“Could You Just Add These Words?”
February 20, 2024
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Reflecting on a request from the editor after blurbing a book
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See the Author / See the Illustrator
August 3, 2023
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Once in a while, a duo creates several books together and they get to know one another. We're curious about how that works. Meet David LaRochelle, author, and Mike Wohnoutka, illustrator, of six books together (so far).
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A Lust for Endpapers
February 17, 2023
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They say don’t judge a book by its cover but watch out for enticing endpapers! I discovered the lure of endpapers as a kid leafing through my cousin’s Childcraft series.
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Fabulous Food
January 10, 2023
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There are so many terrific books about food! I could go on and on with selections and recommendations but these are a few of my favorites.
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Mushy Bottom Blueberry Crumble
September 29, 2022
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A new recipe is always an adventure. I’ve recently experimented with low carbohydrate, low sugar recipes. Starting a new writing project is just as much an experiment. Each book requires a different look at research, and I build on what I’ve learned with other projects.
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The Genius Under the Table
July 15, 2022
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Eugene Yelchin grew up in Stalinist Russia, the Cold War Soviet Union. We grow to love his parents, his grandmother, his brother Victor, but most especially Eugene. His memories are at once sad and humorous.
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How Parks Connect Us
… and Why It Matters
April 22, 2022
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Spring is in the air, and we’re pulled outdoors to wander in our favorite city parks. Ducks are dabbling; frogs are trilling; the apple trees are bursting into bloom. Everywhere, it seems, children frolic and neighbors wave. It’s been a long winter, but our cities are alive.
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Waiting for Mr. Tumnus
March 5, 2022
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Long ago, on windy, wintry nights, I’d look out the window by my bed as trees shifted for a glimpse of a light deep in the woods. The yellow light—on and off as the wind tossed—kept me up late, wondering. We had no neighbors on the other side of our woods.
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Picture Book Illustration
May 26, 2021
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In picture books, the illustrations often carry half, or more than half, of the narrative. Increased understanding of illustration techniques can enhance your appreciation and pleasure when reading and sharing picture books.
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Curiouser and Curiouser with Karen Cushman
May 20, 2021
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When we published our first issue of Bookology back in April of 2015, Karen Cushman was our first featured author. With the publication of her 10th book, War and Millie McGonigle, we knew it was time to check in, curious about the way Karen organizes and writes her novels.
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Julius Lester
April 29, 2021
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Julius Lester loved language and he loved story. Language, Lester wrote, is not just words and what they mean; music and rhythm are also part of the meaning. Just reading his books for children makes us want to read them out loud to hear that music and rhythm along with his gift for putting words together.
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Doorways to the Wild and Wondrous
April 22, 2021
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Today, writing about nature and outdoor play just feels as natural and right to me as breathing. All my happy memories of chasing frogs, climbing trees, and splashing in summer lakes easily inform the stories I write.
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Kids in Business
April 13, 2021
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Patience and perseverance are among the hardest things for children to learn. How can we make pressing on in the face of discouragement interesting to kids? By reading them amazing stories of creativity and resilience! Picture book biographies show the satisfying results of persevering over a lifetime. All ages will be inspired by the true tales shared in these ten picture books.
Curiouser and Curiouser
February 27, 2021
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Curiouser and Curiouser
Curiouser and Curiouser with Karen Cushman
May 20, 2021
1 Comment
When we published our first issue of Bookology back in April of 2015, Karen Cushman was our first featured author. With the publication of her 10th book, War and Millie McGonigle, we knew it was time to check in, curious about the way Karen organizes and writes her novels.
Curiouser and Curiouser with Mike Wohnoutka
February 17, 2021
10 Comments
I’ve known Mike Wohnoutka for many years, from his first SCBWI meeting when he introduced himself and showed samples from his portfolio. His adorable character in Cowboy Sam and Those Confounded Secrets (Kitty Griffin, Kathy Combs), an early book, captured my attention. Here was an illustrator who infused humor into the visual story. Hannukah Bear (Eric A.… more
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Focusing
December 23, 2020
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Christmas is a glorious holiday ... but it's a little funky this year. And I'm having a certain amount of trouble focusing.
