Gideon Sterer: On Maintaining Momentum in Picture Books
New York Times bestselling author Gideon Sterer discusses the inspiration behind his new picture book, Treehouse Town.
Gideon Sterer is the New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Owl, I Will Read to You, From Ed’s to Ned’s, Not Your Nest!, The Night Knights, and The Midnight Fair, among others. Gideon grew up in upstate New York, where his parents owned a little zoo in which he would run around after hours and let the animals out. He now lives in the Hudson Valley and invites you to visit him online at GideonSterer.com and to follow him on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
In this post, Gideon discusses the inspiration behind his new picture book, Treehouse Town, his advice for writers, and more!
Name: Gideon Sterer
Book title: Treehouse Town
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: February 13, 2024
Genre/category: Picture book
Previous titles: The Christmas Owl, I Will Read to You, The Midnight Fair, It Began with Lemonade
Elevator pitch: Explore every branch, nook, and cranny of a treetop utopia built by children and their animal friends in this immersive and intricately detailed picture book by a New York Times bestselling author.
What prompted you to write this book?
I’ve always been obsessed with treehouses, and the concept of making an entire and connected world out of them seemed like a fun and hopefully wonderous undertaking! I’m also intrigued by the liminal space between human and animal worlds and uniting them more harmoniously, so that was a big influence as well.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
Charlie and I are good friends, and when we thought we had a shred of an idea we went straight to Deirdre Jones, my editor at LBYR. From there Deirdre and I did a bunch of revising and rethinking and adding things and hammering out the words of the world that Charlie would eventually magician into existence. From the time we sent the idea to LBYR to the book’s publication was just over two years.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
That Charlie is otherworldly talented! I had already known that, but seeing him breathe life into this project with the level of detail and subplots and nuance and intricacies he brought to it—mostly done traditionally and by hand—was its own sort of eye-opening thrill!
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Oftentimes in books that rhyme and that aren’t traditionally “narrative” per say, you have to do a lot of tinkering to make sure you are keeping momentum and varying the reading experience. So, it was surprising (and fun) just how deep I had to dig with my editor to find those unique moments and to lace them together to make a big world cohesive and accessible—and ideally a joy to travel through.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope they get outside or are called to the woods. I hope they build a treehouse or at least find one to hang out in. I hope they are kinder to animals and view them, even slightly, more as peers. As much as this book is fun and exciting and incredible to look at, it’s also one that celebrates nature and harmony among living things.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
It’s been said many times, but I think the most important thing after a little planning, plotting, and thinking is to get down a bad first draft—just something that crudely resembles the shape of what you are trying to do. That’ll be much easier to edit and learn from than trying to write something perfectly in one go.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
