Getting to The Heart of Why We Write

Today’s guest is author-illustrator Jena Benton. Talking with her was so inspiring, I had to stop myself from writing down everything she said as a quote to share. Please enjoy her love of language, books, Alaska, community, and creativity.

Some Highlights:

The impact teachers can have early on, whether to encourage or discourage our creativity.

Writing play manuscripts in high school.

“Networking is about the friends you make along the way.”

Soundproof kid’s corners for loud reading.

Book recommendation love and kidlit obsession.

Alaskan road systems.

The traveling bard revival and why we need more oral storytellers.

Cheesecake moments.

It is important to have a community to support you through obstacles and let yourself experience the obstacles–be sad–but have a deadline to get back up and keep going.

Listening to the music of words.
Links Mentioned🔗:

Jena’s website

Jena on Redbubble

Jena on Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Simply7 Interviews

Romance Writers of America

Sisters in Crime (Mystery Writers)

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) – she is the Illustrator Coordinator for her Alaskan chapter

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

Book Recommendations📚:

Kauai’s Call by Jena Benton, illustrated by Kristi Petosa-Sigil only available HERE.

Best in Show by David Elliott, illustrated by many people

Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom, illustrated by Claudia McGehee

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Renata Liwska

Interstellar Cinderella Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Meg Hunt

The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

A big thank you to Jena for coming on the show and another big thank you to you, listener! Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled podcast later this week with author Emily Dangremond.

Please put your hands together for kidlit author Ellen Leventhal! Ellen is an author and educator who features other kidlit creators on her blog. She is also a delightful human! Welcome, Ellen! 💃💃💃💃

Some Highlights:

Pull ideas from your experiences, even when they don’t seem important at the time they’re happening.

Using stories to help children through challenging times.

The joy of connecting with kids through stories.📚

Shaping your story through revision, just like you would a lump of clay.

The difference between writing and getting to use your creativity.

Add discovery for love of story to school curriculum.✏️

Different ways of writing in educational tests versus books versus placement exams. Learning to do it all.📄

Don’t let the joy of writing and story get away.

Owning your identity as a writer. As an author.📕

Links Mentioned🔗:

Ellen’s website (keep an eye out for my interview on her blog here)

Ellen on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Writers in The Schools

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

Book Recommendations📚:

Debbie’s Song: The Debbie Friedman Story by Ellen Leventhal, illustrated by Natalia Grebtsova on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

A Flood of Kindness by Ellen Leventhal, illustrated by Blythe Russo

Lola Can’t Leap by Ellen Leventhal, illustrated by Noelle Shava

Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets by Ellen Leventhaland Ellen Rothburg, illustrated by Joel Cook

They Built Me for Freedom:  The Story of Juneteenth and Houston's Emancipation Park by Tonya Duncan Ellis, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed

Who’s Writing This Story? By Robin Newman, illustrated by Deborah Zemke

The Incredible Shrinking Lunchroom by Michal Babay, illustrated by Paula Cohen

The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal

The Assignment by Liza Wiemer

Better with Butter by Victoria Piontek

Hidden Truths by Elly Swartz

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

The Thread Collectors by Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman

Thank you so much to Ellen for coming on the show. And thank you for listening!!🎧🎧🎧💃💃💃

Stay tuned for next week’s episode with author Emily Dangremond and an extra special bonus episode with author Jena Benton!

Please welcome Dara Henry to this episode of Getting to the Heart of Why We Write! Her latest picture book, Hanukkah Pajamakkahs is out at a store near you now. 

It was so fun hearing about her community involvement and the connections and joy within the writing community. I hope you enjoy!

Some Highlights:

The doors that open when you find your writing community.

Sharing rejections to celebrate actively querying.

Taking a break when facing obstacles. What would we do if we didn’t write?

Writing for joy, connection, readers, reflection, and celebration.

The value of patience. It’s something to exercise and work on–it’s a slow process.

Writing the words to write. Not every manuscript has to be published because all writing is purposeful–every bit improves our stories.

Love of pajamas.

Links Mentioned🔗:

Dara’s website

Dara on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

Kidlit 411

PBSOAR24 on Twitter and Instagram

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

Read Across America

Book Recommendations📚:

Hanukkah Pajamakkahs by Dara Henry, illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

The Imposter by Laura Bower, illustrated by Kerisa Greene

Call Your Mother by Tracy C. Gold, illustrated by Vivan Mineker

The World-Famous Nine by Ben Guterson
Thank you, Dara, for talking with me and thank you, listener, for being here! Stay tuned for next week with authors Ellen Levanthal and Jena Benton.

