Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 71

Guest Post: Beth Bacon & Editor Tracey Keevan on Encouraging Reluctant Readers

by Beth Bacon
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Editor Tracey KeevanThis is the second post in a series honoring reluctant readers.

Two out of three fourth graders in the United States failed to read with proficiency, according to a 2015 Kids Count survey.

The fundamental skill of reading is not an easy one to master.

Writers, editors and educators need new ways of addressing this humbling fact.

In the second installment of my series about reluctant readers, I ask: What does it take to create...

Guest Post: Beth Bacon on Honoring Reluctant Readers with Author & Illustrator Charles Johnson

By Beth Bacon
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

This post is the first in a series honoring reluctant readers.

Reading is the closest thing we have to magic in the real world.

Is there any other explanation for the way those small, squiggly symbols on the page transform into meaning in our minds?

Scientists can provide technical explanations of the way our eyes and brains make reading happen. But I’m talking about the way a book can move us to tears or spur us to action. Reading conjures ac...

Cynsations News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith,
Gayleen Rabakukk & Robin Galbraith
for Cynsations

Author/Illustrator Interviews

Cherie Dimaline On Ersaure, the Power of Story, and The Marrow Thieves by Shelley Diaz from School Library Journal. Peek:

“I very strongly believe that with the current state of the world, one of the best options we have as the human race is to start globally valuing the traditional and ecological knowledges that are held by the original inhabitants of the land.”

A Story of I...

Guest Post: Author Deborah Lytton & Agent Stacey Glick on Middle Grade Series Proposals

By Deborah Lytton
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Thanks to Gayleen and Cyn for having us on Cynsations. It’s always such a pleasure to be here!

Today, I have asked my agent and friend, Stacey Glick to join me to discuss the Middle Grade series proposal.

Stacey is Vice President at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Management and has been my agent for over 12 years. Stacey and I share a background as child actors, although we never worked together as kids because she was on the East...

Guest Post: Don Tate on Proactive Promotion & Strong As Sandow

By Don Tate
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

My newest book babe, Strong As Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth (Charlesbridge, 2017), published earlier this fall.

To welcome “Sandow” into the world and to provide my new book babe with tools needed to flourish, I planned a full marketing blitz.

Marketing a new book is a shared effort between a book’s creators and its publisher. My publisher supported our book in many ways. For instance, they sent me to various confere...

Survivors: G. Neri on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing Children's-YA Author

Learn more about G. Neri.By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

In children’s-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field. 

Reflecting on your personal journey, what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?

This November marks a month of many momentous events in my life: It was ten years ago in November 2007, that my first book, Chess Rumble, was published by Lee...

Cover Reveal: Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime

By Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Debut author Cate Berry interviews illustrator Charles Santoso about Penguin and Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime! (Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins, May 2018)

Cate: Hi, Charles! I'm here with Penguin and Tiny Shrimp to talk about—

Penguin: Hey, Charles! Love the cover, but what's with the pajamas?

Tiny Shrimp: We don't do bedtime, Charles. (Although I love my nightcap and I'm keeping it.)

Cate: Guys! Let's slow down here! I want to t...

Cynsations News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith,
Gayleen Rabakukk & Robin Galbraith
for Cynsations

Author/ Illustrator Interviews

Meet National Book Award Finalist Rita Williams-Garcia by Emily Temple from Lit Hub. Peek:

“How do you tackle writer’s block? I box, knit, write, and read. Physicality helps to jar me out of my mental state. It shakes things free.”

An Interview with Alan Gratz, Author of Ban This Book by Dorian Cirrone from From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors. Peek:

“...the ALA thinks that...

Survivors: Uma Krishnaswami on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing Children's Author

Learn more about Uma Krishnaswami.By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

In children's-YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.

Reflecting on your personal journey, what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success? 

I was a writer before I knew it.

When I was a child growing up in India, I read just about all the time and in between books, I'd dash off stories and...

New Cynsations Reporter: Melanie J. Fishbane

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Melanie J. Fishbane joins the Cynsations team as a reporter covering children's-YA writing, illustration, publishing and other book news originating in Canada.

Melanie J. Fishbane holds an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and an M.A. in History from Concordia University.

With over seventeen years' experience in children's publishing, she lectures internationally on children's literature. A freelance...