picture books | Love, Laughter, and Life

December 2, 2025
by Angie 6 Comments

Meet Joye Smith, Author of Meet Lottie and Annie

Written by Joye Smith

Illustrated by Beverly Love Warren

Woman’s Missionary Union, 2025

Welcome, Joye! I’m so happy to have you here today so we can learn more about your newest picture book, Meet Lottie and Annie! This beautiful picture book is about two historical and inspirational women who led women and families to pray for and support missionaries around the world who tell others about Jesus.

Let’s get started!

Where did the idea of this book come from?

Thank you, Angie! I felt so honored to write this book about these two women who have left such an impact on missions. The idea for the book really came from the preschool leaders who are teaching missions in their churches. The state Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) preschool consultants let national WMU know that leaders were asking for a book they could use with their preschoolers to help them learn who Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong were. There was a preschool picture book in the past about Lottie and Annie, but it has long been out of print. A new book was overdue!

I was at that meeting! It’s wonderful to hear a need or idea from preschool leaders and then supply that needed resource.

In case someone is unfamiliar with Lottie and Annie, can you give us a quick description of both women?

Lottie Moon was a missionary to China for 39 years, from 1873 to 1912. Lottie learned the Chinese language fluently, took on the Chinese way of dressing, and lived among the Chinese people. She traveled from village to village to teach people about Jesus from the Bible. In her time in China, she taught and directed several schools for Chinese children, both girls and boys. She even taught reading to adults. Lottie loved the Chinese people, and wanted them to hear about Christ and His love for them. She wrote to Annie Armstrong and the women in Southern Baptist churches in the United States, urging them to collect an annual offering at Christmas time to send more missionaries so the Chinese people would hear about Jesus’ love. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is named after her, and the offering goes to the work of missionaries with the International Mission Board (IMB).

Annie Armstrong was a woman who could really get things done! As the first corresponding secretary (now known as executive director) of Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) from 1888 to 1906, Annie led the women of her time to support missions through praying and giving. She thought it important to develop missions education materials so all ages could learn about missionaries and missions work. Annie is known for the many projects in which she led WMU to be involved. A few of these projects included raising money for more missionaries to be sent out, providing “frontier boxes” with supplies for missionaries here in the United States, and raising money for a church building in Cuba. Now the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering is named for her, and supports missionaries with the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

This is fascinating history!

What made you want to write this book? What inspired you?

The stories of Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon have always been an inspiration to me. What amazing women they were! But in teaching preschoolers in the church for many years, I know what a challenge it is to make historical figures of the past relevant to preschoolers today. I wanted to write a book that tells the stories of Lottie and Annie in a way that would capture the attention of preschoolers.

You did an excellent job of writing a compelling book for the preschool audience. Though, I (an adult) enjoy reading and learning from Meet Lottie and Annie, so I guess you could say many age levels will enjoy this book.

How did you research these two historical missions heroes before writing Meet Lottie and Annie?

The two main sources I used are the books, The New Lottie Moon Story, Second Edition, by Catherine B. Allen, and Annie Armstrong: Dreamer in Action, by Bobbie Sorrill. As I read these biographies, I took many notes about the stories and information I thought would be important to include. I went back to those books many times during the writing process.

I also read Lottie Moon and the Silent Bell, by Rosalie Hall Hunt. Rosalie is such a great storyteller! Rosalie was in the process of writing Annie Armstrong’s Amazing Adventures (which is now available), and she even sent me a chapter to preview. Wow! My conversations with Rosalie about both Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong taught me so much. I am so grateful to Rosalie for sharing with me.

It sounds like your research was in depth and very productive. I love knowing about these additional resources for learning more about Lottie and Annie.

While I was writing Meet Lottie and Annie, it so happened that the archivist at national WMU, Cindy Goodwin, was going through some of the journals of Annie Armstrong. What a treasure it was for me when I could head up to the library on the second floor of the WMU building and there was Cindy Goodwin with white gloves on, reading some of the journal entries. Seeing the journals in Annie Armstrong’s own handwriting made her become more personable to me. She sometimes included recipes and even household tips!

That’s so cool! I bet the recipes and household tips were fascinating!

What was your writing process? How long did it take you to write the words for Meet Lottie and Annie?

