In Arthur Levine’s bright new picture book, Monday is One Day, parents and children hug goodbye before going their separate ways each morning…and mark off the days until Saturday. Already a best-seller in Austin, Texas (read on to discover why), Levine’s book is dedicated to “my only Max Emilio, from whom my heart is never parted,” and will have its official launch – including a reading, author talk, and signing — this Saturday, March 26th, 2 p.m. at the Montclair Public Library.
Rendered in cheerful primary colors, the book’s illustrations of love-imbued home life reflect a diversity of families and environs that Levine likens to the neighbors and friends he and his family have found in Montclair. A long-time children’s book editor and the author of seven picture books, Levine took the time to talk with me over sparkling water (not coffee!) about his family, his writing career, being J.K. Rowling’s American publisher, and what he likes best about living in Montclair.
Q. Tell me about Monday is One Day – how did the story come to be?
A. I was home with my son Max and he was just a tiny baby. I’d taken a bunch of time off to be with him and then I had to go back to work because …well, because that’s how it is for most people in the working world. You know, for some reason people seem to think that because of my connection with J.K. Rowling that maybe I didn’t have to work.
Q. And?
A. And let the record show [laughter] Arthur Levine is not incredibly wealthy!
Q. OK, back to the book.
A. Right. Well, I also wanted to go back to work, but it wasn’t without ambivalence. There was this baby I’d been with every moment for his entire life, who I was going to have to leave. And it was heartbreaking for me. From this emotional place I started to write this poem about counting the days until we could be together again.
Q. You say this is a Montclair book. What do you mean by that?
A. There’s a single voice telling the story, but with each day the illustrator shows different families. One family is African American, one family is white, there’s an interracial couple, there’s a two-dad family, a kid being raised by his grandparents, and there’s a kid being raised by a single mom, too. The book doesn’t make a big deal about it, in the same way that Montclair doesn’t make a big deal about it — it just is.
Q. The art is wonderful. Did you know the illustrator from your work at Scholastic?
A. I’d never met Julien Hector but I saw his illustrations for The Little Madadore and thought he would be perfect for my book. I told my editor and she agreed.
Q. You say the book took a long time to make.
A. Yes, Max isn’t a baby anymore! The fact is that even if it went really quickly, and there were no hitches, it takes a while to find the right artist and it takes a while to make art. It took Julien a year to do these illustrations. And there were three different editors, too.
Q. Even Arthur Levine had three editors for one book!?
A. I really am just the author of this book. It is published by the company that employees me, but that was incidental. In some ways it is more delicate ]being published by the house where you are empoloyed]– you have to be more respectful… because at work I am not the author, and I can’t make demands.
Q. Max is seven now. What does he think about the book?
A. It’s been really sweet, he definitely knows that I wrote it for him, I told him the story, he saw sketches when they came in. He’s very boyish in the way that he accepts attention in some ways – he knows it but he’s very low key.
Q. The book is a bestseller in Austin before publication. How did that happen!?
A. The illustrator lives in Austin, and I went down and did a conference in Austin. Julien appeared at the conference, they had books at the conference and everybody wanted one. The book store – Book People in Austin – sold a lot of copies and they reported the sales. That’s how it happened.
Q. When’s the official pub date?
A. Saturday is the official launch of the book. I’m having the launch here in Montclair because it’s such a personal book and it makes sense to do it in my home community. For me personally, anything I can do to benefit Watchung Booksellers and Montclair Public Library is something that I want to do.
Q. Don’t let me stop you — did you want to say something else about how much you love Montclair?
A. An amazing thing about Montclair is that we have all these authors – just on our few blocks alone there are a number of well-known published authors. People have had lovely events for their books here and it becomes a community celebration and it becomes a celebration of Montclair to do it that way – we’re a community that cares about books and cares about writing.
Q. I guess you want people to know that you and and I met a l-o-o-o-n-g time ago when we were both fledgling assistants at Putnam Young Readers Group.
A. There’s a lovely circularity that it’s you and me having this conversation, too. It makes me feel sort of nice about life to think that I could have met you 25 years ago and the world turns and here we are, still working in the same field, being practically next door neighbors, your son is babysitting for my son, and that is an integration of worlds that’s really special. The book is a celebration of love between parents and children, and it’s also a celebration of our community, too.
Levine will be reading and signing copies of “Monday Is One Day” Saturday, March 26th at at 2:00 p.m. at Montclair Public Library, 50 So. Fullerton Avenue, Montclair. For information call the library (973-744-0500) or Watchung Booksellers (973-744-7177)
I know this family, and they’re all very loving to each other.
I sincerely wish them all the best.
(:-D)
I also know Arthur, his partner, and their son. He is a warm, funny, and charming guy. Can’t wait to read the book!