Renata Liwska

Celebrating Birthdays, Awesome Indie Support, and Getting Loud

One of America’s most treasured children’s book authors is celebrating her 95th birthday tomorrow: Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary! In addition to being her birthday, April 12 is also National Drop Everything and Read Day (D.E.A.R). D.E.A.R Day is about encouraging families to make a commitment to reading together on a regular basis. Ramona Quimby became the spokesperson for the program after it was featured in Ramona Quimby, Age 8, which is why it is celebrated on Beverly Cleary’s birthday. All you have to do to participate is drop everything and read for 30 minutes of your day. (Well okay, if you twist my arm.… Read the rest

A Peek at the Creative Space of Renata Liwska

This week we’re welcoming illustrator Renata Liwska to Creative Spaces. You might recognize Renata’s work from Nikolai the Only Bear by Barbara Joosse, Skylar by Mary Cuffe-Perez, A Puppy is for Loving by Mary Labatt, or Little Panda which she both wrote and illustrated. Her latest book has generated a lot of buzz and accumulated many fans (me! me! I love this book). If you’ve been following the Creative Spaces interviews for awhile then you’ll know this book made an earlier appearance here when the author, Deborah Underwood, was featured. Yes, I’m talking about New York Times bestseller The Quiet Book, the serene story that made a showy splash in the picture book world this year.… Read the rest