When my daughter Olivia was a toddler, her best friend was Will, the two-year-old down the street. Will didn’t say much, so Olivia talked for both of them. He adored trains—his “choo-choos.” All summer before preschool started, we’d spend as many days as we could in Will’s “train yard.” His train yard was a three-by-three-foot
Confession: I’m writing this with three screens in front of me. The laptop I’m typing on, the phone I’m using for an interview, and the iPad playing an episode of The Office like white noise. (The fans blowing in the room aren’t blocking out household sounds, so the folks at Dunder Mifflin are helping do
by Dr. Elizabeth Reeve and Elizabeth Verdick, authors of The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder (And Their Parents) Welcome to the summer of 2021! As it has been for everyone, the past year and a half has been challenging and life-changing for those of us caring for someone on the autism spectrum.
June is a perfect month to share toilet-training tips, because it is officially Potty-Training Awareness Month. As it happens, I’ve been thinking a lot about diapers—and not just because my geriatric dog now wears them. My nearly three-year-old nephew Andrew has recently taken the potty-training plunge. His parents, first-timers, were pleased to report that the
My favorite photos of my little sister’s preschool years are the ones where she has food on her head. Spaghetti, chocolate ice cream, breakfast cereal—anything in a bowl became her hat. She loved to roll in the mud and run in the rain. Coloring, she’d get marker all over her smiling face. Playing outside, she’d
Here’s the scoop on Brian Biggs, an artist, a children’s book illustrator, and an avid biker. He illustrated my picture book Bike & Trike. He’s a colorful character, like the ones he draws. I loved interviewing him and learning more about his rides and creative side. How many miles did you bike last year? I
My friend and colleague asked me a simple question: Why do you write? I paused—for a lonnnnng time. The easy answer was, “It’s my job. Also, writing makes me happy.” But that only touched the surface. Sometimes, writing makes me very unhappy because I can’t seem to put into words—the right words—what I’m really trying
One of the best moments as a children’s book author is seeing the illustrations created by an artist who has taken your words and made them into something much bigger. When that happened for my story Small Walt, I was surprised and delighted to see Walt and his world come to life on the
As a picture book author, I get a little bit of an insider’s view of how children’s books are put together—but just a peek. Authors and illustrators work separately, with the publisher, editor, and designer as the go-between. So, for all these years of working with Marc, I’ve never actually had the pleasure of meeting
Yes. Yes I do. Sure, I know there’s a whole school of thought that says “sharing a message” in a children’s book is something to avoid. That children will learn more, feel more, by reading books—stories—that evoke an emotional response and increase empathy through strong characterization and vivid language. Yes. Yes that’s true. But.… Sometimes children,
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