Leonard Marcus is a children’s book author — as well as a noted historian of children’s literature. Marcus has been featured on many television and radio programs to share his knowledge of children’s literature, in addition to consulting for children’s book exhibits across the country.

Steven Kellogg has written and/or illustrated more than 100 books over the past half century, including his well-know series about Pinkerton the Great Dane and his tall tales about classic American characters like Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, and Johnny Appleseed. He has always loved to draw and the way that pictures can deepen and expand the text of a story — creating what he calls a “beautiful duet.”

Peter Sís is the celebrated writer and illustrator of Madlenka and the Caldecott Honor book Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Peter Sís talks about the winding path that led him to New York City, his father’s Tibetan journey, and how his own children have influenced his work.

Pat Mora is a poet and author as well as a children’s literacy advocate. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Pat Mora discusses her bilingual childhood and her literacy cause.

Additional video conversations with Pat Mora, some in Spanish and meant especially for Spanish-speaking parents, are available on our sister website Colorín Colorado. You’ll also find interviews with other notable Hispanic authors on the site.

“It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time,” Milo laments. “There’s nothing for me to do, nowhere I’d care to go, and hardly anything worth seeing.” And so we are introduced to a young (and very bored) boy named Milo, a tollbooth, and an adventure in a strange place called Dictionopolis. The world knows and loves The Phantom Tollbooth and its creator, Norton Juster — a professional architect who also loved writing delightfully inventive books for children.

Mem Fox is Australia’s best-known children’s book author. Her books are tremendously popular in the U.S. as well, and she has traveled widely as a writer, teacher, and passionate proponent of reading aloud to children. You can also see our exclusive video interview with writer and illustrator Helen Oxenbury, Fox’s partner on Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes.

Mary Ann Hoberman was named the Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation in 2008 and received the 2003 Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children from the National Council of Teachers of English. She is the author of more than 40 books for children, including A House Is a House for Me, which won the National Book Award, and the popular shared reading series, You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You. Whether writing about llamas in pajamas or a raucous auk, her poems celebrate the pure joy of language and reading aloud.

Ever since she was in elementary school, Marla Frazee knew that she wanted to illustrate children’s books. Now Frazee is living her childhood dream, stepping into her backyard studio each morning to do what she loves. Frazee is the illustrator Sarah Pennypacker’s Clementine books as well as picture books written by a variety of other authors. On her own, Frazee has both written and illustrated a number of original and playful titles, such as Santa Claus: The World’s Number One Toy Expert, Roller Coaster, and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever.