Hanna and Me

Around this time of year I begin to get lots of inquiries about my little picture book, Hanna's Christmas. Since you can't even find a copy on Amazon this year, I thought I'd better post about it.  It was published in 2001 as a joint effort by HarperFestival (an imprint of HarperCollins) and Hanna Andersson, the clothing retailer. (I used my married name, Peterson, not my pen name, Wiley.) The Hanna folks carried it in their catalog for a season or two, but the print run was small and it was not expected to live much longer than that.

I was commissioned to write the book as a work-for-hire, which means there's no royalty—the writer gets a flat fee and that's that, no matter how well the book sells. Most books involving licensed characters or merchandise tie-ins are work-for-hire projects. I don't do work-for-hire anymore, but it was a good way to hone my craft when I was young and hungry. It was also a good way to pay scary medical bills when we were self-employed and under-insured.

I'm fond of the Hanna book, although it was a bear to write. Like every other work-for-hire I've done, there were too many editors involved, each of them contradicting the others. There was a Harper senior editor, a Harper junior editor, the Harper merch director, and an editor who worked for the packager (a kind of middleman publishing company that put together the deal between Harper and Hanna Andersson). I was hired by the Harper folks to write "a picture book about a little Swedish girl named Hanna who moves to America and is homesick, and it's Christmas. Oh, and also we'd like there to be a tomten in it."

They already had sketches of Hanna and the tomten—adorably and whimsically drawn by artist Melissa Iwai. From there it was all up to me, sort of. I came up with the storyline, which had to be approved by all the aforementioned folks plus someone at Hanna Andersson itself. Then I wrote a draft, which got bumped back and forth a zillion times as every editor weighed in with contradictory remarks.

Like this. In the first draft, I described the tomten's hat as "red as a rowanberry." One of the editors bounced it back with a strikethrough.

"Change to 'his hat was bright red,' " read the note in the margin. "American readers won't know what rowanberries are."

Sigh. I argued that "bright red" was flat and boring. Okay, I wasn't that blunt, but that was the gist. I pointed out that we'd be better off cutting the whole sentence, since the artwork would clearly show that the tomten's hat was red anyway.

Nope, said the editor, go with "his hat was bright red." So I did, growling at the screen. That's just dumb writing. When you're reading a book to your kids, you don't want to get stuck dragging through pedestrian sentences like "his hat was bright red." Bleh.

And then the next person up the line—the merch director, whom I'd worked with before and who happens to be a first-rate editor—read the manuscript. She sent it back with her comments. There was a note by "his hat was bright red."

"Flat. Can you punch up?"

Me: "AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!"

I changed it to "red as a hollyberry" and that's the line that made it into the book. I still think rowanberry was better.

But I digress. Anyway, I loved the story and am really very fond of my slightly grumpy Hanna and her even grumpier tomten friend. I was quite pleased that I got to work in the St. Lucia feast day tradition, since that was already such a happy tradition in our little family. I got a kick out of having Hanna and the tomten make a construction paper crown, because that was what I had done for Jane the December before. I loved the artwork—I have never met or even spoken to Melissa Iwai, but I thought her work was gorgeous. (I keep meaning to check out her other books. Looks like she has a lot of them! Her website is cool, too, especially the process section.)

In the end, I was really happy with the book and was a little bummed it was a merch tie-in, because of course that put it in a different category of book and I knew it would never be reviewed by the critics. To my surprise, it did get a nice little review in School Library Journal, but still, it was a merch property, not intended for a long and dignified life on library shelves. After all, the characters are all wearing Hanna Andersson clothing. Even the endpapers are Hanna prints. (We actually have a baby outfit in the same pattern.) Is it a book or a commercial?

That's the trouble with work-for-hire, and that's why I'm glad I don't have to take on that kind of project anymore.

But in the end, I'm glad I took on the Hanna project. I liked the challenge of trying to tell an engaging and well-crafted story within the confines placed upon me by the various bosses. There's a certain satisfaction in trying to make art out of something so commercial.

Originally, Harper had asked me to write a sequel, but that book got killed somewhere between the second and third draft. Apparently sales of Hanna's Christmas were less than impressive.

So last year I was amused to discover that the book had taken on a new life in the resale market. People were actually hunting for it, trying to land a copy. This year it seems there are no copies on the market at all. I guess everyone who bought it last year decided to hold on to it, which is nice to think about.

