By Domenica Di Piazza, Editorial Director, TFCB (Above, from left to right: Muffin, Finna, Miko) (Above: lioness and her cubs in the Okavango Delta region of northern Botswana) My father and I are both crazy about cats. He has two, and I have three (see top photo above). He called the other day to tell […]Read more "2011: Year of the Cat, Sort Of"

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press You might think that editors are all spelling experts. While I can brag that I won the sixth grade spelling bee at my (very small) elementary school, I’m not an exceptional speller. The truth is that good copyeditors and proofreaders catch spelling errors every day (not everyday) and make […]Read more "Words I’ve Learned to Spell Thanks to My Job"

By Domenica Di Piazza, Editorial Director, TFCB TFCB author Fred Bortz sent me a magnificent link for Christmas Day. Click here for an incredible short video of a Martian sunset (above). It’s spectacularly blue! Happy Christmas! [photo: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology]Read more "I’m Dreaming of a Blue Sunset"

by Robyn Chapman, NY editorial assistant In his essay for the SANE Journal, titled “This is Not Your Forefather’s Thor: Using Comics to Make Mythology Meaningful”, Nick Kremer wrestles with big questions. Why do we read mythology? Are the myths of archaic societies relevant to the students of today? How can we help students engage […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Not Your Forefather’s Thor"

By Domenica Di Piazza, Editorial Director, TFCB Not so long ago, my brother mentioned casually to me that he had once entertained the idea of becoming a neurosurgeon. In a way, his statement surprised me, since he’s made his life in publishing and in the law. But on the other hand, he’s a careful, methodical […]Read more "Beautiful Brains"

By Carol HinzEditorial Director, Millbrook Press It’s not every day that my interests in knitting and books come together, but last week it happened. I was thoroughly entertained by the Yarn Harlot’s blog post about the many things she was worried about in the final hours before she turned in the manuscript for her latest […]Read more "Isn’t It Neurotic?"

Liz Burns has an excellent review of Blythe Woolston’s The Freak Observer on her blog this morning. Aside from being glowing, I think this is one of the first reviews for this book I’ve seen that shine a spotlight on one of the novels strong points: Loa’s family (particularly her parents): Loa’s father is not […]Read more "TFO on Tea Cozy"

Congratulations to Elizabeth from Hartland, Wisconsin! She has won our Lerner Books Blog contest and will receive three new Spring 11 series for her classroom. Here is how Elizabeth says she uses Lerner books in her school: How do my high school students use Lerner books? In my Creative Writing and Advanced Composition courses, everything […]Read more "We have a winner!"

by Anna Cavallo, Editor Snowpocalypse. Snowapallooza. Snownami. snOMG. MinneSNOWta. Yes, when a blizzard keeps you at home for 24 hours or more, the creative terms start flowing. (And thanks, Ian Leonard, for collecting all those neologisms!) Sure, the photo above of my unplowed street on Sunday, about 12 hours after the blizzard ended, hardly looks […]Read more "Snowmageddon"