Kenya, an east African nation, has a great deal of diversity—its population includes more than a dozen major tribes and its wildlife preserves are home to thousands of animal species. In First Come the Zebra, Lynne Bar...

When asked why he chose to illustrate First Day in Grapes, Robert Casilla responded, "Stories that help kids become familiar with kids of other cultures or others in different situations are books that I like to illustr...

In Galaxy Games, 11-year-old Ty Sato gets a chance to compete in the biggest sporting event in the universe. In this BookTalk, author Greg R. Fishbone discusses Japanese culture and the appeal of aliens for middle-grade read...

Game, Set, Match, Champion Arthur Ashe profiles the first African American to win a Grand Slam tournament, one of tennis's most prestigious competitions. Here, author Crystal Hubbard discusses what makes sports so comp...

Gaylia Taylor began writing for children after she retired from many years working as a Reading Recovery® teacher.  Taylor’s desire to write has been with her a long time. “When I really think about how I became a writer,&r...

In Hammer of Witches fourteen-year-old bookmaker’s apprentice Baltasar, pursued by a secret witch-hunting arm of the Inquisition, joins Columbus’s expedition to escape and discovers secrets about his ow...

Hiromi Suzuki missed spending time with her father, a sushi chef who worked long hours in the family’s Japanese restaurant in New York City. So one day when she was eight years old, Hiromi begged her father to take her along to...

HONDA: The Boy Who Dreamed of Cars, written by Mark Weston and illustrated by Katie Yamasaki, brings the story of Soichiro Honda, founder of the Honda Motor Company, to children. The idea for this book about Honda grew out of the research Westo...

In Horse Song, Ted and Betsy Lewin invite readers to join them on a journey halfway around the world for a fascinating glimpse into a friendly and hospitable nomadic culture and its riveting horse races. Here, the cre...

Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji is about the relationship between a young boy and his grandfather from India who has come to stay. In this BookTalk, author F. Zia and illustrator Ken Min discuss the challenges associated with bridging the ga...

In How Far Do You Love Me? author and illustrator Lulu Delacre has taken a bedtime game she played with her young daughters and turned it into an “I love you” book with a twist. With every expres...

About the Title: “‘I and I’ is a way of referring to oneself, yet it means more than simply ‘I.’ It can refer to the unity of God and every human—God is within all of us and we are all one peo...

(photo by Rubén Guzmán)

Of the many toys I received as a child, I remember a few. I remember the Tonka trucks which were these durable steel toys. There were commercials where an elephant stood on one of the toys...

photo by Gary Spector

I've thought about illustrating children's book all my life. Being the son of John Steptoe, people always asked if I was planning to follow in my father's footsteps. Sometimes I would say yes,...