My newest picture book is out!
It is a happy, light-hearted story about a mouse family that needs matzah for Passover. They live under the floorboards beneath the apartment where the human Winklers live. And luckily the Winklers are … Read More
Gustave first notices Mr. Quong’s Hand Laundry because there is a cat in the window, lying on a red and gold blanket in a patch of sunshine. He taps on the window to say hello to her.
Later, when he … Read More
Inquiring minds might want to know: ARE there any ravens in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights? No, they aren’t mentioned–although they certainly suit its windswept, craggy wildness. They do appear in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, however.
Jane observes … Read More
As the school year comes to a close, all students and professors get a little exhausted, and this year I have a lot going on, so I have been especially feeling it. But I had a wonderful experience in class … Read More
After rereading Judith Kerr’s Bombs on Aunt Dainty, a very autobiographical novel that describes her first art classes, I decided it was high time I should read some of her self-illustrated picture books. And it turns out that, although Kerr … Read More
On Fridays, I’m going to post prompts for writers who feel like trying something new to spark creativity. Most will work for both memoir writers and fiction writers.
Most will work for teachers to use with kids, too.
DID … Read More
I had another “small world” moment today when I came across George Ella Lyon’s delightful nonfiction picture book, Mother to Tigers, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto (Atheneum 2003).
This is another terrific picture book to buy for children who … Read More
While I was thinking about what I learned about Baltimore history from reading Laura Amy Schlitz’s The Hired Girl, I happened to come across another book that taught me more about Baltimore: Lesléa Newman’s adorable picture book, Ketzel, … Read More