New Books in Children's Literature

In this, our third interview, we celebrate the brand new picture book of Bea Birdsong, Goat Is the G.O.A.T. (Nancy Paulsen Books, Feb. 2025), illustrated by Kelly Murphy. Bea is also the author of I Will Be Fierce!, Sam’s First Word, How to Spot a Best Friend, Boop!, with many more books coming out over the next two years. We talk about Bea's meteoric career, and how her unconventional approaches led her to find her agent, to book deals with major publishers, and international success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this, our second interview I speak with award-winning children's author Vivian Kirkfield about her gorgeous, brand new picture book, One Girl's Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land (Calkin's Creek, Feb. 2025, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon). We talk about the life and pioneering career of Lucy Stone, how the book came about, and some of Vivian's own trials and tribulations on the way to literary success. Vivian shares her advice for aspiring authors (perseverance, passion and more...), and talks about '50 Precious Words,' her free annual contest for authors with the courage to write a story in fifty words or less, and the careers that she has spawned as a result. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this lively and fun interview, we celebrate award-winning author Erica Lyons' new picture book, On a Chariot of Fire: The Story of India’s Bene Israel, illustrated by Siona Benjamin (Levine Querido, 2024). We talk about her childhood passion for writing, and how her careers in law and publishing gave her the tools that helped catapult her into the world of children's publishing. We discussed her love of historical fiction, particularly on Jewish themes, and the importance of learning the rules, and then breaking them when there is good reason to do so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our captivating interview (pun intended), we celebrate Henry Herz's new book I AM GRAVITY (Tilbury House, April, 2024), which combines lyrical text and fascinating artwork by illustrator Mercè López, and crisscrosses splendidly between science and art, fact and fancy. We also discuss his background in engineering, and how he morphed into a leading children's author. Henry has previously published many picture books, including MONSTER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES (Pelican), WHEN YOU GIVE AN IMP A PENNY (Pelican), MABEL AND THE QUEEN OF DREAMS (Schiffer ), LITTLE RED CUTTLEFISH (Pelican), CAP’N REX & HIS CLEVER CREW (Sterling), GOOD EGG AND BAD APPLE (Schiffer), HOW THE SQUID GOT TWO LONG ARMS (Pelican), ALICE’S MAGIC GARDEN (Familius), 2 PIRATES + 1 ROBOT (Kane Miller), and I AM SMOKE (Tilbury House). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our engaging interview, Rachel talks about her hilarious new [picture book, How to Pee Your Pants: The Right Way (published by Feiwel & Friends, October 15, 2024) and the embarrassing real first-grade event which prompted her to write it (According to Rachel, it was 'directed by my little kid self'). Rachel grew up in Utah in a book-loving family, and talked about her dream trips to the Draper Library in the mountains, where they would pile the car full of books. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE turned into a 'book of revelation' and helped chart out her storytelling journey, giving her permission to 'pee her pants and still be loved and appreciated.' In high school, she discovered writing (a poem a day) and loved art, but connected them only when she began to write children's stories. Rachel found her agent, Lindsay Auld, through the slush pile (!) and now has multiple book deals, including a ghost book coming out this summer. Rachel likes to vary her text between simplicity and complexity, adding layers to the story, and drawing humorous elements in the artwork (i.e., tooth braces on the giraffe). Rachel's mantra is "Follow the Fun." A great recipe for us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Miles is co-founder (together with his wife, Stephanie) and Publisher, Bushel & Peck Books, an up-and-coming West Coast children's publisher. In our illuminating interview, he talks about growing up with books, becoming a successful author, illustrator and industry professional, and then the sudden out-of-nowhere urge that led him and his wife to set up their own publishing house. David talks about the steps in creating a successful picture book, and gives sage and somewhat unorthodox advice to authors on their writing journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lesléa Newman is the author of over 85 books for readers of all ages, including the pioneering Heather Has Two Mommies. She has received many literary awards, and her books have been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Serbian, Kazakh, and Chinese.In this, our second interview, we celebrate her new picture book, entitled Hanukkah (Words & Pictures, October 1, 2024), illustrated by the award-winning Israeli