a wave of purple blossoms! I was feeling a little sad that we’ve been having so many thunderstorms because the sudden rush of wind was thrashing the jacaranda trees across the valley and the purple was fading by the day. But now I know what I can do instead! I’ll have to dig out my boogie board from the garage!
I do lots of things when I am stuck for ideas or a story sags to a stop. If a story isn’t working, I might stop writing it for a while and then move onto something else. Some stories need extra brewing in the back of my mind. Then I can come back to them later with some new, unexpected freshness. Sometimes, if I want to keep going on a story but I think I might need a short break, I dance around to my favourite song in the lounge room or in the hallway of my office! Or I read some books by other writers I desperately admire.
If I am completely stuck for ideas though, the best thing for me is to go out for a walk and take my writing book with me. I love riding on trains and sitting in shopping centres; so many smells and sounds and textures, so many people with different ways of walking and talking.
Flannery O’Connor, a very famous American writer, once said that no reader will ‘believe’ a story unless they ‘feel’ it. She believes that stories are not just made from ideas but from our senses. She said that it was important for writers to closely observe the things that can be seen, heard, smelt, tasted and touched! If I run out of ideas, I know it’s because I’ve lost patience and stopped paying attention!
If you get stuck for ideas, you might like to gaze at the moon every night for a week and try to capture how differently it looks night by night! Or you might like to think about writing a word pool of all the words in the world that describe yellow! Or you could write a quick character sketch of someone you see on your way to school each day but have never stopped to look closely at before! This sort of writing allows new ways of seeing, thinking and imagining! And eventually, new ideas for stories start sprouting!
That was a long answer to a great question. I’m so glad to hear that you’ve been busy writing! On that note, I’d better go and do some too! I hope you enjoy the last few days of rapping and of purple trees!
Thanks once again for the delightful picture and your question!
xLisa
November 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Dear 1/2C and 2H at Eastern Creek PS,
A true and funny story!
For a long time after the Korean version of Bear and Chook was published I thought it was called Bear and Chook. Then one day, in the middle of a school visit, I noticed something on the cover that made me realise that it wasn’t! What do you think I noticed?
xLisa
November 25th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Hello yr2dobroydptrappers at Dobroyd Point PS,
You were wondering what Bear has on his belly button when he is belly dancing on the stage by the pond. It is a green jewel (probably a plastic one, as I don’t think Bear would have a real emerald). Bear knew belly dancers wore jewels in their belly buttons when they danced, and he wasn’t sure he even had a belly button under all that fur, so – yes – he stuck the jewel on with a piece of sticky tape!
I wonder how real belly dancers attach their jewels.
I’m glad you’ve had such wonderful ideas during the Bear and Chook Books Rap, yr2dobroydptrappers – hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy another book rap in the future. I hope I do, too!
Emma
November 25th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Dear Lisa and Emma,
Which story do you think is funnier? We like “Bear and Chook”. (Olivia)
We like to write in our library and classroom. (Georgia) Lisa, do you like writing “Bear and Chook” books and other books? (Noah)
Emma, do you like writing, too? (Antoinette) How long have you been writing for? (Morgan)
From 1/2M
Lindisfarne North Primary School in Tasmania
November 25th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Hello 1/2M at Lindisfarne North Primary School,
I do like writing books, Antoinette. The first picture book I’d written as well as illustrated, “Reggie and Lu (and the same to you!)”, was published five years ago, in 2004. It’s about two squabbling pigs; perhaps you’ve read it. Funnily enough, just like “Bear and Chook”, “Reggie and Lu” has a different cover for the hardback and the paperback editions. I like both versions, but I do think the paperback cover with Lu swinging Reggie into the air is more fun and lively. That was the picture I’d originally drawn for the back of the book, but I think it works really well on the front.
Please click on the images to see a bigger version.
It’s quite a different experience, illustrating my own story rather than another author’s, but I like both.
My next picture book is also written by me, and then I have a few more I’ve written waiting for me to illustrate them! It takes me longer to paint pictures than it does to write words, so that’s why there’s a bit of a queue waiting for me to hurry up with my brushes. I am not a fast illustrator, unfortunately.
