Hello, Picture Book Builders! I’m so excited to have the wonderful Carmela LaVigna Coyle on the blog today! Carmela’s most recent book is titled, Anyone Else Awake? A Dawn Chorus, which is a fun and clever introduction to birds and their songs. According to the publisher, “This lyrical book about …
Hi Builders, thanks for welcoming me back! As a quick reintroduction, I’m a veteran picture book author, working mostly in nonfiction. So, in the coming year, you’ll see a lot of posts from me about science, the arts, and real people. I tend to prefer narrative, but can appreciate interesting …
Sometimes, I see several new picture books about similar topics. A few years ago, for example, there seemed to be a plethora of picture books released about trees. And, I remember another year with multiple picture books celebrating hair. This year, within a week, I’ve read two 2025-released lyrical nonfiction …
I’m thrilled to reveal the cover of my next picture book, WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE, illustrated by Youa Vang! It’s a nonfiction biography of a Chinese boy who was sold to an American ship captain in 1855 and raised by the captain’s family in Connecticut. …
The winter solstice has passed. Every year, I look forward to the sense of renewal and hope that comes with the lengthening days, the additional sunlight. Today I want to call attention to people who bring light and hope to others. As author Deidre Havrelock and illustrator Aphelandra share in …
I was in Singapore recently to speak at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content and was incredibly fortunate to meet Melanie Lee. Melanie was not only the moderator of one of my panels, but is also a children’s book author, a journalist, a multimedia project creator, and a teacher of …
The first picture book I pick up is rarely nonfiction, whether science, history, biography, nature, whatever. But when I DO pick up a nonfiction picture book, I am usually fascinated. Which kind of makes sense. In high school I avoided classes like history and science because I thought they were …
Today’s picture book bounty is a double feature of new books by Maria Gianferrari: Thank a Farmer (illustrated by Monica Mikai) and Fungi Grow (illustrated by Diana Sudyka). Before my interview with Maria, here are quotes from a few reviews: “Rooted in gratitude, this educational title explains in simple yet …
For the past week, one picture book has been on my mind a lot. Love in the Library, by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrated by Yas Imamura, was published in February 2022. It received multiple starred reviews and I added it to my extensive TBR list. There it stayed until last …
Hello, PBB friends! We have a special guest posting for us today — my good friend Maria Gianferrari! Thank you, Maria! Take it away! ~Andrea Happy Spring! Calling all ailurophiles/cat lovers—it’s an almost BEING A CAT book birthday and the cat’s out of the bag: curiosity did not kill the cat! Are …