illustrator Rotem Teplow. We talk about how the book came to be, her writing process in general, and advice for other authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maya Shleifer is a multi-disciplinary author, illustrator, and designer who has illustrated over a dozen children's books. Drawing helped Maya survive a difficult childhood in the Soviet Union, but only after becoming a mother did she begin to realize a growing passion for illustrating, and subsequently writing her own, picture books. We discuss her recent, award-winning picture book, The Giant's Home, which has been translated into several languages (for example La maison du géant, Des Elephant, 2022), as well as A Lion Named Anna (published in Hebrew), and Too Many Golems, written by Jane Yolen, which she recently illustrated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Considering the alarming rise in hate and intolerance these days, Danielle Sharkan's new picture book, Sharing Shalom (Holiday House, Sept. 2024, illustrated by Selina Alko) is a welcome injection of positivity. Based on a true story of human kindness following vandalism of a Jewish synagogue, it is a book of unbridled hope. In our interview we talk about Danielle's meteoric rise as a children's author, her rediscovery of Judaism, and her advice for aspiring authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Hoffmann is an award winning illustrator, painter, author and professor. He was raised in Minnesota and earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and his MFA from UMass-Dartmouth. In our excellent discussion, we talk about what Mark calls "Virtual Vision," and how writing and illustrating picture books interact, focusing on the two wonderful picture books which he both wrote and illustrated, FRUIT BOWL (Knopf Books for Young Readers; 2018) and DIRT CHEAP (Knopf Books for Young Readers; 2020). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I talk with children's book editor, Elizabeth Law about her two great loves: children's books and the theater. Specifically, what can picture book authors learn from the theater to make their children's books shine. We talked about similarities in pacing, cadence, anticipation, the importance of the story, and the challenge of turning the adult picture book reader into an actor. Elizabeth's conclusion is that it is fine to learn from plays, musicals, songs and movies, and to study the so-called rules of the picture book mavens. But at the end of the day, it's all about assimilating what fits and doing one's own thing to create the magic that ends up becoming a wonderful book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Brown is the executive director of the Highlights Foundation, scion to the Myers family, which created Highlights Magazine. The Highlights Foundation runs workshops for small groups of authors and illustrators in its bucolic surroundings, the homestead of Garry and Caroline Myers, who co-founded Highlights for Children in 1946. George discusses his fascination with children's books and the people who create them, offering tips based on his lifelong experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this lively interview with author Sarah Aronson, we celebrate her brand new picture book, Abzuglutely!: Battling, Bellowing Bella Abzug, illustrated by Andrea D'Aquino ‎ (Calkins Creek, October 15, 2024), which focuses on Bella's determination to fight for what is right, as part of her belief in Tikun Olam (repairing the world). We talk about Sarah's life and career, and her own quest for Tikun Olam through writing and helping other authors. We also discuss her biography on Rube Goldberg (Just Like Rube Goldberg, illustrated by Robert Neubecker), and the importance of pursuing our passions, and finding joy in the creative process. The interview is interspersed with Sarah's sage advice for authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pat (Patrick) Gracey is a senior librarian at the Toronto Public Library where he is a children's services specialist, leading the team that selects new picture books for 17 downtown locations (!). In our interview, Pat talks about the magic inherent in picture books, and focuses on some of his favorite Canadian (and semi-Canadian) picture books, including The Log Driver's Waltz by Wade Hemsworth, Illustrations by Jennifer Phelan , Think Again by JonArno Lawson, Illustrated by Julie Morstad, Nana's Cold Day by Adwoa Badoe Pictures by Budshra Junaid, Down by Jim Long's Stage: Rhymes for Children and Young Fish by Al Pittman Illustrated by Pam Hall, Canada Counts (A Charles Pachter Counting Book), Canada in Words by Per-Henrik Gürth, The Night Gardner by The Fan Brothers (Terry and Eric), A Face is a Poem by Julie Morstad, Sleep Little Creep by David Quinn and Ashley Spires (illustrator), The Paper Boat by Thao Lam, and What Happened on Thursday by Ayo Oyeku, illustrated by Lydia Mba. