A Lust for Endpapers
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.
Virginia Lee Burton
Avi
Such is the narcissism of youth that, sadly, one often learns about some important things about a parent only when they have passed on. Such was the case of my mother. Even as I began to publish, she never told me that she had wanted to be a picture book writer. I only learned of that when, after she died, I came upon some manuscripts she had written.… more
A Blizzard of Snow Books
We’re snowed under right now, what with teaching and writing and, well, snow, so we thought we’d offer up a blizzard of books about the white stuff that falls from our skies. Curl up with a child, a cup of warmth, and enjoy winter in the pages of a book.
The Snow Party by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers and Bernice Myers
A lonely woman who lives with her husband on a Dakota farm wishes for a party. … more
Teaching Passion
When the director of Hollins University’s graduate program in children’s literature asked me to teach a critical class on the history of children’s book illustrators, I said no. Even with an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College, an MA in children’s literature from Hollins, scores of published books, and years of teaching graduate-level creative classes, I still felt like a fraud.… more
Tonight is the Night …
… when dead leaves fly like witches on switches across the sky …
In the center of our Wegman’s is all the stuff that is not food. Of course, I head there first. Browsing tea towels and sunflower coasters is my reward from having to shop in the too-big grocery store.
Recently I found a plate among the Halloween décor.… more
Let It Snow!
Phyllis: The first real snow has fallen overnight, and the quality of light when I wake up is luminous outside the window. Solstice approaches, and we’ve turned our thoughts to books about winter and snow. So many to choose from! Here are a few.
When my grown daughter saw a copy of Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton on my bookshelf, she cried, “Oh!… more
Authors Emeritus: Virginia Lee Burton
Virginia Lee Burton was born on August 30, 1909 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. She studied art at the California School of Fine Arts and the Boston Museum School. One of her earliest jobs was as a “sketcher” for the arts section of the Boston Transcript.
She married George Demetrios, a sculptor and her teacher at the Museum School, in 1931.… more
Interview: Eric Rohmann
Bulldozer’s Big Day
written by Candace Fleming
illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Atheneum, 2015 interview by Vicki Palmquist What’s the illustration tool you turn to more than any other? Graphite pencil. Simple, efficient, erasable, feels good in the hand, makes a lovely line with infinite possibilities for line variation. Did I mention that it’s erasable? Always forgiving!… more
written by Candace Fleming
illustrated by Eric Rohmann
Atheneum, 2015 interview by Vicki Palmquist What’s the illustration tool you turn to more than any other? Graphite pencil. Simple, efficient, erasable, feels good in the hand, makes a lovely line with infinite possibilities for line variation. Did I mention that it’s erasable? Always forgiving!… more
Bookstorm™: Bulldozer’s Big Day
It’s Bulldozer’s big day — his birthday! But around the construction site, it seems like everyone is too busy to remember. Bulldozer wheels around asking his truck friends if they know what day it is, but they each only say it’s a work day. They go on scooping, sifting, stirring, filling, and lifting, and little Bulldozer grows more and more glum.… more
Skinny Dip with Heather Vogel Frederick
What is your proudest career moment?
I don’t think anything will ever beat getting that phone call over a dozen years ago from Simon & Schuster (editor Kevin Lewis, to be exact) letting me know that they were going to publish my first book, The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed. I hung up the phone afterwards and burst into tears.… more
I Would Like to Thank…
The annual meeting of the American Library Association begins this week. The winners of the various book awards are no doubt eyeing the festivities with some trepidation because they will be presenting speeches. This has been going on since the first Newbery Award was presented in 1922. Traditionally called “Acceptance Papers,” the speeches are the bull’s-eye of events that have over the years morphed from nice little white-glove luncheons into galas.… more
I Would Like to Thank…
The annual meeting of the American Library Association begins this week. The winners of the various book awards are no doubt eyeing the festivities with some trepidation because they will be presenting speeches. This has been going on since the first Newbery Award was presented in 1922. Traditionally called “Acceptance Papers,” the speeches are the bull’s-eye of events that have over the years morphed from nice little white-glove luncheons into galas.… more