My biggest piece of creativity advice for writers & illustrators (all ages): make time to PLAY.

No matter how busy I am, I always try to carve out a few minutes every day to do some art and writing purely for the fun of it. No pressure to show anyone or have anything be perfect....just to PLAY.

I find if I don't make regular time to just play and experiment, then I slip into a rut, not pushing myself to try the new and different, and I also start losing the joy.

DON'T LOSE THE JOY.

Make time to play.

"Don't be afraid to be weird." Advice for young writers from WEAVE A CIRCLE ROUND's debut author, Kari Maaren in a Three Questions interview

I met Kari Maaren through a filk music convention, and fell in love with her song Being Watson (which almost always makes teary-eyed). She also is cartoonist with a webcomic, West of Bathurst, and an active one, It Never Rains. After being a fan of her other work, I was VERY excited to find out she was writing a book.

Her debut novel for young readers, WEAVE A CIRCLE ROUND, is a thoroughly engaging read with an irresistible main character (I love 14-year-old Freddy Duchamp's voice, both inner and outer) in a fearless and original take on time travel and coming-of-age. If you want to know more about the book, you should read the Globe & Mail review, the starred Kirkus review, starred Publishers Weekly review, starred School Library Journal review.

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Interview: Kevin Sylvester on MINRS series, science and advice for young writers

A while back, I raved about how much I enjoyed Kevin Sylvester's first and second MiNRS books for middle grade. Here's my #BookADay post about the first MiNRS book. 

With the third book in the series coming, I asked Kevin to tell my readers about his MiNRS series as well as offer some advice for young writers. Thanks to Kevin for answering in the video above!

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Writing or illustrating a picture book? Browse my free Picture Book Creation Resource (including templates)

I've been gradually compiling my "How This Picture Book Was Created" resources, advice from the children's book writers and illustrators I've been interviewing, and the thumbnail sketch and layout templates I use for my own writing and illustrating process. Here's the link to my CREATING PICTURE BOOKS resource.

There is no charge. All I ask is that you pay it forward someday.

Teachers! I'd love to see what your students draw with broken crayons

You never know what will come out of a broken crayon.

Those of you who follow my Twitter and Instagram accounts will have seen my Broken Crayon series, now up to #35. To teachers: I'd love to see what your students draw with broken crayons! If you send me a link to an online gallery (private or public), I'd love to see. Here is some broken crayon art from 5th-graders in Grande Cache, Alberta, Canada:

Suggestions on where to post a gallery: Padlet, Flickr, Facebook album....if you know of other student-safe gallery venues (all of the ones I've mentioned can be made private if desired), please let me know (you can also tag me on social media) and I'll add it to the list.