I want my words to matter; for my picture books to remain in children’s hearts like well-loved tunes and my stories to resonate integrity. ~ Dimity Powell One of the most wonderful things about an SCBWI conference is the people you meet. I had the privilege to meet this amazing author this February, at the SCBWI Sydney Conference. I am so pleased to introduce her and her work to you all. Dimity Powell lives in Queensland, Australia. She “writes for children because she belie

What a fun month! The anniversary of the Apollo 11 Launch resulted in so many great books on the astronauts, the moon, and space exploration. In addition to the twelve newest ones I love (here), I want to shout Phillip and Erin Stead's Music for Mr. Moon and Laura Roettiger and Ariel Boroff's Aliana Reaches for the Moon which released earlier this year. But today, I want to focus on the adorable picture book created by Susanna Leonard Hill and Elisa Paganelli. It was genius o

Hooray! Are you all in for a treat! Today, I get the privilege of interviewing amazing Susanna Leonard Hill. Susanna Leonard Hill is and award-winning author of twenty books for children, including Punxsutawney Phyllis (A Book List Children's Pick and Amelia Bloomer Project choice), No Sword Fighting In The House (a Junior Library Guild selection), Can't Sleep Without Sheep (a Children's Book of The Month), Not Yet, Rose (a Gold Mom's Choice Award Winner and an Itabashi Trans

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Slice of moon cake, anyone? © Javier Jaén Before we get into this post, let me recommend that you check out the Google doodle and the narrated story by Mike Collins, the perhaps often overlooked astronaut, who remained in orbit so Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin could land on the moon. It is worth watching a couple of times, for the story and then the illustrations. This year has seen a number of books - biographies,

Starting in May this year, there have been so many books released about the first day of school, starting a new school, or school field trips. Are the publishers taking a page from Target's playbook and releasing books a season in advance? I always wondered about selling bikinis in March when it was 40 degrees! Why publish all the "back-to-school" books as the school year winds down and everyone starts the beginning of summer vacation? I guess they're just things to puzzle ov

Christina Geist is a brand strategist, entrepreneur and children’s book author who lives in New York City with her husband, NBC and MSNBC host Willie Geist, and her two children. Christina also runs two companies: True Geist, a branding and design firm, and Boombox Gifts. Christina’s first children’s book, Buddy’s Bedtime Battery, was published by Random House Kids in September 2016 and – for a beautiful moment – eclipsed Harry Potter as the #1 children’s book on Amazon. Her

Has anyone noticed the uproar over having a diverse Ariel. I can't remember any such commotion for one of my favorite films - Cinderella. This amazing 1997 musical starred Brandy (Cinderella), Whitney Houston (Fairy Godmother), Whoopi Goldberg (Queen), & Paolo Montalbán (Prince). We didn't question the ethnicity, it just was. After all, shouldn't the quality of the acting and the voice be more important than the color of the actor's skin? Maybe instead we could harness this f

“I love being an author, creating stories that can change your world.” ~ Susanne Gervay Susanne Gervay, "grew up in beautiful Sydney with my older brother Thomas and younger sister Elizabeth. My parents were refugees who escaped from war, communism and terrorism in Hungary. They hoped to be accepted by a democratic county. Australia offered them a new home. I married an engineer and became a teacher and educational consultant. I have two wonderful kids. But life gets complica

Due to technical issues, this is going to be a busy week for posts. But I was so excited when Katy Hudson agreed to an interview. I have loved her picture books, since I discovered Too Many Carrots three years ago. Katy was raised in Middlesbrough, UK and started her Illustration career as a small child drawing on freshly emulsioned walls around the house! Her parents quickly dissuaded this medium and encouraged drawing with pencil and paper instead. The idea stuck (the penci

Growing up, Ashley Franklin initially aspired to be a doctor, journalist, and cartoon character. As you can see, those didn’t quite work out. However, she always loved writing, so Ashley received her M.A. from the University of Delaware in English Literature. Since education has always been very important to her, she became involved in the classroom with students ranging in age from three to adult. As a result, you can pretty much say that she has seen reading and writing ski