Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.

Congratulations to Heidi Woodward Sheffield on the release of Ice Cream Face

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

The idea for Ice Cream Face started with a dribble and a scribble back in 2009. We had taken my two year old daughter for ice cream, when I noticed she was wearing as much ice cream as she was eating ice cream. :)

Then I noticed all of the different types of people around us eating ice cream and how everyone has their own ice cream face. When I got home, I jotted everything I could down in a journal, starting with: “MMM. My ice cream face, it tastes so good, pistachio mustache, creamy on my tongue…” along with pictures of “Daddy’s ice cream face,” “Mama’s ice cream face,” and “Baby’s ice cream face,” and at the end of my notes, I drew a joyful boy, savoring a cone with 7 or so scoops on it.

I started working in earnest on it in 2014. In 2015 or so, I won a critique at SCBWI Michigan’s Fall Conference with Arthur Levine, who expressed some interest in the story, but passed on it.

I continued to workshop it with my critique group. In 2017, I attended the SCBWI Summer Conference in LA, where I won one of 5 mentorship awards. This consisted of a sort of “speed critique” where various editors and art directors gave feedback on each person’s work.

Publisher Nancy Paulsen (Nancy Paulsen Books Penguin Random House) and Cecilia Yung (Art Director and VP at Penguin Books for Young Readers) gave me some wonderful feedback. Then, Nancy asked me to submit Ice Cream Face and Brick by Brick for consideration! Within a week or so, they had offered to buy both books. It took me more than 12 years to get my first book(s) published.

What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?

I hope everyone sees themselves in Ice Cream Face, from the mischievous, anticipatory smile of our ice cream kid, along with the range of emotions that go with waiting for, getting and losing this sweet treat, to the community who step in to share when the ice cream shop is closed.

You wrote and illustrated this book. What was the most difficult part of creating your book?

Taking reference photos of ice cream was the most difficult thing! It melts wayyyyy too fast. So, we bought a lot of ice cream to get that perfect scoop. Some of the best pictures were of my niece, who used labneh (strained yogurt) on her face, when I needed a picture of someone wearing their ice cream.

What are the marketing plans for the book?

The Brooklyn Public Library in NYC invited me to present last May, in honor of their Ezra Jack Keats book making competition for schools. Now I’m making the rounds locally. Book Beat appearance Sunday 8/28 2-3 PM, Michigan State Fair (they are giving away $200 worth of free copies of Ice Cream Face to lucky kids, which I’ll sign Sunday, September 4 at noon), and Kerrytown Book Festival Sunday Sept. 18.

I’m ALSO doing a great signed Ice Cream Face book giveaway with librarymombooks on Instagram (Rosie is a school librarian turned children’s book reviewer AND she has an ice cream shop!!!) Details to be announced!

What's next for you?

I’m finishing the illustrations for my next book, which is Daniel Bernstrom’s story Good Night, Little Man (HarperCollins). It debuts June 2023. :)))

A little bit about the book . . .

In Ice Cream Face, Heidi Woodward Sheffield brings to delicious life the anxiety and elation involved in waiting in line to get ice cream. She gently explores a range of emotions as they relate to this delicious, everyday experience.

A little bit about the author . . .

Heidi Woodward Sheffield ’s debut book Brick by Brick received the Ezra Jack Keats Award for Illustration and has been chosen by the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Heidi also illustrated fellow Michkid Leslie Helakoski’s manuscript Are Your Stars Like My Stars?

Heidi’s latest picture book, Ice Cream Face is about the anxiety and elation involved in waiting in line to get ice cream. Publisher’s Weekly calls it an “amiable meditation on the joys of a rich emotional life starring a funny, self-aware protagonist who wears their ice-cream-loving heart on their sleeve.” Ice Cream Face is also on The Children’s Book Council’s June 2022 Hot Off the Press reading list and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

Heidi loves to create books that reflect the beauty of the world. Her colorful collages feature unusual textures like leaves, vintage embroidery and buttons. She lives in Northville, Michigan. Visit https://www.heidibooks.com/ to learn more about her work. You can also connect with her through social media:

https://www.facebook.com/heidi.sheffield.5
Twitter: @wwwheidibooks

Instagram: heidi.kids.books