A couple of months ago, picture book extraordinaire Deborah Underwood shared a post on Facebook about her writing process. I loved that post so much, I asked her to expand upon it a bit for all of us here at Picture Book Builders. First, though, I wanted to showcase Deborah’s …
Professional Crocodile is a wonderfully wordless picture book that was first published in Italy. I decided to write about it today because it feels so full to me of character and story that I don’t notice that there are no words. Mr. Crocodile wakes up and begins his day. He …
I’ve been in Red Wing, Minnesota all week with like-types at a retreat. And thought I’d share a little bit of my experience. I love hanging with other kid’s book building people. Meeting two fellow PictureBookBuilders there was especially nice. There was joy and inspiration at every turn. People read …
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 …
Hello again! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Today I’m looking forward to sharing with you about Little Doctor and the Fearless Beast, by Sophie Gilmore. This book is definitely worthy of the accolades it’s been receiving and I hope you get a chance to read it. …
I am so, so excited to share Miep and the Most Famous Diary: The Woman Who Rescued Anne Frank’s Diary (Sleeping Bear Press), written by Meeg Pincus with illustrations by Jordi Solano. I had the privilege of reading this soon-to-be-released gem, and it’s fantastic! This true story is so compelling …
It’s summer. For me, that means lots of long, lazy days. I have time to write and you better believe I have time to read. Recently, I was going through my picture book shelves and happily rediscovered one of my favorites from 2017–I Have a Balloon written by Ariel Bernstein …
MAYBE TOMORROW? by Charlotte Agell and Ana Ramírez González deals with some very deep, hard, big topics (depression, death, sadness, grief) in such a successfully approachable way. It’s a special combination when a book can be so comfortably relatable to a child and so uplifting to an adult as well. …
If someone asked you to name the first astronaut that popped into your head, you might say, “Neil Armstrong.” Or, “Buzz Aldrin.” Or, maybe, “Sally Ride” or “Mae Jemison.” You probably wouldn’t say “Alan Bean.” But after you read Dean Robbins’ newest picture book — THE ASTRONAUT WHO PAINTED THE …
I’m a sucker for a dog book. And cute, colorful illustrations. And out-of-the-box stories that offer new twists on familiar tropes. No wonder I’m drawn to Elise Broach and Eric Barclay’s 2018 book, MY PET WANTS A PET, which has all that and more. The familiar: Kid wants a pet, …