Articles posted by Suzanne Slade (Page 8)

Author: Suzanne Slade

Suzanne Slade is the author of more than 100 books. A mechanical engineer by degree, she enjoys writing about science topics and fascinating historical figures. Recent books include: SWISH! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters, A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon, The Daring Dozen, Countdown: 2979 Days to the Moon, Astronaut Annie, Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story, Dangerous Jane, The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue, The Inventor’s Secret, and Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Coming soon -- MARS IS, JUNE ALMEIDA VIRUS DETECTIVE! THE WOMAN WHO DISCOVERED THE FIRST HUMAN CORONAVIRUS, THE UNIVERSE AND YOU, and TBA titles from Calkins Creek, Peachtree, and Random House. Learn more about Suzanne and her books at: www.suzanneslade.com

Election Day Celebration

Since Election Day was last week, I started thinking about “theme” books geared for certain holidays. So I decided to take a look at several picture books about Election Day and compare how various author handled the topic and what each did to make their book special.

Rhyming Done Right: Cock-a-Doodle Oops! (& J. Reinhardt’s Winners Announced)

You know you’ve found a real jewel when you read a rhyming picture book that sings and hums. And Cock-a-Doodle Oops!, written by Lori Degman, is a rhyming book that hums just right!

The Secret is Out: The Inventor’s Secret releases today (plus a unique give-away!)

Okay, so what are the odds? I post once a month on Picture Book Builders, and this month my turn fell on September 8, the release date of my newest book, The Inventor’s Secret: What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford. (By the way, my son calculated the odds of this …

Create Your Own Genius Hour

During a school visit a few months ago a teacher commented that my upcoming picture book, The Inventor’s Secret, would be the perfect title to kick off a school Genius Hour program. Well, not being much of a genius myself, I had to admit to her that I’d never heard of Genius …

First Picture Book “Inside Scoop” (& Book Giveaway!)

This month I’m delighted to share Penny Parker Klostermann’s gorgeous first picture book, There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight (releases Aug. 4, 2015 from Random House). I adore this book! It’s clever, funny, and the colorful, charming illustrations of the hungry dragon are full of good humor as well. I’m …

Building a Book — To the Printer We Go!

For this Picture Book Builders post, I thought it would be fun to take a look at how picture books are actually “built,” or printed and bound. I’ve wondered about this process for years (and have been asked about it many times during school visits) so I was excited when I …

Special Delivery – Silly & Surprising!

Last week as I was perusing the “New Releases” section in my library, an eye-catching book cover grabbed my attention. I was immediately drawn to the large illustration of a colorful stamp on the front, and because the stamp looked realistic from afar, I assumed it was nonfiction. I immediately …

Thinking About the Common Core

On a recent school visit, a Media Specialist asked how I thought the Common Core State Standards have affected children’s authors. Mmmmm … interesting question. As most everyone knows, the Common Core State Standards emphasize the importance of students reading nonfiction books (called “informational text,” which includes biographies and autobiographies, …

Those Fascinating Facts: Keep or Cut?

A few weeks ago I was invited to be part of the 35th Annual Children’s Literature Conference at Northern Illinois University. This year’s conference topic was “A Celebration of Picture Books For All Ages.”One of the main speakers, Melissa Sweet, shared how she wrote and illustrated her award-winning picture book, BALLOONS OVER …

The Dazzling, Amazing 104-Page Picture Book!

My last post discussed ideas to shorten the text of a picture book manuscript. But today I’m thinking about longer picture books–particularly recent nonfiction biographies which go beyond the regular 32-page format. For example, my new picture book FRIENDS FOR FREEDOM was expanded to 40 pages, and two of my upcoming pictures books are slated for 40 and 48 pages.
It seems they’re not that unusual. More and more nonfiction picture books are bumped into the 40s, often due to back matter pages which might include a myriad of items such as a bibliography, timeline, source notes, and other notes.

And then there’s JOSEPHINE: THE DAZZLING LIFE OF JOSEPHINE BAKER by Patricia Hruby Powell, a picture book biography that clocks in at 104 pages. Now that’s a BUMP! If you’ve read this award-winning book, you know the text is energetic, emotional, and exquisite. And Christian Robinson’s illustrations are outstanding.