POW! BAM! WOW! Jackie Chan has been making movies and amazing audiences with his original and comedic stunts for decades. POW! BAM! OW! But before he was an international star, Jackie grew up in relative poverty in China, studied martial arts at the grueling China Drama Academy, and worked for …
I’m so excited to welcome Maria Gianferrari back to the blog! I’ve been friends with Maria for over a decade and critique partners with her for almost as long. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of her work and I’m thrilled that she’s joined me today to celebrate the …
Huge thanks to all my PBB colleagues and to you, dear readers, for your kind words of congratulations! I can’t believe that it’s been a month since the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced. It feels like yesterday. It also feels like 4 months, not 4 weeks. I guess that’s …
With the end of 2021 rapidly approaching, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a new book about the end of one thing and the beginning of something new. HELLO, TREE by Ana Crespo and illustrated by Dow Phumiruk is subtitled “A story about regrowth.” When a …
The start of the holiday season has me thinking a lot about home and homecomings. How it feels to leave home, how it feels to return, and especially how it feels when circumstances prevent you from going home or seeing loved ones. So I revisited one of my favorite picture …
I’m a huge fan of Beth Anderson’s historical, narrative nonfiction picture books. They bring to light important figures who have been hidden (Elizabeth Jennings), “ordinary” people with extraordinary talents (James “Smelly” Kelly), and now, a very special relationship between a young boy and his very famous father. Tad Lincoln’s restless …
Foodie picture book biographies are totally my jam. So I’m super excited to share NIKI NAKAYAMA: A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites with you today. Co-authors Jamie Michalak and Debbi Michiko Florence, plus debut pb illustrator Yuko Jones were kind enough to answer some questions — and they’re giving away …
Ever since I can remember, my father had a thermos of hot tea with him. It sat on his desk when he was working, rolled around my feet in the car, and caused alarm when he tried to bring it through airport security after 9/11. (They made him pour it …
Lately, I’ve been reading picture books about “hidden history” as research for a manuscript that I’ve been struggling with. These books cover historical people and events that have been left out of school history books, often deliberately and usually because they involve people of color. Leah Henderson’s moving A DAY …
If you think you’ve seen a plethora of picture books featuring trees lately, you would not be wrong. Both fiction and nonfiction tree books have been sprouting up everywhere. This makes me super happy because I love trees. I even named my dog Tupelo. He gravitates toward water — especially …