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our three-way interview, I celebrate with world-renowned children's authors Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple (who is also Jane's daughter), their brand new picture book, We Celebrate the Light, published last week (October 8, 2024) by Rise x Penguin Workshop with the 'luminous' illustrations of Jieting Chen (Illustrator). We talk about the process by which Jane and Heidi write their books together, their separate and joint writing careers, thoughts on writing, craft, and their recent reconnection with Jewish themes and subjects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tina Shepardson and I celebrate her wonderful new picture book The Sorry Seeds, just published (two days ago!!) by Gnome Road with gorgeous illustrations by Bong Hyun Shin. In our candid conversation, Tina reveals the true childhood story that led her to write the manuscript, and discusses her own journey from child to teacher to author, the critical steps she took to become a published children's author, how she felt when she first saw the visualization of her main character, Courtney, by the illustrator, and her advice for writers aspiring to break through. We also discuss the importance of having a particularly strong story arc, especially when the teaching message is obvious, as in the present story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you ready for the story of a credit card that takes cash on a spending spree? In my interview with picture book author Kimberly Wilson, we celebrate brand new book, A Credit Card Takes Charge, published just last week by Page Street Kids (Oct. 1st, 2024). It's third in her series of hilarious, punniful picture books dealing with all things monetary, with a fourth (a piggy bank book) coming out next year. Kimberly talks about her journey, from the eight year-old story writer, through a career in marketing, and returning to her passion of writing stories for children. One intriguing tip from this exciting interview - considering writing the pitch of your picture book story before you sit down and write the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this, our second interview, Cathy Stefanec Ogren talks about her brand new, wonderfully written and illustrated (by Alexandra Thompson) picture book, The Little Red Chair, just published by Sleeping Bear Press (August 1, 2024). We discuss Cathy's journey to success, the challenge of writing a picture book manuscript that 'begs' to be illustrated, and Cathy's advice for authors and secret sauce (writing plays?). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Yirmi Pinkus celebrates with us the rerelease of the classic Hebrew children's book, 100 Rooms by Haya Shenhav, in a new American edition (Kalaniot Books, 2024), published (May 1st, 2024) by Kalaniot Books, with his stunning new illustrations. We also discuss his career as an illustrator alongside being an academic teaching the subject, and his thoughts on what enables the illustrator to create beautiful and appropriate artwork to the already existing text. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this, our second interview with prolific author Ruth Spiro, we celebrate the publication of her brand new book, One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story (Dial Books, 2024), with the stunning illustrations of Victoria Tentler-Krylov. Ruth talks about her remarkable career, writing scientific board books for toddlers (25 and counting!), as well as stories of inspiration to repair the world, and how the two might be intertwined. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Gutman is the renowned, prolific author of some 190 books for kids from kindergarten up to middle school. His books include Rappy the Raptor (picture book) and the "My Weird School" series (early readers) about kids who go to a school in which all the grownups are crazy. Over thirty five million books have been sold . He has also written “Wait! WHAT?” a series of biographies that focus on the unusual aspects of people like Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Muhammad Ali, and Teddy Roosevelt. In our interview, we celebrate his book, The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle (Holiday House, 2024) which was published last month by Holiday House. We also talked about his unique journey on the way to his success, and his tips for aspiring authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Persevering with our literary theme this season, in this episode Claudia Radiven and Chella Ward chat to A. M. Dassu about her books for young readers. Az is a children’s author of fiction and non-fiction, whose books include Fight Back (Tu Books, 2022) and Boy, Everywhere (Tu Books, 2021). Her books engage young readers with themes of migration, activism and political solidarity, and she often writes Muslim characters whose Muslimness is more than simply an aspect of their culture or heritage but plays an important role in their characterisation. We talked to her about her work for different age groups, about what it means to write Muslim characters with their own agency, and about the contexts in which children encounter