The Ink Splat is our monthly activity letter filled with inspiration sparking challenges and resources guaranteed to inspire your creativity. In this Ink Splat, the book spotlighted is Lily and the Pirates by Phyllis Root along with an author interview! Submit a response to a challenge and you may have a chance to be published online! What are you waiting for?
The Challenge:
If you could combine two well-known stories, which characters would you choose? What would happen to them? Tell the story.
Submit your response HERE!
Check out this month’s featured response:
Once there was a girl, and when she was little her grandma gave her a red hood. One day the girl’s mother told her to bring some medicine to her grandma because she was sick. Little Red Riding Hood’s mom told her not to go in the wrong direction in the big, big woods where grandma lived. Off the girl went picking daisies, but forgot what mom said. Soon she saw a fox.
“Where are you going?” asked the fox.
“To my grandma’s house,” the girl said, forgetting it was foolish to say where she was going.
“Very well, the fox said.
So off the girl went. Soon she got to her grandma’s house. The girl knocked on the door.
“Come in,” said a voice. The girl stepped in and saw the fox. The girl ran as fast as she could. She ran so fast she ran out of the story! The girl saw another girl and three bowls of porridge.
“Hey,” said the girl, “this is my story so get out!” As Goldilocks said this, the three bears came in.
“Now there are two girls!” said the dad.
“Oh girls!” said the mother bear.
“Get out of our house now!” said the baby bear.
“Wow, you ruined my story!” said Goldilocks.
“I’m sorry, a fox was about to eat me!”
“Hmmph,” said Goldilocks.
Red Riding Hood ran and ran back to her story. In the end everyone returned to their stories.
by Valentina (grade 4)
Lily and the Pirates by Phyllis Root
A sighting of the rare frangipani fruit fly sends Lilly’s scientist parents off in search of the fabled Shipwreck Islands. Lilly awaits their return at the home of her great-uncle Ernest, the chief librarian of Mundelaine, a town that seems to have more than its share of piratical-looking characters lurking about. When news comes that her parents’ ship has wrecked, she must overcome her fear of the sea, find the hidden island, and outsmart a bunch of treasure-hungry pirates to save the day.
An Interview with author, Phyllis Root
Q: In Lilly and the Pirates, you’ve created a collection of quirky, unique characters. How did you go about developing the cast for your book?
A: They showed up one by one, starting with Barnacle Bill who later became William Barnacle. Lilly, Mrs. Teagarden, Uncle Ernest, Blackheart, and Aristotle all made their appearances as well, and I tried to learn as much as I could about who they were and what they had to tell me.
One way I learned more about them was to write scene after scene, most of which never appeared in the final drafts of the books. I’m a big believer in exercises as well, and I would put two disparate characters into a lifeboat, set them afloat, and listen to what they said to each other, which is how I discovered that William Barnacle and Uncle Ernest had been at Future Librarian’s Camp together when they met and sang the camp song. I love quirky characters because they are so interesting to write about and frequently surprise me, and luckily this is a quirky kind of story.
Q: Did anything about your writing process change in writing a longer chapter book? Did writing Lilly and the Pirates teach you anything new about writing?
A: The only way I managed to go from writing spare picture books to longer novels was to follow the wise words of one of my students. He said that he knew he could write a picture book, and so all he needed to do was write scenes that were as long as a picture book until he had enough for a novel. He was right. I also used as a model Avi’s breakfast serials (one of which Liza Ketchum wrote), striving for a chapter length of 750 words with cliffhanger endings. As with any model, at some point I had to move away from strict adherence and find my own way, but these two writers helped me a great deal, and I’m grateful.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I realized in fifth grade that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.
I didn’t really start writing until I was thirty, despite many failed attempts. I finally took a class in writing (up until then I thought you had to be born a writer), and my teacher Marion Bauer taught us that writing has tools that the writer can learn to use. She said, too, that we must write from our own hearts. She set me on the road to writing, and I’ve been trying to follow her teaching and my heart ever since.
Q: Do you have any advice for young writers who want to write an adventure story?
A: My advice: have adventures. Don’t be afraid to try new things, in life and in writing. Don’t hesitate to put your character in a tight spot and make things worse—and worse and worse. Fiction thrives on conflict, even if most writers I know (including me) hate any kind of conflict. A lot of our own selves finds its way into the characters about whom we write, and while I am most definitely like Lilly in that just about everything scares me, I’m trying hard to be more like Mrs. Teagarden. So even if you are afraid, go ahead and write anyway. As
a friend of mine says, “So what’s against it?”
Thank you, Phyllis Root!
Purchase Lily and the Pirates by Phyllis Root HERE.
