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Author Interviews

Bionic Beasts Author Interview with Jolene Gutiérrez
Author Interviews

Bionic Beasts Author Interview with Jolene Gutiérrez

By Carol Hinz, editorial director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

I still recall how excited I was when I read Jolene Gutiérrez’s initial idea for the book Bionic Beasts. I don’t often see middle grade nonfiction that brings together engineering and biology in this way. Bionic Beasts highlights the innovation and problem-solving skills people around the globe are using to build prosthetic body parts for animals including a sea turtle, an elephant, and a goose. Jolene was kind enough to answer several questions about her book.

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Author Interviews

Creating a Garden : An Interview with Masha d’yans

Your belly is full of tiny creatures! A Garden in Your Belly: Meet the Microbes in Your Gut by Masha D’yans uses striking watercolors and lively text teach kids about the garden of microscopic flora growing inside them, how it keeps them healthy, and how they can help it thrive.

Masha wrote and illustrated A Garden in Your Belly, and today we’ve asked her a few questions about her artistic process.

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Monkey with a Tool Belt: Interview with a Young Fan
Author Interviews

Monkey with a Tool Belt: Interview with a Young Fan

by Carol Hinz, Editorial Director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books

The original Monkey with a Tool Belt book by Chris Monroe came out in 2008, and I don’t think anyone who worked on that first book ever dreamed that twelve years later, we’d be on book #6 in the series and that there would be a show streaming on Netflix!

I certainly never dreamed that in the year 2020, I’d be the mother of a seven-year-old kid who thinks Chico Bon Bon is awesome–or that I’d have the great fortune to work with Chris Monroe as the editor of her newest book, Monkey with a Tool Belt Blasts Off! I thought it would be fun to interview my son and get some of his thoughts on both the new book and the show, so here we go…

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Podcast Interview with Jeff Fleischer, author of Votes of Confidence, 2nd Edition
Author Interviews

Podcast Interview with Jeff Fleischer, author of Votes of Confidence, 2nd Edition

Listen in as Votes of Confidence author Jeff Fleischer covers what teens, young adults, and voters in need of a civics refresher ought to know about government, politics and elections. From the importance of primaries and mid-term elections to how student council can prepare participants for a life in politics to why teens should care about local politics even if they think they’re not interested, Jeff presents a compelling portrait of politics in everyday life. The book goes in-depth with clear explanations about how our election process actually works, why it matters, and how voters can become involved. Using real-world examples and anecdotes, this book provides readers with thorough, nonpartisan explanations about primaries, the electoral college, checks and balances, polls, fundraising, and more. Updated with statistics and details from the 2018 elections, the revised second edition will prepare the next generation of voters for what is sure to be a fascinating 2020 election cycle.

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Author Interviews

Podcast Interview with Hannah Batsel, author/illustrator of A Is for Another Rabbit

A Is for Another Rabbit book cover

Today on The Lerner Podcast, we’re joined by Hannah Batsel, author and illustrator of A Is for Another Rabbit, a hilarious picture book in which a rabbit-obsessed narrator makes an owl increasingly irate by refusing to play by the rules of a conventional alphabet book. Every entry is about bunnies, from “delightful, dynamic, daredevil rabbits” to “xylophone rabbits and rabbits on drums!” Readers will pore over scenes of bunnies at the circus, in a tiny town, at the museum, even in a motorcycle gang. Author-illustrator Hannah Batsel takes readers on a delightful romp through the alphabet and keeps them laughing all the way to the ridiculously fun conclusion.

Hannah covered “binkying”, a move that rabbits do when they’re being mischievous (it’s so cute – you need to stop what you’re doing right now to watch this), how the book came into being, and the seriously silly end-sheets in the book that tend to delight kids every time they read. You can browse through an excerpt on our website to see some of the search and find elements that will keep kids coming back to this book over and over again, and you can click here to see the end sheets

“[A]n excellent elementary-age read-aloud. Creative, comedic, and carrot-loads of fun.”—starred, Kirkus Reviews

 “‘Dynamic’ and ‘delightful,’ Bastel’s rollicking picture-book debut will be a surefire success at story hour.”—The Horn Book Magazine

Click below to listen!

Or find a download wherever you get your podcasts:

Apple Podcasts

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Spotify

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Learn more about Hannah Batsel at her website, or on Instagram

A transcript of this episode is available here

Check out more episodes of The Lerner Podcast.