Videos

Grade Level

Series

A State of Make Believe

As a young girl, Mary Pope Osborne had no trouble keeping herself entertained.

Teacher Appreciation

A high school English teacher who had a great reading list and gave his students songwriting assignments encouraged Blume to be creative.

Writing for young children

When Cooper writes for very young children, she often has a specific audience in mind, like her own children or grandchildren.

Author Mary Amato captures memories on paper

Mary Amato uses writing to capture memories.

Songwriting about science

Mary Amato describes cross-discipline workshops on songwriting that incorporate science instruction.

Matt de la Peña: How being on the margins helped me as a writer

Award-winning author Matt de la Peña reflects on the all of the times in his life he has felt like he didn’t fit in and how those experiences have helped in as a writer.

Climbing inside the dinosaurs

Brian Selznick discusses how first-hand research makes his work feel more authentic.

The emergence of books for teens

The Catcher in the Rye, a book about a teenager who was in real distress writing in his own voice, became a kind of starting point for a new genre in books for young people.