Reluctant Readers in Search of Buttery Books? A guest post by Robbi Behr and Matthew Swanson
Author/illustrator, husband/wife duo Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr work together to make picture books and illustrated middle grade novels—including the award-winning Cookie Chronicles series. The latest installment Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie War comes out August 6.
Matthew: We often hear from librarians and parents that our books are a hit with their reluctant readers.
Robbi: This was not part of some diabolical scheme to ensnare unsuspecting youth.
M: No, we just selfishly enjoy making books with lots of illustrations.
R: We? I think you should—
M: Blame you?
R: Yes. It’s probably more correct to say: “Robbi enjoys inserting herself repeatedly into Matthew’s narratives.”
M: Robbi is pushy.
R: Yes.
M: And so selfish. And extremely intimidating.
R: All those things. Poor Matthew can’t say no.
M: In fact, I wrote The Cookie Chronicles series to be a words-only project.
R: What a foolish idea.
M: I presented the manuscript for Robbi’s approval, and she said, “Nice work, Matthew. I shall draw all over this book.” I knew I was in trouble.
R: I make our books way better, and you know it. To be clear, these are not graphic novels. They are hybrid books. You can remove all the illustrations and they still read like a novel. But removing the illustrations would be a travesty, because the reluctant readers love them.
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M: This is true, but I want to challenge the term “reluctant reader.” There are plenty of kids who fall into this category who really want to read! They just haven’t yet found the books that work for them.
R: For some of our readers, having all those illustrations is enough of a hook to keep them turning the pages.
M: Exactly. It’s not that I’m reluctant to eat artichokes. They’re just very prickly until you peel away the spiky leaf things and put lots of butter on them.
R: My illustrations are the butter to Matthew’s artichoke heart!
M: Is this metaphor good?
R: I think it’s bad. Let’s move on.
M: Robbi’s layouts combine speech bubbles, hand-lettering, mini-comics, and constant interplay between the words and illustrations. She makes the pages so inviting.
R: I’m not just making them inviting! I’m telling a parallel visual story. Here’s what I want to say in defense of illustrations everywhere: There’s such a thing as visual language. We put a lot of emphasis on the written word, but there’s a whole vocabulary of images that is just as complex and important.
M: We have data to back it up! We facilitated a research project with Washington College as part of our year-long literacy project in which we handed out free copies of our books to kids in all fifty states. Among the research findings: Kids everywhere are eager to engage with reading, writing, and drawing.
R: They’re not reluctant! They’re just waiting for the right opportunity.
M: Also, literacy is more than just reading. Visual language is a big part of literacy, and often it’s the visual that draws kids into reading. So we have to treat both words and illustrations as equally important.
R: That is what I was trying to say! Why are you saying it?
M: Because the research backs you up!
R: Another thing kids seem to like about the Cookie Chronicles books is that Matthew loads the writing with fun metaphors.
M: And then Robbi illustrates them, so kids get to see how figurative language works in the space between written and visual metaphors.
R: That all sounds very fancy, but the truth is, it’s way more fun to illustrate a metaphor than it is to illustrate a kid sitting at a desk. I’m delighted that I get to have fun while making reluctant readers happy.
M: One of our friends had a kid who refused to read, so she left one of our books on his bed while he was sleeping, and in the morning she peeked in and saw him secretly reading it. Later that afternoon, he sheepishly asked for the next book in the series.
R: There is no greater compliment than having someone enjoy your book in spite of themselves.
M: Book six of the Cookie Chronicles series comes out August 6. It’s about what happens when Ben Yokoyama and his best friend Janet find themselves on opposite sides of a heated student council election. After that comes Book 7, The Cookie of Destiny, about a misbegotten family road trip.
R: We have another hybrid series called The Real McCoys which has even more illustrations.
M: Send us your so-called reluctant readers, and we will do our best to delight them!
R: And remember that they are not necessarily reluctant.
M: What are they? Let’s come up with the word. They are…
R: Is it that they’re not yet inspired to read?
M: That’s what I was just about to say! But we don’t want to say they’re “uninspired.”
How about “incipient”?
R: Too fancy. Are they “latent” readers?
M: Yes, but that lacks zing. Budding?
R: No. That sounds like someone trying too hard to write a poem.
M: Diffident? Obstreperous? Butter-deprived?
R: You should probably stick to writing books.
M: And you will inevitably fill them with pictures.
R: What can I say? Like butter, pictures make everything better.
Meet the authors
MATTHEW SWANSON and ROBBI BEHR are husband/wife, author/illustrator creators of illustrated children’s novels and picture books. Their national literacy access and awareness project Busload of Books brings free books, creative programming, and hugs to underserved elementary schools across the country.
Robbi and Matthew (and their four kids and two dogs) spent the 2022-2023 school year traveling 34,000 miles in a colorful tiny home school bus, bringing free books and assemblies to students and teachers in all 50 states, and facilitating a landmark research study on the impact of author/illustrator visits.
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They spend their summers running a commercial salmon fishing operation on the Alaskan tundra and the rest of the year making books in the hayloft of an old barn on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
https://www.instagram.com/robbiandmatthew
https://www.facebook.com/robbiandmatthew
About Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie War
Two best friends are pushed to the breaking point when a class election gets out of hand! Rivalry and ridiculousness abound in this delicious, zanily-illustrated adventure for readers who love Wimpy Kid and Dog Man.
It’s the start of a new school year at Honeycutt Elementary and that means one thing: student council elections! Best friends, Ben and Janet are determined not to let mean girl Amy Lou Bonnerman win for the fourth year in a row, but when they both decide to run against her, they become rivals!
At first, it’s all funny posters, free candy, and pie-in-the-sky ideas for how to make the school a better place. But before long, the campaign turns sour—with mean rumors, dirty tricks, hurt feelings, and even sabotage! Ben and Janet’s legendary friendship is put to the test. To make things right, they must expose a conspiracy, swallow hard truths, and remember what’s most important—their friendship.
From the husband-and-wife, author-and-illustrator duo that brought you Ben Yokoyama and the Cookie of Doom comes a tale about keeping your friends close—even when they start to look like enemies.
ISBN-13: 9780593704646
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: 08/06/2024
Series: Cookie Chronicles #6
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years
Filed under: Guest Post
About Amanda MacGregor
Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on BlueSky at @amandamacgregor.bsky.social.
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I love the term “choosy readers”. I think Gail Giles coined it. I love choosy, because it implies that these readers need well written books that get to the heart of the matter quickly. The language needs to pop, and the illustrations need to truly enhance the story. If these readers are going to take the time to possibly struggle reading the book, it had better be worth it!