The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/Kari Gonzalez and Review of How to Hatch a Writer

Maria Marshall
1 minute ago
6 min read

Kari Gonzalez is a writer of children’s fiction and informational fiction with a heaping helping of humor and STEAM concepts.

Kari is a children’s writer and loves to tend to her tiny hobby farm. Kari loves writing funny and lyrical picture books. She also writes middle-grade and young adult novels-in-verse. Eight plucky chickens are kind enough to share their home with Kari, her husband, and their two little girls.

Book cover - a girl sits in the grass with open books trying to teach three chickens to read, as a fox peers around a skinny tree.

She is the author of How to Hatch a Reader (winner of Northern Lights Picture Book award for humor).

Her newest picture book, How to Hatch a Writer, releases on September 9^th.

Welcome Kari, thank you so much for coming by to talk about your newest book and your writing.

As a sequel to your debut picture book, did your process for writing change any in creating How to Hatch a Writer?

Writing a sequel is so interesting! You need to decide how to craft the story. Will you include the same cast of characters or introduce new ones and also keep the same voice and tone of the original. With that in mind, my creative process changed from a free draft to back into the story using the same cast of characters and rereading How To Hatch A Reader to make sure my new story would capture the same tone and voice.

Sounds challenging. What was your inspiration or spark of curiosity for How to Hatch a Writer?

Book cover - a girl in overalls sits on the grass teaching a chicken holding a pencil how to write, as a fox peeks over a bush.

When I subbed How To Hatch A Reader, which was inspired by our family reading to our own backyard chickens, I knew I wanted this book to be a series and pitched it that way in the first meeting with my publisher, Gnome Road Publishing. I am so grateful she shared the vision for this story!

It's so great that you got to do a sequel! How long did it take from the first draft to publication for How to Hatch a Writer?

Because Gnome Road and I had discussed a book series early on, we had agreed to the books releasing 2 years apart. I took one year to write and revise the story before I submitted it.

I guess it's nice to know the schedule ahead of time. What has been the most rewarding part of the publishing process for How to Hatch a Writer?

I adored writing this story, and it draws so many parallels for me as I helped my daughters learn to read and write in tandem while writing these books. The timing was perfect and helped me align the story to the current teaching curriculum.

That's cool. I hope the girls enjoyed it, too. When you first saw Rachel Suzanne’s illustrations in How to Hatch a Writer, did anything surprise, amaze, or delight you? Which is your favorite spread?

Internal spread - standing in front of a mobile library, a girl holds open a book for three chickens, as a fox peeks out from behind the library.

Text © Kari Gonzalez, 2025. Image © Rachel Suzanne, 2025.

I love how Rachel Suzanne gave a fall feel to How To Hatch A Writer and changed the color palette. She has such a creative touch! My favorite spread is the first entrance of the fox, sneaking up behind the mobile library. Her vision for the series and phenomenal art really brings these stories to life.

That is a really fun image and a really cute mobile library, too. Is there anything special you want your readers to know or hope they discover about How to Hatch a Writer?

There is backmatter at the end of the book to support emerging writers.

That's a great bonus. What was the toughest or most challenging aspect of writing or researching How to Hatch a Writer?

When you write a sequel or series, it can be tough to line up the story with the same voice, tone, and characters etc. In this case, I also had a hint of a fairytale by incorporating Chicken Little into the theater scene in How To Hatch A Reader. I knew I wanted to bring a new fairytale into How To Hatch A Writer, but I had trouble deciding which to bring in. I brainstormed and tried a few drafts, but I landed with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, my favorite fairytale as a child. I knew this was the story when the name Goldi-fox sprang to mind!

Ha! Such a puny name. Are there any projects you are working on now that you can share a tidbit with us?

If you liked language arts-loving chickens, I hope you will love Goat Maa-th: An Addition Story, releasing next year. It’s full of adventure, math-loving goats, and plenty of fun and puns, written by me, illustrated by super-talented Bonnie Kelso!

Intriguing! We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for that one. And lastly, what animal or natural feature (place) do you want to learn more about? Why?

Photo of a clod of mist rising from the teal blue waters below Niagra Falls, Horse Falls, Canada. © Unsplash

Breathtaking Views of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls-Horseshoe Falls, Canada

I have never been to Niagara Falls. It’s been on my bucket list for years. I would love to learn the history of the park.

