Hello, all— Guess what? We’ve got a very special guest visiting today. Author/illustrator Suzanne Kaufman is here to chat about her latest book, Take Your Pet to School Day — which, I’m happy to say, also happens to be my latest book. (For a chance to win one of two …
Welp, here we are, smack dab in the middle of summer. So I thought I’d feature a vacation book. And, since you yourself may be on vacation, or planning a vacation, or dreaming of a vacation . . . I’m going to keep this short. The book? Mr. Postmouse Takes …
As a writer and a reader, I’m often drawn to books that give a new twist to old songs, and we’ve featured quite a few here at PBB. In addition to two of my own (Rock-a-Bye Romp and Over the River & Through the Wood), there’s Twinkle, Twinkle Little Car, …
As Mike pointed out in his post last week, “how to” picture books offer lots of opportunities for humor. So I thought I’d follow up with another recent example: How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps, written by Nicola Winstanley and illustrated by John Martz (Tundra, …
I volunteer as a School Reading Partner through my local school district. My job? Reading one-on-one each week with two first graders I’ll call Eva and Nick. Although the program provides reading materials, the selection is limited. So each Friday, I bring in a big bag of books hoping some …
Introducing characters can be tricky. What do we want readers to know about them? And how do we reveal these traits? In Baabwaa & Wooliam, author David Elliott takes the direct approach. He begins the book by introducing each character in turn, accompanied by Melissa Sweet‘s dignified portraits (click on …
As Jill reminded us in a recent post, this business can be tough. Rejection. Disappointing sales. Occasional unkind reviews that evoke this Taylor Swift song. So it’s extra important to celebrate the good stuff. Like, say, the arrival of new books! In fact, today just happens to be the pub …
So, the holiday hubbub has passed, and we’re in that long wintry stretch that has many of us yearning for spring. Yes, it’s still a few months away, but today’s book—A ROUND OF ROBINS by Katie Hesterman—offers a lovely dose of springtime to help tide us over. MORE good news: …
Recently, while skimming the New York Times obituary section, I was sad to see a name I recognized: Louise DeSalvo, author of numerous memoirs, essays, fiction and writing books. Although I didn’t know Louise, I’ve admired her from afar. Her book The Art of Slow Writing is one of my favorite …
Back in September, I led a workshop called “Writing the Rollicking Read-Aloud” at the Carolinas SCBWI conference. To prepare for it, I brought home stacks of recent-ish picture books, trying to figure out which ones to feature in my presentation. Although half the two-hour session focused on writing in rhyme, …