Archives #KidLitAMA
For current/upcoming guests, see Main #KidLitAMA Page.
Welcome to the #KidLitAMA Guest Archives page! Inspired by Reddit’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) and founded by Debbie Ridpath Ohi, this particular AMA aims to highlight members of the kidlit community on Bluesky as well as help build community. The event is free and open to the public. Even if you’re not on Bluesky, you can still view posts.
Browse Brian LaRossa’s KidLit AMA thread on Bluesky from Fri. May 31, 2024.
Brian LaRossa (he/him) is an executive art director in the hardcover picture book group at Scholastic Inc., the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. After hours he teaches a course on critical writing for The City College of New York and is a mentor in the We Need Diverse Books mentorship program. He has written many essays for publications such as Design Observer and AIGA’s Eye on Design. He also manages his own display font foundry, which developed a typeface for Google Fonts. In his spare time he writes fiction. His work has won awards from the Type Directors Club, Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Print Magazine, and his conceptual poetry is included in the permanent collection of the MoMA Library. He lives and works in New York City.
If you’re looking to get in touch, feel free to say hello. If you’re looking for him on social, he’s @brianlarossa everywhere. If you’re an illustrator looking to share your portfolio, please visit this form. If you’re looking for his pizza recipe, you’ll find it here.
More info at BrianLaRossa.com.
Browse Melissa Stewart’s KidLit AMA thread on Bluesky
from Thu. April 25th, 2024
Melissa Stewart has written more than 200 science books for children, garnering such awards as the Sibert Honor, AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books, eighteen NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students, two Green Earth Book Awards, and three ALA Notables. She co-wrote 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books, edited the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing, and maintains the award-winning blog Celebrate Nonfiction.
Browse Harold Underdown’s Kidlit AMA thread on Bluesky
from Thu. March 7th, 2024.
Before joining Kane Press as Executive Editor, Harold Underdown worked as an independent editor and publishing consultant, and as an in-house editor with McGraw-Hill Education, Charlesbridge, and Orchard Books. He enjoys every part of the editing process, though he admits line-editing can be a chore.
Harold also enjoys teaching, in a variety of contexts. He speaks and gives workshops through the Highlights Foundation (next workshop: The Crash Course in Children’s Book Publishing in April) and SCBWI’s national and regional conferences. He also developed a curriculum focusing on revision in partnership with Eileen Robinson. They offer online and in-person tutorials, webinars, retreats, and workshops. He wrote The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Children’s Book Publishing, now in its third edition. He founded and runs The Purple Crayon, a respected web site with information about the children’s publishing world at www.underdown.org.
Thanks to Charlene Chua for being my first #KidLitAMA guest on Wed. Jan. 24th, 2024!
Browse Charlene’s KidLit AMA thread on Bluesky.
Charlene Chua (she/they) has illustrated many things over the years for kids of all ages. Her work has won several illustration awards, while books she has illustrated have been nominated for OLA Blue Spruce & Silver Birch, Lambda Literary Awards, USBBY Outstanding International Books, and others. They are the illustrator of the 2023 Stonewall Book Award Children’s & Young Adult winner, Love, Violet. Charlene’s author/illustrator debut, Hug? was published by Kids Can Press in 2020.
Charlene was born and grew up in Singapore, and moved to Canada in 2007. They started work in 1998 as a web designer, and went on to become a senior designer, web producer and interactive project manager. However, what they really wanted to do was draw pictures all day. In 2003, they decided to give it a go, and after a few years, they became a full-time illustrator.
When she is not making art, she enjoys cooking, reading, and playing with her cats. She now lives with her husband (and cats!) in Hamilton, Ontario. They are represented by Tracy Marchini at BookEnds Literary for all book projects.
Find out more about Charlene at CharleneChua.com, Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Mastodon, X/Twitter.