Author Interview: Cate Berry on Finding A Creative Rhythm & Thank You, Teacher!

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Spotlight image: Cate Berry writing in her 1967 Shasta camper.

Austin author and fellow VCFA alumnx Cate Berry has a new picture book, Thank You, Teacher, illustrated by Sara Varon (Balzer+Bray, 2023). I was eager to catch up with her and get her take on rhyming picture books,

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Author Interview: Cate Berry on Making Connections

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Today we’re chatting with Austin author and Vermont College MFA alumnx Cate Berry about her new picture book Chicken Break, illustrated by Charlotte Alder (Feiwel & Friends, 2019) and her creative marketing efforts to promote the book.

Congratulations on the release of Chicken Break!

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New Voice: Cate Berry on Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don’t Do Bedtime!

By Traci Sorell

I’m so pleasured to feature my interview with Cate Berry, debut picture book author of Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don’t Do Bedtime, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Balzer + Bray, 2018).

Publishers Weekly described it as “…a buoyantly subversive antibedtime tale,” and I couldn’t agree more.

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Guest Post: Cate Berry on VCFA at Bath Spa University

By Cate Berry

Looking back on your undergraduate years, do you have remorse? What got away?

Mine is easy. I regret not spending a semester abroad.

Enter my grad school: Vermont College of Fine Arts. I graduated this July with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults,

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Interview: Author Julie Berry Talks About Opening a Hometown Bookstore

By Stephani Martinell Eaton

I am excited to welcome author Julie Berry to Cynsations today. Some of Julie’s titles include the Printz Honor Award book, The Passion of Dolssa (Viking, 2016), Lovely War (Viking, 2019), and The Emperor’s Ostrich (Roaring Brook Press, 2017).

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Author Interview: Anne Bustard’s Advice on Historical Fiction & Far Out!

By Gayleen Rabakukk

When I was brand-new to Austin, my fellow Vermont College alumnx welcomed me to the local kidlit community, especially Anne Bustard. At a writing retreat six or seven years ago, Anne told us she was working on an intergenerational story set in the 1960s, with a small Texas town planning a UFO welcome festival.

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New Voices: Alda P. Dobbs & Debbie Zapata Create Books Inspired by Family

By Gayleen Rabakukk

Spotlight image: Debbie Zapata reads Up and Adam, illustrated by Yong Ling Kang (Kids Can Press, 2022) with the assistance of an American Sign Language Interpreter for a group at an Austin park.

Today we welcome two Texas authors to Cynsations to share their path to publication for books inspired by their own families.

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