Author Spotlight: Valerie Bolling

As the weather warms, families everywhere are opening their garages for big clean ups and new outdoor adventures. At our house, every mode of transport gets a spring-time evaluation and tune up, from the battery-powered Jeep to the bikes and trikes.

We hose off all the dust and mud. Squeeze the tires, and pump them up. Give the breaks a squeeze, and gears some grease. Then, off we ride!

We are rolling smoothly now, as a crew, but the journey from four wheels to two is one we’ll never forget. In our driveway, on our street, and in parking lots across our town - we practiced balance, grip and pedaling, and got a feel for wide open spaces.

Learning to ride is a formative and unforgettable experience for many kids and parents - the hope of flying, the fear of trying, and the freedom of goodbye-ing when you ride away… just you, your bike and the wind…

The brand new picture book TOGETHER WE RIDE, which zoomed onto shelves April 26, follows a family as it embarks on this thrilling adventure. Written by Valerie Bolling, and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita (Chronicle), this spirited, celebratory story captures the journey to two wheels in tight, inventive rhyme and joyful, precise pictures.

Bolling, the author, begins the story with a single word: Inside. Readers are welcomed into the family’s garage, where every detail brings us close to the main character and her life. Hanging bikes. A basket mid-weave. Chalk swirls on the concrete floor. Juanita, the illustrator, etches and places each item in delicate lines and soft-yet-bright colors, reflecting a family that’s abuzz with creativity and action.

Then outside they go, exiting the garage and entering a bright San Francisco day - the Golden Gate Bridge arching red in the distance, over waves of blue. Quick stride, Dad and daughter take off… but then, Slip, slide, tossed aside. The main character lands with a bang in the bushes, yellow angles emphasizing the pain and disappointment that comes with taming a tipping bike.

Bolling’s just-right words, which often physically underscore action on the page, emphasize emotion and propel the story forward. The concise style is a perfect match for the experience of learning to ride, where communication comes in quickly delivered redirections and exclamations, and what matters most is presence and proximity - where Run beside gives you the confidence to Coast, glide.

As summer and Father’s Day near, TOGETHER WE RIDE’s arrival is impeccably timed. So, with excitement to share this title with tons of families in my world, who are embarking on similar moments, I sat down for a chat with Valerie to learn more about how this special story came to be! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Valerie Bolling:

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3 Questions with Valerie Bolling

TOGETHER WE RIDE is so creatively composed. I love the verbs that you constructed (hug-cried, goodbyed) - so succinct, yet packed with emotion. How did you find these perfect new words?

Thank you for that compliment, Anitra. For TOGETHER WE RIDE, I challenged myself to write a book with as few words as possible and to use the same end rhyme throughout the text. Therefore, I had to choose words carefully and make sure each one counted. Since I like playing with words, it was fun finding the right words and creating a couple of my own, like “hug-cried” and “goodbyed.”

Take us into your writing space. When are you there, and what things do you surround yourself with, when you are creating?

I used to write only in my office, often with a scented candle burning and a cup of herbal tea. Now I write in many places around my home – family room, kitchen, bedroom, and deck (weather permitting, of course). Some of my best writing ideas come to me when I’m not at home. During walks I’ve thought of new story ideas or how to increase the tension in a draft or revise an ending. Sometimes I dictate notes into my phone. I’ve even written or revised drafts during long car rides. I can write anywhere. I just need time ... and quiet.

What advice can you share with writers who want to make sure that every word counts and drives the story forward?

That’s a good question, Anitra. For a short text, like TOGETHER WE RIDE, think about the image or feeling that each word conveys, and ask yourself if fewer words can be used to convey that image or feeling. For longer texts, be willing to cut words that do not move the story along. This could be an entire scene, or it could be descriptive words that are unnecessary because the pictures will do the work. No matter what you’re writing, delete filler words, like “really,” “very,” “so,” etc. 

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Great tips! Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Valerie! You can order TOGETHER WE RIDE through your local indie, or purchase it today, here.

Valerie Bolling is the author of the 2021 SCBWI Crystal Kite award-winning and CT Book Award finalist LET’S DANCE! (March 2020). In 2022 Valerie is happy to welcome TOGETHER WE RIDE (April) and RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN! (October). Sequels to these books as well as a Scholastic early reader series, RAINBOW DAYS, are slated for 2023. A graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University, Teachers College, Valerie has been an educator for almost 30 years. She currently works as an Instructional Coach for Greenwich Public Schools and is on the faculty at Westport Writers’ Workshop. She is also a WNDB mentor and deeply immersed in the kidlit writing community, particularly involved with SCBWI, the 12X12 Picture Book Challenge, and Black Creators HeadQuarters. Valerie and her husband live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater, and dancing. Learn more at linktr.ee/ValerieBolling.

Kaylani Juanita is an illustrator based in Fairfield, CA, who illustrates inclusive picture books, editorial art, and afros. Some of her clients include Chronicle Books, Cicada Magazine, and DEFY. Her work has been recognized by Society of Illustrators, The Huffington Post, as well as BBC. California grown and raised, she's studied at Cal Arts and CCA for a BFA in Illustration. Her mission as an artist is to support the stories of the under represented and create new ways for people to imagine themselves. You can find her lurking in public secretly drawing strangers or writing nonsensical stories about who knows what.

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*** Win TOGETHER WE RIDE **

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Author Spotlight: Hope Lim

Stories of formative childhood years are the most fun to recount and imagine and so lovingly passed, from generation to generation. These tales from a not-so-distant past let us know where we came from and form a steady surface upon which new adventures are stacked in unexpected but connected patterns.

The distance between my childhood and my children’s youth spans 30 years and 170 miles - not too great chasm, really. While advances in technology have made our childhoods dissimilar, in many ways my hometown is exactly as it was when I was a child. All of the same buildings and street signs. No Blockbuster, of course, but this thigh-scalding slide still stands, for better or worse!

Enlivening the scenes of my past is something I feel compelled to do - in park trips, parades, shopping outings, and the library, of course. Those places made me who I am and, in turn, made my children who they are.

Parents who have moved across the country or world have an even greater distance to traverse, when conveying these moments to their children. However, stories, momentos, photographs and, when possible, homecomings can intertwine to create an incredibly rich living history that begs for a new chapter that only the next generation can write.

The picture book MOMMY’S HOMETOWN, which arrives on shelves April 12, captures the challenges and immense rewards of deeply connecting young generations to their roots. Here’s the gorgeous glowing cover of this anticipated title…

MOMMY’S HOMETOWN by Hope Lim, illustrated by Jaime Kim (Candlewick), is a picture book about a child who has heard many nighttime stories about Mommy’s village, a place where “mountains nearby stood like giants” and an old river moves through the village “like a long thread.” In Mommy’s stories, the river is especially important - a place of adventure, treasure and carefree joy.

Mommy’s beautiful memories of playing in the river, so often recounted, become part of the child’s dreams. At last, the time has come to visit Mommy’s beloved place firsthand. With images of billowing clouds and the pebbled riverbank in their minds and hearts, they travel by train and finally arrive.

But, when they begin walking down the streets, the child finds not a small village, but a big city, where old stores and houses sit small and out of place next to new shiny tall buildings. “Is this really the same place where Mommy grew up?” the child wonders. “Everything is different from her stories.” The child’s longing to see things as Mommy did - the dirt roads, the pebbled paths - is affecting and powerful. So much has changed, making Mommy’s past feel out of reach.

