What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to be a dancer. I took ballet lessons in my early years, and, when I wasn’t in class, I spent many hours twirling around the family room of my childhood home in a leotard, tutu, and pink ballet shoes. Of course, I became […]Read more "Dancing Dreams"

It’s a Free Book Friday to honor Earth Day next Wednesday! Enter to win The Nitty-Gritty Gardening Book, written by Kari Cornell with photos by Jennifer S. Larson. Grow your own fruits, vegetables, and flowers! Become a gardener in any season with these fun and easy projects. You don’t even need a garden space—many of […]Read more "Free Book Friday: The Nitty-Gritty Gardening Book"

We’d like to introduce the new Carolrhoda Books and Carolrhoda Lab editorial director, Alix Reid! She officially started last week and was kind enough to agree to answer some questions for us. We’re posting part 1 (about her editing experience and background) today; part two (about her favorite books, hobbies, and life in Chicago) will […]Read more "Meet Alix Reid! [Part 1]"

Do you guys remember those robotic vacuum-cleaner commercials from several years back where customers enthuse, “I love robots!”? Well, allow me to geek out here for a minute, because I really do love robots. I was an early adopter of the vacuuming robot, and, several model upgrades later, I can’t imagine life without this little […]Read more "I <3 Robots!"

This time of year always gets me nostalgic about going to baseball games with my dad. Every now and then when I was growing up, we’d jump in the car, head to the Metrodome, and settle in with some popcorn or an ice-cream cup and watch the Twins try to win one for Minnesota. What […]Read more "Baseball Really IS Fun!"

It’s Free Book Friday: National Poetry Month Edition! Enter to A Rock Can Be…, written by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Violeta Dabija, a picture book in rhyme about the many uses of rocks. Rocks may seem like boring, static objects—until you discover that a rock can spark a fire, glow in the dark, […]Read more "Free Book Friday: A Rock Can Be…"

We know spring’s only just begun, but let’s talk about fall! We have an amazing list next season that features seven young adult novels, a multitude of picture books, fascinating nonfiction titles, and a graphic novel about Matthew Henson thrown in for good measure. Today, we’re excited to reveal the cover for Game Changer: John […]Read more "Game Changer Cover Reveal!"

We’re trying something new on the blog! Next Friday, we’ll be posting an author Q&A with Amber J. Keyser, author of Sneaker Century and the YA novel The Way Back from Broken (available 10/1/15). We’d like your help coming up with questions! You can leave them in the comments on this post or tweet us at @lernerbooks […]Read more "Author Q&A with Amber J. Keyser"