Happy Thanksgiving!
We are very thankful and grateful to be working in a community of picture-book-lovers. Thank you for your continued support. We wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Could you bake … a wintercake?
It’s time for another periodic installment of “Picture Books I Want to Hug.”™ These are books I love so much that I simply want to read them. And hug them. And re-read them. And re-hug them. Re-lentlessly. Re-peatedly. Re-ally. The last book that inspired this feeling in me — and …
An almost-the-holidays treat: A conversation between author Mylisa Larson & illustrator Taia Morley about their new Christmas book. READ and ENJOY!
It’s mid-November! That means I get to feature a holiday book I’ve been looking forward to–Mylisa Larsen and Taia Morley’s Ho Ho Homework (HarperCollins). This one’s bright and festive, and it wasn’t created in the usual way. So I thought it would be fun to just let the author and …
BAD DOG by Mike Boldt + Giveaway
My latest book, BAD DOG, was released earlier this week! If you remember, I talked a bit about it in my series “Idea to Book Deal” back in April 2018 (yes publishing can feel slow sometimes). But it’s finally here, and looking-back never takes as long as the waiting-for-it-to-be-here part! …
Picture Books in Space?
Picture books are great travelers. You can toss one in a tote bag and head out to a beach or park. Sleek and lightweight, these beautiful books are easy to take along on car, bus, or plane trips. My picture book Astronaut Annie recently embarked on an out-of-this-world trip — …
Editorial Director/Debut PB Author(!!) Frances Gilbert (+ GIVEAWAY)
Oh, people. Grab your favorite beverage, settle into your coziest chair, and soak up the brilliance of the one and only Frances Gilbert! Not only is Frances a gifted editor and my favorite Canadian, she is an author as well. SHE’S ONE OF US! This, by the way, is what …
ONE DARK BIRD by Liz Garton Scanlon and Frann Preston-Gannon
There are a lot of counting books in the world. So it seems to me, if you are going to make one it has to be extra special. Which is why I enjoyed One Dark Bird, written by Liz Garton Scanlon, and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. To look at the …
The Lost Words
Dictionaries are always evolving and changing, of course, as our language does the same. But adding words means removing others to make room. Understandable, right? But when Oxford University Press, back in 2007, removed 40 common nature words from their Oxford Junior Dictionary—words like acorn, bramble, dandelion, kingfisher, pasture, weasel, …
Born to Be Wild
Oh, to be an outlier. To bust the chains that tether us. To eschew the mundane and embrace the wild! The new book by Rebecca Van Slyke, illustrated by Anca Sanda, Lana Lynn Howls at the Moon, explores this scenario. Lana Lynn, a young sheep that wants a little more …
SMALL IN THE CITY by Sydney Smith
When you read lots of picture books, as we do around here, you can get a little jaded. Some make me laugh. A few make me tear up. But rarely do I feel surprised, as in “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming.” Then I read Small in the City by …