I sometimes fantasize about living in an old farmhouse with lots of dogs, chickens and other animals—like, say, llamas. But recently when I searched my library for books about raising llamas, I came up empty. What did turn up was a slew of Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney. Okay, …
Eliza Wheeler is deep into a project, so I’m filling in to bring you an interview with the delightful Marfé Ferguson Delano. Marfé is the award-winning author of more than 20 children’s books published by National Geographic (check them out on her website). Her most recent titles include Welcome to the …
This month I’m delighted to share Penny Parker Klostermann’s gorgeous first picture book, There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight (releases Aug. 4, 2015 from Random House). I adore this book! It’s clever, funny, and the colorful, charming illustrations of the hungry dragon are full of good humor as well. I’m …
I am a huge fan of Hannah E. Harrison’s Extraordinary Jane, so I had high expectations for Bernice Gets Carried Away. Well, I got just as carried away with this book! It’s better than getting a frosting rose on your piece of cake! Really. Hannah, tell us about Bernice Gets Carried Away. Bernice is …
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri is very dull. It’s also very funny. Meet the Dullards — they are a family who loves things dull and boring. But, the Dullard’s three children, Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud are straying from their parent’s quest for all …
One thing aspiring picture book writers often are advised to do is take a favorite, modern-day picture book and type out the text. Why? Because doing so shows writers how spare and essential words in a picture book really are. Once they see how the text looks on a page, …
Julia Sarcone-Roach’s new book, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, is a delight. Why? First of all, the narrator is relating a little-bit-wacky story that readers/listeners will almost-but-not-quite doubt. It’s just crazy enough that it COULD be true, after all. A bear COULD have accidentally made his way to town and, …
Today I‘m looking at two books concerning teachers and the sometimes (often?) superficial disconnect between teachers and students. But they are a lot more fun than that opening sentence. As a kid, seeing a teacher outside of school is always weird. I remember as a fifth-grader, at an outdoor mall with my …
We see a lot of picture books, don’t we? Sometimes it’s a little mind-boggling. So many books! What should I read next? And then a book leaps off the shelf, grabs you by the collar, and says, “Read ME!” Which is exactly how I discovered Zachariah OHora a few years ago …
“Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.” –Alfred Hitchcock Can you remember a book from your childhood in which the main character suffered so much that it, in turn, made you wriggle in your seat with agony? For me, this book was HENRY’S AWFUL MISTAKE, by Robert Quackenbush. …