Designing the cover is my final step in creating a picture book. It’s only after spending so much time in the interior of the book—realizing the characters and their world—that I can stand back and consider what one picture would best sum up the experience of the story.Guest Blogger: David Wiesner
Designing the cover is my final step in creating a picture book. It’s only after spending so much time in the interior of the book—realizing the characters and their world—that I can stand back and consider what one picture would best sum up the experience of the story.
Author Robie Harris and illustrator Michael Emberley have worked closely together to create nearly a dozen age-appropriate books for children and teens on human development and sexuality, including It’s So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families (Candlewick, 1999)and It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health (Candlewick, 1994). For Harris and Emberley, the entire research process is of the utmost importance when it comes to creating accurate informational books. From finding the right resources to portraying information in word and illustration, these two have insights to share about the inquiry process.

As educators seek to merge reading and technology into content areas across the curriculum, the following collection of brief recordings will aid them in their search for quality, fine-arts multimedia materials.
Integrating books throughout content areas and encouraging collaboration between library media specialists and classroom teachers are central to my work with TeachingBooks.net. In this post, I present opportunities for you to partner with art teachers as you invite illustrators to share their passion for art in a classroom setting.