You may or may not notice something different about my new book, Call Me Tree. Nowhere in the story are boy/girl or pronouns used. No ‘he’ or ‘she’ anywhere! I found it easy to write this way because that’s how I think of kids, as kids, not boy kids or …
i just got done having one of my favorite kinds of talks. one of those spans of time when i get to touch the creative force that flows through all of us and for a moment ride its beauty with another. it’s funny to call it a ‘talk’ because there …
i spent a beautiful morning in oakland talking with an authorartist i’ve had my eye on for a long time. i hope one day to work together on a project! here is a nibble of his work. i loved many things that robert had to say, but what i’m …
i just got done interviewing kwame alexander for my heart of it/creating children’s books that matter. i CANNOT adequately express how much i love my job! one of many beautiful take aways was what kwame called ‘dancing naked on the floor.’ it is the title of one of his poems …
i am forever gathering articles and references like this and realized i could begin collecting them through my blog. this way i have not only a place where i can go for my own bits, but i can share them and reference them easily for others. here goes! from THE …
While my first Heart of It e-course officially ended back in May, that was by no means the end of the experience! Over twenty artistauthors decided to contribute to our first ever Heart of It collection children’s book. (The “official” title is yet to be decided.) Since the end of …
There’s always a lot of discussion about the lack of diversity in children’s books but what can we each do to begin changing these statistics? Join me for an informal discussion this Thursday, March 20th and let’s talk about ways we each can contribute to creating a more reflective and …
Over the years I’ve had a lot of opportunity to reflect on my work and its development, particularly when I’m being interviewed. A clear pattern often develops between the interviewer and me. I’m always grateful for a really good interviewer, one who gives me myself. Over and over again I …
Perhaps you’ve heard these words before when submitting a story? Or maybe, “this is a great story, but we already have a [insert community here] book.” What gets published, especially with larger publishing houses, is often driven by what the perceived market is for a story and less about the …
I’ve decided to resurrect and revamp my blog series that I originally posted on the Children’s Book Press blog, the seminal multicultural publisher, before they became an imprint of Lee&Low Books. I also shared Part 1 of the series as a guest post on Mira Reisberg’s Children’s Book Academy blogettes …
