I love hearing people’s path-to-publication stories. I mean, who doesn’t love a tale of struggle, heartache, and resilience in overcoming steep odds? So when my friend Susie Wilde—writing coach, teacher, and Kid Lit Ambassador Extraordinaire—told me her student Lucy Rozier recently had her first book published, I knew I wanted her to visit …
I’m back with a follow-up report on my previous post about ‘ Favorite Classic Animal Characters’ in picture books. Thanks to everyone for commenting and suggesting titles! I’ve been on a quest to find anthropomorphic characters that I could love as much as those chapter book classics; Frog and Toad, Winnie-the-Pooh, …
We’ve all heard the famous saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But that’s really hard to do! When I see a beautiful picture book cover, I can’t help myself. I have to pick it up and start reading right away. My hunch is you do too! So for this post I’d …
Here’s something to crow about— Yaks Yak, Animal Word Pairs by Linda Sue Park and illustrated by me hits the bookshelves today! In this fun and funny picture book “Bugs bug bugs”, ” Flounders flounder”, and “Steers steer”! I asked Linda Sue where her idea came from for the book, and …
Spring is right around the corner, and I can’t wait to watch my flowerbeds unfold, leaf by leaf. The weeding that soon follows? Meh. But that dirty work is rewarded when I come upon a toad hiding in a shady spot. Good to know they’re in there, eating the slugs …
My absolute, by far, unquestionably favorite book of last year was the gorgeous and moving BOATS FOR PAPA by Jessixa Bagley. It touched me. It moved me. It made me question, laughingly, why I think I could/should even be in this business. It had a lot of Caldecott buzz, deservedly. …
Three years ago, when Random House editor Maria Modugno was considering illustrators for my manuscript Henry Wants More!, she shared a sample of Brooke Boynton Hughes’s work. Well, I was smitten. And I’m hardly alone in my admiration. Brooke has won SCBWI’s Mentorship Award and two Portfolio Honor Awards in …
Animal characters are a staple of children’s books. In fact, when I think of my Very Most Favorite characters in classic books, almost all of them are anthropomorphic. A quality that I love unique to animal characters is that they can be shown living grown-up, independent lives (sometimes it can …
As you may have figured out from my earlier posts, I’m a huge fan of picture book biographies (which is probably why I write them.) This month I’d like to share a picture book biography gem, Muhammad Ali, Champion of the World (2007) by Jonah Winter (illustrated by Francois Roca.) If I …