Islamophobia and other racisms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1920, W. E. B. Du Bois and the NAACP founders published The Brownies’ Book: A Monthly Magazine for Children of the Sun. A century later, The New Brownies' Book: A Love Letter to Black Families (Chronicle Books, 2023) recreates the very first publication created for Black youth in 1920 into a sensational anthology. Expanding on the mission of the original periodical to inspire the hearts and minds of Black children across the country Award-winning sociologist Karida L. Brown and accomplished artist Charly Palmer gathered more than fifty contemporary Black artists, intellectuals, and writers to produce a book filled with essays, poems, paintings, folktales, and short stories reflecting on the beauty of Blackness and the Black experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don Tate is the award-winning author and/or illustrator of numerous picture book biographies, including Pigskins to Paintbrushes: The Story of Football-Playing Artist Ernie Barnes (Abrams) and William Still and His Freedom Stories: The Father of the Underground Railroad (Peachtree) and more recently, Jerry Changed the Game!: How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever (Simon & Schuster) . He is a founding host of The Brown Bookshelf, a website that celebrates the myriad of African American voices writing for young readers. Tate’s accolades include an Ezra Jack Keats Book Award and Honor, a Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor, and two Christopher Awards. We celebrate the launch of The Day Madear Voted (Nancy Paulsen Books), written by Wade Hudson, which he illustrated, and discuss the interplay between his careers as author and illustrator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonni Goldberg, award-winning poet, writer, and educator, writes non-fiction for children and adults. In our animated discussion, we talk about how her recent picture book, Doña Gracia Saved Worlds (published December, 2023, by Kar-Ben and illustrated by Alida Massari) which came about, her life and writing career, Judaism, and advice for aspiring authors. Bonni is also author of The Write Balance: How to Embrace Percolation, Revision & Going Public, the companion book to the best-seller Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer’s Life. She speaks and offers workshops internationally for all ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Law has worked in the publishing field her whole life, first as an Editor at Viking Children’s Books and Puffin Books, as Associate Publisher at Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, then later as Publisher at Egmont USA, and most recently as the backlist and special projects editor at Holiday House Books for Young Readers. Elizabeth has also works as a professional consultant with writers and artists. In this, our third interview, we talk about the business side of traditional children's book publishing. How do publishers make money from children's books, and to what extent to financial considerations sway the decision to choose that one manuscript among thousands that will go on to become a traditionally-published picture book. You are welcome to contact Elizabeth at ElawReads.com, and Twitter, @ElawReads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our animated interview with prolific, award-winning children's author and poet Lesléa Newman, we celebrate two of her picture books which have just launched, Like Father, Like Son: A Picture Book, published in April, 2024 by Abrams, and Joyful Song: A Naming Story, published in May, 2024 by Levine-Querido. We talk about Lesléa's journey on her way to becoming an internationally celebrated author. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robin Newman was a practicing attorney and legal editor but has more fun writing children's books about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. In our interview, we celebrate the launch of her new picture book, Who's Writing This Story?, illustrated by Deborah Zemke and published by Creston Books (2024), and talk about Robin's journey to literary success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this wonderful second interview with Jennifer Berne we celebrate the launch of her newest picture book, and the first in a series: A Tour of the Human Body: Amazing Numbers--Fantastic Facts (Number Tours for Curious Kids) published by Astra and just launched on May 7, 2024, illustrated by Dawn DeVries Sokol. Jennifer has written many award-winning picture books, including On a Beam of Light, Manfish, On Wings of Words (all Chronicle), and Look Up with Me (Katherine Tegen Books). In our discussion, we talk about how the idea of series came about, and how the book developed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marie-Louise Gay is an internationally-acclaimed, multi-award winning Canadian author and illustrator of over 60 books. In our interview, we celebrate the recent launch of her newest book, Walking Trees (Groundwood Books, 2024), and discuss her youth, her studies and professional career, and several of her leading books, including the series featuring Stella and Sam, and her secret recipe for doing things her way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this interview, we celebrate Julie Carpenter's first picture book, Harry and the Highwire: Houdini's First Amazing Act (Laura Catalán, illustrator), published by Green Been Books, May, 2024). Before deciding to write for children, Julie was a journalist, writer and editor for over 20 years.In our conversation we talk about the magic of writing, the magic of picture books, and the magical life of Harry Houdini. