Alvina Ling tells the story of how she came to acquire SHARK VS. TRAIN, the new picture book by the author of THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS. It’s a great tale of persistence and finally hitting on the right story:
I’d been corresponding here and there with author Chris Barton for probably over five years–and by “corresponding” I mean that he would send me a manuscript and then I would decline it, but invite him to send more. During that time he eventually found a fantastic agent, who sent me a manuscript titled “Shark vs. Train.” I was intrigued by that title. And when I read the manuscript, I was intrigued even more. Heck, I was more than intrigued, I was in love. It was so wacky, so deliciously random and bizarre, and best of all, it was so childlike and child friendly.
The concept is this: a train and a shark battle it out in different environments. For example, who wins when they’re underwater, in Shark’s natural habitat? Shark, of course–Train helplessly sinks to the bottom of the ocean. But Train wins on the train tracks, while Shark struggles to pull heavy cars. But then Shark wins at a pie-eating contest, and Train wins in a burping contest. The battle goes back and forth until towards the end you realize that neither one is winning. This is one of my favorite “nobody wins” pages:
Read the rest, or watch the trailer:
Thanks to Laurie Thompson for sending the link.