AWKWARD by Svetlana Chmakova needs to be in every school library

Just finished AWKWARD, an absolutely wonderful middle grade graphic novel by Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press/Hachette, 2015). Omigosh, this needs to be in every school library. Why? Because it Svetlana does SUCH a great job at capturing the awkwardness of middle school personal interactions, especially for the insecure and shy. I wish this book had been around when I was that age, because it would have inspired me to take more risks, to not be so afraid of making mistakes when it came to social situations.

Click to read more ...

Don't stress about getting everything perfect the first time

I love this quote by Robert Cormier so much that I've made it available as a free, print-ready poster.

Download the poster here. (after opening the image, right-click for PC, ctrl-click and hold for Mac)

Also see my free, print-ready Archives.

A Cautionary Comic For Writers

Don't count on elves to finish your stories

One of my favourite Neil Gaiman quotes: "Just write. Many writers have a vague hope that elves will come in the night and finish any stories for you for you. They won’t." You can see the original video in which he offers advice for young writers:

THE KIDNEY HYPOTHETICAL: OR HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE IN SEVEN DAYS by Lisa Yee (Arthur Levine Books)

Just finished THE KIDNEY HYPOTHETICAL: OR HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE IN SEVEN DAYS by Lisa Yee​ (Arthur Levine Books, Mar/2015). I've been a fan of Lisa's since MILLICENT MIN, and I thoroughly enjoyed her new YA. What I love about all of Lisa's books, including this one: the wry sense of humor, flawed and appealing characters, how the relationships develop throughout the story. And who could NOT love a character named Higgs Boson Bing? :-)

Click to read more ...

Reminder: Every person's journey is different.

Every journey to publication is different. Don't compare yourself to others. Find your OWN path, at your own pace.

Free, print-ready poster: "Reading Lets Your Imagination Soar"

Added to my For The Love Of Reading resource for teachers, librarians, booksellers and young readers: a free, print-ready "Reading Lets Your Imagination Soar" poster. For all my free, print-ready material, please see Debbie's Print-Ready Archive.

Click to read more ...

Booktweet: BONE GAP by Laura Ruby

What I just tweeted:

Just finished BONE GAP by @thatlauraruby. Thx @auntierez for rec at #nerdcampmi! Loved the voice. Disturbing, mysterious, thought-provoking.

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) September 17, 2015

Just heard that BONE GAP made the 2015 National Book Award Longlist!

Power Thesaurus: Free Crowd-Sourced Online Thesaurus

There are already a bunch of online thesaurus sites out there, like Thesaurus.com, Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus, Collins Thesaurus, Visual Thesaurus and others, but Power Thesaurus was the first crowd-sourced online thesaurus I've come across.

Click to read more ...

Madeleine L'Engle quote about children's books (and a free, print-ready poster)

I've added a free, print-ready poster version of this wonderful Madeleine L'Engle quote to my For The Love Of Reading page.

You can find links to ALL my free, print-ready bonus goodies at Debbie's Print-Ready Archive.

A comic for those who think that picture books are easy to write

Anyone who thinks that picture books are easy to write because they're short needs to read this advice from my Simon & Schuster editor, Justin Chanda.

Madeleine L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME was rejected 26 times

Did you know that Madeleine L'Engle almost gave up writing when she turned 40 after getting yet another rejection notice? "With all the hours I spent writing, I was still not pulling my own weight financially." She discovered, however, that her subconscious wouldn't let her NOT write. 

"I had to write. I had no choice in the matter. It was not up to me to say I would stop because I could not. It didn't matter how small or inadequate my talent. If I never had another book published, and it was very clear to me that this was a real possibility, I still had to go on writing." (Source)

Click to read more ...

What I'm having for breakfast: LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST

Yay, my copy of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney (Sterling) just arrived! Such a delicious read, plus I love the surprise fold-out ending. This would make a great readaloud, with lots of potential discussion with young readers about the fun art details, food and friendship.

If you haven't already, do read my Three Questions interview with Josh Funk.

You can also find out more about the book (plus there's a free activity kit) on Josh's book page.

Something Amazing

Thanks to my friend Therese Walsh for the great caption! You can find out more about Therese at ThereseWalsh.com and on Twitter at @ThereseWalsh.

An iPad made of trees

Thanks to Goodreads for tweeting the comic I did with Paul Carroll today!

Children's Book Finger Puppets: tips for children's book creators, teachers and parents

I've added some free print-ready templates for creating finger puppets related to I'M BORED and WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? You can preview the I'm Bored puppets here and download here. You can get the Where Are My Books? puppets here: Spencer & Mom preview/download, Sis and Dad preview/download and Squirrel/Narwhal/Book preview/download. For all my free, print-ready material, see my Print-Ready Archives.

Click to read more ...

Kathryn Stockett's THE HELP was rejected 60 times

According to a Time interview with Kathryn Stockett, The Help was rejected 60 times by agents before being picked up by Susan Ramer at Don Congdon.

The book was Kathryn's debut as a novelist and took her five years to complete. Since it came out in 2009, The Help has been published in 35 countries and three languages.

Late Bloomers: William Steig

More proof that it's never too late to start.

Three Questions For Barney Saltzberg: Advice For Young Writers, Pencil Sharpener Inspiration and INSIDE THIS BOOK (ARE THREE BOOKS)

Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Andrew Drew and Drew, and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over one million copies in print. Not only that, but he's also recorded four albums of music for young people (!). See the children's concert clip later in this post.

I was lucky enough to meet Barney at ALA earlier this year and more recently discovered his BEAUTIFUL OOPS!...I can't believe I missed this wonderful book before! Those of you who've seen my found object art demos can guess why I fell in love with this book.

Click to read more ...

Free print-ready poster: Tim Federle quote about books

I've added a new print-ready poster to my For The Love Of Reading page:

You can download the poster here.

For more free print-ready literacy posters, activity sheets, bookmarks and more, see For The Love Of Reading. You can also browse my full Print-Ready Archive for teachers, librarians and young readers.