Over the years, I gave away almost all of my author comps. The book really is going to disappear for good soon, save for a few scattered copies on people's Christmas shelves. So to the very nice folks who have written me in recent weeks, asking if I know where you can find copies, I'm afraid I have to tell you I'm unable to help you out. But I deeply appreciate your interest!

Comments

[JoVE]

And we also learn a little bit more about how the publishing business works, which is never a bad thing. thanks for sharing that story.

[Jennifer]

Well that is disappointing! I agree with you on the rowanberry. Part of the interest in reading about another country is the unique details. Like Anna and her mother dying the yarn with lingon berries.

[Maria]

How interesting -- thanks for the info and the story.

[sarah]

I am lucky enough to have one of those precious few copies, given to me after my own little Lucy was born a few years ago. Thank you, Lissa! It is one of our Christmas favorites. We just pulled it out this week. The girls were so excited to see it and couldn't wait to get their hands on it. It really is a dear book.

[Karen E.]

Definitely rowanberries. Don't those guys know that's how children expand their vocabulary? Sheesh.

Come visit me, folks ... there are two libraries in a fifty mile radius from which I can borrow this book. :-)

[Alice Gunther]

I can't believe anyone calling herself an editor would trade "red as a rowanberry" for bright red. Heaven help the poor children growing up in the new dumbed down publishing culture.

BTW, I have even had friends asking me about obtaining the book, and I've already promised to lend it to a select few.

[Amber]

Thanks for posting about this, I was actually looking into this book about two weeks ago and I was saddened to see it was so unavailable. I appreciate knowing more about the book's story.

It is also a shame that this book is so hard to find because it seems like there is a real dearth of children's books written about St. Lucia and her feast day celebrations. Or maybe there are some books and I was spectacularly unsuccessful in finding them!

[Margaret in Minnesota]

I just unpacked our copy of "Hanna's Christmas" yesterday. I purchased it last year after a recommendation by one of the Real Learning moms--I no longer remember which one.

Finding out that you're the author, Mrs. Melissa Peterson, is an ah-ha! moment. Gosh, I love those! I will be clasping that book to my chest with a renewed zeal and a good extra bit of love.

[Jenn Miller]

I was one of those pesky emails! I found a copy, and I'm so glad I did. It's wonderful. Thanks for this write-up, as I'm about to summarize St. Lucy's Day and I will include a link to this!

[Nina]

Snuggle Mountain by Melissa Iwai is worth checking. I feel lucky that our small town library has a copy of Hanna's Christmas.

[helene]

Our small town library also has a copy. I always took a special interest in it since our daughter's name is Lucia. What a terrific surprise to find out that YOU are the author! Thanks for this effort.

[Christine]

Thank you for sharing. Our library system has eight copies. Unfortunately, they are all checked out until the end of December/beginning of January. I look forward to eventually seeing a copy of this book.

[LeeAnn]

Amazon is listing this book for sale in hardback for $14.95, 4 to 7 weeks shipping time. Is this a new reprinted edition? I hope so! I hope it's not one of those things where eventually they're going to check their stock, realize they never had it, and say, "sorry the book you requested is no longer available."

[Lissa]

LeeAnn, I haven't heard anything about a reprint, so I'm guessing it's going to be a "sorry, no longer available" situation. Will you keep us posted?

[LeeAnn]

Sure, I'll let you know if/when Amazon ships it to me. The estimation is February 1!

[LeeAnn]

Surprise! "Hanna's Christmas" arrived yesterday, January 2, via Amazon's usual delivery service. The imprint is HarperFestival, copyright 2001, ISBN 0694013714, if that helps any. Guess somebody at Harper found a stash somewhere and I lucked out! If I weren't suffering the effects of three days of a nasty virus, I'd take a picture of myself holding the book to show you how pleased I am with it! If you didn't have the Hanna logo on the book, btw, I don't think it's very noticeable that it's a promotional book. When you said that all the characters are wearing Hanna clothing I was wondering what that would look like, but in my opinion, it's not conspicuous--unless the Hanna catalog is your second Bible! :) The story is very sweet and I think interesting since it deals with modern-day immigrants from Europe, something you hardly see in children's literature nowadays. Historical fiction, yes. Immigrants from Asia, Africa, yes. But most of the immigrants my children have known have been from Germany! We enjoyed the story very much, although I find "tomten" very hard to pronounce for some reason!

[stef]

wow, lissa, just learned about your book. searched for it on addall and the CHEAPEST one is $50!!! but hey! cincinnati public libraries have 3 copies!!! yay!