I’ve been writing stories since I was little, Morgan. I still have some of my story books, with lots of pictures in them too. Some of my childhood stories are dire, but a few of them are very funny.
I’m not sure which Bear and Chook book I think is funnier, Olivia… perhaps “Bear and Chook by the Sea”, especially when we’re reading the book out loud and Lisa (as Bear) wails ‘I want to go home!’. Lisa went to Drama College, and can pull brilliant faces!
I’m glad you like “Bear and Chook”, and it’s great to hear (via Georgia) that you all like writing so much!
Emma
November 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Dear Lindisfarne North Primary School,
Hello Olivia, Noah, Georgia, Antoinette and Morgan!
I have always loved making up stories. As a kid, I was particularly fond of the idea of saving the world from an alien invasion. I can remember walking down from my house to the bus stop, pretending that I was the last human on earth. I’d touch my trusty invisible laser gun, which was conveniently located in the pocket of my school uniform, because I was convinced that aliens had in fact already invaded the earth and slipped into the bodies of all the humans that I came across, even the ones I loved most like my mum. I wasn’t sure what the aliens would look like under their human skin but I suspected they wouldn’t have three eyes, one tooth, green skin and a silver spacesuit. I used to sit at the dining room table and stare at my mum, imagining the alien inside her body bursting out like a giant seed from a pod. Of course, my mum knew nothing about any of this. She just ate her Rice Bubbles and thought I was staring at her because I loved her so much.
I’m saddened to admit that I never got the chance to meet an alien in real life.
Although I didn’t know from a young age that I wanted to be an actual writer, I did discover early on that I loved the feeling of being in a story. It wasn’t until I was much older and in my third year at acting school that I discovered that I wanted to write for children. It happened quite by accident when I wrote a play for some young drama students. It wasn’t a very good play—I’m not even sure I gave it a proper ending, but they loved the experience so much and I loved it too, that I gave up the whole idea of being an actor. My first children’s book was published just over ten years ago! So Morgan, I have been writing for a long time. And Noah, I love writing so much it feels like hardly any time at all since I first began! It’s still new and exciting!
I’m glad Georgia that you get to write in a library too!
And I’m so happy that you think Bear and Chook is funny, Olivia. It’s hard to choose which one I think is funnier. Perhaps I would have to say Bear and Chook by the Sea. I like the way Bear and Chook get to swap places for a little while!
It’s lovely to chat with some Tasmanians! Our family visited there a few years ago. I was looking through my journal the other day, remembering how my second son looked down on a tulip farm on the way to Stanley and wondered at ‘the rainbow smashed all over the ground.’ We stayed at a llama farm in the Great Western Tiers and had a snowball fights by the side of the road. It was one of few times I had seen snow. We saw so many amazing, beautiful places. Mmmm. Such fun! And just think — there are more holidays around the corner…
xLisa
November 26th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Dear Everybody,
Is tomorrow really our last day of rapping?
I will miss you all!
As Friday might well be the last time some of you look at the Bear and Chook Books Rap, I wanted to say now that it has been an absolute pleasure to spend this month with you. I have loved popping onto the rap several times a day and being blown away by your stunning pictures, your clever and sensitive observations, your original and often wacky ideas, your fabulous and funny slide shows, the photographs of your Bears and Chooks up to mischief, your colourful and friendly puppets, your stories jam-packed with onomatopoeia, and your unending enthusiasm. Gosh, how busy I would be if I were to illustrate a whole series of new Bear and Chook books based on your huge number of inspired title ideas! It would be wonderful if I could go to all the fantastic places you have thought of, to research for my illustrations… although I think I’d probably prefer to leave the research for “Bear and Chook in the Time of the Dinosaurs” to a trip to the library and my imagination! (Oooh – scary!)
Thank you for filling the rap with such a wealth of goodies.
Did you know that all your messages and pictures will be there on the Internet for a long, long time, for anyone to see? Other people will be able to read it, and look at the pictures… a little like one might read a book. You are all the authors and illustrators of this wonderful ‘rap book’, and I think you should all be very proud of yourselves!
