In the children's book The One About the Blackbird, a young boy learns to play guitar from his grandfather. And there's one song in particular they love.
"Are we allowed to say?" laughs Melanie Florence. "It's kind of obvious what song I'm referring to."
That song is, of course, "Blackbird," by The Beatles.
"My parents had that on vinyl and they were big Beatles fans," says Florence. It was something she and illustrator Matt James bonded over. "I am a huge Beatles fan," James says. "But, you know, get in line." He even once wrote a letter to George Harrison asking for one of his guitars. "I was like, 'You have like 500 guitars. I don't have any,'" James remembers writing.
But back to their picture book, which Florence says she wrote as an intergenerational love story. "It's about the connection between a boy and his grandfather and their shared love of music," she explains. After the grandfather teaches the little boy the guitar, the little boy grows up to become a musician. As an adult, he returns home and plays the guitar for his grandfather, who has forgotten some things, but not his love of music. "It's a very full-circle relationship," Florence says.
As soon as he saw the manuscript, Matt James knew he had to illustrate this book. "My parents are also musicians," he explains. They also play at retirement homes. "It was just this thing that gave people some normalcy, gave them joy," James says.
He illustrated The One About the Blackbird with acrylic paint and gouache. "It's sort of like I'm in art school," he says about his process. "I got all these art supplies, I got paint and I got brushes of every different size. I don't really know which ones are for what."
Some of the illustrations are painted, but others were made using three-dimensional models, like the grandpa's basement couch. "There's a lot of stuff that's painted on cardboard and then cut out and then stuck on and then sort of scanned," he explains. He originally tried to make the couch out of cardboard and masking tape. At a local craft store, James found some disc-shaped pieces of Masonite and painted on them to make realistic-looking vinyl records.
"There's a lot of trial and error," James adds. "Sometimes I just work until I like it."
Melanie Florence says The One About the Blackbird is not the first kids' book she's written about a child and their grandparent. "It's such a special relationship," she says, remembering her grandfather, who was indigenous, and for whom storytelling was an important part of his culture. "Unlike a lot of adults, he never told me to be quiet. He would sit back and listen like I was the most fascinating person in the world. And I think that, more than anything, made me want to be a storyteller, because he taught me that the stories that I wanted to share were important."
So, go hang out with someone from a different generation, concludes illustrator Matt James. "Enjoy those moments when you have them," he adds. "Sitting next to your grandpa, singing a song and the sun shining. Doesn't get much better than that."
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