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Helen Oxenbury: A Life in Illustration
December 17, 2020
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When Marsha Qualey began this column six years ago, she had us all on the lookout for books about children’s literature. What would add to our understanding of this very particular community of educators, students, collector, and creators? This book about Helen Oxenbury by Leonard Marcus is a gem, filled with the wisdom of a revered author-illustrator as well as her illustrations and delicious photos that help our understanding.… more
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Curiouser and Curiouser with John Owens
October 22, 2020
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Once in a while a debut book comes across my desk and I’m too curious to put it into a to-be-read pile. I glance at the cover throughout the day until I can’t resist opening the book. What is it about? Am I going to like it? Then I keep turning the pages, marveling over the illustrations … and there are no words!… more
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Picture Books Minus the Age Stereotypes and Ageism
October 15, 2020
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Modern day children’s books riddled with negative stereotypes of age? Sadly yes, they are all too easy to find.
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Picture Books Minus the Age Stereotypes and Ageism
October 15, 2020
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Modern day children’s books riddled with negative stereotypes of age? Sadly yes, they are all too easy to find.
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How the Heather Looks: a Joyous Journey
to the British Sources of Children’s Books
September 29, 2020
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If any good has come from the quarantine of 2020, it’s made me a heavy library user — my personal library, that is, since the public libraries are closed. I found this book in a dresser drawer. (When I redid my office, I didn’t want the clutter of bookcases, instead opting for vintage dressers and armoires — lovely to look at but I forget what’s in them).… more
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Thanks for the Memories, Miss Rumphius!
September 10, 2020
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Today, the day I am writing this column, has been a long one. It started with a 4 a.m. alarm. It is the day Darling Daughter moves to college. In Boston. Which is far from Minnesota and so necessitates a plane ride. During a pandemic. Alone, as her university is not allowing parents on campus during this challenging time.
Tell me you think I’m very brave.… more
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No Justice. [No Action.] No Peace.
September 9, 2020
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Caren: “No justice. No peace.” This summer, millions of people – young, old and from all backgrounds — protested police brutality and systemic racism, all during an historic pandemic. Ellie Roscher and I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, not far from where George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer and close to the epicenter of marches and protests.… more
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Curiouser and Curiouser with Kao Kalia Yang
May 27, 2020
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When A Map into the World found its way to my desk last year, I had to remind myself to breathe. This gem of a book captures feelings of love and friendship in a way that crosses generations and speaks to each of our hearts. What else had she written, I wondered? Her memoir for grownups, The Latehomecomer: a Hmong Family Memoir, caused quite a stir when it was published in 2009.… more
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Storytime in the Time of Coronavirus
April 9, 2020
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I’ve had the great joy these last few weeks of pulling together “distanced” storytimes for a few families who could use a half hour of sitting on the couch and letting someone else entertain and interact with the kids. This has been a stretch for me. Though I’m grateful for all of the apps and platforms that allow us to see and talk virtually — during this time, especially — I would not choose to do storytime this way.… more
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Just Spring
March 26, 2020
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Phyllis: e.e. cummings said it best when he described the world as mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. Snow melts and runs babbling away, days lengthen, green sprouts of skunk cabbage and rhubarb poke out. This month we are looking at muddy, squishy, rainy, wet stories in honor of spring.
Mud by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer, begins, “One night it happens.…… more
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The Crack in the Door:
How I Came to Write Bones in the White House
February 6, 2020
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I’ve been keen on dinosaurs and Ice Age mammals my whole life, since I read Roy Chapman Andrews’ All About Dinosaurs. When I was nine, I added paleontologist to my string of future occupations (writer, artist, ballet dancer, detective).