Thank you, Kari for sharing about yourself and your new picture book.

To find out more about Kari Gonzalez, or contact her:

Website: https://www.karianngonzalez.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/koneto

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kari_gonzalez_writes/

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/karigonzalezwrites.bsky.social

Review of How To Hatch a Writer

I get the privilege of showing you all a sneak peek at this puny, fun book about teaching the basics of writing to a chicken or a cheeky fox.

How to Hatch a Reader

Author: Kari Ann Gonzalez

Illustrator: Rachel Suzanne

Publisher: Gnome Road Publishing (September 9, 2025)

Ages: 6 - 8

Fiction

Themes:

Writing, humor, friendships, and persistence

Synopsis:

Learning to read may have felt like a breeze, but learning to write could ruffle a few feathers! It's time to hatch a plan to turn your chickens into a flock of word-smithing wonders.

The award-winning team of Kari Ann Gonzalez and Rachel Suzanne pair up again in this witty sequel to How to Hatch a Reader! Now that your chickens are egg-cellent readers, they'll want to learn to write as well… and you want to be prepared. First, get crackin' by helping them form letters. Then walk them through spelling each and every word. When words turn into sentences and sentences to stories, they'll be ready to spread their writing wings. That is, unless sneaky Goldi-fox gets in the way again.

Combining laugh-out-loud text with bright and cheerful illustrations, How to Hatch a Writer is perfect for classrooms, homeschooling families, or libraries and is certain to prompt a flurry of stories as super and silly as this one!

Opening Lines:

When your chickens’ scratch-a-doodle-doos

turn to more...

What I Liked about this book:

The little girl and her chickens, from How to Hatch a Reader, are back! And this time, to her delight, the chickens are scratching out words. They must be ready to learn to write stories! And not so secretly hidden behind that skinny tree, the fox has also returned, looking hungry (and curious) as ever.

Internal spread - on the left, sitting in front of a sign - "Hatch Farm," a girl in overalls excitedly watches a chicken scratch out the words - A CAT. On the right, another chicken scratches out DOG, while a fox 'hides' behind a skinny tree and a barn sits on a distant hill.

The sequel is set in the fall, the girl is wearing warmer clothes and the leaves are beginning to drift to the ground. So just in time for school, how do you teach chickens to write? Well, once you have their attention and show them some of your favorite sentences, "Chances are, they will want to create egg-citing sentences of their own." This is a cute way to show using word cards to make a sentence - individually or as a collaboration with friends. And just what is that sneaky fox up to?

Internal spread - on the left, a girl holding a book standing near a tractor watches five chickens put words together in sentences. On the right, three more chickens forma sentences and the fox hiding behind the mobile library holds up a pink dress.

As the girl starts teaching her chickens that words need "two worms spacing," a new 'student' - Goldifox - with curly blond hair, a purple dress and bow, basket, and a name tag - arrives. To the confusion of at least one chicken, the girl doesn't seem to notice it's a fox (or is playing along?) Starting with Goldifox's first sentence, "ilovechicken," the girl walks them all through how a capital letter, spacing, and punctuation makes this into a proper sentence, which freaks out the chickens, until they add an "s" to the end. What's that glint of silver that fox holding over its head behind the girl's back?

Next, the crew humorously explores nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Poor fox, one could almost feel sorry for it as the girl chuckles at its bedraggled state.

Internal spread - on the left, a girl stands by an easel with the definition of a noun, as chickens make some amendments. On the right, following a wiggly path the fox chases the chickens, trips, and flops, as the girl shows the definition for a verb.

Fox continues with the writing lesson, putting sentences together, hoping to manifest a chicken meal. But the girl seems so totally focused on the lesson or a bit oblivious. With the creative help of the chickens, a little playfulness with the original Goldilocks and the Three Bears fairytale, and a ton of cheeky humor, this lively and funny picture book offers an entertaining guide to writing words and sentences.

Resources:

write as many words as you can on flashcards and then, like the chickens. put them together and see how many sentences you can make. Then scramble them up and try it again.

put your flashcards into groups of nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Now, try a MAD LIB (or make your own) and see if you can use mostly your favorite words on the cards. What is the silliest sentence you made?