Linking Mommy’s vibrant stories to the present seems an impossible task, especially when they finally arrive to the river - only to find it quiet and empty. No one splashes, as they did in Mommy’s tales. But Mommy and child wade into the water anyway. Soon they find themselves playing in the icy, swirling river, just as Mommy did as a girl.

As they walk home in the dusk, Mommy’s Hometown is aglow. Once sleepy old stores and homes now shine with activity and joy, a beautiful parallel to the light and life that the visit gives to Mommy’s stories, which now burn in the child’s imagination, even brighter than before.

Time will always separate parent and child, and stories will forever play a crucial role in invigorating the past. MOMMY’S HOMETOWN shows that even though the threads that connect these two worlds and experiences can feel delicate and tenuous, open and seeking hearts make the bonds alive and unbreakable.

I sat down for a chat with Hope to learn more about her story and the power of picture books! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Hope Lim:

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3 Questions with Hope Lim

Thanks for stopping by the blog, Hope! Can you share what inspired this beautiful story?

My hometown in Korea and my memories of that place. Since moving to America, I have visited Korea to see my parents numerous times and always noticed the changes since my previous visit. One summer, I took my kids and husband to the old river where I used to play as a child. Watching them play and catch fish, I was overtaken by a sense of nostalgia because everything around the river was different from my childhood. At the same time, I was touched by the fact that my kids were reenacting exact scenes from my childhood decades later. At that moment, I wanted to write a story about the passage of time and the changes that took place. I also wanted to capture the new, special memories my kids created in my hometown, where my parents’ love and their steady presence remain the same as this old river. 

The emotional tension between what the child expects to see, and the reality experienced, is so palpable. How did you hone in on the best way to express this longing?

I used to tell my kids about my childhood memories in my hometown and wished to take them back to the old days, knowing how much fun they would have. Then, when I took them to my hometown for the first time, I realized how different it was from my stories and wondered if they were able to draw the contrast between my stories and reality. As I wrote this story, I asked myself that question, and it prompted me to see things from the perspective of the child in me. With every visit, I was able to reintegrate into my parents’ daily routine and remember what it was like to walk through the different neighborhoods of my hometown. By the end of my visits, I always had a renewed appreciation of many things in my hometown and felt fortunate to have a place to visit and stay. I think experiencing all these different emotions helped me to express both disappointment and longing. 

Your storytelling is so clear and true. How did life lead you to picture books, and how does this form suit your style?

When I became a mother, I read a lot with my kids and was really drawn to the power of picture books, where a single word or illustration can convey deep emotions. I also became fascinated by the way my kids viewed the world around them and kept a journal of their unique child-like perspectives and our everyday adventures. My kids were very close to each other and played wonderfully, always doing something fun together. I felt compelled to write something inspired by their play and imaginary friends, which eventually led me to the path of a picture book writer. In addition to the power of picture books, I love the combination of illustrations and text as art and words are two of my favorite things. When I write a picture book text, I enjoy the practice of leaving room for illustration. Trying to write in a way that conjures images is like leaving an invitation to a space that is open to many exciting possibilities. I truly look forward to seeing the visual worlds an illustrator creates, and how she or he brilliantly fills the space left by the text. When I receive the final art, I am always reminded of how happy I am to be part of the book making process. 

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Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Hope! You can pre-order MOMMY’S HOMETOWN now, here!

Hope Lim is the author of I AM A BIRD, illustrated by Hyewon Yum, and MY TREE, illustrated by Il Sung Na. Born and raised in South Korea, Hope Lim now lives with her family in San Francisco.

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*** Win MOMMY’S HOMETOWN **

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Illustrator Spotlight: Lauren Eldridge

But, how though?

How does Lauren Eldridge do it?

How does she create 3D characters and scenes out of everyday things? How does she make static objects crawl and careen and captivate?

With raw materials, art tools, and crazy amounts of talent, Lauren Eldridge - the illustrator of new title HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS - builds picture books that feature not only humans, creatures and critters, but entire ecosystems that reflect our world at its most alive, exciting and magical.

Jaw-dropping, mind-blowing stuff, Lauren makes.

Wanna see? Check out this video…

Lauren’s dimensional illustrations are stunningly detailed and expressive. They also have palpable presence and power — to stop you in your tracks and capture your imagination, to incite laughter and spark wonder, to hold your attention and stoke your curiosity.

I’ve been awestruck by Lauren’s work since first seeing CLAYMATES (depicted in the video above), a completely original story by Dev Petty, featuring clay characters imagined and enlivened by Lauren. I reviewed the ground-breaking story in a Kidlit Craft feature a few years back, which marked my introduction to Lauren and her unique process, perspective and storytelling.

Lauren’s talent is also front-and-center in the beautiful bedtime picture book SLEEP TRAIN, written by Jonathan London, and brand new book, HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS, written by Catherine Bailey. Feast your peepers upon Lauren’s crazy cool creations on this soaring, skittering cover…

HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), which publishes Feb. 22, 2022, is a playful non-fiction picture book about tuning into the world of bugs around you and recognizing the important role that bugs play in our environment. Set in a charming backyard, with skyscrapers seen in the not-too-distant beyond, readers follow two children - one in overalls, the other in a sunny tunic - as they set out to record and explore.

As author Catherine Bailey’s rhyming text gently bounces in introduction, illustrator Lauren brings us in close. Lean grass blades cluster and bend. Veined waxy leaves filter and reflect the sun. Fluffy soil below crumbles and compresses. The detailed cross-section lets readers know they’ve arrived — as special visitors to “secret cities” that buzz and crawl with activity and purpose, where lady bugs soar, butterflies perch and grasshoppers lurch…

The fun, fact-filled text draws clever parallels between bug work and human work, reminding readers that tiny critters aren’t pests, but busy and purposeful contributors to the planet. Spiders are architects. Termites are soldiers. Each bug has an important job to do that directly impacts the food chain, all the way up the ladder and back down again.

Each spread of HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS brings a different bug into focus. But nothing about the presentation is predictable. Sometimes, the horizon line arches and slopes, showing that our planet isn’t a series of tidy horizontal layers, but a dynamic and varied place. Other times the setting takes us deep, such as into the golden, glowing center of a honeycomb — a gorgeous sweet-treat for the eyes. Adding an extra layer of storytelling, the out-of-view sun slowly sets over the course of the book, communicating that bugs don’t stop hustling when the stars appear. It’s just another time for the critters to shine.

Do you want to know a little bit more about how Lauren creates this singular style of magic? If you’re like me, and you’d love a ticket for a trip into her studio, here it is! Come along on my first-ever Illustrator Spotlight with one of my all-time-favorite creators (and people!), Lauren Eldridge:

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3 Questions with Lauren Eldridge

The bugs you created in HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS are incredibly vibrant and life-like! What was it like living with all these creatures for so long?

Thank you! They are pretty life-like but, thankfully, they don't really register as real bugs because they are so big. Most of the insects are between 8-12 inches long and (fun fact!) are bigger than the environments I created for them. It was actually pretty helpful to be creating them when I was because I shared my space with a pod of third graders a few days per week (thanks pandemic) that were learning all about insects at the time. They were able to hold up the bugs and discuss things like what/where a thorax or mandible might be with their teachers and classmates via zoom - which was really cool to see! However, the spider did kind of creep people out because that guy looks like it could possibly be a real bug.

What materials did you have at the ready (or were indispensable) while creating these fascinating bugs?

Welp, I absolutely needed wire, epoxy, foam footballs, Sculpey and paint for the majority of the bugs. The butterflies required cardstock and I used dried flower petals to give other insects (especially the bees!) more interest and texture.

