After blogging for several years, and struggling to keep up, I have decided to archive A Country Mile. Please enjoy these archives and keep in touch.
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 …
Mazza’s artist are all talented. They’re all brilliant. They amaze, entertain, and dazzle us with their stories. But they don’t always agree with one another. Take, for example, today’s keynote artists. Laura Vaccaro Seeger and Bob Staake just couldn’t find common ground. Well, at least not on this one issue. But it’s okay. They agreed …
Kids love discovering new things. And since most kids don’t live on farms, there’s a lot about the rural life they can learn. Michelle Houts writes children’s fiction that takes young readers to new places. Read about Michelle in Our Ohio magazine: http://ourohio.org/community/building…
Oh, geez. Here I go. I don’t love being in the middle of anything. But I tend to get myself there somehow anyway. I grew up there, after all. The middle of three girls. Middle kid, middle class. Teetering on the middle of the fence is where I often find myself, arms out, balancing my own …
Ever since the invention of webcams, there’s been a lot of discussion among authors, teachers and librarians about the pros and cons of Virtual School Visits. You know, when an author magically appears before students via Skype or Facetime or some other means of technological wizardry. Let’s face it, there are plenty of GOOD reasons …
Over at Kirby’s Lane, the blog of the sweet and wonderful author Kirby Larson, there is a feature I’ve always loved called Friend Friday. On Fridays, Kirby features another author or illustrator or friend of the kid world. Once, Kirby even featured ME on her Friend Friday blog post. See it HERE. (Aw, shucks! I still blush when I read …
Cover reveals are so much fun! Before I was published I never knew how much time, thought, energy, imagination, fuss, and general WORK went into a book cover. And, the most amazing part is: almost none of that involves the author! When I tell this to children at school and library visits, they are usually surprised to …
One of the best things about children’s writers is that we SHARE! We share ideas with one another. We swap manuscripts to critique one another’s work. We share leads and submission information. We help each other every chance we get. We’re non-turfy, friendly types. We play well with others. So, it was lots of fun …
I was up late last evening, so it was easy to sleep past 7:30 this morning. I never heard a peep outside the bedroom door. When I did come to life, and I saw what time it was, I felt a little guilty. My teenage daughter had already left for school. I like to pretend …
