Professional Crocodile is a wonderfully wordless picture book that was first published in Italy. I decided to write about it today because it feels so full to me of character and story that I don’t notice that there are no words. Mr. Crocodile wakes up and begins his day. He …
Books and back-to-school go hand-in-hand, so today I want to talk about some books that are great to read if you have a child going back to school or if you work in a school and are looking for the perfect welcome back message. But, first, I want to talk …
MAYBE TOMORROW? by Charlotte Agell and Ana Ramírez González deals with some very deep, hard, big topics (depression, death, sadness, grief) in such a successfully approachable way. It’s a special combination when a book can be so comfortably relatable to a child and so uplifting to an adult as well. …
I have been waiting for this book. It was about 3 or so years ago and I was visiting with my editor, Jennifer Greene at Clarion. I saw a little bit of Lottie & Walter on her desk. I squealed when I saw Anna’s gorgeously recognizable style. Jennifer told me …
I couldn’t decide… I was torn between a clever picture book with darling cartoon illustrations. Because I know we have many educators who visit this site and it would be a terrific addition to a classroom project. (Perhaps I’ll do it next month?) But, instead I went for the art. …
I am a lucky illustrator. Not only is this the second book that I was asked to work on with Linda Sue Park (we did Yaks Yak, Animal Word Pairs), but I got to draw dragons! Gondra’s Birthday was on April 2 and I asked Linda Sue to help me …
This summer, at NerdCampKansas, I met author Marcie Colleen and, as children’s book people tend to do, formed an instant bond (and wished we didn’t live half a continent from one another). While visiting, I was lucky enough to get a peek at the F&G of her latest picture book, …
What makes you special? If you can answer that question easily, great! But if you’re like many people, you may have to ponder a moment. You may ask yourself questions like: Am I really special? Are the things I like about myself all that noteworthy? Would anyone else think I’m …
When I read RICE FROM HEAVEN — a new picture book written by Tina Cho, illustrated by Keum Jin Song and published by little bee books — I was enthralled by the story behind the story. The book is a fictional take on a real-life event. In 2016, North Korean …
A few years ago I had signed a two book deal with Simon & Schuster for A TIGER TAIL and a second TBT title. Long before I had finished off A TIGER TAIL I had been thinking and planning for what the second book could be, as I usually have …