The Lerner Blog

I love five-minute recipes, you guys. I’m talking cake in a mug. Mac and cheese in a cup. Microwave Mason jar pancakes. So when I discovered in the course of researching Ice Cream (cover pictured) that you could make ice cream in a bag? All I could say was shut the front door. This recipe […]Read more "I Scream, You Scream"

We hosted quite a signing in the booth today! Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff signed ARCs of The Anatomy of Curiosity, their second Merry Sisters of Fate group effort (the first being The Curiosities). Here are some pictures from around the web of the event for everyone who couldn’t see Brenna’s magnificent hair in […]Read more "#BEA15: The Merry Sisters of Fate"

Let’s talk BEA! Oh, but before we do that… Congratulations to Heidi Grange (@GeoLibrarian), who’s won TRASH MOUNTAIN! Send your address to publicity@lernerbooks.com, and we’ll send it posthaste. Okay, back to BEA. Today is the third and final day of BEA: BookExpo America, in case you forgot. As this post goes live, the Merry Sisters […]Read more "#BEA15!"

It’s time for another Free Book Friday! This week, enter to win Jane Yolen’s Trash Mountain. With illustrations by Monkey with a Tool Belt illustrator Chris Monroe, this middle-grade novel is sure to delight. The Star Tribune’s Ann Klefstad calls the book “a gripping story, right-sized for children but with all the authentic drama of any […]Read more "Free Book Friday: Jane Yolen’s Trash Mountain"

Earlier this month, Elon Musk and his company, Tesla Motors Inc., announced two new batteries designed for use with rooftop solar electricity systems–one for large-scale industrial use and one for homes or small businesses. This piece, on the announcement, comes from Scientific American. Later analysis suggests that these batteries are pretty neat, but they are not […]Read more "STEM, the evolution of technology, and Elon Musk’s new solar batteries"

Does anything on Earth go better with warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies than a nice, tall, ice-cold glass of milk? What about with s’mores, their chocolatey, marshmallow-y center sliding out around the edges of two crunchy graham cracker squares? To me, milk is pretty much the perfect drink. If you agree, you’ll love From Grass […]Read more "Thank a Cow"

Patrick Jones is the author of many Darby Creek series for reluctant readers, including The Alternative, Locked Out, The Dojo, and the upcoming Support and Defend series. Today, he’ll share why author visits benefit authors and students, and give some anecdotes from his recent school visits. What’s that line about writing…one percent inspiration and 99 percent […]Read more "Pressing the Fresh: Guest Post by Patrick Jones"

Ah, May…the month of celebrating moms, first visits to the lake or pool, last days of school for some lucky kiddos, and gardens just starting to bloom with those colorful, gorgeous harbingers of summer—flowers. In celebration of May and all it has to offer, I turn my focus today to From Bulb to Tulip (cover […]Read more "Hello, May Flowers!"

Full disclosure: I’m a history nerd. If I weren’t working as a children’s book editor, I’d probably be an underemployed social studies teacher or a barely-paid tour guide at a historic site. But since I am working as a children’s book editor, I get to help make social studies books for school libraries and classrooms. And I […]Read more "The Myth of Boring History: Sharing the Suspense with Kids"