If a heart had fingerprints, you would find evidence of Kim Baker’s huge one all over her newest book. (spoiler alert: I’m a huge fan.) While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Newt Gomez on my first read, after reading Kim’s essay below, I plan to go back and re-read The Water Bears (Wendy Lamb… Read more »
On her blog, Beth Anderson describes writing as “mining” — from digging deep to find little-told stories to digging deep to find the heart of a story once she’s ready to write. I certainly share her desire to tell stories of the past to readers of today. And I so admire the way she’s taken… Read more »
Just looking at Amalia Hoffman’s author photo lifts my spirits! I think we are all hungry for the bright and cheerful these days. That makes it especially delightful to host Amalia today in celebration of her new board book, All Colors (Schiffer Publishing). In 2017, I started experimenting with pastel pencils. I loved the textures… Read more »
Kjersten Hayes is the kind of person you can count on for a smile or a sunny perspective on a not-so-sunny situation. While I am crushed for her that someone gave her a “stinging” critique, I am completely inspired by how she chose to respond to it. And I am not surprised– being creative is… Read more »
When I think of kind and caring, I think of writer Barbara Dee. She cares so much about her kid readers, that she bravely writes about the challenges so many of them face and I so admire that about her. In addition, I genuinely appreciate what she shares in the essay below regarding adult characters… Read more »
Every week, I so enjoy hosting book creator friends in celebration of their work. But my heart does a little extra happy skip when the book in the spotlight is historical fiction. Teachers and librarians have quietly confessed to me that it’s a tough genre to get kids hooked on (ouch); but I am convinced… Read more »
I first met featured illustrator Kaelen Felix when she was a preteen. I was presenting at a children’s literature festival in Missouri and Kaelen’s mom drove her a long way just to meet me! I’m so grateful Kaelen’s stayed in touch over the years and so pleased to share her newest illustration effort here, Freddy The… Read more »
What a sincere pleasure and honor it is to host Clare Meeker today. Clare and I have both been at this writing business for a long, long time (back to typewriter days!). Clare’s writing passion is nonfiction; she is a dogged researcher and a fine writer. You will love, as I do, her newest picture… Read more »
I can’t remember when I first attended the Humboldt County Author’s Festival, held every other year in Eureka, California but it is one of my favorite book-related events. Not only do I get to meet kids in that out-of-the-way corner of the Golden State, I strike up friendships with lovely people like today’s guest, Carlene… Read more »
What a treat to host the talented Lori Mortensen today in celebration of her latest book, Nonsense: The Curious Story of Edward Gorey (Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt illustrated by Chloe Bristol). Her essay is a reminder of how potent those early connections with literature can be sometimes leading to — in this case — a wonderful… Read more »