What a world it would be if we never had to teach a child how to deal with bullying or how to help another who is being bullied. But, as that is not reality unfortunately, it is important for kids to see/read about characters in books dealing with a bully. While the actual strategies in these two books might not work in reality, their underlying message that we are more powerful if we stick together and help each other out, is an important one. Henry Herz has definitely been

I imagine most of you know my next guest - Hannah Holt. I had the privilege of getting to know Hannah over the past few years at the NESCBWI and SCBWI Oregon conferences. She is gracious, encouraging, and wicked smart. But for any of you who don't know her, Hannah is a children’s author with an engineering degree. Her books, The Diamond & The Boy (2018, Balzer & Bray) and A Father’s Love (2019, Philomel) weave together her love of language and science. She lives in Oregon wit

In a climate where kindness to others and nature is needed with increasing urgency comes a cute book that draws on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and reminds me a bit of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Using a sharp dichotomy to represent life in a rigid school and a garden full of playful fun and imagination, Henry Herz and Natalie Hoops have created an interesting prequel. Alice's Magic Garden: Before the Rabbit Hole Au

Henry Herz has taken a moment out of his busy fall schedule to pop back in and talk with me. If you missed our first interview on July 30, 2017, check out Henry Hertz's basic bio facts and discussion of his earlier book Cap'n Rex & His Clever Crew, here. So the big news is that Henry has three books releasing in short succession this fall - Alice’s Magic Garden (Familius 9/1, an imaginative prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), How Squid Got Two Long Arms (Pelican Pub

I adore Christmas, decorating trees, and baking cookies. I know, I know it isn't even October yet. I suppose it IS a bit early to talk about Christmas. Guess we've got to deal with the ghouls first. However, I hope you'll forgive my brief foray toward the holidays. I've had the pleasure of reviewing an advance copy of a special book. I just had to offer a sneak peek at this beautiful treasure which Nancy Churnin and Luisa Uribe have created. One that I know you will want to a

Today, I get the privilege to bring you an interview with a remarkable woman - Nancy Churnin. She writes beautiful nonfiction picture book biographies on little known individuals or those with little known stories. In addition, Nancy has an amazing feature on her website – associated with each book (in addition to teacher guides) – where she encourages kids, parents, and teachers to make a difference. These calls to action ranges from sending letters to get Hoy in the Hall of

Last week I did a post on some of my favorite unique friendship books (here). One of the books, We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins, ties nicely into Suzanne's back to school theme. And thinking about a post for this week, I realized that I had missed (it was hiding under a pile of library books) a book that I had wanted to add to last week's post. It combines both a unique friendship and school, so it is perfect for this week's post. Hope you all like it too. Friends