In this heartwarming interview with Laura Bower, we celebrate the launch of her brand new, debut picture book, The Imposter, illustrated by Kerisa Greene, and published by Sandra Sutter, Gnome Road Publishing (2024). Laura talks about her life and writing career, the story behind The Imposter, and her advice for aspiring authors.

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Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times best-selling author of fifty books for young readers of all ages, including the award-winning picture books (and personal favorites) Library Lion and Marilyn's Monster. In this, our second interview we celebrate the launch of her new picture book, Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten (Candlewick, 2024), a poignant story of mistaken identity and revelation.

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The Devash Megillat Esther (Hadar Press, 2024) includes the full Hebrew Megillah text, an original kid-friendly English translation, and carefully selected commentaries from 2,000 years of Jewish tradition brought to life in newly accessible ways. Devash unlocks sophisticated texts for learners of all ages and backgrounds, encouraging deep questioning and growth.

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Sue Fliess ("fleece") is the award-winning, bestselling author of over 50 children's books including Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket, How to Trap a Leprechaun, Mary Had a Little Lab, Rumble and Roar, the Beatrice Bly's Rules for Spies series, the Kid Scientist series, the Magical Creatures and Crafts series, and many Little Golden Books. Her books have sold over 850k copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. In our interview we celebrate the publication of her newest picture book, Octopus Acrobatics, illustrated by Gareth Lucas and just published by Albert Whitman & Company (2024).

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Emily Barth Isler is the author of AfterMath, an award-winning middle grade novel, and of the forthcoming picture book Always Enough Love. In our interview, we celebrate the publication of her second middle grade novel, The Color of Sound (Carolrhoda Books, 2024), the story of Rosie, a musical prodigy with synesthesia. We talk about her transformation from child actor to blogger to author, and the unique perceptions of each and every one of us.

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Erin Kraan has illustrated over half a dozen children's books, with more on the way. In our interview we celebrate her latest illustrated picture book, Buffalo Fluffalo (Random House Studio, 2024) written by Bess Kalb. Erin talks about her life and career, and explains her unique process of carving her characters into wood and seeing how their quirky and whimsical identities come to life through the ink in the prints. We talk about the role played by the illustrator in making picture books come true.

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Suzanne Slade is the Sibert Honor author of more than 170 books for children. A mechanical engineer by degree, Suzanne writes about STEM topics, fascinating figures in history, and occasionally lyrical fiction. Her newest books include Some Days are Yellow, Shining Star: Vera Rubin Discovers Dark Matter, Behold the Octopus!, and Dazzilin' Dolly: The Songwriting, Hit-Singing, Guitar-PIcking Dolly Parton. 

In our interview we talk to Suzanne about her new books, and celebrate the centenary of the first performance of Rhapsody in Blue, beautifully recounted in her award-winning book The Music in George's Head: George Gershwin Creates Rhapsody in Blue (Calkins Creek, 2016).

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Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals, masterfully employing yuck appeal to engage young minds. Her 17 nonfiction books include Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill, What's in your Pocket? Collecting Nature's Treasures, and Bugs Don't Hug: Six Legged Parents and their Kids. Here we celebrate Heather's brand new book, Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs (illustrated by Lindsey Leigh, Bloomsbury Children's Books) and talk about her life and career, why she loves to write, and her advice for up-and-coming children's authors.

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Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent with over 15 years’ experience in both the publicity and agency sides of publishing. Before founding Lucinda Literary, she worked in the Publicity division of HarperCollins, where she assisted on the media campaign for Freakonomics among other New York Times bestsellers. She currently represents authors writing in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. Here, we celebrate the launch of her brand new book, Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author (Hay House, 2024). Lucinda shares her experience as an agent, her advice for authors, and her own (unagented!) journey in getting a publishing deal.

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Laurie Wallmark is the award-winning author of picture book biographies of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) as well as fiction. In our second interview, we celebrate Laurie's new picture book, Journey to the Stars: Kalpana Chawla, Astronaut, co-written with Raakhee Mirchandani, illustrated by Maitreyi Ghosh (Illustrator) , published by Beaming Books (February 13, 2024). 

We also talk about other recent books including The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game (July 2023), Rivka's Presents (July 2023), and Dino Pajama Party: A Bedtime Book (2021), attempting to understand the differences and commonalities between non-fiction and fiction, including the universal importance of passion and storytelling.

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