Kidlit authors are rockstars to kids (and often their parents, too.) Learning the author’s backstory, why they wrote what they wrote, and other such info is thrilling to young readers. Many authors have their own websites with such info or check out some of these free sites that help kids dig deeper into the books and authors they love.
- Hear Authors Say Their Names – super fun audio clips of authors pronouncing their own names and talking about their origin. Favorite Clip: Do you know how to say Jon Scieszka? (hint: it rhymes with Fresca)
- Meet the Author from Reading Rockets – free podcasts available to download from itunes are made for young readers to learn more about their favorite authors.
- Candlewick Press – this mid-size publisher of big time authors like Kate DiCamillo shares short bios of their authors and great Q&A conversations with authors.
- Random House Author Chats – how fun would be if you could invite an author to chat to your class or book club? Random House lets you do that!
- Publishers Weekly KidCasts – free podcast with 15-20 minute interviews with children’s book authors. The main audience is people in the book industry, but older readers might enjoy learning about how the process of how authors put books together. Favorite Episode: Wendy Mass and her husband talk about their new books.