In a previous post I shared about books with personal stories that are told in universally appealing ways, and I recently noticed that one of my favorites of recent years also has this quality in spades. Grandpa Green, by Lane Smith, is a visually and emotionally beautiful book – the story of …
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!
In just a few days, ROAR!, my book with Liz Starin, releases. To celebrate, I wanted to share the trailer as well as some scoop on how the trailer came to be. The Trailer: ROAR!‘s trailer includes cameo appearances from some of today’s fiercest authors and illustrators. You’ve been warned. Please view responsibly. …
Charlesbridge Publishing contacted me in June, of 2013 to ask if I would illustrate a non-fiction picture book written by our very own, spectacular, Suzanne Slade. The book is titled, THE INVENTOR’S SECRET, WHAT THOMAS EDISON TOLD HENRY FORD. In this 48 page non-fiction picture book, Suzanne shares the story of Thomas Edison’s successes and Henry …
One of my favorite things is learning which illustrator will create art for the stories I write. And, I was especially excited when I learned Jill McElmurry, the author and/or illustrator of more than 20 books, would bring SHARING THE BREAD: AN OLD-FASHIONED THANKSGIVING STORY to life. I’d seen her …
I’m choosing to talk about John, Paul, George & Ben today – what I suppose has to be classified as an oldie, but goodie, since it was published in 2006 – only because I keep running into newish writers who aren’t familiar with it. In my opinion, every writer (and …
I have always enjoyed math. All the way back to elementary school. I was that kid who, unbelievably, loved story problems. They were easy and fun for me. Maybe because I am a visual thinker. Maybe I have an inner nerd. I don’t know. When I enrolled in college, I …
How do you take something unwieldy, complex, and often painful to look at—like, say, the history of voting rights in America—and turn it into a picture book that is engaging, relatable, and understandable to kids? Beats me. But here’s my guess: (1) Make it personal; (2) Tell it in a …
I’m currently illustrating a picture-book biography about J.R.R. Tolkien (by Caroline McAlister, coming Winter 2017), which is the first book I’m working on that has a significant amount of back-matter, including a bibliography, author and illustrator notes. It’s often the illustrator’s job to pace the story out over 32 pages …
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 …