Author: carolhinz

Sensitive: An Interview with Author Sara Levine

Renowned for her acclaimed books on animals and the natural world, Sara Levine joins us to reveal the inspiration and journey behind her latest title, Sensitive. A touching tale of a young girl constantly criticized for her heightened emotions, this story serves as a beacon for those who’ve been chided for being “too sensitive.”

Read on to get a behind the scenes look at this heartwarming tale and join Sara Levine in a broader conversation about celebrating and understanding our diverse emotional landscapes.

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What Makes a Picture Book Bio Stand Out?

by Carol Hinz, Associate Publisher of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

I love picture book biographies, both because of the fascinating range of people featured and because of the wide range of approaches authors use in writing them. Would I have known about Isatou Ceesay’s efforts to clean up her community in the Gambia if it weren’t for One Plastic Bag? Would I have had any idea how Cherokee values shaped Mary Golda Ross’s career as an aerospace engineer without Classified? Would I have been aware that a Mexican American teen girl with a passion for woodworking made a gift for President Roosevelt during the Great Depression if not for the forthcoming Piece by Piece?

Picture book bios are a mainstay of children’s nonfiction, but there are a lot of them, which can make it hard to stand out from the crowd. What elements does a picture book bio need to be successful?

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Dino-Thanksgiving and Dino-Football: Important Changes

by Carol Hinz, Associate Publisher of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

We all know that dinosaurs are extinct. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving and they most definitely don’t play football! But in the fictional picture book series Lisa Wheeler and Barry Gott created, they do all of these things and more.

After the publication of Dino-Thanksgiving, we received some valuable criticism about the name of one of the football teams, which was a variation of the former name of the Washington Commanders NFL team. The name had originally been created for the book Dino-Football, which was published back in 2012. We took this feedback to heart and decided to make a number of changes both to Dino-Thanksgiving and to Dino-Football.

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Revising the Backlist: Africa Is Not a Country, 2nd Edition

by Carol Hinz, Associate Publisher of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

When I was in college, I studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal, as part of a program through my university’s French department. While my French speaking and comprehension skills definitely improved, I got so many other amazing things from my three months there–including a whole new understanding of the African continent. A few of the specific highlights included living with a host family, celebrating Tabaski (also known as Eid al-Adha), taking dance lessons, studying Wolof, and enjoying the plat national, thiéboudienne.

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