I spoke at the Dublin Literacy Conference in Dublin, Ohio. The conference is more than 25 years old. The participants and organizers were top notch and I had a great time. (Apart from a nightmarish trip there due to our never-ending winter travails.) Marylee Hahn ran the conference this year. She was a terrific host […]

Nice review in the Times for the Great American Dustbowl. Find it here.

Art from my Henry & the Cannons is included in 2013 Society of Illustrator’s Original Art Show. Me, at the Opening (my art on bottom):

I was at the Boston Bookfest on Saturday, Oct 19, sharing in a panel discussion about non-fiction graphic novels. I discussed my book, The Great American Dustbowl. One of my co-panelist was the extremely talented, funny, and nerdy (in a good way) Maris Wicks, the illustrator of Apes The other panelist was award-winning author Jane […]

I gave the opening keynote speech at the Joy of Children’s Literature at the College of William & Mary. My great thanks to Denise Johnson for inviting me, as well to her gracious and helpful staff. The teachers I met there were a joy.

The Times says I’m keen. Here

School Library Journal: STARRED REVIEW Gr 1-4–As the American Revolution was getting underway, George Washington knew he needed cannons to defeat the British. Unfortunately, he was camped outside British-held Boston, and the nearest big guns were 300 miles away at Fort Ticonderoga, New York. They were thought to be impossible to retrieve, until Henry Knox […]

Junior Library Guild Selection for America is Under Attack.

For sometime I’ve believed the future of ebooks was not fiction but non-fiction. In a carefully considered article in Salon, Laura Miller makes the same argument. But they are expensive endeavors, requiring the contributions of many talented people – illustrators, animators, photographers, videographers, and interface architects to make a good one. I’m convinced the economic model […]

Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, […]