MY TWO BLANKETS is warm and wonderful

“My Two Blankets”, written by Irena Kobald and illustrated by Freya Blackwood is a rewarding blend of a lovely story and brilliant illustrations. I picked this book to chat about because I wanted to point out Freya Blackwood’s super smart illustration decisions. In this book, published in this country by Houghton …

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Ollie and Claire, the Perfect Pair!

Say hello to Ollie and Claire, buddy story extraordinaire, by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Philomel, 2013). Hello, Ollie. Hello, Claire. But, no. I’m saying it wrong, because these two do everything together every day. Hello, OllieandClaire. Here’s how Tiffany Strelitz Haber introduces them: “Ollie and Claire were a …

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Hi Mom!

Mother Bruce, by Ryan T. Higgins, is not just another ‘are you my mother’ books. It is an hilarious story, wonderfully illustrated and with a lovely twist. Bruce is a grumpy bear who has a passion and an appetite for eggs. He searches recipes on the internet to find new …

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Little Jumbo Cheers Up Dad (& the rest of us)

So, to follow up on Eliza’s last post about appealing anthropomorphic characters, have y’all met Little Jumbo? If not, get your hands on a copy of How to Cheer Up Dad by Fred Koehler (Dial, 2014). What’s so appealing about the little guy? For starters, he’s a bit naughty. Personally, I like …

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Story to Contract: A PBB Reader’s Incredible Journey

Today I’m thrilled to celebrate the success of one of our faithful Picture Book Builders readers, Traci Sorell, who just sold her first picture book! YEA! I first met Traci through our blog when she won a free manuscript critique by me after commenting on my Sept. 8, 2015 post. Every writer’s path to …

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Picture Book Love

I’ve spent the last few weeks preparing presentations for the SCBWI Wild Wild Midwest conference this past weekend (which was fantastic, thank you to everyone involved!). I’ve been focussing and dissecting my own work, learning and appreciating what Linda Sue Park went through to write the sparsely worded, but thoroughly well-conceived, YAKS …

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