Janell Cannon was the type of kid who was always coming home with a new pet. Although, we?re not talking about your standard kitten in a shoebox or errant neighborhood mutt. Janell has always had a soft spot in her heart for animals most people might find, well, kind of gross. In fact, her childhood backyard in Minnesota sounds like it was…

Greg Tang has a resume that could get his foot in the door to a lot of places. A graduate of Harvard with both a B.A. and M.A. in economics, Tang has found success as a business executive, a speechwriter, a software designer and owner of a Tae Kwon Do school. After the publication of his first best-selling book for children, "The Grapes of Math"…

This article profiles Newbery Award-winning author Linda Sue Park, a special breed of author who writes so convincingly about the past it is as if she herself has actually lived these stories from a time long gone. She has provided such spectacular glimpses into Korea's storied past with books such as "A Single Shard" (Clarion, 2001),…

Katherine Pierpont tells of the creation and development of the popular children's book, "Olivia Forms a Band," by author/illustrator Ian Falconer. In this story, Olivia, a pig, and her mother, father , and brothers are off to have a picnic and see fireworks. Olivia insists that if there are fireworks, there must be a band, even if she must…

This article presents a profile of Newbery Award-winning author Karen Hesse, who is best known for her knack for recovering the little-known stories of the past and making them resonate once again in her books. As a meticulous researcher and lover of things from the past, some of Karen Hesse's most well-loved stories have tugged at her sleeve (and…

This article profiles Pegi Deitz Shea, an author who considers herself a rule-breaker. While she is surely capable of writing lovely, sentimental stories such as "New Moon" (Boyds Mills Press, 1997) and "Bungalow Fungalow" (Clarion Books, 1991), she is concerned with much more than just telling kids about the niceties of life.…