Marc Brown is the author and illustrator of Arthur, everyone’s favorite aardvark. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Marc Brown chats about his childhood, the Arthur television shows on PBS, and his friendship with the late Mr. Rogers.

Did you know that Beethoven’s favorite food was macaroni and cheese? Did you know that John F. Kennedy used to bark like a seal before giving important speeches? Well, if you read Kathleen Krull’s biographies for young readers, you’ll learn many such facts. Through solid research, lively writing, and juicy “gossip”, Krull transformed iconic figures from the past into real human beings. “We’re all secretly People magazine readers at heart,” she explained, “even though we might not admit it.”

Judy Blume writes stories about the issues that kids think about — things like sibling rivalry, freckles, friends, and school. Her approach to these stories is warm and understanding and grows from her own feelings and concerns as a shy child. Blume’s picture and storybooks, as well as the Fudge series, are beloved for their humor, while her books for young adults offer relatable stories about characters who are maturing physically and emotionally.

In our interview Blume shares how books can be a gateway to talking about difficult subjects, why her own parents’ confusing explanation of puberty led her to write about the topic, and why she swears each book she writes will be her last.

For more than 30 years, Joseph Bruchac has been creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies, and music that reflect Native American traditions. He is the author of more than 120 books for children and adults. The best-selling Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children and other titles in his Keepers series thoughtfully integrate science and folklore.

Beloved and exquisitely talented, Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021) gifted us with his beautiful storytelling and picture books, meant to be shared on laps and in classrooms and libraries everywhere. His beautifully detailed watercolor illustrations won numerous awards, including five Coretta Scott King Awards and five Caldecott Honor Medals. In 2010 he was awarded the Caldecott Medal for The Lion & the Mouse,” a retelling of the Aesop fable set in the Serengeti, with the characters surrounded by other African wildlife.

In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Jerry Pinkney talked about telling stories through pictures and creating real, true portraits — as well as growing up as a “slow reader” and the early encouragement he received as a young artist.

Jarrett Krosoczka has been passionate about storytelling through words and pictures since he was a young kid. Since the publication of his first picture book Good Night, Monkey Boy in 2001, Krosoczka has gone on to publish a shelfful of lively, colorful stories — from farm animals who rock (Punk Farm) to a purple elephant living in the city (Ollie the Purple Elephant) to the wildly popular and funny Lunch Lady graphic novel series.

Jack Gantos’ interesting life has provided the raw material for many of his books. Rotten Ralph, for example, was inspired by an aggressive red cat that Gantos once owned. The Jack Henry middle-grade fiction series was based on Gantos’ own adventures as a boy. The award-winning Joey Pigza books resulted from Gantos’ interactions with children with ADHD. And Hole in My Life, a book for teens, tells the true story of the time Gantos spent 18 months in prison. Gantos was awarded the 2012 Newbery Medal for his novel Dead End in Norvelt, featuring a 12-year-old character named Jack Gantos.

Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of more than 20 books for kids — from picture books to young adult novels. Most of her books are about the Asian-American experience, yet their themes are often universal. “Books erase bias, they make the uncommon everyday, and the mundane exotic. A book makes all cultures universal.”

In 2002, George Ancona received the Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award for work that “has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children.” In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, George Ancona talks about his photo-illustrated books and how he uses photography to offer insight into the everyday lives of children from different cultures.

Eve Bunting is a spellbinding storyteller, both in conversation and in writing. In this exclusive video interview with Reading Rockets, Eve Bunting relates amusing stories from her childhood in Ireland and offers insights into her books, some of which are unflinching in tackling tough subjects.