Which was the most challenging bug to create, and how did you solve that dilemma and bring it to life?

I think the firefly was the most difficult because I wanted it to actually glow. Most of my process is trial and error (I learn a LOT through "failure") and this bug definitely made me learn a LOT. After trying many different methods of putting a light inside of the insect, I pivoted and decided to put on many, many coats of glow-in-the-dark neon yellow paint. Which also didn't work on its own. SO... I ended up really focusing on lighting during photography. I used gels to color the lights and had several very small, controlled beams pointing only on the insect's abdomen while the rest of the bug was lit differently. In the end, it worked through photography and I didn't have to mess with it in post production!.  

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Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Lauren! You can order HUSTLE BUSTLE BUG now, HERE!

PS: Are you following Lauren on Instagram? Whatcha waiting for?! At @eldridgestudio, you get to go behind the curtain to see how her creations come together, piece by piece. And that’s something you don’t want to miss!

Lauren Eldridge is a 3-dimensional photographic illustrator. She earned her BA of Environmental Design in Landscape Architecture from University of Minnesota, her MA in Early Childhood Exceptional Education with a focus on Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and taught in special education settings for five years. Lauren employs materials like wire, clay, foam, cardboard, acrylic paint, paper, glass, plaster cloth, wood, fabric, and anything else a story calls for to achieve her visual creations. She lives with her husband and two mini-me studio assistants who keep her equal parts motivated and distracted in their home in Austin, TX.

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*** Win HUSTLE BUSTLE BUGS **

Simply...

1. "Like" this post (click the heart below)

2. Follow me (@anitraschulte) on Twitter

3. Retweet my contest tweet by 2/25/22 

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Author Spotlight: Daniel Miyares

In the world of picture books, we talk a lot about voice. Over time, I’ve come to learn that this means the sound of an author’s words. No matter who is reading the text, books with voice have a distinct rhythm, tone, style and cadence. An undeniable sound.

Voice is almost always attributed to authors. But if letters typed onto a page can have an audible signature, why can’t inked pictures? Illustration is a written form, too, with all the phrasing, punctuation and momentum of conjoined letters - and then some. Nothing speaks more clearly.

My very favorite picture books illustrators are masters of art, certainly. But their illustrations also have a discernible voice. Their lines and shapes have actual volume. Their textures hold music, measures upon measures of it. Their compositions can be light whispers, or deep bellows, vibrating with bass. They are conversations, incantations. Full of sound.

Beatrice Alemagna, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Cindy Derby, The Fan Brothers, Molly Idle, Gordon C. James, Marla Frazee, the great Jerry Pinkney - to me, these are picture book illustrators of our time whose artwork speaks. To this list, I heartily add Daniel Miyares, an author and illustrator whose stories have a language all their own. And very soon, readers can come aboard Miyares’ latest tale to hear the unmistakable call of the sea in…

HOPE AT SEA: An Adventure Story (Anne Schwartz Books), which publishes Nov. 9, 2021, is a fiction picture book about a girl, who wants desperately to join her father on a sailing expedition, and the lengths that she goes to in order to make that dream come true.

As Hope looks out upon the endless crashing blue of the sea, her world on the shore feels small. After years of watching from the safety of solid ground, Hope decides that she doesn’t want to merely hear the sea, she wants to be part of it. “I will stow away!” she says, setting her adventure in motion.

In secrecy, Hope boards a clipper ship about to leave the harbor on an important voyage. But it’s not just any ship. On board the boat is her father, the ship’s carpenter tasked with keeping the rig “seaworthy.” As the crew shouts its final call - ALL ABOARD! WEIGH ANCHOR! MAKE SAIL! - in Hope sneaks, disguised as a sailor. But, as all children know, you can hide from a parent’s gaze, but ultimately you will be found. In a favorite spread, Miyares wordlessly shows how the gravity of a parent’s disapproval is, in an instant, leveled by the worry and deep love felt for a child.

HOPE AT SEA is in many ways a tribute to the story’s vessel. Every page commands respect of the clipper ship’s grandeur, beauty and great, if not grave, mission of keeping everyone aboard safe. The wind and waves show no mercy in this tale, and readers just might see themselves in the ship itself - as a storm bears down and the whole crew is needed to keep the clipper floating.

Sometimes, circumstances are beyond our control. Sometimes, we have to let go. But almost always, there is a light shining on the horizon, and we are closer to home than we think. HOPE AT SEA is a reminder that our own stories, though they go off course, may simply be veering in a new direction. Our hands and contributions are needed still in the next great adventure.

HOPE AT SEA is also about a daughter and father, who share the same wish, joy, and spirit. In this story, and in many of his stories, Daniel Miyares’ characters make a choice to step away from normalcy and head into uncharted waters, where unforgettable moments lead to discovery, growth and change. What sparked this riveting, nautical tale? And how did this beautiful book come to be? I sat down for a chat with Daniel to find out! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Daniel Miyares:

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3 Questions with Daniel Miyares

HOPE AT SEA is set in time and place far away from the realities of today. How did this story come to you, and what was it like to spend so many hours and days in this distant world?

HOPE AT SEA began with a realization I had while talking to my daughter when she was about eleven years old. We were talking about all the things that had gone on in the school day and how she was feeling about them. Later that night I had this overwhelming feeling that there was no way I could ever protect her from all the tough stuff of this world. The best I could do would be to try and encourage a resilient spirit in my children. That was the kernel that I began this story with.

Initially I imagined the life and times of a 19th century tall ship and how that could parallel our own human experiences. Being built and formed with so much anticipation and promise. Then heading out into the world in search of adventure. Through discussions with my editor and publisher Anne Schwartz it made more sense to add in a more relatable human element to the story. So I decided why not still use the ship this way but have it actually parallel the life and times of a family. As the story took shape it seemed to all be centered around the question, what do you do when the storms of life come?

Having the story take place in a time and place long ago appealed to me because it raises the stakes for everyone in the book. Sailing on merchant ships back then was a dangerous but necessary business. Also, the wooden tall ship could serve as a wonderful metaphor for the changes the family and especially Hope are confronted with. I feel particularly fortunate that I was working on the art for this book during 2020. It gave me a place to wrestle with the same questions my family like so many others were wrestling with at the time. It sure felt like we were in the middle of a big storm.

You create such a vivid setting, first encountered in the detailed endpapers and carried through the realities of sailing life. What resources were essential to you, as you researched and developed this story?

As I developed my idea for this story it became clear that the setting was going to be so critical to the telling. How could you care for these characters if what they were endeavoring to do wasn’t believable? I didn’t want the historical details to be a stumbling block for the reader. I dug around a lot on the internet - reading old first hand accounts of what life at sea was like back then. I bought books on clipper ship building and the necessary equipment for a seafaring life. There was a lot to learn just to be able to understand how to represent some of the elements in this story. I had to study how this particular type of clipper ship would have been built, even as far as how they harvested the wood for certain pieces. I learned how to tie a lot of knots and what they were used for. It’s really hard to illustrate a particular knot if you haven’t tried tying it. My studio has several lengths of old rope now that I used to learn on.

Me and my family also took a short trip up to Racine, WI on Lake Michigan. It was something we could do safely with covid restrictions at the time. I got to climb around in an old lighthouse from the time period and learn about how they interacted with tall ships as well as how the technology has advanced. 

The varied compositions within HOPE AT SEA make an enormous emotional impact, from the unfinished nature of the spread heading out to sea, to the tip of the ship as the storm bears down. Can you tell us about one of your favorite spreads?

