Book Birthday Blog with Buffy Silverman

 

Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!

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

 

Congratulations to Buffy Silverman on the release of Starlight Symphony

 

You've written 90+ non-fiction books. Do you have a favorite?

At school visits, students often ask which book is my favorite. My standard answer is that the book that I’m currently writing must become my favorite—if I’m not excited about it, a reader won’t be either! However, my non-standard answer is that STARLIGHT SYMPHONY might be the book I am most proud of—it’s a love song to the swampy little lake that borders my back yard and to the music that surrounds us in early summer. 

I recall we covered this question previously, but we want to ask again. What is your creative process? Is it different for each book?

I’ll answer the question for this book, as I’m not sure I have any repeatable process. STARLIGHT SYMPHONY started life as a perfectly-fine-but-not-particularly-special prose manuscript which I envisioned as a bedtime story. I was lucky to win the SCBWI-MI picture book mentorship with Kelly DiPucchio in 2019, and sent her the prose version of the story. Kelly’s response was:

“Please don't shoot me. LOL!  I love your concept BUT......I feel like this manuscript, in particular, would be stronger in rhyme.” 

 
Of course she was correct—a symphony should have musical language! Changing a PB manuscript from prose to rhyme was a challenge, but I already knew basically where I wanted the story to go. The rhyming version that I sent Kelly was similar to what eventually was published, except for the ending. It took me another couple of years before I got rid of the child and his/her singing parents. I finally understood that the story arc should reflect the timing of the animal musicians, ending with the dawn chorus.

 

 

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

I hope young readers will be inspired to listen to and watch the animals that live around them. It’s my fervent belief that we desperately need a generation of environmentalists—and that a desire to protect our environment often stems from an early fascination with the world around us.

Where can we find your book?

If you’ve read this far, I hope you will request STARLIGHT SYMPHONY from your local library! You can also find it at Amazon or any other online retailer, and at  Lerner Books.

What's next for you?

I have several writing projects that I’m working on—so there’s plenty of revision in my future.

More about the book . . .

As night begins to fall, lakeside animals perform a symphony under the stars. Rhyming verse and vivid photos shine a spotlight on each animal musician. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews concludes that STARLIGHT SYMPHONY is “perfectly pitched for its audience.”

Publisher: Millbrook Press/Lerner

More about the author . . .

Buffy Silverman is the author of many nonfiction books for children, featuring topics from Angel Sharks to Alligators, and Mars to Monster Trucks. Her books have been recognized on the NCTE Notable Poetry list, the CLA/NCTE Notable Book in the Language Arts, and Bank Street Best Books. She lives near a swampy lake where she enjoys outdoor time with her dog, watching, and photographing nature, and writing poetry.

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