Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is the bestselling author of more than 20 books for children. Barnett writes the Brixton Brothers mystery series and, with Jory John, The Terrible Two novels. Barnett loves his work because, he says, kids are "the sincerest...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Marc Aronson
Marc Aronson has written history and biography books for middle school children and young adults, including books about the secrets of Stonehenge, the sugar trade, and the life of John Henry. His biography of Sir Walter Raleigh won the...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Mary Amato
Mary Amato writes stories, poems, plays, and songs for children and young adults. Amato both writes and teaches writing to both students and teachers. Watch the interview to learn more about her and read a short biography about her life....
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Matthew Cordell
Matthew Cordell writes and illustrates picture books and chapter books for children. His nearly wordless picture book, Wolf in the Snow, was awarded the 2018 Caldecott Medal. He has written and illustrated many popular (and often very...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Mary Brigid Barrett
Mary Brigid Barrett is a children's book author and illustrator a professional educator, and mom of three artistic and book-loving children. Watch the interview to learn more about her and read a short biography about her life. Includes...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Sneed Collard
Sneed B. Collard III is the author of more than 30 children's books about science, nature, and the environment. With a background in biology, his book topics range from beaks to wings to cloud forests to animal dads. Collard encourages...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Vicki Cobb
Vicki Cobb has published over 85 books for grades K-8 that explore physics, chemistry and biology, biographies, geography, and the human body. Her new Science Play series targets kids 3-5 years old, who are already natural scientists...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Tom Angleberger
Tom Angleberger is the creative mind behind the Origami Yoda series and other delightfully funny stories for kids, all of which he illustrates himself. Angelberger has Aspergers (he calls it his superpower), and many of his stories are...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Tonya Bolden
Tonya Bolden has written more than 20 books for children and young adults, including biographies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Washington Carver. Bolden transforms facts into compelling stories that inspire and challenge her...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Ashey Bryan
Ashley Bryan uses painting, poetry, music, collage, and prose to tell his stories. Bryan is known for retelling African folktales in a distinct, rhythmic prose that is heavily influenced by African-American poetry. Watch the interview to...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Andrea Beaty
Andrea Beaty is the author of the popular STEAM-themed picture books about curious kids who love asking questions, inventing, and making things. She has also written a rhyming series for very young readers starring Ted the bear, and...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Alma Flor Ada
Alma Flor Ada has written more than 200 books for children. Ada has mastered the art of retelling traditional folktales and nursery rhymes from across Latin America. A native of Cuba who has also lived in Spain, Peru, and the United...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Bryan Collier
Illustrator Bryan Collier began creating art at the age of 15. Using his signature style, a vibrant mix of watercolor and collage, he brings stories to life. Collier is the winner of numerous Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards. Watch...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Cece Bell
Meet Cece Bell, the award-winning author/illustrator of children's books including the Rabbit and Robot stories, the Sock Monkey series, and the graphic novel memoir, El Deafo, which won a Newbery Honor and the Geisel Award in 2015....
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Buzz Aldrin
Mechanical engineer, U.S. Air Force pilot, decorated war veteran, graduate of MIT with a PhD in Astronautics, Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 astronaut, inventor, Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee, author of books for children, teens and...
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Dallas Clayton
Dallas Clayton is an artist, children's book author, and philanthropist. He successfully self-published his first two books, An Awesome Book! and An Awesome Book of Thanks! Clayton has also founded An Awesome World Foundation, which...
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: 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: 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: 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: Joseph Bruchac
For over 30 years, Joseph Bruchac written poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies, and music that reflect his Abenaki Indian heritage and Native American traditions. He has written over 120 books for children and adults, including the...