I did try and make sure that the compositions really supported the emotional beats of the story. There are small quiet moments and grand dramatic ones. I think if I had to pick one piece it would be the first finished piece of art I did for the project. Hope has found out that her father is soon going to be heading out to sea again. She doesn’t want to just hear about his adventures. She wants to be a part of them. In the illustration it’s morning time and Hope is still in her night gown looking out the window. She’s holding the ship in a bottle that her and her father made together up to the horizon line imagining herself sailing off. This is just a spot illustration in the book, but I think it sums up what compels Hope to go on her own journey.  

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Thank you so much for visiting the blog, Daniel!

You can pre-order HOPE AT SEA: An Adventure Story now! Here’s the link.

If you are not following Daniel on Instagram at @danielmiyaresdoodles, hop over there, STAT! You’ll find lots of process videos and sneak peeks at projects in progress.

Daniel also has an online shop - Daniel Miyares Art - where you can purchase select prints of his work for your home or as gifts. You’ll want to check that out, as well!

Daniel Miyares is a critically acclaimed picture book author and illustrator. Some of his books include: Float, Night Out, That is My Dream, and Bring Me A Rock! Daniel has been called “…a master of visual storytelling.”- Jody Hewston, Kinderlit, and “…enchanting, versatile” – The New York Times. He believes that our stories have the power to connect us all. Daniel’s story currently takes place in Lenexa, KS with his wife, their two wonderful children, and a dog named Violet that gives them all a run for their money. Some of his partners have included: Schwartz & Wade Books, Chronicle Books, Candlewick Press, Simon & Schuster BFYR, Nancy Paulsen Books, FSG (BYR), North/South Books, Charlesbridge Publishing, The NY Times.

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*** Win HOPE AT SEA: An Adventure Story **

Simply...

1. "Like" this post (click the heart below)

2. Follow me (@anitraschulte) on Twitter

3. Retweet my pinned contest tweet by 10/29/21 

(Submit a blog comment below and get a BONUS ENTRY!)

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Author Spotlight: Rajani LaRocca

As many of you know, my eldest daughter was born with a chromosomal deletion (4p-), also know as Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. Before the day of her birth and the date of her diagnosis - about 10 years ago - I hadn’t given DNA too much thought. Suddenly, my husband and I were being asked so many questions… and asking so many, too —

Are you a carrier of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome?

How big is her deletion?

Chromosomes have arms?

(The last question was mine!)

So much to learn. And yet, so much that simply was and is - the unique beauty and design of each person and each living thing.

Due to its complex nature, DNA is something that I haven’t discussed with our three girls, but I want to! I want them to better understand themselves and others and the natural world. Now, thanks to a new picture book on this very topic, I have an excellent way to start the conversation.

Meet THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU: ALL ABOUT YOUR DNA by Rajani LaRocca, MD, illustrated by Steven Salerno (little bee books), which publishes this week on Sept. 14, 2021.

I first encountered the work of author Rajani LaRocca last year, when I was compiling my annual Picture Book Picks blog feature. Author Hayley Barrett recommended LaRocca’s SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS as her favorite picture book of 2020, describing it as “visually gorgeous and delightfully intelligent, not to mention heartwarming.” I had to pick it up and check it out!

Like Hayley, I found LaRocca’s story to be completely exquisite. Rich, compelling and smart, while also warm and familiar. So when I learned that LaRocca had written a new picture book about DNA, I needed to know more. I noticed the MD behind her name and looked closer still to find that LaRocca attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, trained in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has been working as a primary care physician since 2001.

MD, indeed!

LaRocca also is an incredibly prolific author of books for children. She has six (…SIX!) books coming out this year alone. I can’t wait to read these titles:

• RED WHITE AND WHOLE (February 2021) - a novel

• BRACELETS FOR BINA’S BROTHERS (April 2021) - a picture book

• MUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL (June 2021) - a novel

• WHERE THREE OCEANS MEET (August 2021) - a picture book

• MY LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS (August 2021) - a picture book

And now, LaRocca is celebrating the book birthday of THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU, a September release. An an author to watch, no doubt!

THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU is a non-fiction picture book about the design that makes each living creature unique. The story begins with an array of animals. In rhyme, LaRocca asks readers why aren’t you “fuzzy” like a dog or “buzzy” like a bee? Why you aren’t you “leapy” like a frog or “creepy” like a spider? As children ponder the differences between humans and animals, it’s clear that something inside of us is making us different.

But what is it?

Enter DNA - the secret code inside us. LaRocca’s clear descriptions and catchy lyricism make a topic foreign to many children (and adults, like me!) easy to grasp and retain. And Salerno’s colorful, detailed, active art is both scientifically informative and energetically animated. A favorite line, about DNA: It looks like twisted ladders, or tiny twirling noodles. It makes us into people, instead of into poodles.

THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU concisely shares essential facts, then immediately connects the concepts to children’s curiosities and life experiences. This fantastic balance allows the story to inform and entertain, in equal parts, much like half of each biological parents’ chromosomes make a beautiful one-of-a-kind whole.

THE SECRET CODE INSIDE YOU contains a message, as well. That while your DNA tells your body how it will appear and assigns certain attributes and abilities, that isn’t the end of the story. You decide where to look and how to play. You choose what you’ll be. The reader leaves this story empowered to make choices that fulfill their own wishes and dreams - stepping outside the bounds of design to design their own destinies.

I was eager to learn the story behind this story, and how LaRocca made this special book sing with science and inspiration. Lucky for me, she was able to make a stop by the blog on her busy launch week! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Rajani LaRocca:

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3 Questions with Rajani LaRocca

Why did you want to tell this story?

 I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that the “blueprint” for every living thing lies in our cells, and how DNA is a code that must be translated in order for life to exist. In my medical career, one notion that often comes up is “nature vs. nurture”: what traits are predetermined, and how do our actions influence our health? In a book that explains genetics for kids, I wanted to explain the basics of genes, but also make sure to touch the importance of our choices in determining who we are.

How did you arrive at rhyme when drafting this manuscript? 

This manuscript started off rhyming, and no matter how many times I tried to de-rhyme it, it kept coming back in rhyme. Part of the reason is that the idea for this book came to me as a refrain: “There’s a secret code inside you / a code called DNA / A code that tells your body’s cells / what they should do each day.” 

It was only years later that I realized there’s another reason I had to write the book in rhyme. DNA nucleotides always pair up in the same way—adenine with thymine, and cytosine with guanine—and this is similar to how lines “pair” in rhyming manuscripts! My subconscious had decided long ago that this was how this book needed to be written. And it makes perfect sense, because to me, science is poetry.

What do you hope that children take away from the experience of reading this book?

I hope that kids come away fascinated and full of wonder about the science of DNA and genetics. And I hope they understand that their choices also very much determine who they are and who they become.

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Thank you for visiting the blog, Rajani!

Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning books for young readers. She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she is an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks. Learn more about Rajani and her books at www.RajaniLaRocca.com and Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. She also co-hosts the STEM Women in KidLit Podcast.

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Author Spotlight: Tammi Sauer

I hope all the mommas out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend! My unintentional two-day celebration (a practice I’d be happy to make a tradition) included a date night with Dan, brunch the following day, church with my family, the sweetest homemade gifts, cousin + sister fun, porch swinging, and writing time. So, you could say my tank is full. Sending extra hugs to my mom, Cheryl Rowe! We clearly share a love of the loose fit trouser.

Speaking of mothers…

I don’t think a mom ever forgets the first book her child reads independently. That’s why I’m so emotionally linked to the picture book GO FISH! by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Zoe Waring (HarperCollins). GO FISH! was the first book read alone by not ONE of my daughters, but TWO! I shared the magic of my youngest daughter’s first solo story mission in this ‘lil tweet…

All three of my girls are now avid readers - a dream come true! - and as an enthusiastic passenger on their reading-life journey, I can clearly see the link between their first cherished book and these enduring feelings of literary ownership and confidence.

If you wanna grab the attention of young readers and show them just how fun and engaging stories can be, look no further than the books of Tammi Sauer. Story after story delivers pure reading joy. Her character-driven narratives are brimming with witty delights, silly sentences and perfectly time punch lines, evoking smirks, smiles and allllll the LOLs.

So get ready to guffaw because Sauer’s latest picture book - NOT NOW, COW, illustrated by Troy Cummings (Abrams Appleseed, April 2021) - delivers precisely the color, charisma and comedy that fans of Sauer’s stories have come to enjoy. Here’s the season-defying cover… (PS: We ALL know cow, don’t we?)

NOT NOW, COW is a super funny story about a cow, who (despite many signs and signals from nature) cannot get on board with the weather. The book opens in the midst of cheery, bright, blossoming Spring. Spirited animals skitter across pink, yellow and green scenes, doing seasonally appropriate things. Duck happily waters budding plants. Sheep leaps and flies a kite.

Goat splashes through puddles, umbrella in hand, as a rainbow stretches across the sky. And Cow…

Well, Cow is… not on the same page.

NOT NOW, COW tickles funny bones with bouncy, playful rhyme, a cast of familiar-feeling friends, and humor that grows funnier and funnier with each page turn. Sauer tees up jokes just so, then WHACK! Anticipation soars up, up, up and… plop! The punch line lands in perfect position on the literary green. Often, for a hole in one.

Sauer is truly a master of the craft. I had the pleasure of attending an SCBWI conference a few years back, where Sauer presented and offered critiques. Her remarks - both in person and in the margins of my story - were dynamic, kind, exceedingly helpful and unforgettable. I’ve long hoped to have her on my blog, and… here she is! I hope you enjoy my Author Spotlight with Tammi Sauer:

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3 Questions with Tammi Sauer

Several of your books - such as NOT NOW, COW and GO FISH! - are perfect for new readers. How do you approach crafting stories for the very youngest among us?

For books like Now Now, Cow and Go Fish!, I had a specific audience in mind. I wanted to give young kids who are at the very beginning stages of reading opportunities to feel like accomplished, real deal readers. To do this, I kept the text in these books to a minimum and invited the art to tell most of the story. I also made the stories a bit silly because I think little kids are often big fans of silliness.

An added perk to Not Now, Cow is that it rhymes. Paired with the art, the simple, rhyming text invites young readers to make successful  predictions. When young readers find the confidence that comes from reading a book like Go Fish! or Not Now, Cow, they are more likely to reach for the next book.

Covid has made connecting with students in person super challenging. How have you adapted your author visits, since last spring, and what does 2021 hold? 

It turns out it took a PANDEMIC to get me to do virtual visits. Kate Messner's webinar series "Reinventing the Author Visit" helped me to see it was doable, and Janee Trasler, one of the members of my critique group, acted as my personal guide as I learned how to navigate my way through Zoom and Google Meet. In addition, it was comforting to know there were a lot of people who were in this very same boat. The Facebook group called "Create Engaging School Visits" has been around since before the pandemic, but, this past year, it's been especially helpful for us authors and illustrators to have a place to share strategies for developing and doing virtual visits.

Even though I can't feed off the audience like I would normally do in an in-person visit, I always go into a virtual visit with the idea that I am presenting to the most engaged kid in the world. I have also made parts of my presentations interactive, and that has worked out well despite the confines of a virtual visit.

I'm hopeful that the 2021-2022 school year will bring with it a return to in-person visits. I already have a lot of visits on my calendar! I will, however, continue to do virtual visits as they are an easy, affordable way for schools to connect kids with authors.

Look at that stack of books! What advice can you share for picture book writers, who dream of writing many (many!) stories for children?

My favorite bit of picture book advice comes from a Cynsations interview that I was lucky enough to discover early in my career. Cynthia Leitich Smith had asked author Lynne E. Hazen a question regarding her main considerations in writing a picture book.

And THIS was Lynne's response:

"My main considerations for any picture book are humor, emotion, just the right details, read-aloud-ability, pacing, page turns, and of course, plot. Something has to happen to your characters that young readers will care about and relate to. Oh, and you have to accomplish all that in as few words as possible, while creating plenty of illustration possibilities. No easy task."

So good, right?!

I think about this quote every time I write a picture book.

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Thank you for visiting the blog, Tammi! (That quote is going on the wall in my writing space!)

Tammi Sauer, a former teacher and library media specialist, is a full-time children's book author. She has 30 picture books with more on the way. In addition to winning awards and earning starred reviews, Tammi's books have gone on to do great things. Chicken Dance, Your Alien, and Nugget & Fang were made into musicals that toured the nation. Wordy Birdy was named a Kids’ Indie Next List book, the 2021 Book Choice for Read Across Oklahoma, and a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year. And Your Alien, an NPR Best Book of the Year, was released in Italian, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, and French which makes her feel extra fancy. Visit Tammi’s website at tammisauer.com, and be sure to follow her on Twitter at @SauerTammi.

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Author Spotlight: Richard Ho

February brings the annual delivery of a Valentine’s Day care package to our home. When my daughters slit the side of the bubble pouch, sent via USPS by my parents, love comes tumbling out…

Red cards!

Chocolate bars!

Pink stickers!

Holiday scarves!

Smiles, then jumps. Jumps, then squeals. Just like that, the day is brighter. We’re in the midst of a kitchen renovation, and this bouncy heart headband definitely added a ring-a-ding-ding to our basement Valentine’s Day dinner…

But what happens when a package gets lost? What becomes of the care and heart tucked within? New picture book THE LOST PACKAGE, by Richard Ho, illustrated by Jessica Lanan (Roaring Brook Press, coming March 2, 2021), explores exactly that. Here’s the stunner of a cover…

THE LOST PACKAGE is a beautiful, tender, informative story about a package that takes an unexpected route. The story begins with a simple box, as all packages do, but soon it’s much more. In her bright peachy room, a young girl fills the cardboard container with special things, closes it up securely, and sends it on its way.

The package arrives at the post office and is immediately swept into the delivery system. Gorgeously detailed watercolored compositions reveal the inner workings of the rooms and machines that ensure each package is directed to the correct zip code and door.

The girl’s package is well on its way when the unexpected happens. The mail truck hits a pot hole, sending the box flying - out of the truck and into the wet street. It lands in a puddle. Lost.

Will the package be found? Will it ever make it across the country, to its final destination? Light and hope glow upon the silvery streetscape, revealing a chance encounter with the potential to set things right. In prose warm and clear, author Richard Ho tells a sparsely written yet broad, sweeping tale about taking a chance and bringing things home. What inspired this heartfelt story? I had a chat with the author to find out! Here’s my Author Spotlight with Richard Ho:

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3 Questions with Richard Ho

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In your author’s note, readers learn that your father worked as a clerk for the US Postal Service for more than 30 years. How did growing up around the stories of mail and special deliveries inform the journey of the package in this story?

