At least a dozen times in my life I’ve tried to reinvent myself as a Morning Person. First, in high school, when I began to drink coffee milk and sugar with a tablespoon of coffee. I thought it would be great to rise hours before the school bell, do some homework, pick out a fun outfit. It didn’t […]
Along with this blog, I have the privilege of blogging for The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors. I’m one of more than 30 author-bloggers who take turns providing content relevant to the middle-grade reader, teacher, parent or librarian. Mixed-Up Files bloggers blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with some special events happening in between. We […]
David Shannon was destined to become a picture book author and illustrator. Literally. Destined. He wrote his Caldecott Honor book No, David when he just five years old. Well, a rough draft at least. Destiny. After several years of editorial illustration, producing work that was usually serious and sometimes dark, David returned to the drawings […]
Lynne Avril never intended to become a picture book illustrator, even though a very insightful sixth grade teacher helped her to see herself as an artist. Even after she obtained an art degree, Lynne still found that her work was eclectic, and she found it difficult to nail down a style. But that’s not too […]
As a child, Patricia Polacco used to take peanut butter and crackers, a flashlight, and books into a tent made of blankets and sheets and get lost in a world beyond imagination. Now she tells school children to do the same. And even better, she single-handedly provides an abundance of books for children to take […]
John Bemelmans Marciano never met his famous grandfather, but thanks to a treasure trove of family memorabilia, he knows a great deal about the man who gave the world Madeline. With no visual aids, John captivated his Mazza audience with stories for 45 minutes, proving that he is not only an incredibly talented illustrator, but […]
With a background in shellfishing (yes, that would be commercial clam digging) and as a Disney art dircector, John Rocco followed his passion for children’s literature to a successful career as an author and illustrator. John studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and School of Visual Arts in New York City. He found […]
The 2013 Mazza Museum Weekend Conference has begun! A ballet dancer until she was thirty, Robin Preiss Glasser, has spent her entire life expressing her artistic self without words. As the acclaimed illustrator of many books for children, including the beloved Fancy Nancy series, she is still doing just that. In an auditorium crowded with […]
So, today begins the Mazza Fall Weekend Institute! And yours truly will be blogging almost-live, up-to-the-minute updates on the action! Can’t wait to watch as David Macaulay is awarded the Mazza Medallion this evening! And tomorrow? Oh, get this – two famous Steads, one amazing Stein, an unforgettable Schmidt, one Muth, and the one and […]
Well, the first day of the 2012 Mazza Summer Institute has come and gone. And what a Monday! The first keynote speaker? Carmen Bernier-Grand, three-time winner of the Pura Belpre Award and a tiny powerhouse of encouragement and inspiration. As a child, Carmen was scolded by her older sister for staring at people, but Carmen […]