Please give a warm welcome to kidlit author Melissa Trempe in today’s episode! Her picture book, Ladybug Launch: Inspired by A True Story of Chinitas in Space co written with Dr. Natalia Ojeda and illustrated by Manuela Montoya came out earlier this year. Enjoy!

Some Highlights:

The joy of morning writing when the world is still asleep.😴

Beautiful biographies to add to your TBR list.📚📚📚

The benefits of Twitter pitch events, writing pitches to improve your writing as a whole. 🖋️

Sharing struggles and successes with a writing debut group.

Walking in silence. 

Reminding yourself that you’ve done this before and can do it again when writing gets hard.

Never give up the one thing that makes you happy.

Links Mentioned🔗:

Melissa’s website

Melissa on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Ladybug Launch on Indiebound, Simon and Schuster, Children’s Book World (in Philadelphia), Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes and Noble 

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

PBSOAR24

Tara Lazar’s Storystorm

The Highlights Foundation

Book Recommendations📚:

Ladybug Launch: Inspired by A True Story of Chinitas in Space by Melissa Trempe and Dr. Natalia Ojeda, illustrated by Manuela Montoya

Splash!: Ethelda Bleibtrey Makes Waves of Change by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley

Thank you so much to Melissa for being on the show and thank you for listening. Stay tuned for next week’s episode with kidlit author Dara Henry!💃💃💃🎧🎧🎧

Hello and Happy Book Birthday to today’s kidlit author and extra special bonus episode guest, Jill Dana! Her latest book, Butternut and the Flying Butter illustrated by Anusha Santosh releases TODAY!🎂🎉

Some Highlights:

The origin of the name for “German chocolate cake.”

What is butterfly gardening?

Paying attention to what inspires you.

All the different levels of enjoying stories, allowing them to become something new with every reading experience.

Embracing the performative aspect of picture books, they’re often meant to be read aloud.

Viewing picture books as a silent film to imagine the page turns and watch it play out.

Constraints on creativity, why do they make stories better?

Mind blowing food facts!

Links Mentioned🔗:

Jill’s website

Jill on Link.tree, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, and Instagram

Jill’s critiques

PB Sunrays

Picture Book Gold

Book Recommendations📚:

Butternut by Jill Dana, illustrated by Rachel Tan-Hwee on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Butternut & Buttercup by Jill Dana, illustrated by Rachel Tan-Hwee on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Butternut and the Flying Butter by Jill Dana, illustrated by Anusha Santosh on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Story Genius by Lisa Crohn

Let Liberty Rise!: How America’s Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Chuck Groenink

The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal

Yusra Swims by Julie Abery, illustrated by Sally Deng

Stay tuned for your regularly scheduled interview with author Melissa Trempe!

Please put your digital hands together for kidlit author-illustrator Jenny Alvarado! Her two debut genres came out within the last 10 days and I’m sure she’s in debut overload at the moment. Fortunately, we recorded this months ago! I hope you enjoy hearing our conversation about craft, art, story, inspiration, and alternate timelines.🎧💃

Some Highlights:

Writing with friends in grade school – inspiring each other.✏️

How the writing community can be a great place to connect IRL when working from home.

Sneaking a note to your past self, only without the domino effect on the future.

Capturing ideas before they disappear.

Never being too old to learn.

Links Mentioned🔗:

Jenny’s website

Jenny on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Storyteller Academy

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

Book Recommendations📚:

Pencil and Eraser: We Have a Dull-Emma! By Jenny Alvarado, buy it on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble 

Agent Unicorn by Jenny Alvarado, buy it on Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Nell of Gumbling by Emma Steinkellner

Apple Crush by Lucy Knisley
Stargazing by Jen Wang

Stay tuned for next week's episode with author Melissa Trempe and an extra special bonus episode with author Jill Dana!

Please welcome my friend and fellow Picture Book Peep, author Roxanne Chester! If you’re a writer looking for a bit of encouragement, light, and connection, look no further!

Some Highlights:

The joy of community and connection within the writing world.

How stories unite all of us with shared feelings.

Finding a way to forgive yourself when you don’t have the headspace or heartspace to push through and come back to writing afterward.

Being kind to yourself as a writer.

The benefits of creative expression.

More about This is My Bag: An unhoused person carries a bag through the streets, to a shelter, to a house, to the subway, and the park. With each changing location, the protagonist and their bag also changes, reflecting the various faces and reasons for homelessness and asking the reader to contemplate themes of community, self-reliance, and the meaning of "home."

Links Mentioned🔗:

Roxanne’s website

This is My Bag: A Story of the Unhoused illustrated by Abraham Matias on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

NY Writers Coalition Black Writers Program

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)

Picture Book Peeps on Instagram and Substack (new podcasts monthly!)

