When authors visit schools and it’s Q&A time, we are likely to hear many of the same questions:  What inspired you to become a writer? Where do you get your ideas? What’s your favorite book? How much money do you make?

I am generally prepared for this kind of curiosity, and I love the resulting interactions with young readers.  But, occasionally, a child (often a very young one) asks something that floors me.  This happened recently, while I was at a New Orleans school visiting 2nd graders who had read Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality. 

Small Shoes tells of the three 6-year-old girls (Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne) who, in 1960, desegregated New Orleans’ McDonogh 19 Public School amidst angry mobs.  About the protesters, one second grader—whom I will call Peggy—asked, “Why are white people so dramatic?”

I couldn’t resist a little laugh at first, but then, I felt a pang in my heart.  I took a breath and said, “We all can get dramatic sometimes.  I do when I’m upset or even joyful about something that matters to me.  I’m sure you do, too.  Being dramatic isn’t something that happens only to one group of people.  The white people who protested at McDonogh 19 were upset because something was happening they didn’t like.  So you can say they got dramatic.  Other groups of people sometimes misbehave when things don’t go their way.”

Later, this felt bigger to me than that.  I realized Peggy was stereotyping—probably as a result of reading Small Shoes.  The thought that my book may have led to something bad broke my heart.  I felt a little better when Peggy’s teacher revealed that “dramatic” was on the students’ vocabulary list.  The class had been encouraged to practice using the words in their daily speech.  This insight helped.

Still, my discomfort lingers.  I had witnessed first hand how innocent minds can begin to form assumptions that categorize people based on (in this case) race, or on economics, religion, etc.  How, in the bigger picture, these assumptions can divide us and lead to ridicule, contempt or hate.

I love words.  I’ve said this many times.  I love their power to create beauty and lift up, their power—when put together in marvelous ways—to bring stories to life.  But their power to create ugliness and hurt often scares me.  I’m mindful of this and try to exercise care.  When writing, I have time to think things through, to consider each word carefully, consult a dictionary or thesaurus, and make my best choices.  It’s easier to make mistakes with words when I am simply reacting to what is happening around me.  I don’t have the luxury of thinking it through or going to a reference book.  Maybe that’s all it was with Peggy.  Maybe she was just demonstrating she knew how to use “dramatic” in a sentence.  Maybe I’m over reacting, being “dramatic.”  I hope so.

I appreciate what I can learn from my readers and from children in general.  I know after my books are published, they are no longer mine.  They have lives of their own.  I can’t, and shouldn’t want to, control what reactions may come.  Each individual brings personal baggage (good and bad) to the reading experience, and each will come away with something different.  All I can do is hope it’s something good.

Thank you, Carole. 

Just because April has ended, please don’t stop reading and sharing great poems throughout the year. 

I’ve posted some of my late father’s work in the past.  My dad shared a handful of his poems with me while he was still living, but I didn’t discover most of them until after he had passed.  Dad’s poetry is accessible and heartfelt.  There’s a sweetness in much of his verse, as well as a unique cleverness in his approach to the world.  Spring and flowers certainly go together, so this one feels appropriate for April.  Enjoy!

      Hide and Seek

When playing hide and seek with Mary Ann,
I sometimes think her unkind,
for when she hides among the flowers,
she’s very hard to find.

Her beauty is second to none,
and I don’t think it’s fair,
of all the places she could pick,
for her to be hiding . . . there.

                   by Norris E. Micheaux, Jr. (Copyright © 1991)

Take a poetry break, not just in April, but often.  Read one. Write one. Share one with someone you love.  Happy Poetry Month and Happy Spring!

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For more of my poetry blog posts see: “Poetry Break! Enjoy the Moment” from March 28, 2021. “Poetry Break! Honoring My Dad” from March 27, 2023. “Poetry Break! From Me to You” from April 28, 2023. “Poetry: The Words That Emerge” from March 26, 2024. “Poetry Break! Happy Spring” from March 27, 2025. And “Poetry Break: Back by Popular Demand” from April 25, 2025.

Many of my favorite beginning readers are about friends — Frog and Toad, George and Martha, Henry and Mudge, Bink and Gollie, Elephant and Piggie, Croc and Ally, my own Raymond and Roxy, and so many more.

I’ve just discovered a marvelous new pair of friends, Earl and Worm, created by writer and illustrator Greg Pizzoli.  Earl and Worm: The Big Mess and Other Stories, won a 2026 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor from the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

Earl and Worm: The Bad Idea and Other stories is the first in this series about Earl, a zealous and cheerful bird who plays saxophone to help his garden grow but sometimes makes a racket; and Worm, a tidy, quiet soul who loves to read. (She’s a bookworm, after all.)  With humor and heart, Pizzoli introduces us to these quirky neighbors as they paint their houses, share lemonade and write poetry together.  In The Big Mess and Other Stories and Snow Problem and Other Stories the unlikely friends clash over paint colors, find a not-so-lucky penny, stay up all night to see the sunrise, deal with a snow storm and celebrate a birthday.  Pizzoli’s sweet text and clever illustrations work in harmony.  Readers will want to study the pictures carefully to get the full story.

Like Earl and Worm, many of the friends in my favorite beginning readers don’t have a lot in common on the surface.  But there is something — a kind of chemistry — that binds them together and creates an unbreakable loyalty.  The friends navigate their differences through kindness and honesty, work through ups and downs, compromise, and learn from each other.  They have adventures, solve problems, support each other, laugh and cry together and, most of all, love each other.

The examples set by these warm and wonderful, deceptively simple stories can benefit us all.

So head to your library and seek them out. They are sure to bring you joy.
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Bink and Gollie series by Kate DeCamillo and Alison McGhee, art by Tony Fucile
Croc and Ally series by Derek Anderson
Earl & Worm series by Greg Pizzoli
Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems
Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
George and Martha series by James Marshall
Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant, art by Sucie Stevenson & Carolyn Bracken
Raymond and Roxy series by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, art by Derek Anderson