This is one of those books that I read and immediately couldn’t wait to share with my grandkiddos, because 1) it’s beautiful, and 2) it’s the first time I’d seen this subject–light pollution–in a book for kids, and they need to know about it. The combination of Marsha Diane Arnold’s …
I am currently working on the illustrations for the third book of a four-book series by Dori Hillestad Butler. When asked if I’d be interested in illustrating them, I jumped at the opportunity. First of all, it was Dori Hillestad Butler! And secondly, I had never illustrated an early chapter …
I am so very impressed by Miranda Paul’s latest book, SPEAK UP (Clarion, illustrated by Ebony Glenn). This one is an excellent tool for teaching kids the whens and hows, but what I’m most impressed by is that Miranda manages to give the subject the depth it deserves (in rhyme!) …
If you were a polar bear, and let’s just say you were put in charge of watching over the moon – how would you handle this big job? What would your approach be? And what would your concerns be? Imaginative questions like these make me totally love picture books! For …
You’ve probably enjoyed many of the 2020 Caldecott winning books by now. What as outstanding collection this year! Today I’d like to highlight one of the gorgeous Honor Books: GOING DOWN HOME WITH DADDY by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by Daniel Minter (and published by one of my favorite houses, …
Oh, Picture Book Builders people, summer is here! Author Meg Fleming and illustrator Paola Zakimi have just the book for us. This is what School Library Journal and Kirkus had to say: This first purchase is a perfect storytime choice to usher in the beach season, and the rhyming, repetitive …
I’d like to introduce you to my dear friend, Alfred. Today is his birthday! He and I have gotten very close over the past four years. It all began a long time ago when I saw a cousin of his in our trashcan. This is how Cousin first looked, and …
If you’re a writer or a reader, you may have heard someone say: “There’s no such thing as a new story — there are just different ways of telling the same ones.” That might be true from a thematic or structural standpoint, but I recently read a picture book — …
Today I’m excited to chat with my good friend Linda Skeers about her new book, DINOSAUR LADY, the Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist (Sourcebooks, illus by Marta Alvarez Miguens). Linda and I have been writing friends since…well, as she put it when she signed my copy: “since …
Back in the Before Times when we were still crowding into libraries, I’d checked out stacks of picture books to prepare for a writing workshop (which happened) and my weekly one-on-one, side-by-side reading sessions with two first graders (not happening any time soon). I’ve since returned the books to our …