Beth Anderson's Blog

Happy Halloween! There’s a lot of scary stuff out there. But there can also be a lot of scary stuff inside oneself! With THE MANY MISFORTUNES OF EUGENIA WANG, amazing author/illustrator Stan Yan faced his fears. Here he shares his process of digging into the personal.

GIVEAWAY! Stan is offering a copy of THE MANY MISFORTUNES OF EUGENIA WANG to one lucky winner who leaves a comment below!

Making it Scary Meant Facing my Haunted Past by Stan Yan

When I began writing w...

I “met” Anne Lambelet when she created phenomenal art for CLOAKED IN COURAGE: UNCOVERING DEBORAH SAMPSON, PATRIOT SOLDIER. Today you get a peek behind and inside Anne’s latest release, I’M A DUMBO OCTOPUS! A GRAPHIC GUIDE TO CEPHALOPODS. I have to tell you, it’s totally fun! And I learned a lot!

GIVEAWAY! Anne is gifting a signed copy of I’M A DUMBO OCTOPUS! to one lucky commenter below!

Diving Deep Past First Impressions by Anne Lambelet

I’m a Dumbo Octopus! went through a lot of it...

Looking back over the process of a book can be really informative. So much is forgotten over the course of the several years it takes from idea to published. Here’s an interesting post from debut author Danna Zeiger on the journey of REWRITING THE RULES: HOW DR. KATHLEEN FRIEL CREATED NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR BRAIN RESEARCH AND DISABILITY.

GIVEAWAY! To get in on the giveaway for a copy of REWRITING THE RULES, please sign up for Danna’s newsletter. (And for an extra entry, leave a comment below!...

How do we as parents, teachers, librarians, and authors decide which books are important for kids? With the range of possibilities delightfully wide, deep, and ever-growing, it’s hard to know where to start, and impossible to finish. But lucky for us, Bianca Schulze took on the task! Here she shares her thoughtful and insightful process of updating 101 BOOKS TO READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP.

GIVEAWAY! To get in on Bianca’s BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY click the link at the end of the post.

Congrats to...

If you’re not familiar with Lindsay Moretti’s endeavor for educators called KIDLIT GROVE, please…read on! In this post, she shares her process of using picture books as a springboard for creating Project-Based Learning (PBL) units. I totally agree with her—books don’t end with the last page!

GIVEAWAY! Lindsay is offering winner’s choice: a free 1-month subscription to KidLit Grove’s curriculum library OR A custom STEAM unit (PBL or 45 minute workshop) designed for the winner’s own book or a...

Author Andrea Wang’s latest book is beautiful in text and art, and at the same time heartbreaking and inspiring. The path to the heart of WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE she shares here is such a perfect example that shows how “heart” arises from the connection between author and research, that it’s personal. And powerful.

GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing for a copy of WORTHY!

Congratulations to DG, the winner of WOODY’S WORDS from Lisa Roger...

Here’s another fantastic book from one of the Kid Lit for Growing Minds members! In this post for educators and librarians, author Lisa Rogers, a former library teacher, shares how WOODY’S WORDS: WOODROW WILSON RAWLS AND WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS can be used as a springboard for students to practice a growth mindset.

GIVEAWAY! Just leave a comment below to be entered to win a copy of WOODY’S WORDS!

Congratulation to the winner of BEFORE I LIVED HERE by Stacy Jensen!

Who Helps You Shine...

I too am enamored with the view of the Rocky Mountains. Along with the wonder they inspire, somehow, they anchor you. In writing the story of a piece of land, Stacy Jensen faced the challenge of finding the heart of a story about something that’s not human. Here she shares the process of writing BEFORE I LIVED HERE, the beautiful book which tells the story of the land where she lived.

GIVEAWAY! Just leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of BEFORE I LIVED HERE!

Congratulations t...

It’s quite amazing when you find primary sources that provide the seed, or acorn, that allows you to tell a story that for a while seemed lifeless. Check out this great post from debut author Lynn Street about how THE BLUE JAYS THAT GREW A FOREST grew from deep research and personal immersion in the science.

GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment after the post to be entered in the drawing to win your very own copy of THE BLUE JAYS THAT GREW A FOREST!

How Primary Sources Can Grow Your Nonfiction Natu...

For all you educators, librarians, history lovers, and those who have been led to believe that history is boring…

Over the next year and a half, I’ll be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution with a special series of blog posts from children’s authors and illustrators with books on the period surrounding the American Revolution! As many of you know, I’m fascinated with this time when “the world turned upside down,” and people wr...