It took me about 6 months to write the words. I started by reading the biographies and taking many notes. I used the notes to pull out the stories to include for preschoolers. Angie, you were a great editor to work with me. I knew that we wanted half of the book to be about Lottie and half about Annie. That gave me a division of the book, and page count for each of the ladies. Then I had to make decisions about which stories to include.

I knew that Lottie Moon wrote letters to Annie Armstrong, urging the women in WMU to give financially so more missionaries could be sent to China. I felt that would be a good segue between the two parts of the book.

Once the text was written, it was a blessing to work with Angie as editor and Beverly Love Warren as illustrator of the book. What a wonderful job Beverly did with the beautiful illustrations! I am thrilled!

It was an amazing experience to work with both of you on this project. And then I handed it over to Gayle West, the WMU preschool team’s graphic designer. She pulled all the pieces together, and then off to the printer it went! Meet Lottie and Annie was released on June 1, 2025.

What was your favorite part of helping this book come to life?

I wanted to include an interactive element for preschoolers, so it was fun to come up with the word sounds (onomatopoeia) on each page spread.

That is a very fun way to engage preschoolers!

What do you hope preschoolers, families, and preschool leaders take from this book?

I hope the book is a help to families and preschool leaders in helping our young ones learn who Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon were, and why we give today to the offerings in their names. I hope leaders will engage their preschoolers in giving to the two offerings. I hope preschoolers enjoy the book!

Joye, I know you teach Mission Friends, a missions discipleship group for preschoolers. What is your favorite way to use Meet Lottie and Annie with your preschoolers?

I read the Lottie section of the book to our preschoolers at church, and it was fun to have the preschoolers repeat the word sounds on each page spread. I think it made the preschoolers more attentive!

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

I hope you have fun learning about the missions legacies of these 2 women, and enjoy sharing about them with your preschoolers!

Thank you so much, Joye, for sharing about your part in creating Meet Lottie and Annie! This picture book is a wonderful resource for parents and leaders alike, and is especially great for preschoolers. Thank you for joining us today on the blog.

Joye Smith stands by a life-sized cutout of Annie Armstrong!

Readers, if you would like your own copy of Meet Lottie and Annie, you can find it here.

If you would like to learn more about the creation of Meet Lottie and Annie, read Beverly Love Warren’s blog interview here. Beverly was the illustrator for this beautiful book.

Thank you for stopping by. What is your favorite historical picture book?

Happy Reading!

November 25, 2025
by Angie Leave a comment

The Thank You Book by Danna Smith

The Thank You Book

By Danna Smith

Illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

Little Simon, 2022

This adorable board book is just perfect for Thanksgiving AND any other day of the year when we want to express thanks to someone we meet. As you can tell by the cover, this is not a Thanksgiving book, yet I can see how fun it would be to share it with little readers to give them ideas of how to tell (and show) others thank you. As far as the rest of the year, The Thank You Book is just right.

Colorful illustrations and simple text come together in a delightful package. The rhymes roll easily off the tongue, making it fun to read aloud. From the back cover:

Thanking is easy. Thanking is fun. Can you find a way to thank someone? This lovely book shows us all the ways we can be thankful!

I love how we read about not only ways to say thank you with words, but ways to say (and show) thanks in other ways.

So to you, my readers, thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate you!!

November 17, 2025
by Angie 10 Comments

Meet Beverly Love Warren, Illustrator of Meet Lottie and Annie

Meet Lottie and Annie

Written by Joye Smith

Illustrated by Beverly Love Warren

Woman’s Missionary Union, 2025

Welcome to the blog, Beverly! Thanks for taking the time to fill us in on what’s happening in your life, especially with the recent June 2025 release of Meet Lottie and Annie. This beautiful picture book is about two historical and inspirational women who led women and families to pray for and support missionaries around the world who tell others about Jesus.

Let’s get started!

Tell us what drew you to illustrate Meet Lottie and Annie. What made you decide to accept the assignment?

