Welcome to my blog (scroll down to see individual posts), which was originally on a separate site at Inkygirl.com. I also have a separate Inkygirl newsletter on Substack at debbieohi.substack.com.
Also see: Inkygirl interviews – Resources
I’ve added a free, print-ready poster version of this wonderful Madeleine L’Engle quote to my For The Love Of Reading page. You can find links to ALL my free, print-ready bonus goodies at Debbie’s Print-Ready Archive.
Anyone who thinks that picture books are easy to write because they’re short needs to read this advice from my Simon & Schuster editor, Justin Chanda.
Did you know that Madeleine L’Engle almost gave up writing when she turned 40 because of discouragement over rejections? “With all the hours I spent writing, I was still not pulling my own weight financially.” She discovered, however, that her subconscious wouldn’t let her NOT write. “I had to write. . . .
Yay, my copy of LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney (Sterling) just arrived! Such a delicious read, plus I love the surprise fold-out ending. This would make a great readaloud, with lots of potential discussion with young readers about the fun art details, food and friendship. . . .
Thanks to my friend Therese Walsh for the great caption! You can find out more about Therese at ThereseWalsh.com and on Twitter at @ThereseWalsh.
I’ve added some free print-ready templates for creating finger puppets related to I’M BORED and WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? You can preview the I’m Bored puppets here and download here. You can get the Where Are My Books? puppets here: Spencer & Mom download, Sis and Dad download and Squirrel/Narwhal/Book download. For all my free, print-ready material, see my Print-Ready Archives. Note that you don’t HAVE . . .
According to a Time interview with Kathryn Stockett, The Help was rejected 60 times by agents before being picked up by Susan Ramer at Don Congdon. The book was Kathryn’s debut as a novelist and took her five years to complete. Since it came out in 2009, The Help has been published in 35 countries . . .
Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Andrew Drew and Drew, and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over one million copies in print. Not only that, but he’s also recorded four albums of music for young people (!). See the . . .