I’d very much like to thank the teachers and librarians who have been trekking through the rap with us – I hope you’ve all found this a positive experience. You have certainly done a great job in getting your students engaged and excited. Thank you! I hope you feel you’d like to rap on the Book Rap door again next year, with a brand new book.
Thank you to Lisa for sharing this wonderful ride with me. I know you’ve loved it, too. (And if you ever want your gorgeous dog, Bonnie, taken off your hands, just let me know!)
I’d like to say a big ‘thank you’, finally, to Mrs Keane, Mr McLean and Mrs Scheffers – our Rap Coordinators. You have made the experience a fuss-free, enjoyable and inspiring ride for me. I’d like to raise a big Bear-ish cheer of ‘Whee-heee! Yee-haaa! Whoo-hoo!’ to all three of you.
I’d be delighted to answer any more questions you rappers might have for me tomorrow (fire away!), but I just wanted to catch everyone on the final day, and let you know how much I’ve loved rapping with you.
Emma
November 27th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Dear Lisa and Emma,
Thank you for answering our question. We enjoyed reading your answer.
Lisa, some of us see pictures in our minds when we write but most of us don’t. Caitlyn says that she draws pictures first so that she can get a better idea of what to write about but Roman thinks about the words because he says he doesn’t want to draw the wrong thing on the wrong page. Caitlyn says that it’s not a problem because she doesn’t draw them straight into the book.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer.
from the 12BW1 Smartibles
Cambridge Park Public School
November 27th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Hello fellow rappers,
Oh dear! Is it really that time already?
Thank you so much for a wonderful month!
It’s been a delight to read your messages and to see the generous way you’ve shared your ideas with one another. I’ve loved the way you’ve encouraged the creativity of each other. It’s not so scary to try new things when you know your audience is appreciative and helpful!
I have loved dipping into the Gallery and watching your digital stories and looking at your photos and drawings and pictures of sequel book covers. I’ve seen things that I’d never even imagined, like the funny photo capturing Bear and Chook’s early years! I am sure that many of you will go on to be writers. But I also know that you will use technology in a way that I can only dream about!
I have loved reading your discussions — how Bear and Chook show they are good friends, your thoughts for their new adventures, the way Bear and Chook are the same and different. Your ideas and stories have made me think and wonder and dream. At times, you have made me laugh out loud! I’d never thought about Bear and Chook being plumbers before but of course there would be disasters in store for Chook and the toilet!
What new things have I learnt, thanks to you?
I had never really thought of the warm honey toast in Bear and Chook by the Sea as being a gift, but of course, it is! It was wonderful to be reminded that something as ordinary as honey toast, made in a certain way, can mean so much. A gift like that can mean as much as a hug or a kind word. I’ll have to remember that. The other thing you helped me learn about was Chook’s bravery. For a long time, I’ve thought that Bear was the really, truly brave one. Now I realise that Chook is extraordinarily brave, in a way that Bear might never have to be. It seemed true to me, like it did for some others in the rap, that Chook is brave the whole time!
There are so many great ideas for new Bear and Chook stories. I can’t possibly write them all.
I know that you love Bear and Chook dearly and also that you know them intimately now, so perhaps you might like to take them on those many new adventures.
Thank so much for making this a special time. Thanks to your teachers and librarians, too, for their enthusiasm and passion. Thanks to Mrs Scheffers, Mrs Keane and Mr McLean for co-ordinating the rap so expertly and for inviting us to participate! It’s difficult to express our gratitude for the support you have given our work. And special thanks to Mr McLean for helping me wrangle technology.
Next year, when I am looking out the window while I write and I see the jacaranda trees, I am going to have an extra good November, remembering the time I spent with you!
But just now, unlike Bear and Chook,
“I don’t want to go home!”
Thanks again,
xLisa
November 28th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Dear Rappers,
I forgot to say big thanks yesterday to Emma, too. It was such fun to rap together. And I agree with Mimi from 1MHStars that the illustrations are the best thing ever!
xLisa