BookHuddle with Readgab

New York Times bestselling author of Dragonborn is back with sequel, The Twilight Child. Struan Murray joins Karen Reeder to discuss his sixth book and how he developed his characters, keeping the importance of their growing anger in mind. It turns out children can learn so much about their own emotions from the way that dragons deal with their emotions.  Find middle grade author Struan Murray htt...

RJ Palacio (the author of Wonder) and Brett Helquist (the illustrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events) come together as a powerhouse team to create a brilliant new Halloween picture book, THE HAUNTED PLAYGROUND. Hear all about how they created this story, what their reactions were to each other's words, scenes, images, and why it is important for people of all ages to take time to have fun....

Robin Easter's own life experiences influenced the creation of their graphic novel about a new kid at a new middle school. In today's episode Robin and I discuss friendships, community and being true to yourself. Find author Robin Easter https://www.instagram.com/vellichorvictim/?hl=en Middle School Monsters by Robin Easter https://www.amazon.com/Middle-School-Monsters-Graphic-Novel/dp/0...

Rigby is given a second chance when she is pulled into her favorite fantasy novel, but can she help the villian discover his second chance as well? Author Jessie Latimer and I discuss her debut novel, Again Behold the Stars, and all about second chances, redemption, taking charge of your own destiny, world building, what draws you into a story, and how you can affect others for good. Find author J...

This interview was very personal for me, so I, of course, got emotional. Sue Lloyd-Davies and I discuss her beautiful, heart-rending, fun, entertaining, and uplifting book Pinkie's Turnabout. This episode is for all of those kids whose lives are affected by the unique changing lifestyles with aging loved ones. If you have ever had a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia, then you can re...

Sometimes you find magic in unexpected places. Celesta's books all have some light fantasy to them, but are all based on some things in our real world that just seem magical. In Celesta's newest release, Reach, a boy is struggling with blended family relationships when he meets a tree that can talk and a friend with synesthesia. Celesta Rimington's middle grade books are inspired by...

Do you have a pet that you love so much that you think they would make the best friend if only they were human? I mean, no one understands you the way your pet does, right? What if your dog became human? YA author AJ Symon explores this fantastic possibility in his book, Golden Boy.  Find author A.J. Symon  https://ajsymon.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ajsymonwriter Golden Boy by AJ Symon https:/...

Author Megan E. Freeman is widely known for her popular middle grade books Alone and Away. The Secret to Belonging is Megan's debut young adult novel in verse about a girl from a hard home life who finds an escape as a foreign exchange student in Norway. Listen in to hear Megan share how her own life experiences inspired this story and what you can do with many of the themes within the pages....

For Micah Johnson his creation of Aku is a symbol for limitless dreams. In this episode we get to discuss how Micah went from retired baseball player to artist and children's book author. Micah uses his art and writing to inspire kids to achieve their dreams.  Find author Micah Johnson  https://aku.world/ https://www.instagram.com/akudreams/ https://www.instagram.com/micah_johnson3/ https://w...

Do you ever go looking for a book that will feel like reading it is like getting a hug? Then The Magic of Someday Soon is the book for you. In this episode Michelle Lee discusses her light magical book set in a small town, finding unexpected friends, how she has experienced magical moments in her own life, how art can effect us, loss/grief and more.  Find author Michelle Lee https://www.michellele...

Casting April by Wendy Lu is partly based on Wendy's own youth experiences with theatre and living with a tracheostomy tube. While April is partly based on Wendy as a youth, April has a lot of her own experiences as well. We get to hear all about parts of the story that were very much a part of Wendy's own life as well as other important moments like the unexpected friends April encounte...

LIberty Biscuit and Little Pearl by Melanie Sue Bowles  Find author Melanie Sue Bowles Chapters 00:00 Meet middle grade author Melanie Sue Bowles 03:50 What is Liberty Biscuit about? 07:53 How did Melanie create the story? 10:27 A happy/strong family that has weaknesses 13:05 A mixed race family in a story 15:40 How did Melanie end up with rescue horses on her farm? 16:55 Real horses and donkeys L...