Research is vital when writing about a complex topic like the mail system. But I feel like I cheated a bit with this story, given that my “research” was chatting with my dad! Growing up, I was always curious about the mail, and my father’s role in it. He loved to explain all the intricacies of the process, from how to calculate the correct postage for sending a package to the difference between first class and priority mail. Plus, it was so convenient to just hand him letters on his way to work—I never had to use a mailbox or go to the post office myself! So when I was writing the story, I asked my father to read several drafts, and he fact-checked the technical details.

But more than anything, my father instilled in me a tremendous respect for the USPS as an institution. It has a real nobility of purpose: connecting people across the country, allowing friends and family to maintain personal bonds even over great distances. And I saw that nobility every day, because my father embodied it with his diligence and sense of duty. I wanted to imbue this story with that same nobility. Even though the package gets lost and falls out of the hands of the mail system, it eventually reaches its destination because the people who find it also share that belief in the power of personal connections.

While we’re on the topic of journeys, tell us about your path to picture books! How long has writing been part of your life, and when did writing for children become an area of focus for you? 

I’d like to say that my writing journey started from the time I could string two words together. But the truth is, I was a late bloomer! I’d always enjoyed writing as a child, but I never considered it as a career until college. And even then, my initial interest was in journalism. Post-college, I started dabbling in creative writing, and my passion for storytelling grew. And after our oldest son was born, I was reintroduced to the wonderful world of children’s books.

Reading these books from an adult perspective was truly eye-opening. I was able to see the craft and appreciate the structure and wordplay to a degree I never appreciated as a child. Even then, the thought of writing them myself didn’t occur to me—until a conversation with a co-worker who happened to be a children’s book illustrator. She had seen some pictures of our pet hedgehog (Henry, we miss you!), and she suggested I write a story about him. So I did. That manuscript was the first of many to come, and officially marked the start of my kidlit journey!

Handwritten letters and care packages are such precious gifts of time, energy, creativity and love – kind of like picture books! What special elements do you like to tuck into your stories, for readers to discover? 

For each of my books, the story as a whole is a love letter to a topic that’s close to my heart. Whether it’s mail (THE LOST PACKAGE), space exploration (RED ROVER: CURIOSITY ON MARS), or the Chinese fables I grew up with (YEAR OF THE CAT), the story ends up being a vessel for storing the things I love about that topic. So I try to cram in as many fascinating details as possible! For example, there’s a five-mile system of purple conveyor belts called “Barney” in the Morgan Processing and Distribution Center, the largest mail sorting plant in New York City. The Morgan plant is depicted in THE LOST PACKAGE, and even though Barney wasn’t central to our story, illustrator Jessica Lanan was able to sneak a glimpse of it into the background!

Of course, so many of the delightful discoveries in picture books are courtesy of the illustrators. And as the author, I can’t claim credit for them! In THE LOST PACKAGE, there’s a whimsical rabbit lamp in the girl’s bedroom that Jessica based on a real lamp from editor Emily Feinberg’s office. And all the children in the story are modeled after Jessica’s adorable neighbors!

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What great fun- thank you for the wonderful interview, Richard!

Richard Ho is the author of THE LOST PACKAGE, illustrated by Jessica Lanan, and RED ROVER: CURIOSITY ON MARS, illustrated by Katherine Roy (both published by Roaring Brook Press). His third book, YEAR OF THE CAT, illustrated by Jocelyn Li Langrand (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins), publishes in Fall 2022. Visit Richard’s website at www.richardhobooks.com, and be sure to follow him on Twitter at @richkarho.

THE LOST PACKAGE publishes March 2, 2021. It is available for pre-order now through your favorite indie bookstore.

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Author Spotlight: Jackie Azúa Kramer

One of the reasons I’m so enamored with picture books is that there are stories for absolutely every moment of life.

Silly stories for when you need a good belly laugh. Non-fiction stories that explore our fascinating world. Poetic stories that linger in a feeling and help you better understand it.

Jackie Azúa Kramer is a picture book author who doesn’t shy away from exploring human experiences. In books both light-hearted and deep, Jackie lyrically traverses the landscape of childhood, leaning into familiar topics in fresh and profound ways.

Jackie’s latest picture book, THE BOY AND THE GORILLA, illustrated by Cindy Derby (Candlewick), which publishes Oct. 13, is an emotional, love-filled story about a boy who is coping with the loss of his mother. Written with great tenderness and honesty, and awash in the fluid feelings of grief, THE BOY AND THE GORILLA is a truly unforgettable story.

THE BOY AND THE GORILLA is written as a conversation between a boy and a gorilla. But the book begins in silence. The first two spreads are completely wordless compositions of the mother’s funeral, a poignant extension of the deafening sound of loss. The first words spoken are by the gorilla, an imagined manifestation of the new, immovable truth that the boy is about to confront.

In the same way that the gorilla fills the page, looming large, so does the sparse, raw dialogue. (My mom died. I know.) As a reader, you sit with these words - these questions, answers and statements - wrestling with them and meditating on them. The boy’s worries are very real and very big.

Gorgeous and solemn, the art in THE BOY AND THE GORILLA reflects that grief doesn’t have crisp, clean edges. It’s a series of heavy feelings and shapes that press down on you, and that you lean into, as you find your way. Each spread of THE BOY AND THE GORILLA moves the reader through a different dimension of pain, toward an unknown future.

I was never fully ready to turn the pages of THE BOY AND THE GORILLA - to move through the book and to the next layer of feeling. Instead, I found myself lingering in each moment, holding my breath, holding on. The pacing of this story made the page turn a metaphor for grief, such a completely brilliant use of the picture book form. In the end, the gorilla helps the boy to discover that a very real companion is there, too, ready and waiting to comfort and love him. It’s incredibly powerful and still pulses in my heart right now, as I share this review with you.

Where did this story come from? And how did the universal feeling of grief get onto the page with such accuracy and impact? I had to chat with Jackie to find out. Luckily, I got the chance! I hope you enjoy this Author Spotlight with Jackie Azúa Kramer:

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3 Questions with Jackie Azúa Kramer

This story has such a deep and emotional focus and tone. What inspired this manuscript?

I want to start by saying—thank you, Anitra, for inviting me as a guest author. And, thank you for your thoughtful questions. I dug deep in my writer’s journey on The Boy and the Gorilla.

So, in 2012 Hurricane Sandy ripped through New York, bringing with it record breaking storm surges and flooding that devastated many communities including my own in Long Island. I had known this lovely family for a few years mostly through my daughter’s funny recounting of events while babysitting these two adorable, little sisters. And, from a time, I had them over for a very messy tea party. It was their father who was killed by a falling tree while attempting to drive his family to a safer location during the hurricane.

I wished I could do something, anything to help those innocent children. But what? I thought, Hey, you’re a writer. Imagine their feelings and questions and write that story. Easier said than done--it took a few years to write.

The presence of the gorilla, and some additional artistic elements (such as the red bird), carry great weight in the narrative. How did you approach art notes for this story? 

Great question! Actually, there are a few questions wrapped in that one. So, bear with me. As picture book writers most of us learn and understand to keep our art notes to a very minimum, if any. However, The Boy and the Gorilla manuscript was about 300 words, and the rest all art notes. The story is told completely in dialogue; no narrative text at all. So, the only way to explain what I imagined in setting, characters, tone and pacing, was to write what I called ‘visual interpretations’. In other words, when I created the dummy for the book, I knew exactly what each spread and page turn would look like. I wrote the manuscript with art notes like scenes in a movie.

