MORE POSTS FROM THIS AUTHOR
What book are you proudest of? Which is to say, which one gives you the deepest sense of satisfaction when you think of it? To be honest by the time a book is published, I’m over it. When that first copy of a new book arrives, I open it, smell the ink, and allow myself […]
Other SBBT Blog Interviews Today: Mitali Perkins at Hip Writer Mama Svetlana Chmakova at Finding Wonderland Dana Reinhardt at Interactive Reader Laura Ruby at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy Holly Black at Shaken & Stirred Hilary McKay at Bookshelves of Doom Kirsten Miller at Miss Erin Carolyn Mackler at The YA YA […]
The Lemonade War By Jacqueline Davies Houghton Mifflin $16.00 I am about to describe to you a true situation that I have experienced time and time again as a children’s librarian. A parent will walk up to me and ask for a work of fiction for kids dealing either with money or business. Money or […]
Al, my darling, what on earth were you thinking? Birds with swords. Look, it’s adorable that it was written by a 14-year-old girl. That’s cute as can be. And the writing isn’t too terrible and the pictures are cute. That said, it’s not a good book. And what with its presence on the New York […]
Work too long in any single profession for an extended amount of time and there’s a danger of growing jaded. In my particular case, sometimes I’ll have days where I feel as if nothing original or new is being published anymore. I’ll get into a slump of sorts, nit-picking and kvetching over the various lovely […]
Your books, as you yourself have described on your website, display, "a recurring interest in notions of ‘belonging’, particularly the finding or losing of it." That’s certainly true of your newest work. Is it true of all your art, or just your children’s books? And if it’s just the children’s, why do you suppose that […]
Are there any graphic novelists in particular that you gravitate towards? Did any of them affect The Arrival? Yes, there are a handful. Raymond Briggs was one who probably had the greatest influence on The Arrival, especially in the early concept stages, which took some cues from his silent picture book The Snowman. I was […]
New York isn’t the only American city that’s going to get to see the staged adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s picture book The Wolves in the Walls. Now L.A.’s getting a piece of the action as well. I don’t mind. Someday I may have to move to that city. Any kidlit connections that establish themselves there […]
Certain things in this world make me happy. Cupcakes. My tiny little Fuseman. More cupcakes. And then there are those odd quirks of fate that just make you happy to be a creature with the wherewithal to acknowledge peculiarities. I am referring, of course, to a recent Mo Willems blog posting that meticulously explains the […]
The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley by Colin Thompson and Amy Lissiat. Kane/Miller. $15.95. The Aussies are different from you and I. They’re not afraid of picture books that look like the love children of Robert Crumb and Monty Python. Take, as today’s example, a little number going by the name of “The […]