My love for Jefferson began when we moved to Fredericksburg in 1996. I was touring James Monroe’s Law Office downtown one day and learned how the building was nearly torn down in 1927 for a gas station when Monroe’s descendant stepped in and turned it into a museum.… more
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Susan Fletcher
January 21, 2020
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Storyteller adept Susan Fletcher’s mind has given us The Dragon Chronicles, Alphabet of Dreams, the startling Falcon in the Glass, and most recently Journey of the Pale Bear. As you’ll read below, she has traveled to amazing locations and had enviable experiences as she researched her novels. Susan taught at the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program but now she lives full-time in Texas.… more
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I’m Gonna Push Through!
November 18, 2019
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Have you felt like you couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t attempt something you really want to do? Maybe you’ve done a good job of convincing yourself you’re not up to making your goal.
This is the book for you, your classroom, your book club, your dance troupe, your family … literally everyone who needs positive encouragement.
As the author and educator Jasmyn Wright shares, “I’ve taught in low-income and underprivileged communities, so I knew that my students needed more than the bare minimum to excel.”… more
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An Autumn Salad from Karen Cushman
November 14, 2019
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Warm Salad with Roasted Squash, with Cranberry Vinaigrette, Hazelnuts, and Chèvre
I must admit I’m more of a free-form cook. I don’t really follow recipes but adapt them to what I have on hand or what my creative juices are calling for. Usually. The following recipe I love so much that I make it as suggested except for the squash.
Bookstorm™: Just Like Rube Goldberg
March 13, 2019
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Educators across the country have been inspired by Rube Goldberg’s intricate, clever, engineering-based, but unlikely-to-be-made-in-real-life cartoons. Students are gathering to create their own Rube Goldberg machines, using everyday objects in fun and innovative ways to accomplish simple tasks with fun results. Just Like Rube Goldberg inspires all its readers with the details about Rube’s childhood and his trip into adulthood.… more
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Curiouser and Curiouser with Lee Bennett Hopkins
January 15, 2019
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As I read each of Lee Bennett Hopkins’ collections of poetry, I find my curiosity piqued: “How does he do this?” When I was a grad student, I came across Mr. Hopkins’ book, Books Are by People: interviews with 104 authors and illustrators of books for young children. Those interviews provoked my imagination and propelled my career. It’s a privilege to be interviewing Mr.… more
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The Poetry of US
December 18, 2018
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If you’re still looking for holiday gifts or start-the-year-with-a-treat gifts for your home, classroom, a host present, something lasting … consider this book.
The Poetry of US
edited by J. Patrick Lewis
National Geographic Partners, 2018, 192 pages Not everyone can travel to all the dots on our country’s map, but this book transports us throughout America with the power of poetry, engaging all our senses.… more
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edited by J. Patrick Lewis
National Geographic Partners, 2018, 192 pages Not everyone can travel to all the dots on our country’s map, but this book transports us throughout America with the power of poetry, engaging all our senses.… more
It’s the Little Things That Lift Us Up
When the Big Things Bring Us Down
December 12, 2018
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Recently I had “one of those days” in room 212. A day that brought me to tears and had my heart aching. Driving away from school on a Friday afternoon I knew my fun weekend plans would be interrupted now and again by thoughts of my kids and some of the tough stuff going on. The same kind of tough stuff every single teacher has to deal with on occasion.… more
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Virginia Euwer Wolff: The Guys’ Clubhouse
October 23, 2018
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I didn’t even ask why I was turning into Holden Caulfield. I was fifteen, a brochure girl for postwar innocence. And I was a farm kid, three thousand miles away from Holden’s Manhattan; I took violin lessons, rode my bike through orchards, memorized social studies facts, picked strawberries to make money, earned Camp Fire Girl honor beads. I also sought the right bras, the right pimple medicine, the boys most likely to alarm my family.… more
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Curiouser and Curiouser with Paul O. Zelinsky
September 18, 2018
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Reading and admiring the books of Paul O. Zelinsky raises my curiosity. How does he work on the illustrations for his own books and those of other authors? What is he thinking about when he evolves his unforgettable characters?
