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The "Once There Was a Bull...frog" Saga |
(Sometimes when you write a book you can see how it should work when no one else can. There was still some question about how everything fit together, so I prepared this draft where I described possible illustrations, to show that the visual punchlines could be done. Some of the suggestions the illustrator took, others he didn't.)
(Illustration note: This story takes place in the American West in the 1800s.)
| Page | |
| 1. | Once there was a bull...
(Illustration suggestion: Western scene. In the background is a bull, grazing.) |
| 2. | ...frog who had lost his hop.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 1, but from a different angle. From this angle the reader sees a bullfrog, up front and close. Behind the bullfrog, still in the background, is the original bull, who plays no part in the story except as a distraction, or as a character in any illustration subplot that the illustrator would like to develop.) |
| 3. | He looked under a toad...
(Illustration Suggestion: The bullfrog looks in the direction of a toad, positioned at the edge of the page.) |
| 4. | ...stool. But his hop wasn't there.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 3, but moved over slightly to show that next to the toad was a toad stool. It's now clear that the bullfrog was looking under the toadstool, not the toad.) |
| 5. | He looked behind a dog...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog appears to peer behind an old hound dog.) |
| 6. | ...house. But his hop wasn't there.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 5, but shifted to show that the bullfrog is actually looking behind the doghouse next to the dog. |
| 7. | He looked under a hedge...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog appears to be peering under a hedge.) |
| 8. | ...hog. But his hop wasn't there.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 7, but the bullfrog is actually looks under a hedgehog sitting by the hedge.) |
| 9. | "Maybe if I jump off something I'll find my hop," he said. He climbed on top
of a box...
(Illustration Suggestion: A closeup of Bullfrog at the edge of a boxcar looks like Bullfrog is on a regular wooden box.) |
| 10. | ...car and jumped!
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog jumps off the boxcar.) |
| 11. | He landed hard in a patch of grass...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog is landing in tufts of long grass.) |
| 12. | ...hoppers. They hopped away, but Bullfrog didn't.
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog is sitting in the grass after his jump, and all around him are grasshoppers, hopping out of the grass after being disturbed by Bullfrog.) |
| 13. | "Not high enough," said Bullfrog, "Maybe if someone threw me I'd go high
enough to get my hop back."
"I'll do it," said a cow... (Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog, lifted into the air, is staring into the face of a cow.) |
| 14. | ...boy, who loved to throw things, and he picked up Bullfrog and tossed him
high and far.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 13, only from back farther. Standing in front of the cow, where he had been holding the frog in the hair, is the cowboy, tossing Bullfrog.) |
| 15. | Bullfrog tumbled through the air and landed in a field of straw...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog is scene tumbling through the air, over a field of straw. |
| 16. | ...berries. "OUCH! That hurt." Then he tried to hop. He couldn't.
"Oh woe," said Bullfrog. "I've lost my hop!" (Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog, in the strawberry patch where he landed, rubs his behind, or whatever a bullfrog would rub if he'd landed hard.) |
| 17. | "Then swim," said a cat...
(Illustration Suggestion: A cat sits licking its paws by a stream.) |
| 18. | ...fish from the stream nearby. "I can't swim on land," said Bullfrog.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 17, only more of the stream is shown. From the stream a catfish is poking its head looking at Bullfrog.) |
| 19. | "Then fly," said a lady...
(Illustration Suggestion: Scene is broad, shows the straw field, the strawberry patch, the stream, and a lady working in the strawberry patch or a garden nearby.) |
| 20. | ...bug who had heard Bullfrog complain. "I can't," said Bullfrog. "I have no
wings. And without wings flying hurts."
(Illustration Suggestion: Scene pulls in close again, showing Bullfrog talking to a ladybug perched on bullfrog's nose, or on a nearby plant.) |
| 21. | "You could slither," said a voice behind Bullfrog. He turned and looked. On
the ground behind him was a diamond...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog looks behind him, sees something glimmering, reflecting the sunlight just behind him. It looks like a diamond.) |
| 22. | ...back rattlesnake, looking for breakfast. "A snake!" croaked Bullfrog.
(Illustration Suggestion: Same scene as p. 21, but now showing that the glimmering item is the rattler's fang, hanging in the rattler's threatening open mouth.) |
| 23. | And up into the air he leaped, higher than the sun...
(Illustration Suggestion: A terrified Bullfrog is seen leaping toward the hot western sun.) |
| 24. | ...flowers around him. And when he came down he leaped again. And again. And
again. (Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog hops through a field of sunflowers.) |
| 25. | Until he landed on a stage...
(Illustration Suggestion #1: Closeup of Bullfrog on the roof of a stagecoach. Flat wooden surface looks like a stage. Illustration Suggestion #2: Or Bullfrog has jumped through the window and landed on the floor of a stagecoach full of dancing girls, who are staring at him, surprised. Scene shows mostly just Bullfrog and the dancing girls and their surprised faces.) |
| 26. | ...coach. "I've found it! I've found my hop!" said Bullfrog as he rode out of
town and far from the snake.
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog, on top of the stage, jumps up and down, cheering, as the stagecoach rides out of town.) |
| 27. | "And after all that hopping I'm so hungry I could eat a horse...
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog, now up in the driver's seat, or perhaps on the back of one of the horses, looks hungry, and the stagecoach horses look nervously back at him.) |
| 28-29. | ...fly!"
(Illustration Suggestion: Closeup of big, ugly horsefly sitting on the horse.) |
| 30. | And he did.
(Illustration Suggestion: Bullfrog's shoots out his long tongue and grabs the surprised horsefly.) |
Once There Was a Bull... is designed so that text and illustrations will set up an expectation that is shaken up when the page is turned. The text sets up the expectation through the split noun or noun phrase. Illustrations could set up expectations through at least a couple of different ways. I've provided examples of one approach. I trust that a good illustrator will come up with even better ideas.
If the manuscript is too long, one set of pages 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 could be cut, as could one set of pages 17-18, 19-20. Other sections could also be shortened if necessary.