The Gorilla character came to mind as a I learned about how some children are affected by loss. What if a little boy lost his mother and both the boy and his father are grieving, but separately and unaware of each other’s pain.

Maybe the boy was afraid to ask questions fearing he’d make his father sad. Maybe the father’s afraid to talk about the boy’s mother fearing he’d upset his son. Their unspoken feelings become the metaphorical idiom of the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room. What if that large gorilla comes to life in the little boy’s mind? By creating the character of a kind, honest and supportive gorilla, the boy has someone he could share his feelings with and ask questions about death.

One of the many things I love about being a picture book writer, is the magic that happens between the time your story leaves your hands and into the illustrators.

Cindy Derby, the illustrator, did a magnificent job of interpreting my thoughts into beautiful and moving images. I believe, Oscar, a gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo was Cindy’s model. And, the little red bird is an example of the magic that happens in creative collaborations. I didn’t write a word about the sweet and mysterious bird in the story. That was all Cindy, and now I can’t imagine the story without it. I’ve shared the story with adults and children and they all ask about the meaning or significance of the Gorilla and the red bird. I LOVE that because the story leaves room for the reader’s imagination to decide.

Your voice is poetic, unique and powerful. What do you see as the thematic hallmarks of your work, and how have you honed this, and your writing voice, over time? 

Oh gosh! Thank you, Anitra! The word, hone, perfectly characterizes what it took to get the voice just right in The Boy and the Gorilla. For that matter, all of my stories. Practice! Practice! Practice! The lyrical quality of poetry is a writing style that I find perfect for picture books. I’m so flattered you picked up on the power of voice. In this business, one is best served if you can find that voice that makes your stories unique.

One of the ways that I’ve honed that voice, beyond reading and learning from other great picture books, has developed from my love of theatre and movies. If I absorbed anything from those genres, it’s the sweeping, dynamic and dramatic flow of great story-telling. I literally see my stories first like a moving image or scenes in a play before I write anything.

As for thematic hallmarks—hmm. I won’t deny it; all my main characters have a bit of me in them. As a kid, I was filled with wonder, curiosity and questions about everything! I remember feeling like a bit of an odd duck as a result. My characters seem to start out alone on some kind of journey.

But ALWAYS seeking and needing to make a connection/s with someone or something. I believe the need for humans to be understood, accepted and loved is a universal feeling. The Green Umbrella (NorthSouth, 2017) is a good example of that universality.

I also have the utmost respect for young readers, and I strive not to talk down to them. I’m inspired and emotionally moved by what’s happening in the world today. So, with The Boy and the Gorilla and in some of my other upcoming books--I Wish You Knew (Roaring Brook, 2021) and We Are One (Two Lions, Amazon, TBD) and Manolo and the Unicorn (Cameron Kids, TBD) which I co-wrote with my son, I write about loss; deportation; universal connections and gender norms. However, I always keep in mind a child’s point of view, imaginative play, and that anything is possible.

THE BOY AND THE GORILLA publishes Oct. 13, 2020. It is available for pre-order now through your favorite indie bookstore.

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Thank you for the wonderful interview, Jackie!

Jackie Azúa Kramer is the author of THE GREEN UMBRELLA (NorthSouth), IF YOU WANT TO FALL ASLEEP (Clavis), THAT’S FOR BABIES (Clavis), and many more to come! Visit Jackie’s website at jackieazuakramer.com, and be sure to follow her on Twitter at @jackiekramer422 and Instagram at @jackie_azua_kramer.

One lucky blog reader will win THE BOY AND THE GORILLA, signed by Jackie! Here's how to enter:

*** Win THE BOY AND THE GORILLA ***

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Author Spotlight: Pat Zietlow Miller

Who misses their library?

Omgosh, me, me, ME! My list of books to-be-read grows by the day. As writer who jumped feet-first into the world of children’s literature, I read about every new picture book I can get my hands on.

At an average of 10 new books a week, I guesstimate that I’ve read 1,000 to 1,500 picture books in the past three years. Over time, I’ve developed a pretty clear idea of the storytelling I connect with most, and favorite authors have definitely emerged - writers who have perfected the craft and are telling kids the BEST stories in unforgettable ways.

I keep a list of these storytellers in a little bronze book. I never want to miss their latest project, to see how they are evolving and to learn more about picture book magic from these creators.

Author Pat Zietlow Miller is in that little book. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when Pat reached out last fall to donate books to Holiday Book Drive Chi. The delivery of her warm, adorable story LORETTA’S GIFT to this Bronzeville class in Chicago was one of my favorite moments of Delivery Day 2019.

After last year’s book drive, I started looking for 2020 new releases for my TBR pile. I always keep my eyes peeled for stories with spirit and heart and am eternally drawn to hopeful, cheerful, yellow covers. So when I saw this adorable book was written by Pat, I had to read it…

MY BROTHER THE DUCK by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman (Chronicle Books), is a story about a young scientist named Stella, who has many reasons to believe that her new baby brother is a duck.

Stella’s worries begin before the baby arrives, when Mom’s waddling prompts Dad to joke, “We must be having a duck.” Then, when brother comes home from the hospital (scrawny and wrapped in yellow), Stella decides research is required.

She gets to work, and to her chagrin, all of the evidence points to duck. His fuzzy hair. His squawking. Even his name, Drake (which Stella discovers is “a fancy word for a boy duck”).

MY BROTHER THE DUCK is a charming and exceedingly clever story about older sibling stresses and working your way to a new normal - no matter how strange that new normal may be. The delightful humor found on every page continues all the way through the end, as the story resolves with a new hypothesis for Stella to test.

Fans of Pat Zietlow Miller, and authors looking to learn from one of the best, it’s now my pleasure to introduce Pat, who is stopping by the blog this week to answer three questions… and give away a signed copy of her new book! I hope you enjoy this Author Spotlight with the incredible Pat Zietlow Miller:

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3 Questions with Pat Zietlow Miller

Tell us about your inspiration for MY BROTHER THE DUCK. Where did the idea for this story come from?

I’ve always been fascinated by how kids can hear adults say things and take what they say very literally and very seriously, even if the adult is joking.

Like, once, my youngest went to summer art camp and the instructor told her if she kept asking so many questions, he’d have to charge her extra. She came home quite concerned that we’d be getting an extra bill, and I had to reassure her that was not the case.

So, I thought it would be fun to have a character – Stella Wells – overhear something her parents said in jest – that her future baby brother would be a duck – and take it seriously. And then, I thought it would be even more fun to have the kid be just self-aware enough to know that she should try to find out if that statement was true or not.

At first, I had the character be a detective in training trying to crack the case. But then, the character turned into a fledgling scientist with a hypothesis to test. That ended up working out well. Because Stella understands the scientific process and uses it to learn things that are true, but because she’s a kid, she still misinterprets what she finds out.

MY BROTHER THE DUCK is full of clever quack ups, from the baby name (Drake) to perfectly placed idioms ("That didn't fit the bill"). But never veers into groan territory. Any tips to share for striking this balance? Hitting so many notes without overplaying your hand?  

That’s a good question. I thought of every duck pun that I could and tried to work as many as possible in without compromising the story structure. The puns had to fit within the picture book framework and not distract from the story, so that was the test. Even if a pun was funny, if it stuck out or made the story lose its flow, I didn’t keep it.

This isn’t really a pun, but I was so proud to fit in a reference to the classic children’s picture book MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS, written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, which won a Caldecott medal in 1942. I hope readers understand the shout-out and check out this book if they’re not already familiar with it. (And, if they ever get to Boston, they can visit the statue in Boston’s Public Garden that honors the book.)

