As 2025 wraps up, I will keep this post short and sweet. After four years of writing for Picture Book Builders, I am stepping away to focus on other work. Thank you for sharing your reading lives with me, and thank you especially to Jill Esbaum for being a wonderful blog leader, mentor, and friend. Looking forward to being a Picture Book Builders reader in 2026! That was the short part, now for the sweet part…
A final giveaway!
I drafted How to Hatch: A Gosling’s Guide to Breaking Free in 2018, revised it with Jill in a mentorship program in 2019 and, well, let’s just say some books take longer to hatch than others. This one, adorably illustrated by Galia Bernstein, hits shelves January 13, 2026. Enter to win a copy by commenting below. Let’s end with a peek inside.
Look at that! How adorable! Congratulations, Sara!
This looks so cute and informative! My animal loving daughter would love this! Requesting my library to buy it now! 😊
Congratulations, Holly! Looks adorable and worth the wait!
Beautiful! Love the sidebar info. It already has 2 starred reviews! I’m purchasing this in Sora so that I can share it with our readers!
Love this…and congrats! Best wishes too!
I love this concept! It looks both informative and fun – engaging for kids! Can’t wait to read it…
Yay, Sara. It looks fun and informative. Congrats! We will miss you.
I am always talking about geese since we have so many where I live. This book would be great for the readers in my life.
Congratulations on your book! I love the snappy text and can already imagine readers acting out the fun action verbs. Thank you for your hard work on Picture Book Builders and best to you on your next chapter.
Thanks for all your reviews – the book is wonderful!
Very adorable.
Oh, wow! I wish I had this lovely book to read to my class when we hatched chicks.
Enjoy the next chapter in your life, Sara! I’ll bet that it includes hatching something wonderful.
What fun! Kids will love this!
I’ve loved reading PictureBookBuilders! I hope it will continue, but you will be missed! Thanks for all you’ve given to it!
This book looks absolutely adorable! Congrats!!!
And I’ll miss your lovely posts but focusing on other things is always important, too. 🙂
Ohhhh, this book. I knew it would be a knockout. I’ve ordered mine!
We’ll miss you, Sara. The BEST of everything to you!
Ooh, what a fun mashup of STEM and how-to! I look forward to this one.
That is adorable! And so concise and precise.. Love it!
Congratulations, Sara!!! Hatch is adorable. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful PBs with us. Here’s to hatching many more!!!
Congratulations on your new book, Sara. It’s a wonderful read aloud, especially for the Pre-K classes who hatch chicks every year. We will all miss your reviews on PBB. Good luck as you turn the page to many more amazing books and chapters in your life!
I’m going to love this book! My library system has ordered 6 copies and I’m 1st in line.
I’ve been waiting for this book. It looks amazing,. Congratulations! Thanks for all your posts on PBB. You’ll be missed!
Glad this one did break through!
Congratulations, and thanks for all you’ve shared
Your book looks amazing! Congrats!
It looks like the gestation for this book was worth it! Terrific content, illustrations, and text. Best of luck. And I LOVE the cover! Thank you for your fine posts here over the years.
How to Hatch looks fascinating and would be a perfect addition to my classroom library. I’ll miss reading your blog entries but I look forward to reading more of your picture books.
Is the whole thing in this rhythmic beat? I LOVE that. It’ll make for an engaging read-aloud with audience participation. Congrats and best to you!
Such a big job for a tiny bird. Love the “Flip the lid” line. So funny.