Posted on Dec 11, 2022
'I Don't Care' is a book about what matters in friendship, illustrated by best friends
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https://www.npr.org/2022/12/10/ [login to see] /i-dont-care-julie-fogliano-molly-idle-juana-martinez-neal
When you're looking for a friend, there are things that matter, and things that don't. Julie Fogliano's I Don't Care is about what's not important ("I really don't care what you think of my hair, or my eyes or my toes or my nose") as well as what is ("I care if you wish, and I care if you sing, and I care if you like to lean back when you swing.")
I Don't Care started out as a freewriting exercise a couple of years ago. It came from a jumble of childhood memories, but it wasn't about anyone in particular. "I just wrote, like, a whole bunch of pages of pretty much nonsense," says Fogliano.
But then, the story ended up on the desk of illustrator Molly Idle, who read the first line and immediately knew what the story was about.
"This is a story about two people who are on the surface maybe seemingly very different, but at their cores are very, very similar," says Idle, "and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, that's just like me and Juana!'"
When you're looking for a friend, there are things that matter, and things that don't. Julie Fogliano's I Don't Care is about what's not important ("I really don't care what you think of my hair, or my eyes or my toes or my nose") as well as what is ("I care if you wish, and I care if you sing, and I care if you like to lean back when you swing.")
I Don't Care started out as a freewriting exercise a couple of years ago. It came from a jumble of childhood memories, but it wasn't about anyone in particular. "I just wrote, like, a whole bunch of pages of pretty much nonsense," says Fogliano.
But then, the story ended up on the desk of illustrator Molly Idle, who read the first line and immediately knew what the story was about.
"This is a story about two people who are on the surface maybe seemingly very different, but at their cores are very, very similar," says Idle, "and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, that's just like me and Juana!'"
'I Don't Care' is a book about what matters in friendship, illustrated by best friends
Posted from npr.org
Reading
Children
Illustration
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""If I didn't know, I would never have thought that it was two people," says Julie Fogliano. She says it took her four years to write I Don't Care, and even after spending all that time with it, seeing the illustrations is what made it come to life.
"It just kind of gave it more depth, I think," she says. "Knowing the personal connection between the two of them."
Martinez-Neal says her favorite line comes at the end of the book: "I care that you're you and I'm me. I care that we're us and I care that we're we."
"I love that because it acknowledges that we are individuals and yet together we are something else," she says. "It's the individuality that makes the friendship so wonderful and strong."
The best writing, says Idle, comes from a place so personal that it resonates on a much deeper level. She says her hope for kids reading this book is that they can also see themselves in it — just as she saw herself and her best friend."
...""If I didn't know, I would never have thought that it was two people," says Julie Fogliano. She says it took her four years to write I Don't Care, and even after spending all that time with it, seeing the illustrations is what made it come to life.
"It just kind of gave it more depth, I think," she says. "Knowing the personal connection between the two of them."
Martinez-Neal says her favorite line comes at the end of the book: "I care that you're you and I'm me. I care that we're us and I care that we're we."
"I love that because it acknowledges that we are individuals and yet together we are something else," she says. "It's the individuality that makes the friendship so wonderful and strong."
The best writing, says Idle, comes from a place so personal that it resonates on a much deeper level. She says her hope for kids reading this book is that they can also see themselves in it — just as she saw herself and her best friend."
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