While I’m not discrediting the internet as a fabulous source of information, let’s not overlook books…and not just as a source for supplying answers to specific questions, but for generally informing us.

The first time was quite a few years ago. A fellow writer showed me a manuscript he had written and was getting ready to submit to an editor. I noticed a number of typos and other errors right off the bat and asked him wasn’t he going to clean up his misspellings, punctuational goofs, and other errors before sending it in. “That’s what editors are for,” he replied blithely.

Of course, some kids get discouraged and will give up when a book is full of “big words,” but others will look up the meaning in an online dictionary or try to figure out the meaning from context. Even simple words can stump some kids. I remember being baffled by the meaning of “gingerbread house.” I could read it all right, but what did it mean? What was gingerbread? Was it a loaf of bread that tasted like ginger ale? I was also stumped trying to read the word “discipline,” which I saw as being pronounced “dih-SKIP-line.” I knew the...

Got a gift-giving occasion coming up—a birthday or anniversary, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, graduation, or maybe you’re looking for something healthier than candy to put in your kids’ Easter baskets? How about a book?

April is National Poetry Month. Have you read any poetry lately? Have you written any?

April showers may bring May flowers, but they also bring the frustration of rainy days, when your outdoor plans get squelched. That tennis game, boating excursion, work in your garden, or walk around the neighborhood are gone with the raindrops. What to do? Read a book!

Time was when almost all kids’ books taught a moral or a lesson. They weren’t written to be read just for entertainment. There was some kind of take-away.

I don’t get it. What is the pleasure in thrillers? Whether novels, nonfiction books, or movies, thrillers are calculated to scare you…and this is supposed to be GOOD? Where is the pleasure in being frightened? Where is the pleasure in having your pulse rate rise and your heart race?

I am very excited. A long-held dream of mine, to make a certain book of mine into an animated Christmas TV special for family viewing, is finally coming true.

As I write these words, I have just been asked to be interviewed on a video podcast tomorrow. That’s short notice, but I expect the conversation to be freewheeling, so I shouldn’t need to do anything to prepare. When an interview is specific to a book I wrote a year or several years earlier, I really don’t remember it and need to go back and reread or at least skim it, but in this case I don’t think I need to do any prep work. I just need to remember it’s video, not the more common audio-only, so I shouldn’t...