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March 3, 2025 [Note: Click on the Titles to Buy the Books] I'm excited to kick off March On With Mentor Texts this year. As many who know...

by Julia Recko I personally dislike basic fact-filled nonfiction. Even with clever construction or lyrical language, I’m just not as...

The Intersection of Art and Science By Lydia Lukidis If you know me, you know I’m a huge STEM fan. But interestingly enough, I started...

Turning the Page on Picture Books By Audrey Perrott While I prefer to avoid drama in my life as much as possible, when it comes to...

Exploring Multilayered Picture Books by Andrea J. Loney Layers in a picture book are the individual elements of the book that combine to...

Mentor Texts - Comps or Competition? by Erin Dealey Mentor Texts are wonderfully helpful when you’re crafting a story idea into a...

Using Quotes Effectively in Nonfiction PB Bios by Vivian Kirkfield Back in 2019, my agent submitted one of my manuscripts to an editor....

Endings that Resonate and Connect History to Today’s Readers By Beth Anderson For me, a “satisfying ending” is more than tying up the...

Mining the Kidlit  Magazines By Jennifer Buchet An often-overlooked mentor text is eagerly waiting for you to flip through its pages....

Sharing Tradition and Culture Through Picture Books by Mariana Ríos Ramírez As an author of children’s books, some of my favorite topics...

Picture Books Showing Fear as the Central Emotion by Cynthia Mackey After submitting my manuscript for IF A BUMBLEBEE LANDS ON YOUR...

Mining for Gold: Exploring Little Golden Books by Danna Smith Most of us can remember growing up reading Little Golden Books with their...

Using Second-Person POV Narrative in Picture Books by Kristi Mahoney We often see books written in first- or third-person point-of-view...

The “A” in STEAM: Art in Picture Books by Judy M. Cooper Inspiring and nurturing creativity in young children has been a passion of mine...

by Lynne Marie When I originally got the spark for an idea that became BROOMMATES: A Brewing Boundary Battle (before I transposed it to...

The More the Merrier: Managing Many Characters By Bonnie Kelso Many might say, the more the merrier! But does that apply to writing a...

A Picture Book Biography: How to Make It Shine by Christy Mihaly I love reading picture book biographies, and there are so many great...

STEM Stories With An SEL Heart By Betsy Ellor If you’ve been writing picture books long you know there’s a strong market for STEM...

Cumulative Stories: The House that Jack Built and More By Sue Heavenrich My newest picture book begins with the line: This is the seed...

UPPING THE ABSURDITY WITH ANDREW HACKET Part of the magic of writing books is that there are no boundaries. It is easy to question if we...