MATTHEWCWINNER

Recorded live on the PopTop Stage at the American Library Association's annual conference, three Newbery Honorees and powerful female voices in the children's literature share the stories behind their successful and upcoming middle grade novels. Cece Bell shares SMELL MY FOOT! Kate DiCamillo shares BEVERLY, AT LAST. Shannon Hale shares PRINCESS IN BLACK.

Peter Brown, author/illustrator of The Curious Garden, Children Make Terrible Pets, and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, and now debut middle grade author of The Wild Robot, stops by the podcast to talk about paying attention to wording and phrasing, telling the story as efficiently as possible, and certain subjects you can’t avoid.

Lorena Alvarez shares HICOTEA, a companion graphic novel to her 2017 debut, NIGHTLIGHTS. Guest host Mel Schuit interviews Lorena at the American Library Association's annual conference and they discuss the art and inspiration behind the graphic novels. For those not yet familiar, NIGHLIGHTS is a beautiful story about fear, insecurity, and creativity. In HICOTEA, Sandy, the protagonist from NIGHTLIGHTS, returns to explore a magical new dimension.

Megan Lacera (@MeganLacera) and Jorge Lacera (@jlacera) share ZOMBIES DON’T EAT VEGGIES! In their debut picture book readers meet Mo, a zombie and chef with a taste for cuisine his parents, quite frankly, find revolting. But this isn’t exactly a story about picky eaters or about food aversions. Instead, Lacera and Lacera share a story of feeling outside of one’s culture and how to reconcile that. I think you’re really going to connect with Mo (and I just know you’ll connect w

Steve Light, author/illustrator of Swap!, stops by the podcast to talk about the greatest joy, using items in unconventional ways, and feeding clues to the reader by way of a monkey.

Ashley Franklin shares NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE. In this debut picture book readers meet Tameika, a theater-loving, stage-starring girl. She’s so excited for her school’s production of Snow White that she signs up for both audition dates. But after Tameika overhears classmates criticising that she’s too tall and too chubby and to black for the part, Tameika is crushed. There’s more to the story, of course, but you’ll need to listen for that.

Torben Kuhlmann shares ARMSTRONG, his best-selling picture book about a mouse who dreams of setting foot on the moon gets a special anniversary edition to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

Philip C. Stead, author illustrator most recently of Ideas Are All Around, stops by the podcast to talk about how he views inspiration, accidental bungling grace, and the beauty in the way polaroids look just a little bit off.

Mia Wenjen (@pragmaticmom) and Nat Iwata (@NatIwata) share SUMO JOE. SUMO JOE is a story told in rhyme about a boy and his friends upholding a centuries-old tradition considered through a modern lens. It’s the first picture book I’ve read that addresses the practice of sumo and it does so against challenges to gender restrictions while providing a historical context. I’m especially impressed with the economy of words at work here.

Isabel Quintero (@isabelinpieces) and Zeke Peña (@zpvisual) share MY PAPI HAS A MOTORCYCLE. The story is based on memories from Isabel’s childhood, but it’s also more than that. The story centers on Daisy, her father, and their nightly tradition of riding on Papi’s motorcycle through the neighborhood and town. We take in a lot as we ride along with Daisy and Papi. We see the construction site where Papi and his coworkers have labored all day.

Aaron Reynolds and Sara Varon, author and illustrator respectively of President Squid, stop by the podcast to talk about taking inspiration from a 5-year-old, the importance of having confidence in your brand when you’re a squid, and main characters committed to putting in 110%.

Kyle Lukoff (@Shekels_Library) is author of A STORYTELLING OF RAVENS and WHEN AIDAN BECAME A BROTHER, the latter of which was our focus in this conversation. WHEN AIDAN BECAME A BROTHER is about a trans boy who wants to make sure everything is just right for the arrival of his new sibling.

In this new miniseries of indefinite length, I invite my friends from the kidlit community to share what is giving them hope today.

Fred Koehler, author illustrator of Super Jumbo, stops by the podcast to talk about striving to create a character that embodies every child everywhere, a period of time where he was redrawing his entire portfolio from one writing conference to the next, and the important understanding that kids have to make mistakes

J.J. Austrian and Mike Curato, the author and illustrator respectively of Worm Loves Worm, stop by the podcast to talk about Pants-of-the-Month, having conversations with children through children’s books, and the impact of two worms falling in love.

Rashin Kheiriyeh (@rashinkheiriyeh) is the illustrator most recently of THE BOOK TREE, authored by Paul Czajak, and STORY BOAT, authored by Kyo Maclear. Rashin is the illustrator or author-illustrator of over 70 books published around the world. Her voice as an illustrator is distinct and playful and her work has been celebrated the world over.

Keith Negley, author illustrator of Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too), stops by the podcast to talk about mixed-up emotions, picking five colors and sticking to them, and the memory of not wanting his son to see him cry.

Andrea Beaty (@andreabeaty) is the author of ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER and its sequels as well as author of the QUESTIONEERS (@questioneerkids) chapter book series, all illustrated by David Roberts. Andrea shared much insight to how she crafts stories in rhyme and how, when searching for words, the right one is the right one. She also shares the idea of holding onto a dream for somebody else and how books help make room. Andrea’s newest picture book in the series will be SOFIA V

Susie Ghahremani is the author-illustrator of BALANCE THE BIRDS and STACK THE CATS. Susie’s books attempt to engage our youngest readers through simple shapes and eye-catching colors, exploring foundational skills such as balancing, counting, comparing, and predicting.

Author Mariana Llanos and illustrator Anna López Real join Matthew in conversation to share LUCA'S BRIDGE/El puente de Luca. LUCA’S BRIDGE is a border story. It is a family story. It is a story that centers on the universal language of emotion.