“He said, ‘Do you see a story here?’ And I said, ‘Go away,’ and I sat with his drawings for awhile.
Wiesner had been painting these pictures for about 20 years by then, but he couldn’t envision a cohesive narrative, so he asked Napoli about it. Napoli, who had been friends with Wiesner for many years before working with him on “Fish Girl,” was first brought on board when Wiesner showed her his paintings of fish swimming inside houses, a mermaid, and an octopus while at her home. This undertaking also involved a more visual approach than she was used to. Napoli described the creative process behind this book as being far more collaborative than her previous interactions with illustrators, which were usually limited and conducted entirely through the publisher. “Fish Girl” is the first graphic novel for both Napoli and Wiesner and is also their first joint project. As for David Wiesner, we told him how many paintings of his we could fit in the space, and he selected the ones to be exhibited,” said Dreher. “There was a lot of collaboration with in terms of the materials and focus of the exhibition … Once the exhibition was installed, she and I walked around it together so she could provide contextual information on the materials, which I turned into the labels that are in each case. “About a year ago, Donna Jo told the library director Peggy Seiden about her new book ‘Fish Girl,’ and they discussed doing some kind of programming around it,” said Susan Dreher, Visual Resources and Initiatives Librarian at McCabe, about the process of organizing the exhibition.ĭreher worked closely with Napoli in this endeavour to set up the exhibition and schedule the book signing and writing workshop.
The exhibition also highlights some of Napoli’s other work, ranging from picture books to young adult novels, with drafts of the books and email exchanges between Napoli and various editors on display next to the published editions. In conjunction with the newly released “Fish Girl,” a collaborative work by Napoli and Wiesner, “Take the Plunge” features Napoli’s first draft of the manuscript of this graphic novel, original paintings by Wiesner, and notes between Napoli and Wiesner during the creative process.
The newest exhibition in McCabe’s lobby shines a spotlight on the works of Professor Donna Jo Napoli of the Linguistics Department and three-time Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator David Wiesner.
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