The Picture Book Buzz - Interview with Vivian Kirkfield + Giveaway 2025
Writer for children—reader forever…that’s Vivian Kirkfield in five words.
She can be found writing picture books in the picturesque village of Bedford, NH. A retired kindergarten teacher, with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, Vivian inspires budding writers during classroom visits and shares insights with aspiring authors at conferences and on her blog, Picture Books Help Kids Soar where she hosts the #50PreciousWords International Writing Contest and the #50PreciousWordsforKids Challenge.
She is the author of seven picture books, including Pedal, Balance, Steer: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World (2024), From Here To There: Inventions That Changed The Way The World Moves, illustrated by Gilbert Ford (2021), Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship Of Ella Fitzgerald And Marilyn Monroe, illustrated by Alleanna Harris (2020), Sweet Dreams, Sarah, illustrated by Chris Ewald (2019), Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book, illustrated by Mirka Hokkanen (2019), and Pippa's Passover Plate illustrated by Jill Weber (2019).
Her newest book, One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land, releases February 11th.
Welcome Vivian, thank you so much for stopping back by to chat about One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land and your writing.
Hi Maria! Thank you so much for inviting me to your fabulous blog! I’m always so happy to visit with you!
When and how did you first learn about Lucy Stone?
I’m not sure exactly when and how I first learned about Lucy Stone. Perhaps when I was working on the Annie Londonderry research because they were contemporaries of a sort. But when Lucy’s name popped up during my Annie research, I was surprised that I didn’t know anything about her – but I certainly knew a lot about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. I was surprised because as I read more about her, I realized that Lucy had inspired both Stanton and Anthony to follow the path of suffragists. So of course, I did more research. And then in 2020, Beth Anderson told me about Judith Kalaora who portrayed famous American women in her History-At-Play performances AND there was going to be a performance featuring Lucy Stone. I watched it…and I was hooked! I just had to tell Lucy’s story to young readers.
What a fun way to learn about an influential woman. And what inspired you to write her biography - One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land?
I was definitely inspired by the dramatic History-At-Play performance I saw. And the more I learned about Lucy, the more I knew that this was a story children needed to hear. I especially love that Lucy was an advocate AND an activist for abolition and for women’s rights from a very early age. Even as a child, she knew something was wrong about the status quo…the customs of society and the rules of law that prohibited girls and women from enjoying the rights that boys and men enjoyed…and that penalized them for making their voices heard.
Lucy is definitely a strong, dedicated person who deserves to be rediscovered. Having written a number of nonfiction picture books, what is your research process? Did it change at all for One Girl’s Voice?
For all of my nonfiction picture book biography manuscripts, the process is fairly similar.
1. Idea – I see something online about someone or receive a link from a friend or relative about someone – and my curiosity is sparked.
2. Research – I consult whatever online sources are available first. That can include census records, Find-A-Grave information, YouTube videos/interviews/documentaries. Then I check out the local library and speak to the research librarian who might know of other libraries/library archives that would be helpful. I take out books – or check out Google Books or buy the Kindle/ebook version of any books that might contain good source material.
3. Sometimes I am lucky and there is a living relative or friend of the person I want to write about – or an expert that I can speak with. For Lucy Stone, I discovered Judith Kalaora, the History-At-Play performer. Her research is so in depth…I was grateful for her help.
It's so cool that Judith Kalaora was willing to discuss Lucy with you! What was the toughest or trickiest aspect of writing One Girl’s Voice? And equally important, what was the most fun aspect?
I think the trickiest aspect of writing any nonfiction pb bio is to find the right path into the story – to uncover the heart of the story – and to make sure it is woven throughout the entire story. One of the problems with having a lot of information is that you can’t put everything in the story – What to leave in…and what to leave out…that is the question.
Probably the most fun aspect was finding the quotes and choosing the right places to use them. Especially for a story called One Girl’s Voice, I knew we’d need to share Lucy’s voice…and what better way than to include her actual words!
Sounds like you did a lot of weaving and tweaking to the manuscript. How long did it take from the first draft to publication for One Girl’s Voice?
I looked back at my files…I think I wrote the first draft early in 2020…it was called: Lucy Stone: The Heart and Soul of the Women’s Rights’ Movement. By the time my CPs had seen it several times and we felt it was ready to submit, the title was LUCY STONE SPEAKS OUT. My agent submitted it to editor Carolyn Yoder at Calkins Creek/Astra – who had already acquired the Annie Londonderry story. And, after two R&Rs, ONE GIRL’S VOICE was a book deal! We signed the contract in the beginning of 2021 and on February 11, 2025, the book will launch!
That's interesting that the delay was in the tail end of the book's journey and not the submission or revision portions. What's something you want your readers to know about One Girl’s Voice and/or Lucy Stone?
