The Lerner Blog

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press I think it’s safe to say that all writers and editors of children’s books think about reading level at least some of the time. Within Lerner’s editorial department, we think about reading level a lot of the time. All of our nonfiction series have designated reading levels. Some manuscripts […]Read more "A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma: Reading Level"

[I asked Associate Editor Anna Cavallo to give us her unique view of editing.] We editors all bring something different to the table at Lerner—knowledge of foreign languages, an interest in football, etc. In my case, a background in linguistics is one of these quirky assets. Many of my colleagues have degrees in English, and […]Read more "Disclaimer: I Was Not an English Major"

Adj. (15th c.) – established beyond doubt or dispute. See also, Walker, Sally and Carlson, Nancy. It’s my great privilege to have worked with many people who can wear the adjective “accomplished,” but this week Sally and Nancy have worn it particularly prominently. We recently got word that Sally Walker’s latest book, Written in Bone, […]Read more "“Accomplished”"

by Erin Finnegan, editorial intern Continuing bravely on, I have a third artist spotlight. This time it’s Matt Wendt, the artist behind some of our Twisted Journeys series, including the reoccurring character Agent Mongoose. Q. What computer programs and/or what kind of pens, pencils and brushes do you use? A. I’m one of those old-school […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Shining a spotlight on: Matt Wendt"

[A few weeks ago, we heard from Marcia Marshall, Sandra Markle’s editor, in her blog post about their work together. Here’s Sandy’s side of the story.] I love those Go Behind the Scenes shows about the making of a movie. Well, this time you’re getting to go behind the scenes with me on the making […]Read more "Behind The Scenes with Sandra Markle"

My colleague Andrew Karre posted last week (Thursday December 3) about the future of the book. His entry reminded me of the interest generated recently by the auction of Cormac McCarthy’s typewriter (not pictured at left). The typewriter at left is an Underwood and is part of a collection of manual typewriters that belongs to […]Read more "Moving—or Not—into Modernity"

By Carol Hinz Editorial Director, Millbrook Press Thank you very much to everyone who entered the Gross Body Science Draw a Germ contest. We received a lot of entries, and the variety and creativity of the entries was fantastic! The judges had a very difficult job! Here’s a photo of just a portion of the […]Read more "Draw a Germ Contest—Winners!"

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press The year 2009 was significant for this company—it marked Lerner’s 50th anniversary. But this year is also the 10th anniversary of the Words Are CATegorical series. I wasn’t working for Lerner when the series began, but in Harry Lerner’s memoir, Tenacity Well Directed, he shares the story of how […]Read more "10 Years of Words Are CATegorical"

By Sara Hoffmann Senior Editor The Best Dogs Ever (cover pictured), Lerner’s brand-new series about popular dog breeds, has made publishing news! It appeared in a recent article in Extra Helping, School Library Journal’s online newsletter. And it’s all because of the wonderful story behind the books’ dedications. As the article describes, Elaine Landau, The […]Read more "Best Dogs in the News"