Ismée Williams is the debut author of Water In May (Amulet Books, 2017). From the promotional copy:
Fifteen-year-old Mari Pujols believes that the baby she’s carrying will finally mean she’ll have a family member who will love her deeply and won’t ever leave her—not like her mama,
Continue Reading New Voice: Ismée Williams on Water In May »
LaTisha Redding is the debut author of Calling the Water Drum, illustrated by Aaron Boyd (Lee & Low, 2016) From the promotional copy:
Henri and his parents leave their homeland, Haiti, after they receive an invitation from an uncle to come to New York City.
Continue Reading New Voice: LaTisha Redding on Calling the Water Drum »
Check out this author-illustrator interview video with Daniel W. Vandever on Fall In Line, Holden! by Tyler Mitchell from Salina Bookshelf. From the promotional copy:
Fall in Line, Holden! follows Holden, a young Navajo boy, through his day at boarding school.
Continue Reading Author-Illustrator Video: Daniel W. Vandever on Fall In Line, Holden! »
Leah Henderson is the debut author of One Shadow On the Wall (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 6, 2017). From the promotional copy:
An orphaned boy in contemporary Senegal must decide between doing what is right and what is easy as he struggles to keep a promise he made to his dying father in this captivating debut novel laced with magical realism.
Continue Reading New Voice: Leah Henderson on One Shadow On the Wall »
Padma writing on the dock
One of the most vital aspects of timeless writing is voice. Every serious reader, every writer has (or must develop), a strong sense of what voice is. Yet, like time, voice eludes definition.
Of course, I’m going to try and define it. To me,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Padma Venkatraman on Voice: Writing Lean, Spare or Lush, Rich »
Check out the book trailer for This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe (Chronicle, 2017). From the promotional copy:
This is How We Do It follows the real lives of seven kids from Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia for a single day.
Continue Reading Book Trailer: This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe »
Check out the book trailer for Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Divya Srinivasan (HarperChildren’s, 2017). From the promotional copy:
A talking tiger is the only one who may be able to get a princess to speak in this beautiful picture book set in a mythic India by the Newbery Medal-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Norse Mythology,
Continue Reading Book Trailer: Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Divya Srinivasan »
What an honor to be interviewed for a podcast also featuring author Pat Mora and author-illustrator Don Tate by Professional Book Nerds.
Peek from my segment:
“It [writing for kids] was a heart decision, not a head decision and part of that heart decision wasn’t just about my work.
Continue Reading Podcast: Pat Mora, Cynthia Leitich Smith & Don Tate »
El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), commonly known as Día, is a celebration every day of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Patricia C. McKissack, honored children’s author from Chesterfield, dies at 72 by Jane Henderson
from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Peek: “…’I think my mother died of a broken heart.’ Fredrick McKissack Jr. said his mother and father were ‘best friends and partners.’”
Before becoming an author,