One person CAN make a difference! One person CAN have a dream, and that dream can become a reality! Lucy Stone grew up in a time when women in America had no voice. Husbands and fathers ruled the household. Women could not vote. They could not speak out in public forums…or even in church. And young Lucy thought that was wrong. She asked her mother why this was…and her mother told her that it said so in the Bible. But Lucy was sure that the Bible had been mistranslated and misinterpreted – she decided she would learn Latin and Greek and read the Bible in its original form – and she would PROVE that God did NOT want women to be subservient. Because of Lucy Stone and others who fought for women’s rights and equality for all, society’s views changed, and the laws changed. For example, at Oberlin College, Lucy discovered that male and female students who worked on campus were not paid the same salary. Lucy refused to continue teaching (she earned money teaching first year students) and when her students complained to the school board and offered to pay the extra, school officials passed the first ruling of its kind in this country…men and women would be paid the same salary!
And, when Lucy graduated, she had been asked to write a speech, but when she found out that she would not be able to deliver the speech because she was a woman and that a male student would deliver it – Lucy wrote to her parents: “If I cannot read it, I surely will not write it.” The cool thing is that decades later, on the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Oberline, Lucy was INVITED to SPEAK at graduation. In her own lifetime, she was able to see the progress she had fought for.
Thank you so much for sharing this great information about Lucy and her determination to make things better. She was definitely a strong and determined person. Are there other picture books on Lucy Stone? If so, how did you structure One Girl’s Voice to stand out from the book(s)?
There are several adult books about Lucy Stone, but I’ve only found one picture book: I SPEAK FOR THE WOMEN, written by Stephanie McPherson in 1992. I haven’t read it and so I don’t know how that author approached the story. But now I’m totally curious and I just ordered a copy – it’s out of print, but I found it on Thrift Books!
It is amazing that there is only one other book on Lucy. When you first saw Rebecca Gibbon’s illustrations in One Girl’s Voice, did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?
Text © Vivian Kirkfield, 2025. Image © Rebecca Gibbon, 2025.
When I saw Rebecca’s art, I was totally delighted. She really captured the spirit of Lucy – and the excitement of the time for women who were finding their voice. Her illustrations brought the story to life! My favorite spread? The final page where an older Lucy is speaking, surrounded by young children – a fitting role model for them, for sure.
I love this illustration! Was there anything you learned during your research that you couldn’t include in the main text or back matter?
What a great question! Yes, I learned about the divisiveness that sprang up between Lucy Stone and her close compatriots, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. They had fought together for abolition…but when the 13th Amendment was passed, Stanton and Anthony were set on battling for the right of women to vote. They felt that white women deserved the vote BEFORE Black men…and Lucy wanted to support whoever could get the vote next. The schism went deep – and lasted for decades until the daughters of Lucy Stone and Elizabeth Cady Stanton joined forces and, although it took another two decades, worked together to finally achieve success…the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Before my research, I had no idea about any of this. And I think that many others will be surprised. Divisiveness is not an invention of the 21st century.
Wow, that's some interesting information. I'm so glad that their daughters were able to unite and fight together for the right to vote! Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?
Thanks for asking, Maria! I am working on another nonfiction picture book biography about Anne Stanaway, a pioneer producer for PBS. In 1975, Anne filmed a documentary of life in the Fort Indiantown Gap army camp when the U.S. government resettled thousands of Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon. It’s a picture of how a government can do a good job addressing the challenges of immigration – perhaps a lesson we can learn from. And it’s an exciting project to work on because I am collaborating with another author, Hanh Bui, who is in a unique position to provide the voice of one of the children at the camp – that was her lived experience as an 8-year-old child. I feel so blessed to create this story with her.
Nice! Your first co-author collaboration sounds amazing, and I can't wait to see it. Last question, what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why?
I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska…it’s the only state I haven’t been to. But the animals of New Zealand fascinated me when I was there in 2019 – and I’d love to go back because it’s such a beautiful country…and I’d get to see a dear friend and longtime CP, Diane Tulloch. Who knows, Maria, maybe you’ll decide it’s time for another LOOOONG flight and we’ll go together…you missed NZ in 2019 when we met up in Sydney, Australia for the SCBWI conference there..
Oh, that sounds like a dream trip! Love to do that. Thank you, Vivian, for stopping by to share about yourself and your newest picture book.
It was a pleasure, Maria! Your blog is one of my favorites – you create such dynamic interviews and posts!
Thank you so much for having me!
Be sure to come back on Friday for the Perfect Picture Book #PPBF post on One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land,
To find out more about Vivian Kirkfield, or get in touch with her:
Website: https://viviankirkfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/viviankirkfield
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viviankirkfield/
🎈🎉 A SUPER Special Giveaway 🎉🎈
Are you ready for something super special . . . We are SO lucky!
Vivian Kirkfield is offering a 30-minute "Ask Me Anything" for EACH commenter on the post.
What an interesting story! I did not know about Lucy Stone, but I love learning how her voice made a big difference in promoting the rights of women and girls.