Hello everyone! WOW! I sure appreciate the feedback and interest from Part 1 of this conversation where I discussed where my ideas come from and how I try to recognize which ones have potential. I’m excited to share Part 2 of this series about what an agent’s roll (specifically my …
I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about Sophie Blackall’s new book, HELLO LIGHTHOUSE (released April 10), and even saw it in a recent People magazine. So last week I headed to my library and snagged a brand new copy from the rolling “To Be Shelved” cart before it made …
I love a book that makes me laugh out loud. And Eric Veillé’s book? Oh, people. It came through again. And again. And again. Publishers Weekly agrees with me. See? “Unexpected giggles await with every page turn.”―starred, Publishers Weekly Please take a look at one of the spreads: You guys, I …
There are a lot of wonderful and beautiful picture books about kindness, empathy, generosity, and forgiveness. The special thing about Shelter, by Céline Claire and Qin Leng is this is a seemingly simple story about all of those big, complicated emotions.
When I saw the cover/title of Josh Funk’s HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE, I knew I had to get a look. Because I’m a coder? No. Because I’m so not. And, guess what? After reading this one little powerhouse book, I could actually understand coding, albeit in a very basic way. …
Someone had to do it. Well, not really HAD to do it but I WANTED to do it: review A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo. Written by Jill Twiss (with a co-writing credit to the star of the book) and illustrated by E. G. Keller, which is a …
Sometimes we love a book SO much around here that two of us wind up posting about it (and sometimes one of those two—who normally is very careful to check the archives to avoid such a situation—doesn’t realize she’s writing about a book that’s already been covered till right before …
Hello everyone! Instead of my usual post on one aspect I love of a specific book, I’m starting a series of posts on the steps I go through taking an idea to a book deal. I’m also going to be enlisting my agent, Jen Rofé, as well as my editor, …
Last weekend I was invited to be part of a Pittsburgh SCBWI conference focusing on picture books. The event was rather unique because all the presenters were part of the “team” that created one picture book — The Music in George’s Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue. This team included the …
When both of my boys were little they each had a plush animal that they loved and were anxious without. How many times did we head out for something and leave one of them behind? (One of the animals; we never left one of the boys behind. No matter what …