Picture Book Biographies: Bethany Hegedus Explores Social Emotional Learning in Nonfiction

By Gayleen Rabakukk

At Cynsations this week we’re taking a deep dive into picture book biographies by interviewing eight debut biography authors. But first, today we’re kicking things off by featuring Bethany Hegedus, author of five published picture book biographies and more on the way.

Earlier this year I attended an SCBWI workshop where you discussed Social Emotional Learning.

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Teacher’s Guides: Adrianna Cuevas & Andrea M. Page on Creating Guides as Freelancers

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Today we’re talking with two authors who created educator guides for their own books, but have also made teacher’s guides for other authors.

Adrianna Cuevas

As a former teacher, did you use teaching guides in the classroom?

I was a Spanish and ESOL teacher,

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Author & Illustrator Interview: Kavita Ramchandran & Srividhya Venkat talk on Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps

By Suma Subramaniam

We are pleased to welcome the author-illustrator team of Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps (Yali Books, June 2021) to Cynsations!

Written by Srividhya Venkat and illustrated by Kavita Ramchandran, Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps (Yali Books, June 2021) is a story about staying true to yourself and following your heart.

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Interview: Sylvia Vardell on the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY)

By Elisabeth Norton

Many of you might know the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) best as that organization that awards the Hans Christian Andersen Award biennially to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. But there is so much more to the organization.

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