Sometimes You Fly, written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by me, is now a beautiful padded board book! Today, this pretty book flies into the world. The production of it is just stunning. It feels good to hold and it sits all by itself like a little block. The smaller …
This oh-so-appealing doggy is Big Al. Early in this story, he becomes separated from his over-the-road trucker friend at an interstate rest stop (she thinks he’s sleeping in the back of the cab). Does he panic? Does he bark incessantly? Does he run off along the highway in search of …
Like most of the other writers and illustrators I talk to these days, I am in a creative wasteland. I’m often in a crappy mood and even take a dive into a darkness sometimes. I lack ideas, never mind motivation. I worry about the future financially, about my family. Oddly, …
COVID-19. How could something we’d never heard of a few short months ago change our lives so quickly — and in so many ways? Some of us are merely inconvenienced (for now). Some of us are relishing long, uninterrupted writing days. Some of us are volunteering, jumping in to help …
I have a rhyming sister! Rhonda Gowler Greene is here to talk with us about writing lyrical picture books and working successfully with an agent for more than 20 years. We are rhyming sisters not only because we both love writing rhyming picture books, but also because we have picture …
Today I’m thrilled to share The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity: A Tale of the Genius Ramanujan by Amy Alznauer, and illustrated by Daniel Miyares. This picture book biography begins with stirring words — ones which feel especially meaningful given our current situation: “Today the world is small. With a single …
DON’T FEED THE COOS! But DO read this book. These are just 10 reasons why…. There is a top secret case cover. The world really needs another picture book written in second person. There is a delightful outburst from the narrator that makes for an especially fun read aloud moment. …
I walked into the public library with great trepidation. Would I be able to find a picture book that I enjoyed enough to recommend in my upcoming blog post? And would they have hand sanitizer available, since I didn’t have any with me? Unfortunately, “no” and “no”. Not only had …
I’m celebrating a new book today, Frog Boots (Sterling Children’s Books), brightly illustrated by my talented new friend Joshua Heinsz! One August afternoon a couple of years ago, an image popped into my head. It was a little boy, clomping to a kindergarten Circle Time in new boots, eager to …
Just in time for Super Tuesday (have you voted?), I’m super happy to report some news of my own. It’s Pub Day for My Daddy and Me, a padded board book from Cartwheel Books/Scholastic—and I’m thrilled to celebrate with its acclaimed illustrator, Jane Massey, visiting from the south coast of …