This weekend I spent some time at the Minnesota Weavers Guild demonstration area at the Minnesota State Fair. One person wove on a floor loom, another wove on an inkle loom, a third person spun wool into yarn with a spinning wheel, and I crocheted and knit. All of us talked with people passing by […]Read more "Kids and Real Stuff"

Several years ago, I read the book 100 Best Books for Children—publishing insider Anita Silvey’s look at the story behind the creation of some of the all-time greatest children’s books. One detail that’s stuck with me from the book is the story of what inspired Goodnight Moon. Silvey explains that author Margaret Wise Brown was […]Read more "Goodnight Moon and Your Amazing Senses—A Surprising Parallel"

One of the most satisfying things about working on single-title nonfiction is that you can encounter its components in real life. I had this experience quite literally when I heard Archaeologist Doug Owsley interview on public radio: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/js/swfobject.js /**/ Doug and his work play a critical role in the story Sally Walker tells in her […]Read more "Integration"

[In the 1950s, Harry Lerner was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany. Here’s the story—somewhat abbreviated—of how he got into publishing. It’s part of the memoir he wrote to celebrate LPG’s 50th anniversary. At left is the cover, which shows HJL sitting in the Renault mentioned below.] GIs were importing American cars at U.S. […]Read more "How Harry Lerner Got into Publishing"

Mary and Domenica asked me, the cofounder of Millbrook Press—of which Twenty-First Century Books (TFCB) became an imprint—to pass along what I know about the history of the imprint, now under the Lerner umbrella. If a new imprint calling itself Twenty-Second Century Books were to be launched today, we would no doubt expect something over-the-top […]Read more "TFCB’s Beginnings—Part I from Jean Reynolds"

How many of you spend a part of your day drawing pictures? I suppose it depends on how old you are and what kind of job you have, but here at Lerner, editors and production editors don’t typically do any drawing apart from a few stray doodles. That all changed when we started working on […]Read more "Ready . . . Set . . ."

As a life-long dog lover, I was quite excited to research and write a series on my four-legged best friends. For years, my dogs have sat faithfully at my side as I write at my computer. Now I had a chance to learn even more about my furry writing companions. What a dream assignment! These […]Read more "Elaine Landau on The Best Dogs Ever"

When something is described as enviable (in this case Steve Brezenoff’s prose) your next question is naturally, who’s doing the envying? Sara Zarr, that’s who. Here’s what she said: Brezenoff’s enviable prose captures four distinct, compelling characters as they struggle through the often heartbreaking work of becoming adults. Readers will identify with Suzanne, Lily, Noah […]Read more "“Enviable”"

It’s pretty clear that kids enjoy reading stories with recurring characters, characters whose histories they can follow over a long, long time. A graphic novel series, especially in manga, can run a half dozen volumes, or 20, or 30, or even hundreds of books, as the characters grow and change and meet more difficult and […]Read more "GU Comics Day: Recurring Characters"