18 Jan PLANTING FRIENDSHIP with Callie, Kate, Melissa, and Shirin

EL: Several months ago, I posted a cover reveal for this lovely book, PLANTING FRIENDSHIP: PEACE, SALAAM, SHALOM, written by Callie Metler, Shirin Rahman, and Melissa Stoller and illustrated by Kate Talbot. I’m excited that it’s out in the world now  (as of Oct. 19, 2021, from Clear Fork Publishing). I’m even more excited that the  authors and Illustrator are visiting me here on “Writing Outside the Lines.”

Welcome, Callie, Shirin, Melissa, and Kate! Congrats again on this lovely book! 

Melissa: Thank you so much for featuring us again on your blog, Ellen! You are an amazing author, a wonderful friend, and a generous member of the kidlit community! We are so happy to chat with you about our picture book collaboration which released in 2021. PLANTING FRIENDSHIP: PEACE, SALAAM, SHALOM is an interfaith friendship story about three girls – Molly is Christian, Savera is Muslim, and Hannah is Jewish – who meet on the first day of school. Through a class planting project, they realize they can celebrate their similarities and differences. And as their plants bloom their friendship blossoms. We wrote this book as three women of the same faith traditions as the girls, hoping to help bring kindness and peace to the world. Peace, Salaam, Shalom.

EL: I’m thrilled to have you, and thank you for your kind words. How did you come up with this beautiful idea?

Shirin: Ellen – Thank you so much for having us. The idea for an interfaith book has been with me for many years. I have longed to write a story that will portray a friendship between children of different faith traditions, but I knew in order to write an authentic story, I would need co-authors from different faiths. When I met Callie and Melissa, I knew I had found them.

EL: Perfect! 

CALLIE: Shirin came up with the idea and approached Melissa and me about the concept. We brainstormed and came up with the book together. It was such a wonderful collaboration and exchanging of ideas. We learned a lot about our different beliefs and cultures along the way.

Melissa: I was so honored that Shirin included me in this idea, and I feel so blessed to be working with Shirin, Callie, and Kate. The idea resonated with me immediately, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of this project!

EL: Callie, what made you know this would be a good seller and that it’s what we need right now? 

CALLIE: This book is so needed. I think based on the climate of the last few years in America, that the key to dealing with hate is learning and celebrating what makes us alike and different. Instead of being threatened by people who are different from us, we need to embrace those differences and learn from them. This book is our way of putting those ideas and thoughts into the world.

EL: Shirin, I know you are all friends and colleagues. Have you worked on any other projects together? What was it like writing as a team?

Shirin: I have learned and grown as a writer with this wonderful collaboration. We all have different styles, and it has been such an exciting learning experience. So much so, that I want our collaboration to continue – and I feel it will.

EL:  Melissa, can you tell us how the three of you were able to collaborate when you don’t live near each other?

Melissa: We had so much fun on this project. We set up almost weekly meetings where we would brainstorm, write, edit, and polish our draft together. We also each took time with the manuscript and then brought fresh ideas and perspectives to our meetings. Working on this story together has been a true joy of my writing career, and I have learned so much about different faiths, rituals, traditions, and cultures as well. I have met Callie and Shirin in person and our goal is to all be together hopefully one day soon to work together and do joint school and library visits. And I would also be happy to visit Kate in New Zealand!

EL: Sounds fun! How much did you know about each other’s culture before you started this?

CALLIE: Ellen, we took a few meetings to discuss each tradition and culture. I was so surprised to learn things I never knew and was so blessed to have such wonderful teachers as Shirin and Melissa who shared their beliefs with me. It made me really feel like their soul sisters even more through the process.

Melissa: I feel the exact same way. These women are my soul sisters. We have spent so much time sharing our cultures and heritages, and we discovered that although we all grew up with different faith traditions and in different parts of the world, we really have so much in common. We tried to infuse those common elements and the friendship we feel toward each other into our story.

This is a simple story that tells a much bigger one. You don’t hit anyone over the head with the girls’ differences, but the idea of the three girls using THEIR faiths  (necklaces) and family’s advice (deep roots, etc) is heartwarming and demonstrates the idea that children need to be taught to hate. It doesn’t come naturally to them.

Will one  of you expand on that?

CALLIE: I recently had a conversation with a local preschool teacher who said that one of her white students refused to sit with some Hispanic students in her classroom. She discussed how the words coming out of that student’s mouth were obviously things he had learned at home and that the student really didn’t understand what he was saying. This proves that kids copy what their parents say and do even if we don’t realize they do, and we need to be having conversations with them about love and acceptance at an early age.

Shirin: I agree one hundred percent! Early learning is so crucial in that it forms a child’s worldview. If children read books that represent different people, faiths, cultures, and lifestyles, then they will grow up with understanding and empathy for all. Picture books with representation are so necessary, and it is an honor to be writing such important books.