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We’re not monsters, Mom. We’re goddesses—smart, fearless, and beautiful.” That’s the voice of Ava, the superpowered protagonist of Katherine Marsh’s captivating novel for children, Medusa (Clarion Books, 2024). Our discussion focuses on Marsh’s feminist retelling of the Medusa myth—and on the wider topic of the direction of children’s literature at a time when it has become a challenge to pull any child (or adult) away from the siren of social media. Marsh recognizes the challenges but remains optimistic that children’s literature, which has always drawn heavily on the eternal allure of myths, has a vibrant future. Veteran journalist Paul Starobin is a former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week and a former contributing editor of The Atlantic. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. His most recent book is Putin’s Exiles: Their Fight for a Better Russia (Columbia Global Reports, 2024). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this heartwarming interview with Laura Bower, we celebrate the launch of her brand new, debut picture book, The Imposter, illustrated by Kerisa Greene, and published by Sandra Sutter, Gnome Road Publishing (2024). Laura talks about her life and writing career, the story behind The Imposter, and her advice for aspiring authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times best-selling author of fifty books for young readers of all ages, including the award-winning picture books (and personal favorites) Library Lion and Marilyn's Monster. In this, our second interview we celebrate the launch of her new picture book, Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten (Candlewick, 2024), a poignant story of mistaken identity and revelation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Devash Megillat Esther (Hadar Press, 2024) includes the full Hebrew Megillah text, an original kid-friendly English translation, and carefully selected commentaries from 2,000 years of Jewish tradition brought to life in newly accessible ways. Devash unlocks sophisticated texts for learners of all ages and backgrounds, encouraging deep questioning and growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sue Fliess ("fleece") is the award-winning, bestselling author of over 50 children's books including Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket, How to Trap a Leprechaun, Mary Had a Little Lab, Rumble and Roar, the Beatrice Bly's Rules for Spies series, the Kid Scientist series, the Magical Creatures and Crafts series, and many Little Golden Books. Her books have sold over 850k copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. In our interview we celebrate the publication of her newest picture book, Octopus Acrobatics, illustrated by Gareth Lucas and just published by Albert Whitman & Company (2024). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily Barth Isler is the author of AfterMath, an award-winning middle grade novel, and of the forthcoming picture book Always Enough Love. In our interview, we celebrate the publication of her second middle grade novel, The Color of Sound (Carolrhoda Books, 2024), the story of Rosie, a musical prodigy with synesthesia. We talk about her transformation from child actor to blogger to author, and the unique perceptions of each and every one of us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin Kraan has illustrated over half a dozen children's books, with more on the way. In our interview we celebrate her latest illustrated picture book, Buffalo Fluffalo (Random House Studio, 2024) written by Bess Kalb. Erin talks about her life and career, and explains her unique process of carving her characters into wood and seeing how their quirky and whimsical identities come to life through the ink in the prints. We talk about the role played by the illustrator in making picture books come true. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suzanne Slade is the Sibert Honor author of more than 170 books for children. A mechanical engineer by degree, Suzanne writes about STEM topics, fascinating figures in history, and occasionally lyrical fiction. Her newest books include Some Days are Yellow, Shining Star: Vera Rubin Discovers Dark Matter, Behold the Octopus!, and Dazzilin' Dolly: The Songwriting, Hit-Singing, Guitar-PIcking Dolly Parton. In our interview we talk to Suzanne about her new books, and celebrate the centenary of the first performance of Rhapsody in Blue, beautifully recounted in her award-winning book The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue (Calkins Creek, 2016). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals, masterfully employing yuck appeal to engage young minds. Her 17 nonfiction books include Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill, What's in your Pocket? Collecting Nature's Treasures, and Bugs Don't Hug: Six Legged Parents and their Kids. Here we celebrate Heather's brand new book, Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs (illustrated by Lindsey Leigh, Bloomsbury Children's Books) and talk about her life and career, why she loves to write, and her advice for up-and-coming children's authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent with over 15 years’ experience in both the publicity and agency sides of publishing. Before founding Lucinda Literary, she worked in the Publicity division of HarperCollins, where she assisted on the media campaign for Freakonomics among other New York Times bestsellers. She currently represents authors writing in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. Here, we celebrate the launch of her brand new book, Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author (Hay House, 2024). Lucinda shares her experience as an agent, her advice for authors, and her own (unagented!) journey in getting a publishing deal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laurie Wallmark is the award-winning author of picture book biographies of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) as well as fiction. In our second interview, we celebrate Laurie's new picture book, Journey to the Stars: Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut, co-written with Raakhee Mirchandani, illustrated by Maitreyi Ghosh (Illustrator) , published by Beaming Books (February 13, 2024). We also talk about other recent books including The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game (July 2023), Rivka's Presents (July 2023), and Dino Pajama Party: A Bedtime Book (2021), attempting to understand the differences and commonalities between non-fiction and fiction, including the universal importance of passion and storytelling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christopher Swann is an award-winning producer and director of documentaries, a playwright, author and editor. In our lively interview we discuss his career, his thoughts on creativity, his friendship with two legendary geniuses: author-illustrator Maurice Sendak, and composer conductor Leonard Bernstein, and the monumental films which these friendships led to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this wonderfully candid conversation with children's book author Rebecca Gardyn Levington, we celebrate her new book Afikoman, Where'd You Go?: A Passover Hide-and-Seek Adventure from Rocky Pond Books (2024) and illustrated by Noa Kelner. This is her third published picture book (her previous books are Brainstorm! and Whatever Comes Tomorrow), with six additional rhyming picture books forthcoming. Her poetry and articles have appeared in various anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Victoria Selvaggio, books have always played an important role in her life. From an early age, she could easily be found reading in a corner with stacks of books or the opposite, crafting her own. Victoria was introduced to SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Once again, she was hooked! Like all passions, Victoria immersed herself in all things publishing. She volunteered for her local SCBWI chapter and subsequently became a Regional Advisor, a role that also empowered her and provided a new path of becoming a literary agent. After interning for The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, she joined the agency in 2013 as an associate agent and subsequently joined the Storm Literary Agency as agent, and then as owner in 2022. Her list features both debut and award-winning authors. She represents all age categories and all genres except Erotica Romance. Currently, she is closed to submissions but does plan to open for a limited time in 2024 (Victoria does accept and opens for submissions as a presenter at conferences). In our discussion, we talk about how she managed to combine her business acumen with her love for books and the publishing industry, and her advice for authors seeking to become traditionally published. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Betsy Bird is the Collection Development Manager of Evanston Public Library and the former Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She writes for the School Library Journal blog A Fuse #8 Production and reviews for Kirkus. She is the host of the Story Seeds podcast as well as the co-host of the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast that she creates with her sister. Betsy is the author of nonfiction, picture books, anthologies, and the historical middle grade novel Long Road to the Circus (Knopf, 2021), illustrated by David Small. Her new picture book Pop Goes the Nursery Rhyme is out Fall 2024. You can follow Betsy @fusenumber8 on Instagram, Threads and TikTok or @fuse8.bsky.social on BlueSky. In our animated conversation, we talk about what makes a great picture book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I speak to the wonderful literary agent Leslie Zampetti, who recently launched her own agency, Open Book Literary. A former librarian in special, public, and school libraries, Leslie’s focus is on the right book at the right time for the reader. We talk about her 'chocolate box' experiences as a champion of great children's stories. Mel Rosenberg is a professor emeritus of microbiology (Tel Aviv University) who fell in love with children's books as a small child and now writes his own. He is co-founder of Ourboox, a web platform with some 260,000 ebooks that allows anyone to create and share flipbooks comprising text, pictures and videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miriam Halahmy has published 9 novels for children and teens. Her new book A Boy from Baghdad (Green Bean Books, 2024), tells the story for children the first time in English, of the exile of the Iraqi Jewish community 1949-1951 to Israel and their subsequent difficulties in the Promised Land. The book was inspired by Miriam's husband's family who are all Babylonian Jews born in Baghdad. About the book: It's 1951, and twelve-year-old Salman Shasha is happy with his life in Baghdad. But trouble is brewing. Salman and his family are Iraqi Jews and their government has been turning against their community for years. Things become so dangerous that the whole family are forced to leave Iraq for Israel, the "Promised Land". Once they arrive, however, they realize that things are not what they dreamed they would be. Taken to a refugee camp, the Shasha family try to make the best of their situation. But the dominant group in the country - the Ashkenazi Jews - look down on families like Salman's and treat them horribly. Salman decides to focus on his greatest passion, swimming, and beating his rivals in a race. Facing taunts from his bullying peers, Salman feels defeated, but he soon realizes that with hard work and determination anything is possible. An inspiring, atmospheric tale about the power of perseverance, friendship and family in the face of hardship, hatred and change, A Boy From Baghdad is an important story of diversity in the modern world. Essential reading for any child 8 years and over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Louise Lareau is the award-winning Managing Librarian at The New York Public Library and currently leads the Children’s Center team at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. She calls herself a 'book detective. We talk about makes a great picture book, differences among cultures and languages, the role of the library in bringing books to the children of their community, and how silliness, and theatricality prevail! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this fun interview, we celebrate Renée M. LaTulippe's wonderful poem picture book The Crab Ballet (Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2022) and talk about her career and thoughts about children's literature, the importance of poetry in lyrical writing, her love for theater, and advice for aspiring authors. Renée's upcoming book is Limelight: Theater Poems to Perform (Charlesbridge, 2025). She also has poems published in many anthologies including the upcoming No World Too Big (Charlesbridge, 2023) as well as Night Wishes and School People (ed. Lee Bennett Hopkins), National Geographic’s The Poetry of US and NatGeo’s Book of Nature Poetry (ed. J. Patrick Lewis), One Minute Till Bedtime (ed. Kenn Nesbitt), Poems Are Teachers (ed. Amy Ludwig VanDerwater), ThankU: Poems of Gratitude (ed. Miranda Paul), A World Full of Poems (ed. Sylvia Vardell), several editions of The Poetry Friday Anthology books (ed. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong), nine award-winning leveled educational readers (Moonbeam Children’s Books Silver Award, Mom’s Choice Gold Awards), a collection of poetry titled Lizard Lou: a collection of rhymes old and new (Moonbeam Children’s Books Silver Award for poetry), and the workbook All About Homophones (Finalist, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards) for All About Learning Press, where she is also the editor. Renée developed and teaches the online course The Lyrical Language Lab, provides free lessons and Peek & Critique sessions for children’s writers on her YouTube channel, and blogs on children’s poetry at NoWaterRiver.com. She earned her BFA in acting/directing from Marymount Manhattan College and her MA in English Education from NYU; worked and played in the theater for almost two decades; and taught English, theater arts, and public speaking in NYC. Originally from upstate New York, she lives by the sea in Italy with her family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices