“But hate has a way of bringing out heroes.” That is my favorite quote from Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust, written by Elisa Boxer and beautifully illustrated by Amy June Bates. I love non-fiction picture books and appreciate how difficult they are …
Something different today, audience participation required. (Well, not required. But very sincerely appreciated.) Each summer, as we’ve been doing for many years, my friend Linda Skeers and I co-host a summer picture book writing retreat/workshop. Each summer, we raid our personal bookshelves and lug hundreds of picture books to the …
Under the Blanket Sky is the debut picture book of Tim Fischer, a self-taught portrait and landscape artist. It is a quiet and simple book. It is filled with huge, fully-executed illustrations (which made me pick it up initially.) The text is spare. The story is simple. A boy makes …
Well, hello again, PBB readers! And thank you, Jill, for the opportunity to share a new book and visit with Aparna Varma, the terrifically talented illustrator of Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Creatures, published this month by Kids Can Press. First, a quick summary: Designed as …
Tumble, written and illustrated by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom follows the journey of a tumbleweed as it rolls across a vast desert. The short rhyming lines explain the tumbleweed’s movements in simple terms, and are fun to read aloud. The sky, landscape, and weather shift with each page turn, suggesting the …
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 …
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 …