Jessie Janowitz is the debut author of The Doughnut Fix (Sourcebooks, April 2018). From the promotional copy:
Tristan isn’t Gifted or Talented like his sister Jeanine, and he’s always been okay with that because he can make a perfect chocolate chip cookie and he lives in the greatest city in the world.
Continue Reading New Voice: Jessie Janowitz on Finding a Literary Agent & The Doughnut Fix »
Learn more about Martine Leavitt.
In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.
Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?
I’ve been thinking a lot about page turns in picture books recently, and all of the amazing things they can do, including:
Show the passage of time
Using page turns to show the passage of time is probably the usage that everybody is familiar with.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Agent-Author Tracy Marchini on Page Turns in Picture Books »
In this video from Reading Rockets, Rudine Sims Bishop, professor emerita from Ohio State University, speaks on Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Doors as metaphors for diversity in children’s-YA literature.
See also Rudine Sims Bishop: In Appreciation by Sam Bloom from Reading While White and Mirrors,
Continue Reading Video: Rudine Sims Bishop on Mirrors, Windows & Sliding Glass Doors »
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Robin Galbraith,
Gayleen Rabukukk & Kate Pentecost
Author/Illustrator Insights
Islandborn Author Junot Diaz on Representation in Children’s Books by Denise Balkisson from The Globe and Mail. Peek:
“I myself think that it’s important to give children their due,
By Traci Sorell
Today I’m pleased to shine the Cynsations’ spotlight on Dana Wulfekotte, a fellow Epic Eighteen member. Her debut picture book, Rabbit & Possum (Greenwillow, 2018), features the antics of these two friends hoping to share a snack but having to overcome an obstacle first.
Continue Reading New Voice: Interview & Giveaway: Dana Wulfekotte on Rabbit & Possum »
Lee Francis IV
By Traci Sorell
Lee Francis IV is CEO/Publisher of Native Realities, owner of Red Planet Comics & Books store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Organizer of Indigenous Comic Con.
Native Realities swept the Middle Grade category of 2018 award winners from the American Indian Library Association.
Continue Reading Interview: Lee Francis IV on Native Publishing, Bookstores & Indigenous Comic Con »
In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.
Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?
Lindsey Stoddard is a Vermont College of Fine Arts alum and our time there overlapped, so I jumped at the chance to interview her about her debut middle grade novel, Just Like Jackie (HarperCollins, 2018). From the promotional copy:
For as long as Robinson Hart can remember,
Continue Reading New Voice: Lindsey Stoddard on Just Like Jackie »
Lean more about Cartoonist and Teacher Gene Luen Yang.
Welcome to Cynsations. We last spoke to Dean Mary Francoise Rockcastle about the Hamline MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults back in 2006.
When did you join the faculty? What appealed to you about teaching in a low-residency program?
