When we last left kindergartener Lupe Lopez at Hector P. Garcia Elementary School, she was living her best life. In LUPE LOPEZ: ROCK STAR RULES (Candlewick, 2022), Lupe had mastered the rules of kindergarten and kept her rock star persona intact, all while starting a band with her friends Ana …
Hello, Picture Book Builders people! Today, my friend (and superstar critique buddy) Dianne White is taking over this post. I had asked Dianne if there was a picture book that she would like to feature and right away she said, “COOLER THAN LEMONADE!” Isn’t this the perfect book for a …
Not all my friends are picture book fanatics. But one of them is and it’s so fun when we find book love in common and mention it in casual conversation. I was grateful when she reminded me of VERY GOOD HATS the other day so that I could post about …
As a lifelong Wisconsinite, I grew up surrounded by information about the dairy industry. In my state, fourth-graders spend a lot of time learning about cow breeds and how milk can become butter and cheese. I was a full-grown adult before I realized that kids in other states don’t learn …
Want to show a kiddo how one small act of kindness, multiplied, can make a real difference to somebody in need? There’s a book for that… Marsha Diane Arnold’s latest story, One Small Thing, features forest characters who exemplify kindness and thoughtfulness after their friend Raccoon’s home is destroyed. None …
The Flamingo, by Guojing, a Chinese artist and writer now living in Vancouver, is not really a picture book. More a graphic novel. But it is a book and it’s full of pictures and it is for picture book-age readers (and the rest of the world) so forgive me stepping …
We are absolutely thrilled to have Rajani LaRocca on Picture Book Builders today to talk about her newest picture book, Summer Is for Cousins!! If you didn’t already know, Rajani is the Newbery Honor-winning author of Red, White, and Whole, a middle grade novel in verse. She also writes fiction …
I put a copy of We Are Branches on hold at the library assuming it would be about trees. And while trees make an appearance right in the opening, there is much more to this poetic, nonfiction title. Created by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes, the same duo behind Swirl …
I’m especially excited today because it’s PUBLICATION DAY for my newest book, Stinkbird Has a Superpower (Putnam), book #1 of a new series featuring animals with superpowers. As you can see, this one’s illustrated by Bob Shea … still hard not to call him The Bob Shea, because that’s how …
A really successful, wordless, picture book is so incredibly difficult to create. I don’t think it’s hard to make one that is entertaining to read— once. But to make a wordless book that leaves enough room for the viewer/reader to return to it again and again is extremely tough. And… …