I started writing a post about the importance of virtual community for creatives that work alone. But I trashed it at the last minute. I was using that theme as an excuse to write about what I really wanted to write about: my agency and my agency’s retreat. So I …
I sometimes fantasize about living in an old farmhouse with lots of dogs, chickens and other animals—like, say, llamas. But recently when I searched my library for books about raising llamas, I came up empty. What did turn up was a slew of Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney. Okay, …
Eliza Wheeler is deep into a project, so I’m filling in to bring you an interview with the delightful Marfé Ferguson Delano. Marfé is the award-winning author of more than 20 children’s books published by National Geographic (check them out on her website). Her most recent titles include Welcome to the …
This month I’m delighted to share Penny Parker Klostermann’s gorgeous first picture book, There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight (releases Aug. 4, 2015 from Random House). I adore this book! It’s clever, funny, and the colorful, charming illustrations of the hungry dragon are full of good humor as well. I’m …
I am a huge fan of Hannah E. Harrison’s Extraordinary Jane, so I had high expectations for Bernice Gets Carried Away. Well, I got just as carried away with this book! It’s better than getting a frosting rose on your piece of cake! Really. Hannah, tell us about Bernice Gets Carried Away. Bernice is …
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri is very dull. It’s also very funny. Meet the Dullards — they are a family who loves things dull and boring. But, the Dullard’s three children, Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud are straying from their parent’s quest for all …
One thing aspiring picture book writers often are advised to do is take a favorite, modern-day picture book and type out the text. Why? Because doing so shows writers how spare and essential words in a picture book really are. Once they see how the text looks on a page, …
Julia Sarcone-Roach’s new book, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich, is a delight. Why? First of all, the narrator is relating a little-bit-wacky story that readers/listeners will almost-but-not-quite doubt. It’s just crazy enough that it COULD be true, after all. A bear COULD have accidentally made his way to town and, …
Today I‘m looking at two books concerning teachers and the sometimes (often?) superficial disconnect between teachers and students. But they are a lot more fun than that opening sentence. As a kid, seeing a teacher outside of school is always weird. I remember as a fifth-grader, at an outdoor mall with my …
We see a lot of picture books, don’t we? Sometimes it’s a little mind-boggling. So many books! What should I read next? And then a book leaps off the shelf, grabs you by the collar, and says, “Read ME!” Which is exactly how I discovered Zachariah OHora a few years ago …