Your books make the best gifts, from seasonal titles (SOPHIE’S SQUASH), to stories with evergreen themes, great for graduations (WHEREVER YOU GO) and new arrivals (LORETTA’S GIFT, MY BROTHER THE DUCK). What comes first, the chicken (or duck) or the hook? 

For me, the story almost always comes first. After that, sometimes I try to add a hook and, other times, the hook surprises me.

For example, the hook surprised me in SOPHIE’S SQUASH. I got several rejections that said the story was too quiet and didn’t have enough of a hook. But once the book was published, the hook ended up being that a lot of little people wanted to carry a squash around like a baby, just like Sophie does in the book. Suddenly, I was getting pictures of kids carrying vegetables. I don’t think the publisher or I saw that coming.

I was also surprised with MY BROTHER THE DUCK. I mean, it totally is a new baby story, but I never looked at it that way when I was writing it. To me it was a story about science and exploration and discovering what’s true.

WHEREVER YOU GO is the one story that I consciously wrote hoping it would be a graduation book. My oldest daughter was finishing up high school when I was writing it, and I put everything I wanted to tell her into that book. So I’m very happy to see it being used that way.

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Thank you for the wonderful interview, Pat!

Pat Zietlow Miller is the author of many books for children, including REMARKABLY YOU (HarperCollins), WHEN YOU ARE BRAVE (Little, Brown), LORETTA’S GIFT (little bee), WIDE AWAKE BEAR (HarperCollins), BE KIND (Roaring Brook Press), SOPHIE’S SQUASH (Schwartz & Wade), WHEREVER YOU GO (Little, Brown), and more.

If you’d like to order a signed copy of MY BROTHER THE DUCK (who doesn’t love signed copies?), you can do so through Mystery to Me, an independent bookstore in Madison, Wisconsin. Just call the store and leave a voicemail at (608) 283-9332, or send the store an email at info@mysterytomebooks.com. Then, Mystery to Me will ship you the signed copy.

One lucky blog reader will win MY BROTHER THE DUCK, signed by Pat! Here's how to enter:

*** Win MY BROTHER THE DUCK ***

Simply...

1. "Like" this post (click the heart below)

2. Follow me (@anitraschulte) on Twitter

3. Retweet my pinned contest tweet by 6/5/20 

(Submit a blog comment below and get a BONUS ENTRY!)

GOOD LUCK!

Author Spotlight: Tara Lazar

When I first put my ear to the ground of children’s publishing, one of the first voices I heard was that of Tara Lazar. Tara is the author of eight supremely entertaining books for kids and also is a font of online fun and information for authors and illustrators.

Tara delivers a near-daily dose of hilarious animal content on Twitter. (Squirrel mischief? Sign me up!). She’s also the founder of Storystorm, an annual brainstorming event that challenges creatives to come up with one story idea each day for a month, building a bank of at least 30 story ideas that can be drawn from and built upon throughout the year.

A fun ‘lil tidbit - one of my 2018 Storystorm ideas became a manuscript that is going to be a book in Fall 2020 (DANCING WITH DADDY, Two Lions). I’m so grateful to Storystorm for coaxing that idea out of my brain and into a Word doc! The 11th annual Storystorm kicks off soon (Jan. 1, 2020). Be sure to click here in the New Year to join the event and tap into a wealth of knowledge shared by Tara and a host of other successful kidlit professionals.

But, back to the books!

My love of Tara’s stories started with the 7 ATE 9 (illustrated by Ross MacDonald, Disney*Hyperion). I knew I had to read it when I saw the cover art in Tara’s pinned tweet. The concept. The wordplay. Just too good…

I soon discovered what thousands of other readers already knew: That Tara is a master of tone and tempo, who can deliver jokes with both abandon and restraint, pulling off the most clever of literary endeavors.

Fans of 7 ATE 9 have been craving a sequel, and this fall it arrived. THE UPPER CASE: TROUBLE IN CAPITAL CITY (Disney*Hyperion, October 2019) is out in the world, regaling readers with humor and who-done-it hijinks. Here’s the neon-yet-noir cover…

When THE UPPER CASE begins, readers learn that there’s trouble in Capital City. Mark (Question Mark, that is) and Exclamation blow into the office of Private I to share some worrisome intel: All of the uppercase letters are missing! Private I can’t stay in the margins. He takes the case, but cautiously. He doesn’t want to be next…

Dry, wry Private I takes readers along on his investigation. He interviews all the “types” - Hyphen, Period, Ampersand, the Quotation Twins. His interrogations personify punctuation, introducing young readers to meanings of familiar marks and earning plenty of parental chuckles in the process.

Private I is out of ideas and feeling down when he sees a light shining way across town. He follows the gleaming beam into the winding streets of Cursive Loop. I won’t ruin the ending, but suffice it to say the climactic scene is, quite literally, laugh-out-loud hilarious.

It’s now my pleasure to introduce the author of THE UPPER CASE, Tara Lazar, who is stopping by the blog this week to answer three questions (and give away a signed copy of her new book!). I hope you enjoy this Author Spotlight with the 100 percent fabulous Tara Lazar!

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3 Questions with Tara Lazar

The follow up to 7 ATE 9 is here! Can you share a bit about how THE UPPER CASE came to you?

When I began talking to Ross MacDonald about a sequel, he mentioned that for a long time, Kevin Lewis (the acquiring editor) had wanted to do a punctuation book with him, but a story never materialized. So I took that suggestion and ran with it---nowhere fast! I had the opening line of Question Mark being "bent out of shape," but that was it. I couldn't figure out how to continue the story using a punctuation problem.

Then one day, months later, it finally hit me: punctuation does not occur in a vacuum! It needs words and letters to work! Once I realized I could mix the two together--letters and punctuation marks--the story took off.

Are you sharing this new story in student Skypes this fall? What are the key components to a successful session?

Yes, lots of Skypes! I love connecting with classrooms via video calls! The key components to a successful Skype session are:

- Pajamas

- A magic trick

- Reading with character voices

- A Q&A period

- Off-key singing

- A British accent

- A cup of tea

OK, I wanna attend one of those Skypes. Final question from the kiddo in the back row (me!): What are your goals, as you move forward in your picture booking life and career?

The main goal is to keep making books. There are loftier goals like winning major awards, becoming a NY Times bestselling author, and turning a book into a movie, but if I'm going to do this for the rest of my life, I have plenty of time to keep growing as a writer and to keep reaching higher. But bottom line, a sustained career is what I hope to achieve.

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Thank you, Tara!

Tara Lazar is the author of many books for children, including YOUR FIRST DAY OF CIRCUS SCHOOL (Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada), WAY PAST BEDTIME (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster), 7 ATE 9: THE UNTOLD STORY (Disney*Hyperion), THE MONSTORE (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster), I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BEAR BOOK (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster), LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD (Random House BFYR), and NORMAL NORMAN (Sterling Children’s Books).

One lucky reader will win THE UPPER CASE, signed by Tara Lazar! Here's how to enter:

*** Win THE UPPER CASE: TROUBLE IN CAPITAL CITY ***

Simply...

1. "Like" this post (click the heart below)

2. Follow me (@anitraschulte) on Twitter

3. Retweet my pinned contest tweet by 11/15/19 

(Submit a blog comment below and get a BONUS ENTRY!)

GOOD LUCK!

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A parting treat: The book trailer for THE UPPER CASE!