By Meizhen Dang I first heard the name Cathy Jackson in 2018 when she mailed in a pile of her little handmade books. Impressed as I was by their thoroughness, creativity, and completeness, we soon had our first meeting on publishing her reading program – Best Reading Phonics. Since that day, we worked on publishing the books
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If you were a big, hungry wolf and found a fluffy bunny in the forest at night, would you eat it? This is the decision that plagues the protagonist of What’s for Dinner? by Larysa Maliush, author-illustrator from Belarus now living in Berlin. The story begins on the endpapers with a bunny following a frog
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Have you heard of a phoenix? What about a tarand, a qilin, or a kukulkan? Cornelia Funke, well-known German author, engages in a discussion with her readers about famed magical creatures from around the world in her new book, Fabulous Creatures, translated to English by her daughter Anna Schmitt Funke. From the great barong of
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By Glenn A. Johnson When I was a kid, reading wasn’t a chore—it was an adventure. We devoured Charlotte’s Web, Treasure Island, Anne of Green Gables, Tom Sawyer, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. (And yes, I read The Hardy Boys.) These weren’t just books for school; they were companions. They made us
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By Glenn A. Johnson We are living through the loneliest era in human history—and many of us seem to prefer it that way. Journalist Derek Thompson points to a striking reality: Americans now spend 20 percent less time socializing in person than they did just two decades ago. But this is not simply a matter
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New to the world of children’s literature and unsure what to do next? Suzanne Elson, whose picture book Calm Down Counting was launched on April 6, 2025, has been working tirelessly to market her amazing social-emotional learning story about a girl with anxiety. Here are her top tips for promoting books, not in any particular
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