This is the Planet Where I Live
Illustrating a book written by K.L. Going, This is the Planet Where I Live, Debra Frasier works with collage that exuberantly celebrates our connections to everything on this earth.
Beach Lane Books
Equality’s Call
Written by Deborah Diesen in readable-out-loud verse with a refrain that reflects the cumulative action in the preceding pages, this picture book traces the diligent efforts of those who worked for decades to make America’s voting rights more inclusive. There is history here for everyone to know.
The illustrations add passion and understanding to the text, helping us with more information.… more
Five Things I Learned
Writing My First Picture Book Biography
You would think that being friends with Tanya Lee Stone would mean I wrote lots of nonfiction. But the truth is, until I decided to try and write a biography of Rube Goldberg, I stayed far away from this genre. As a reader, I loved it. As a friend, I learned so much reading Tanya’s work — not just about the facts — but about the foundations of storytelling.… more
Books about Chickens
Whether a chicken makes you cluck, BAWK! or cheep-cheep-cheep, books about chickens make us laugh. We may not have been introduced to a chicken in real life but, trust me, some people keep them as egg-laying wonders and other people keep them as pets. These fowl have been around in many colors, types, and breeds in most countries in the world … and quite recently they have become the subject of many books.
… more Collecting your observations
by Vicki Palmquist
I never kept a journal. Why? It never occurred to me. It wasn’t within my realm of familiarity. I started writing many stories on notebook paper and stuffed them into folders. But how satisfying to have a journal, specifically an observation journal to keep track of what you see, hear, and think.
As a child, I was a hunter-gatherer. Were you?… more
Debra Frasier: A Series of Mistakes
Fifteen years ago my ten year old daughter came home with a story.
“Mom, “ she said, “today I figured out that “miscellaneous” is NOT a person.”
I burst out laughing. “So who did you think it was?” I asked.
“I thought she was that woman on the green spaghetti box…”
I saved her gift-of-a-mistake in my little journal and ended up unwrapping it in a lonely hotel room in southern Wisconsin after a particularly miserable book signing of three people.… more
