24 Mar Annette Pimentel, HOW A BEAR BECAME A BOOK, and a Giveaway!

EL: I’m excited to welcome author, Annette Pimentel to the blog today. She’ll be telling us all about her newest picture book, How a Bear Became a Book, which is beautifully illustrated by Faith Pray. As writers, we’re told that there are no new ideas, but it’s your way of telling a story and your own voice that will make it unique. Is this another Winnie the Pooh story? Yes and no. How a Bear Became a Book tells the story of how different people came together to bring Pooh to life. Reading this book is a joy as Pooh’s voice enters the text, and he slowly comes to life in the art. It’s unique, and in my humble opinion, pretty brilliant!

Welcome, Annette! How did you get the idea for the interesting structure of How a Bear Became a Book?

AP: I struggled with structure in the early drafts of this book. It was originally going to be a straight picture book biography of illustrator E. H. Shepard, but my early versions felt flat. I was not aiming for boring!

Tucked away in my drawer was another manuscript where I had experimented (unsuccessfully) with using metafiction techniques on a nonfiction topic. Metafiction is writing that calls attention to the devices that are usually invisible when we read. So, for example, a narrator’s authority might be questioned by a character. While I was struggling with early drafts of this book, one of my critique partners, Eija Sumner, was working on a draft of what became her metafiction picture book, The Good Little Mermaid’s Guide to Bedtime. As I watched her work out the issues of having a character converse with the narrator, I wondered if I might try that technique again in this book.

Eija’s sassy mermaid couldn’t be more different temperamentally from my sweet, clueless Pooh, but I think of them as book cousins.

EL: Aside from structure, how is your book different from other Winnie-the-Pooh books?

AP: 2015 was a banner year for nonfiction explorations of Winnie-the-Pooh. Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally M. Walker and Jonathan Voss came out. Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall published Finding Winnie (and the book won the Caldecott). They’re both great books! I learned a lot from them about the back story of the novels. But neither of them captured for me what the books themselves had meant to me as a child.

I read Winnie-the-Pooh and House at Pooh Corner independently when I was a kid. I loved them, but I also had a hard time understanding the jokes—what exactly is a Heffalump? To figure things out, seven-year-old me spent a lot of time examining E. H. Shepard’s illustrations. Besides being delightful to look at, they helped me understand the funny bits.

I knew that the illustrations had been absolutely central to my enjoyment of the books. And I’d never seen anyone write for kids about what E. H. Shepard brought to the project. So that is the heart of our book.

Pooh as words and ideas

EL: You talk about finding an illustrator in the book. What was it like working with your illustrator? Did you have any contact? I think your illustrator, Faith Pray, brought the process to life beautifully!

Pooh is becoming clearer through illustration

AP: We had illustrator fits and starts just like Milne and his editorial team had! This project was offered to another illustrator first. She turned it down, saying that she thought the book was fundamentally un-illustratable. I couldn’t argue with her reasoning. She pointed out that my text was asking her to create a character who would shift and change on almost every page. How was she supposed to come up with a consistent character design?

Given her response, I was really worried that my text simply wouldn’t work with art. So I was deeply relieved when I saw preliminary sketches from Faith. I know that figuring out how to illustrate my manuscript was a heavy lift—Faith has called it a “puzzle.” She somehow did the impossible—created a changing character who is nonetheless recognizable from page to page. And adorable.

Unlike Milne and Shepard who spent time together while they were working on the books, we followed the protocol of not talking at all until the book was done. Our editor, Mark Podesta, and the art director, Melisa Vuong, did a good job of bridging the gap between us.

EL: It looks like you have more exciting projects in the pipeline. Will tell us about them?

AP: Turtle on the Tarmac, about a child and a turtle ending up at the airport at the same time, is a celebration of wildlife conservation for very young readers. It’s being published by Abrams in 2027, and Numbers Tell Stories Too explores Florence Nightingale’s pioneering work as a statistician. It will be published by Beach Lane in 2028.

EL: These sound fascinating. Do you have a writing group or groups? How important do you think they are?

AP: The collaboration of my writing groups is absolutely central to my process. And also a bright spot in my social life!

I have an in-person kidlit critique group with both writers and illustrators working on everything from board books to YA novels. We meet twice a month at a local coffee shop to give feedback on each other’s work.

I also have an online critique group, The Brain Trust, made up of picture book writers. We originally met at a writing retreat, and we’ve now been meeting monthly for 8 years. Thirty-three published books have come out of our group, with more in the pipeline.

I work on manuscripts until I can’t figure out what else to do, and then I take them to my critique groups. I rely on my critique partners to ask me probing questions, to point out issues I hadn’t noticed, and to buck me up when I’m discouraged. I also learn a lot from watching my writing friends revise and shape their work. I can’t imagine writing a book without a critique group!

EL: Thank you so much for visiting with us today, Annette. I wish you the best of luck with all your projects.

Find out more about Annette at  https://www.annettebaypimentel.com/

Now it’s time for a

Annette is happy to send one lucky winner a copy of How a Bear Became a Book.

 To get in the running, please comment on this post and let me know if you’re a subscriber or if you have shared this post to get an extra chance to win.  

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On a personal note, I’m currently scheduling school author visits for the 2026-2027 school year. I’d love to visit YOU or a school near you! Please check out  https://EllenLeventhal.com.   

Here’s a review! 

Ellen Leventhal is an amazing presenter who tailors her presentations to meet the needs of all students and age levels.  I am amazed at how she can talk about her love of writing, how to become a writer, encouraging students to do what they love and how we can all be kind into a 45 minute presentation. A school visit from Ellen Leventhal is a treat for everyone!  Suzanne Ritchey:  Carroll T Welch Elementary School Clint, TX

Until next time,

Ellen