Guest Post: Sandra Nickel & Kathi Appelt on Picture Book Magic & Big Bear and Little Fish

By Sandra Nickel & Kathi Appelt

Spotlight image: Sandra Nickel and Kathi Appelt talking at the Château de Chillon in Switzerland in 2019, photo by Ken Appelt.

After receiving her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Sandra Nickel studied an extra semester with Newbery Honoree and two-time National Book Award Finalist,

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Guest Interview: Uma Krishnaswami & Aimee Sicuro Explore Creative Pathways

By Uma Krishnaswami

Aimee Sicuro’s illustrations for my picture book, Bright Sky, Starry City (Groundwood Books, 2015), blew me away. There were so many elements that just opened up the universe of my story about a girl who loves the sky. When I saw the illustrations, I became convinced that Aimee had read my mind.

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Guest Interview: Kate Hosford & Sandra Nickel Discuss The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe

By Kate Hosford

A little over four years ago, my husband Chris and I were reading the Sunday New York Times, when he noticed a tribute to the astronomer Vera Rubin, who had died the day before. He suggested that I write a picture book about her. Although I was fascinated by Vera, I had a feeling that the perfect author for this project was my friend,

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Guest Post: Abigail Hing Wen on Character Development the Brutally Hard Way

By Abigail Hing Wen

After twelve years of writing and hundreds of rejections as I learned to write, I can’t quite believe my first novel is coming out in just eight weeks.

My biggest struggle had always been my characters. I read dozens of character craft books and asked for advice from character gurus like Coe Booth and Sandra Nickel.

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