MORE 'COVER-REVEAL' POSTS
It may be a personal opinion but I’ll stand by it; Children’s books need more octopuses. The reason is simple. The octopus is a truly fascinating creature. Now in 2017 a couple of my favorite illustrators have already tackled the octopus in all its tentacular glory. David Wiesner, for example, has a picture book out […]
On occasion a publisher will ask me to do a cover reveal of a middle grade novel. They’ll also ask if I’m interested in doing a Q&A with the author and usually I’ll say nope. Not so much. Thanks anyway. But this time around I had an idea. Today we are premiering the book jacket […]
When I worked in the Donnell Central Children’s Room I got used to handling all kinds of interesting reference requests. One that I got frequently was parents looking for child-friendly versions of Don Quixote. The pickings were, to say the least, slim. There was Eric A. Kimmel’s Don Quixote and the Windmills and one other […]
When I look at the wide swath of books published each and every year it’s a marvel to me that any new children’s book authors are able to claw their way out of the pack to distinguish themselves at all. Consider adult author Lauren Wolk. In 2016 her debut children’s book Wolf Hollow became one […]
So often a cover reveal is just that. A reveal. Here’s your cover, batta bing, badda boom. Today is different. Today, we’re shaking things up a tad. But a little backstory first. About half a year ago I had the pleasure of speaking at the MD/DE/WV SCBWI Conference in Frederick, Maryland. I like doing SCBWI Conferences. […]
Folks ask me to reveal middle grade covers from time to time. Sometimes I say yes. Sometimes I say no. If you ever happen to be interested in my doing so then the following elements should ideally be combined: A nun A smarmy man with a mustache (handlebar preferred but not required) An unnerved woman […]
Folks, let me level with you. I only love two things in this world. Cats. And astronauts. Okay, that’s a lie. I love a whole lot more than just those two things. But let’s say I was stranded on a desert island somewhere and I was told that I could have a book about only […]
Okay, a little background before we launch into this one. Before Chris Grabenstein wrote Mr. Lemoncello’s Library (a book for which he is justifiably famous) he wrote a whole heaping helpful of other books. For decades. Seriously, the man has paid his dues. Now he has a new book out with absolutely zip, zero, zilch […]
You know where I lived for eleven years of my New York City life? Harlem. You know where no one, aside from Walter Dean Myers, ever sets a middle grade novel? Harlem. Greenwich Village, Brooklyn, even Queens get more love than Harlem in books for 9-12 year olds. So you might understand why I’m happy […]
It’s a cloudy February here in Illinois. Yesterday the heavens opened up and let loose a downpour. Today it is wet if not actively raining. We are in the thick of winter, albeit an oddly warm one. With all this in mind, I think we need some cheering up. Now a friend recently pointed out […]