As I’ve mentioned before, I love listening to podcasts. One of my favorites is The Artist Rolls. On The Artist Rolls, Sean and Jamie ask their creative guests to fill out a form loosely inspired by character sheets from role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. They use these character sheets to help explore and discuss how each guest divides their
Last Friday, I had the great pleasure of participating in the Annual Holiday & Benefit Party at Parkplace Books, a lovely independent bookstore in Kirkland, WA. The event was festive and well attended, and I had the chance to talk with some of my favorite local authors as well as many of the customers who came in to see us. I also got
Many people have asked me what they can do to help promote my book. Many others have already helped in ways both big and small, and I’m grateful for each and every one. If you’ve ever wondered how to help an author friend, here are some quick, easy things you can do that will have a big impact. 1. If
For the holiday 2014 season, bestselling author Neil Gaiman and musician-author Amanda Palmer called upon their fellow authors to get behind Indies First and “volunteer” at bookstores on Small Business Saturday (Nov. 29). I couldn’t choose just one independent bookstore to hang out in (we’re lucky to have so many to choose from where I live!), so I’ll be doing
Every now and then I stumble on something so wonderful that I want to add it my own list of “My Favorite Things” and share it with the world: the Let’s Get Busy podcast from Matthew Winner is one of those things. Whether you’re an author, illustrator, teacher, librarian, agent, editor, bookseller–if you have anything to do with children’s literature at
Quoted in BE A CHANGEMAKER, chapter 1, from a speech given at We Day Seattle on March 27, 2013, attended by the author. Visit Monique Coleman’s official web page for more information about her speaking and humanitarian activities.
I recently received this email from a middle-school teacher: I wanted to let you know that one of my students has taken your book to heart. He’s been carrying it with him for six weeks, and he is in the process of trying to start a nature club at school. He is a super hard worker, and a wonderful, bright,
My first picture book, EMMANUEL’S DREAM, will be published in January, but it’s available for pre-order now! Here’s the description from the publisher’s web page: Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah’s inspiring true story—which was turned into a film, Emmanuel’s Gift, narrated by Oprah Winfrey—is nothing short of remarkable. Born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg, he was dismissed by
I’ve been hugely gratified by the responses I’ve gotten from teachers around the country about using BE A CHANGEMAKER: HOW TO START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS in their classrooms. The very first of these was a lovely 8th-grade ELA teacher from a private Catholic school in Louisiana. She reached out to me before the book was even released, and let me tell you, her
To my delight, I’ve had several teachers contact me about speaking to their students at the kickoff of a unit using Be a Changemaker in their classrooms. While I’m always thrilled to do a quick, live Skype call if the timing and permissions work out, so far it’s been easier for everyone if there’s a pre-made video that they can