Do you remember the moment you fell in love with reading? Or a magical moment in a story that stuck with you forever? In this episode I talk with author Jessica Khoury about creating her newest book, Monster and Apprentice, how the story developed, how she discovered its themes, and all of the magical moments that go along with a writer's journey.  Jessica Khoury is the author of many books f...

Nancy Hudgins is a nonfiction middle grade author of Books Good Enough for You: The Storied Life of Ursula Nordstrom. You will likely be familiar with many books that Ursula edited during her long career championing children's books: Goodnight Moon, Charlotte's Web, Where the Wild Things Are, Harriet the Spy. Nancy puts together a wonderful history about Ursula in a way that reads like s...

No one likes to fail. It isn’t fun. But it is how we grow. The way authors Kate and Nate illustrated this powerful theme while providing an entertaining story fascinated me and I am so thrilled that they joined me in this podcast episode to discuss it. I love all that I learned about their creation and the thoughts that went into Confessions of a Mango. There is so much more to the story than the...

Maria Dolores Aguila is both a picture book and middle grade author of historical fiction. Her novel in verse, A Sea of Lemon Trees won both a Newberry Honor and Pura Belpre Honor. Find out how this book has changed her and more in today's episode.  Find author Maria Dolores Aguila https://mariadoloresaguila.com/ https://www.instagram.com/maria.d.aguila/ A Sea of Lemon Trees by Maria Dolores...

When Diane Debrovner decided to write a middle grade book about a character with blind parents she decided that she would like a coauthor and so she approached her friend Stacy Cervenka. Stacy adds her unique perspective with her blindness and the experiences she knows about many other individuals. Diane also brings us an animal's point of view as many chapters in the book are told from the p...

Caldecott Award Winning author and illustrator Matthew Cordell talks about the importance of curiosity and how this trait features in his newest picture book, 102. I was so surprised to discover that the brilliantly illustrated picture book was drawn with a multi-color pen. Learn more about this fascinating creator in today's interview.  Find Matthew Cordell https://www.matthewcordell.com/ ht...

Have you ever wondered about the greatest aspects about being an author? Or about the lowest moments? While discussing PJ Gardner's newest book I thought it was the perfect time to delve into some of these questions since the title of this book is: Worst in Show. Find author PJ Gardner https://www.pjgardnerswitzer.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pjgardnerswitzer/ Worst in Show by PJ Gardner ht...

Chapters 00:00 Meet illustrator Carmen Mok 02:48 How did Carmen Mok get into illustrating books 05:15 What made Carmen want to stay in illustration? 08:39 Carmen’s process from start to finish for when her illustrations are in a published work 12:16 How the art directors feedback effects Carmen’s illustrations 13:53 After Carmen receives the manuscript what does she do to enhance the story through...

Bring on the high stakes tension! April Henry is a New York Times bestelling author of young adult and adult fiction books. In this episode we discuss her 32nd book, In the Blood. What is it like to go all in researching for these thrillers and what are some of April's experiences with writing them.  Find author April Henry https://www.aprilhenry.com/ https://www.instagram.com/aprilhenrybooks...

Do your readers love fantastical shapeshifter books? Werewolves? Vampires? Sharks? Malia Maunakea joins us to talk about her newest middle grade fantasy based on Hawaiian legends. The Shark Prince is about a boy cursed to transform into a shark. You decide if it is a curse or a blessing.  Find author Malia Maunakea  https://www.maliamaunakea.com/ https://www.instagram.com/maliamaunakea/ https://ww...

Philip Stead is best known for his writing and illustrating of picture books, but after a little convincing from others and a lot of creativity on his part he recently published his first middle grade novel. "A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic or Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm a Story Out of Order" quickly became a New York Times bestseller for children and in this episode yo...

Poetry is not something that should be dreaded by students or adults. John shares how poetry can be found in multiple forms and can be a benefit to children and teens in many ways. Not only has John written a number of beautiful picture books, but John has a New York Times bestselling novel in verse, Louder than Hunger.  Find author John Schu https://www.johnschu.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mrs...

Kids love animal stories because kids love animals, but these stories can also teach us so much about ourselves and the world.