Of his newest book, All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah (written by Emily Jenkins), Mr. Zelinsky says, “Now that I’m done, when I consider how I worked on these pictures, trying to rough them up when they got too smooth, to flatten them out when they got too round, to maintain a sense of texture throughout, I think that perhaps what I was really trying do was represent the qualities of a good potato latke!… more
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A Serious Question
September 8, 2018
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A serious author asks a serious question: what is the best use of computer games?
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Curiouser and Curiouser with Melissa Stewart
August 21, 2018
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This month we’re featuring Melissa Stewart, author of science books for young readers and a seemingly tireless advocate for reading nonfiction books, particularly expository nonfiction (“5 Kinds of Nonfiction”). Melissa has written more than 180 books in her career, the first of which was published in 1998 and the most recent of which is Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs (illustrated by Stephanie Laberis, published by Peachtree Publishers).… more
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That Time I Drove the Karma Bus
August 17, 2018
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All freshmen at my college had to wear beanies at the start of school. Besides the obvious fashion quandary, the problem was that students from the town’s rival college gloried in stealing beanies.
And I knew if any of my upper classmates caught me sans beanie, they had the power to make me stand on a table in the cafeteria and sing my high school fight song.… more
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Some Illustrator!
May 3, 2018
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In my next life, I’m coming back either as a cat living in our house (think Canyon Ranch for cats), or Melissa Sweet. I’ve followed her career since she illustrated James Howe’s Pinky and Rex (1990). I love this book for its atypical characters (Pinky is a boy who loves pink and stuffed animals, and Rex, his girl friend, is into dinosaurs), but also for Melissa’s fresh-faced characters and bright watercolors.… more
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Don’t Let the Dinosaur Drive the Bus
May 3, 2018
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Some basic story lines that rarely fail to provide excellent starting points for struggling young writers.
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The Pushcart War
January 25, 2018
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I first heard of Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War in grad school. I read it because a fellow student spoke with absolute glee about it. I’ve not heard a book recommended with such laughter and vigor before or since. And I fell into the book just as she insisted I would. Fell, I tell you. Lost my head, really.
My kids did, too.… more
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A Picture and a Thousand Words
November 14, 2017
1 Comment
As a reporter and editor for decades, I often heard people accuse my colleagues and me of “bias,” of having a particular slant on a story — usually a point of view that the accuser disputed. It was a common charge, especially if the issue was controversial.
But in truth, reporters are no different than anyone else. Everyone comes to a subject with some kind of bias. … more
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Skinny Dip with Susan Yutzey
November 7, 2017
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Susan Yutzey worked as an Ohio school librarian for many years, serving in local, state, and national leadership positions. Now retired, she continues to be a tireless advocate for school libraries and librarians.
Who was your favorite teacher in grades K-7 and why?
Ms. D’Angelo was my seventh grade teacher. I was a new student at Edith A.… more
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Mouse Books
November 2, 2017
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We have mice. Hopefully just one, but it’s a brash one, scuttling around the kitchen during breakfast this morning.
This happens in the fall at our house. We’ve certainly tried to find where they might be getting in, but they say a mouse only needs a dime-sized hole, and we obviously haven’t found it. Caught two a couple of weeks ago.… more
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Tiny House, Cozy Cabin
November 1, 2017
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A few months ago, my husband and I sold our home of 30 years and decided to live full-time in our cozy cabin in the woods. We left behind greater square footage, a quaint and sometimes bustling village on the waterfront, and a home with lots of family memories.
But it was time for a change.
Time for more simplicity.… more
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For The Beast in Us All
September 29, 2017
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The theme of being yourself is familiar. Many books, movies, and plays are devoted to this idea. When it’s done well, we all sit up a little straighter, laugh more confidently, and dream about all the things we’d like to do to be true to who we are. Children need to hear this message often so another book, one that tells the story in a different way, is welcome.… more
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