Cover of What to do With a Box by Jane Yolen

What to Do With a Box

Illustrated by Chris Sheban
Creative Editions (March 8, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1568462891
ISBN-13: 978-1568462899

What to Do with a Box was first written in the 1980s and never sold. Partly because I didn’t know how to solve the problems in it, and partly because the genre (concept book) had pretty much died. So I put it in a drawer and somewhere in 2014 or so I rediscovered it, re-read it, knew how to revise it. Also, concept books were back in vogue.

Dear Reader–this round it sold on its first submission to a small publisher I was just starting to work with.

The editor found the irrepressible Chris Sheban (whose work I didn’t really know) to illustrate it. He draw the pictures on actual box cardboard, and it is brilliant!

Sometimes in the book business you need to become an archeologist, getting to know when to wait, and also when to dig into your own past.

The What to Do books:

Accolades

  • Junior Literary Guild selection 2016

Around the Web

What reviewers have said:

  • *STARRED REVIEW* “Intuitive, inspired executions of art and verse perfectly capture the unending fun of time spent inside a box.” — Publishers Weekly
  • *STARRED REVIEW* “Charmingly captures both real life and imaginary adventures.” – Booklist
  • *STARRED REVIEW* “Intuitive, inspired executions of art and verse perfectly capture the unending fun of time spent inside a box.” – Kirkus Reviews