Vicki Cobb, the “Julia Child” of hands-on science, is a former science teacher with a playful and accessible approach to science. She’s published more than 85 books for grades K-8 that explore physics, chemistry and biology, biographies, geography, and the human body. Her Science Play series targets kids 3-5 years old, who are already natural scientists with their interest in the world around.

Tomie dePaola (1934–2020), the author and illustrator of Strega Nona and many other beloved books, always knew he wanted to be an artist. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Tomie dePaola tells comical childhood tales, reflects on his career, and suggests ways to encourage young readers and artists.

Children’s author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer views history as series of grand adventures full of fascinating people — stories just waiting to be told. And she loves to tell them, bringing real-life characters like George Washington (and that other George, King George III), Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Lewis & Clark, Davy Crockett, and others to life through vivid storytelling and rich-in-detail illustrations. Extensive research, humor, and an understanding of human nature are at the heart of all her nonfiction books for kids.

Mysteries, historical fiction, Wild West yarns, the life and times of a girl named Alice, scary tales, memoir — prolific writer Phyllis Reynolds Naylor never writes the same type of book twice in a row. That’s how she keeps the work fresh for herself and her readers. After publishing more than 135 books — including the Newbery winner Shiloh and the best-selling Alice series — she truly lives and breathes the life of a writer.

Naylor says that she has to live every character: “It’s like an actor on stage putting on different hats and becoming one character after another.” You can feel that in her books; and the stacks of fan mail she receives reveal how strongly her readers identify with characters like Alice, Marty, the Malloy girls, the Hatford boys, and Bernie Magruder.

Patricia Polacco tells warm family tales drawn from her own childhood among an extended immigrant family of grandparents and cousins. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Patricia Polacco talks about writing and illustrating and the passing down of family history whose themes resonate with readers of all backgrounds.

Nikki Grimes was born in Harlem, but grew up in many different parts of New York. As a foster child from a broken home, she moved from place to place, always saying goodbye to new friends. Reading and writing became her survival tools. When she had no one else to talk to, Grimes wrote poems and stories about the things that were bothering her. As an avid reader, she checked out library books by day and read at night by flashlight.

Since 1992 Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series has inspired and enchanted millions of young children around the world. Her wildly popular chapter books follow siblings Jack and Annie as they travel to distant times and places with the help of their magic tree house. To accompany these fiction books, Mary Pope Osborne also co-authors nonfiction research guides with her sister and husband. Most recently, she and her husband have co-produced a Magic Tree House musical, which will begin traveling to theaters across the United States in the fall of 2008.

At first glance, it may appear that Kate DiCamillo waltzed onto the children’s book scene and experienced nothing but success. Her first published novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, won a Newbery Honor in 2001. That book became a Hollywood film. In 2004 DiCamillo’s book, The Tale of Despereaux, received the coveted Newbery Medal. And in 2014, DiCamillo won a second Newbery Medal for her novel Flora and Ulysses. But Kate DiCamillo’s success did not happen overnight. For roughly a decade, before the public knew her name, DiCamillo worked odd jobs, submitted manuscripts, and collected nearly 400 rejection letters. “I decided a long time ago,” DiCamillo says, “that I didn’t have to be talented. I just had to be persistent.”

In January 2014, DiCamillo was named the fourth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, by the Library of Congress. “Stories Connect Us” was the theme of her two-year platform as she tours the nation to promote reading.

Jon Scieszka (which rhymes with Fresca) is the playful and cheeky author behind The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. In these exclusive audio and video interviews with Reading Rockets, Jon Scieszka talks about his “weird” style and his concern about boys and reading. Read Scieszka’s tribute his dad in this essay Playing with Dad written for Reading Rockets in celebration of Father’s Day 2009.

Jack Prelutsky writes wonderfully wacky poems that children find irresistible. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Jack Prelutsky explains why he used to equate reading poetry with eating liver and considered writing poetry a hazard to his health.