Cars on the Carpet

Experienced nonfiction author Jan Adkins discusses going from playing with cars on the carpet to drawing cars on the page, and why he chose to write about Bertha Benz.

KIDS WILL ALWAYS PLAY CARS ON THE CARPET, driving along the woven patterns like streets, traveling to mystic places carrying amazing people. When I wrote Bertha Takes a Drive, about the very first car trip, I could see it all in my mind, as if I were pushing a tiny tin version of the strange, three-wheeled Benz Motorwagen along a carpet woven with the map of Germany: out of Mannheim, across the Rhine River, south through Heidelburg to the Black Forest, toward Grandma Ringer’s house in Pforzheim. I was with them in my kid’s play-mind. Lucky grownups don’t lose that ability to shift between the “real world” (whatever that is) and the “what if” world.

Charlesbridge Unplugged #3: Tami Charles

Today we're talking to debut author Tami Charles about her semi-autobiographical book Like Vanessa and why it was so important for Tami to write a book for herself and others like her. You can have a listen by clicking HERE:

Charlesbridge Unplugged - Charlesbridge Unplugged #3: Tami Charles

Getting to “I GET IT!”: Scaffolding in Nonfiction

Charlesbridge nonfiction editor Alyssa Mito Pusey talks about making complex ideas tangible to young readers. This article first appeared in two parts on Melissa Stewart's blog Celebrate Science on February 2 and 3, 2018.

The other day, my seven-year-old asked me what the Big Bang was. Inside, I panicked a little.

Explaining complex, abstract ideas to anyone is difficult. But it’s especially challenging when your audience is a child. Young children have limited prior knowledge, and they think very literally.