Book Recommendations📚:

This is My Bag illustrated by Abraham Matias

Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, her short writings

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speeches

Thank you so much to Roxanne for coming on the show and to you for listening! Stay tuned for the next episode with kidlit author-illustrator Jenny Alvarado!

Please give a big welcome to one of my favorite kidlit people and dear friend, Paul Vinelli!

Some Highlights:

Bereavement books and crossing genres.

Collaborating with an artist to bring your book to life.

Physically staging the scenes of your book.

Taking a book to an art show.

Finding creative purpose.

Creating the story through staging and writing the text after the images.

What animal would you choose to be you in an anthropomorphic world?

Taking theater production as inspiration for telling stories.

The trust process between an illustrator and picture book author.

The benefits of mentorship and the relationships

How much Paul and I love our writing community and some of those people who’ve had the biggest influence on us♥️♥️♥️:

Susan Wroble (Co-RA of Rocky Mountain SCBWI)

Stan Yan (Co-RA of Rocky Mountain SCBWI

Laura Perdew (Connect Leader for Boulder, CO)

Julie Rowan-Zoch (Connect Leader for Northern CO)

Beth Anderson (her blog is SO HELPFUL)

Kaz Windness (author-illustrator and AMAZING educator)

Laurent Linn (art director and author)

Lynn Becker (author)

Debbie Ridpath Ohi (the kidlit bluesky fairy godparent also author-illustrator)

Christiana Doucette (author)

Claire Noland (author)

Pattie Toht (author)

Karen Grencik (literary agent)

Harold Underdown (author, illustrator, publisher, educator)

Eileen Robinson (editor, educator)

Pamela Courtney (author, educator)

Valerie Bolling (author)

Links Mentioned🔗:

The Sartorial Librarians Podcast on Apple and Spotify

Paul on Instagram and Bluesky

SCBWI – Rocky Mountain – Central California

The Highlights Foundation

Wolverine Farms in Fort Collins, CO

Mary Krienke at Sterling Lord Literastic

Michelle Begley Mentorship

Picture Book Gold

Put your hands together for today’s guest, kidlit author-illustrator Lea Maryanow! I met Lea through 12x12 and had already unknowingly read her beautiful book nearly a year before! 

I hope you enjoy our chat and hearing some much needed words of encouragement (speaking for myself here😂).

For a boost to your writing week or season in life, here are a couple quotes from the interview that I might just get embroidered on throw pillows for my office:

 “Because I hope that what I have to say, the world needs. And I say that as humble as I can because why would anyone want to know what I have to say? I’m just this one human.”

“The journey is the destination.”

Final Advice: “To slow down.To acknowledge and realize there’s a lot to learn. You don’t need to and you cannot know everything at once and that’s okay. You are not alone. Every author has gone through this. It’s a process. And taking breaks is okay. It’s necessary.”

Some Highlights:

Balancing writing for adults teaching children and writing for children.🖊️

Getting started in the picture book world, 12x12 and SCBWI.

Inspiring stories through bilingualism and bicultural living.

The key to letting go of finding the right answer when writing.🔑

Links Mentioned🔗:

Stripes by Lea Maryanow on Bookshop, Petunia’s Place, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Lea’s website

Lea on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky 

The 12x12 Picture Book Challenge

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Book Recommendations📚:

The Boo Crew Needs You by Vicky Fang

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by Anoosha Syed

Wishes by Mượn Thị Văn, illustrated by Victo Ngai

Thank you, Lea! Stay tuned for next week’s episode with author Roxanne Chester and a possible bonus episode! 🎧🎧🎧

Please give a virtual welcome to kidlit author-illustrator Molly Cranch on this special bonus episode!

With her recent picture book debut, Hide and Seek, available on shelves now, it was a delight to hear about her journey as a storyteller, weaving words alongside her illustrations.

More about Hide and Seek: A book about the wondrous camouflage techniques of animals around us. For detectives ages 3 years and up. (Also available in Dutch through Clavis!)

Some Highlights:

Arts integration in curriculum and the intersection between art and science.

Crossing from the realm of illustration to weaving in narrative.

What came first, the pictures or words?

Inspiration found through working with kids and seeing them learn new things.

The social context of illustration.

Releasing a picture book while finishing a Master’s Degree in Illustration.

Links Mentioned🔗:

Molly’s website

Molly on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Picture Book Gold

Book Recommendations📚:

Hide and Seek by Molly Cranch on Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon

Illustrator Christian Robinson

Illustrator Isabelle Arsenault
Stay tuned for this week’s regularly scheduled interview with kidlit author-illustrator Lea Maryanow!