After bath time and a Little Diego or Dora, Hudson reluctantly trudges off to bed. He knows it's time to read a book. When Sterling Books offered us a chance to look at some books from their spring catalog, I......

  I have just about finished reading and discussing the book Sammy and His Shepherd with my two oldest kids.  The book by Susan Hunt is an explanation of Psalm 23 by using a story about Sammy, who is a sheep, and his shepherd.  The story also includes another sheep who begins the stor...

Reader Michael Johnson took issue with Bob Staake’s recent Picture Book Dummy. He writes: I think that if the dummy remains as it is, it will mislead aspiring picture book creators into thinking they have, as Staake writes, “15 spreads… (and) a single page finale,” when they ...

So, when we last left our intrepid heroes, Boris had spiked Bullwinkle's gargle so that he and Natasha could take his place on the television show! Let's see what happens next: Apparently Bullwinkle's already forgotten that, just a few pages ago, everyone was mad at him... although it's entirely pos...

We’ve heard it said that a writer should write what they know. So, it stands to reason that many authors write from personal experience.  That doesn’t explain how some authors can write amazing books on subjects that they haven’t directly experienced. Kathryn Lasky is one example....

So, when we last left Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha were concerned that our heroic moose was too popular! Now, we finally learn that Bullwinkle's some kind of TV star! And here we learn that Bullwinkle's voice has something to do with his stardom! We still don't know why Boris is worried a...

Author: Troy Wilson (on JOMB) Illustrator: Dean Griffiths (on JOMB) Published: 2004 Orca Book Publishers (on JOMB) ISBN: 1551434350 Chapters.ca Amazon.com Mark and I clearly had a tough time packing all our love for this fabulously inspiring and entertaining book into a coherent chat, so I definitel...

To serve as a reminder and guideline for how to think about writing a picture book, Bob Staake created this diagram, The Idiot-Proof Picture Book Dummy. Bob writes: Of course there are execptions to the rule, but when we talk about a “picture book” we’re speaking of a “32-pag...

Author: Meghan McCarthy (on JOMB) Illustrator: Meghan McCarthy Published: 2008 Knopf Books (on JOMB) ISBN: 0375844597 Chapters.ca Amazon.com Starring pop-eyed recruits and friendly second-person narrative, this Cybils 2008-2009 NonFiction Picture Book category finalist dispenses enticing details of ...

On Something Awful. Via Fo who would like to warn you that some images are NSFW. I particularly liked 160530641X:Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House? which I would probably buy for the Mosmiths were it not an ad for Microsoft disguised as as a children's book....