Would you mind if this post starts on a personal note? I hope it’s okay — because here goes. This morning (Monday) I attended the funeral of my dear friend Mary Dunn. I met Mary 18 years ago. She was the instructor of a writing class I took at our …
Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha. I have a spooktacular treat for all of you boys and ghouls. Sue Lowell Gallion was kind enough to stop by Picture Book Builders and share her latest picture book, Pug & Pig Trick-or-Treat, the adorable follow-up to the equally adorable Pug Meets Pig. This, by the way, is …
This beautiful book had me smiling the whole way through with surprise after surprise. Of course a book about the man who loved books and children enough to change the publishing world forever would appeal to me from the get go. But this one went above and beyond with both …
When the movie “Hidden Figures” came out last year, chronicling the roles three African-American women played in NASA during the space race, I liked it so much, I watched it twice. So, I was predisposed to like MARGARET AND THE MOON (Alfred Knopf, 2017), a picture book written by Dean …
For days, I’ve been putting off writing this post…only because I’ve had a hard time finding the “just right’ words to describe the gorgeousness that is Barb Rosenstock’s and Mary GrandPré’s new Van Gogh biography, Vincent Can’t Sleep, coming October 3rd from Knopf. So I give up. I’m going to …
Oh man…this is yet another one of those books I slap my forehead and think, “why didn’t I think of this??” A WELL-MANNERED YOUNG WOLF is a slight and should be predictable (it’s not!!) and hilarious story about a young wolf with manners solidly intact. A HUNGRY, well-mannered young wolf …
I loved Tim Miller’s art in Snappsy the Alligator (Julie Falatko’s story as well), so naturally I was eager to read Moo Moo in a Tutu, Tim’s debut as both author and illustrator. And it delivers. How? Let me count the ways. The title. Rhythmic. Musical. Evocative. The marquee-esque title page …
It’s weird to talk about your own book. Thankfully, I’ve had the privilege of working with the incredible Dev Petty twice before, and so it’s not as strange as it might normally feel to me. I remember when I read the first MS for I Don’t Want to be a …
Hello, all! We have a BIG treat for you today – a talented picture book builder, in the truest sense of the word. My former Sterling editor, Alli Brydon, left that position a few years ago to work closely with illustrators as an agent for Bright USA. Now she’s stepping …
The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin In solidarity with the finely feathered star of this book, I will not be quiet. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND READ THIS BOOK! After all, Deedy and Yelchin’s book has racked up some wonderful reviews. …