Melissa: I’m so glad you pointed that out, Ellen. It was important to us that we kept the messaging subtle and to keep the girls’ and their characters and story arcs at the forefront of the story. We also wanted to include intergenerational elements as well as diverse characters in the story. We hope that everyone who reads this story will see both themselves and others in the characters and will embrace the themes of friendship, celebrating differences, and seeking kindness and peace.

Kate: The illustrations are beautiful. How did you get involved? Was the text complete before you got on board, or did you know about this beforehand?

I am in awe of illustrators, so I’d love to know your process.

Kate: Thank you so much, Ellen. That’s lovely to hear. As is often the case with illustrators, I was signed on when the project was well underway. The first book was already written, and there was talk of developing an additional two books in the series.

KATE, did you have to do a lot of research for the illustrations? 

Kate: A lot of research went into the illustrations to make them as authentic as possible. Callie, Melissa and Shirin were wonderful in this process, offering guidance and reference pictures where needed. This was especially important when working on the seven religious artifacts hidden in each of the girl’s houses.

We also invested a lot of time working out what types of trees to showcase in the book. We wanted trees with identifiable leaves and seeds, and we also knew that we wanted the book to be set in North America, so this guided our research.

EL: I love the extra touches you put in, Kate! I hope kids find the cat on each page! 

 Because this was a collaboration, did it affect how you wrote? In other words, if you are a “pantser” (fly by the seat of your pants), I assume that wouldn’t work in this case. Was anything out of your comfort zone?

CALLIE: We wrote together, discussing the words and thoughts. Sometimes we would brainstorm apart and bring that to the conversation, but it really was a group effort.

Melissa: We did a lot of planning for the story arc, as well as the back matter that includes seven religious objects from each girl’s home that readers can find throughout the book. We are always planning new ideas for the forthcoming books and looking for new ways that the girls in the stories can connect with each other and their communities and build bridges of peace, understanding, and friendship.

EL: So what’s up next for you?

CALLIE: We have the next two books in the series coming out in the next two years. I also have a non-fiction book I am working on that will be coming out in the future. More details will come soon on that!

Kate: I am thrilled to be working on the second book in this series, BUILDING BRIDGES, which is well underway. Having really gotten to know these three characters, I’ve been able to explore their world in more depth, and I’m excited by the results. The second book has an even larger focus on community, so the spreads are bigger and more detailed, which I’m really enjoying.

I’m also illustrating a book for Gnome Road called LOVE WILL TURN YOU AROUND, written by Mary Munson. It’s a beautiful story about a little heart that wakes up feeling all wrong and seeks help from the other shapes. It’s scheduled for release on Valentine’s Day, 2023.

Melissa: I’m so excited about the next two books! And we just got a preview of Kate’s sketches for BUILDING BRIDGES, and they are absolutely brilliant. It has been such a gift to work with Kate – the details she put into the book truly brought the story to life, and I can’t wait to see the final artwork for the next part of our story. I’m also working on the next installments of my chapter book series, THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION, illustrated by Callie(!), and I have many more projects in the works!

Shirin: I am thrilled to announce I have two books coming out next year: ZAHRA’S BLESSING (Barefoot Books, March 2022), THE MOON FROM DEHRADUN (Atheneum, August 20220), and of course another picture book collaboration with Callie, Melissa, and Kate!

EL: Sounds like you ladies are busy! Congrats on this beautiful book and all you have coming in the future. 

To learn more about the authors and illustrators, please check out their websites. 

Shirin Shamsi:

http://Shirinshamsi.com 

http://ShirinsBooks.com

Twitter: @ShirinsBooks

Kate Talbot   

Children’s Writer + Illustrator

www.katetalbotbooks.com

Instagram: @KateTalbotArt

Melissa Stoller:  

https://www.MelissaStoller.com
https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog
http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller
http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller
www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller
www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller

 Callie Metler:

https://www.calliemetler.com/

Istagram: @Callievmetler

Twitter: @Calliemetler

EL:  And of course, we need to know how to order this book! 

LINKS

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=planting+friendship+peace%2C+salaam%2C+shalom&crid=3J35H8OHU8MQW&sprefix=planting+friendship%2Caps%2C166&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_19

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781950169603

https://bookshop.org/books/planting-friendship-peace-salaam-shalom/9781950169603

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/planting-friendship-callie-metler/1140010632?ean=9781950169603

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58855995-planting-friendship

BOOK TRAILER: (Don’t miss this!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlPuAhl_GAo

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAYS: (Notice that is plural!) All you have to do to get in the running is comment on this post. If you follow this blog or sign up after reading this, you’ll get an extra chance to win these fabulous prizes. Good luck! 

CALLIE will offer a critique

MELISSA will offer a critique

KATE will offer a critique of a picture book text or dummy

SHIRIN will offer a critique

Also – we will send one winner a copy of PLANTING FRIENDSHIP: PEACE, SALAAM, SHALOM

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Thank you for visiting. I hope you’ll also check out my website at www.Ellenleventhal.com to learn more about me, my books, and my presentations. I’d love to hear from you!