Illustrated books for middle schoolers
Author Stephen Pasts (Timmy Failure series) talks about why he thinks his illustrated chapter books for middle-grade readers are so popular — it starts with humor and familiarity with comic books.
Author Jerry Spinelli says no one told him how difficult it would be to make a living writing books. Sometimes he had to choose between cough syrup and milk for his children.
Writer and historian Leonard Marcus discusses how graphic novels open the possibility of children who don’t see themselves as readers in the traditional sense, having a way into books.
Author Marilyn Singer suggests going easy on close text analysis and instead give kids lots of opportunities to really listen to poetry (make sure it’s the good stuff) and feel the emotion that’s in the text.
