Last month I posted about Elise Gravel’s I Want a Monster, and I loved her work so much I had to visit her website (which, by the way, is available in both English and French. Cool, eh?) to see what other books she had in the pipeline. When I saw that …
I love books with visual humor—especially when the jokes sneak up on me over multiple readings. Take, for example, Rob Biddulph’s debut picture book Blown Away (HarperCollins, 2015). The first time I read it, I was taken with the charming art and simple rhymes that propel the story forward. And …
Sometimes I get so focused on analyzing a picture book’s story and art – what I love about each, what doesn’t work for me, etc. – that I forget the ultimate readers. Kids! Not all littles love every book out there, naturally, but I think there are some stories with more …
Queen Victoria’s Bathing Machine written by Gloria Whelan (in hilarious rhyming text) and illustrated (fantastically) by Nancy Carpenter. Look at this cover??? Absolutely LOVED it! So much so that I was almost afraid to open it and be disappointed. And then, the end pages…
Ever had something slip out of your mouth that you immediately wished you could call back? Join the club. As adults, we know how embarrassing it feels to open mouth, insert foot. We also know it isn’t the end of the world. Well, we eventually know that. But when it happens …
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 …
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, …
If you’re familiar with my books, you know I love rhyme. I love writing in rhyme, and I love reading rhyme (good rhyme—no one likes reading the clunky stuff). I love the music, the rhythm, the sound of it. Well-written verse is just plain fun to read aloud. But not …
Many of us are drawn to writing children’s books because we want to share some hard-won wisdom or help kids deal with a difficult situation or emotion. But how do we do that without sounding overly message-y and preachy? Try humor. Let’s take, for example, Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great (Disney-Hyperion, …