Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Francisco Alarcon
Francisco X. Alarcon wrote poetry for both children and adults. Born in Los Angeles, California, he cspent time as a child in both Mexico and the United States. Alarcon's poetry was inspired by songs he heard from his grandmother, which...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Lulu Delacre
Lulu Delacre has been writing and illustrating children's books for almost thirty years. Her Latino heritage and her wide-ranging life experiences inform her books. In this interview, Lulu talks about her experiences growing up in Puerto...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Lynne Rae Perkins
Lynne Rae Perkins writes and illustrates picture books for young children and novels for middle and high school kids. Her stories explore family, friendships, and the many small but meaningful moments that shape childhood and...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Linda Sue Park
Linda Sue Park is the Newbery Award-winning author of A Single Shard. In this video interview, she compares writing to sports, questions animal sounds among different countries, and says that young writers need to practice writing. Watch...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Lin Oliver
Lin Oliver told stories even as a child, revealing all her family secrets to her neighbors. With Henry Winkler, Oliver is the co-author of the popular Hank Zipzer series about a young boy with learning differences who is funny,...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry has written more than 30 books for children and young adults in genres ranging from contemporary fiction to historical fiction to fantasy to autobiographical. Some of Lowry's books are light-hearted, but others deal with...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson is a compelling writer who plays with form and style to present individuals from the inside. Her playful side emerges when she looks at real history and women who played a role in it. Anderson also has a particular...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Lane Smith
Lane Smith describes his artwork as a mixture between his fine arts background and low-brow influences like Monty Python and Mad magazine. He has tried making sweet and cute children's books, but they always take a turn toward the edgy...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Laura Vaccaro Seeger writes and illustrates children's books that seem disarmingly simple at first but reveal complex ideas with every reading. She tackles big themes like friendship and creativity, and uses her design and animation...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Kelly Barnhill
Kelly Barnhill is the author of fantasy novels for children, including The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal. In this interview, Barnhill talks about listening to stories out loud, the importance of magic, her...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Katherine Applegate
Katherine Applegate is the author of many books for young readers. In this interview, Applegate talks about life-changing books for reluctant readers (including kids with dyslexia), writing "first-person gorilla", tackling tough topics,...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander, an award-winning poet and author, writes picture books for children and cross-genre books for teens. The Crossover - his basketball-concrete poetry-hiphop mashup - was awarded the 2015 Newbery Medal. Alexander is also...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Kathleen Krull
Did you know that Beethoven's favorite food was macaroni and cheese? Or that John F. Kennedy used to bark like a seal before giving important speeches? Kathleen Krull's biographies for young readers are full of such facts. Through solid...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Greg Tang
Greg Tang wants to improve the quality of math education in the United States. Each year he travels the country, giving workshops and presentations for teachers and students. He has a background in economics, business, and math...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Gennifer Choldenko
Gennifer Choldenko's books are funny and warm. She's got a real gift for capturing the authentic voices of tweens and teens as they negotiate their families, friends, and growing up. Her books for younger children feature kids - and...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: George Ancona
In 2002, George Ancona received the Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for work that "has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children." In this video interview, George Ancona talks about his...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Grace Lin
Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of more than 20 books - from picture books to young adult novels - for kids. Most of Lin's books are about the Asian-American experience. She believes that "books erase bias, they make the uncommon...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Katherine Paterson
Katherine Paterson is the Newbery Medal-winning author of Jacob Have I Loved and Bridge to Terabithia. In this interview, she talks about her childhood, raising a family, the challenges and joy of writing historical fiction, the...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Kate Di Camillo
Kate DiCamillo's books have won numerous awards. Well-known titles include Because of Winn-Dixie (which became a Hollywood film), The Tale of Despereaux, and Flora and Ulysses. But her success did not happen overnight. Before the public...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Kadir Nelson
Before turning 30, Kadir Nelson had already illustrated children's books, sold paintings to celebrities, and worked on a movie directed by Steven Spielberg. He has won awards for his writing and illustrations, including his artwork in...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton
Julie Andrews's legendary career encompasses the Broadway and London stages, blockbuster films, television shows, album releases, concert tours, and the world of children's publishing. Together with her daughter and co-author Emma Walton...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson writes picture books as well as books for middle graders and young adults. She tackles tough issues such as race relations, foster care, and incarceration. Watch the interview to learn more about her and read a short...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver are the co-authors of the popular Hank Zipzer series about a young boy with learning differences who is funny, resourceful, and smart. They have also created a series for younger kids called Here's Hank, and...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Jack Gantos
Jack Gantos' interesting life has provided the raw material for many of his books. Rotten Ralph, for example, was inspired by an aggressive red cat that he once owned. The Jack Henry middle-grade fiction series was based on Gantos' own...