Hi Angie,

Thank you for this opportunity to share my part in this wonderful book. As my friend and critique partner you began talking about this book months ahead of your need to find an illustrator. Time passed and at some point I became aware of the fact that you didn’t yet have an illustrator, but Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) was looking for one, so I prayed that the right illustrator would be found. Later, I got the idea that I would like to be considered, but I kept that to myself. About 2 or 3 months more passed and I heard nothing more from you regarding the book, so I concluded that you had found your illustrator. I was content with that, but shortly thereafter you surprised me and asked if I would be interested in the job. That was an easy answer. I have been interested in missionary work for decades and spent several months serving in England and in Israel. I’ve also had long term correspondence with missionaries for many years. Therefore, being drawn to illustrating a book about two missionaries was of great interest.

I’m so glad you were able to be a part of Meet Lottie and Annie. As in all publishing, it goes slow-until suddenly it goes super-fast (especially regarding deadlines). It was a blessing to work with a critique partner and sister in Christ.

Beverly's storyboard sketches for Meet Lottie and Annie

What was your process as you illustrated this picture book? How much research did you need to do?

One of the first things I did was to gather images of clothing and room décor for the sketches for Annie’s part. She would be easier to illustrate since I was already somewhat familiar historically with those items. Afterwards I began to research clothing, homes, furnishings, and villages in China, circa 1900. I located a photo of Tengchow, where Lottie spent much of her time. I used this photo for the outdoor illustration of Lottie and the missionary children. However, I didn’t include the buildings in the photo because I didn’t want them to compete visually with Lottie and the children.

Once I had the information I needed, including some photos of Lottie and Annie, I began my storyboard. Normally I would do character sketches but since I was trying to make Lottie and Annie look like themselves I did not need to design characters. The storyboard was then sent to you, Angie, for approval. Once approved, I then created the full-sized sketches which I entered into Procreate in my iPad. From these, I completed the final art.

Let me tell you, it was amazing to see the storyboard! I shared it with my team, and everyone loved it. We had a few tweaks as the process went on, but the final book is stunning!

From beginning to end, how long did it take you to complete illustrations for Meet Lottie and Annie?

It took me about 4 months. I began the art in November and finished the final art in mid-March.

We did a lot of back and forth, but really 4 months went fast.

Are there any special Easter eggs included in the illustrations? By that, I mean any fascinating special facts or tidbits that readers would love to hear about?

Yes, there are several tidbits. Many of the illustrations in Meet Lottie and Annie had some collaged pieces added to them. The letter that Annie is reading on page 18 is a clipped area of an actual letter written by Lottie. The painting on page 20 is a portion of an oil painting which I created from a trip my husband and I took to southern Spain. The rug on the floor of page 20-21 is of a rug that belonged to my husband’s grandparents, which makes the rug about 100 years old. The painting on page 29 is a pastel I created years ago of some tulips in my yard. Lastly, page 30 contains a small tugboat in the illustration. It is a McAllister tug. The McAllister tugs at that time in history were mostly located in the northeastern part of the United States. I specifically chose that tugboat company because my grandmother is a McAllister. Her family owned these tugboats. In very tiny writing on the side of the tug is the name Isabel McAllister which is my grandmother’s name. It is not legible to the naked eye, but nevertheless it is there. When I was very young, I rode on the tug that bears my grandmother’s name.

I remember seeing your grandmother’s name as I zoomed in to study the illustration. All of these are very cool fun facts!

Beverly's art for pages 30-31 (text is sample text to give layout).

You have illustrated several other books. What makes the illustrations for Meet Lottie and Annie unique and different from your other projects?

Most of my books have been illustrated in traditional watercolor. This book, as mentioned above, was digitally colored with some pieces of collage taken from fabric or other items.

Another thing that is unique about this book is that it is two books in one picture book. The front half of the book is about Lottie Moon who served in China and the second half tells of Annie Armstrong and her service in the United States. Although I have illustrated many Bible stories, this is my first time illustrating a book about missionaries. In a small way I feel connected to both women because I have written my share of letters to overseas missionaries and on November 14, 2025, my 18-year-old granddaughter flies to China to serve as a nanny for six months.

Wow! What an inspiring experience for your granddaughter to have! And the details in the illustrations are so interesting to dig into-the collage, fabrics, patterns, designs. The different aspects came together to make one fascinating picture book!

What’s next for you in the writing and illustrating world?

Just before I began Meet Lottie and Annie I finished up my second book as an author and illustrator, Tinker, where Are You?, which is about a young girl struggling to keep a promise she made to her best friend. For this holiday season I just completed a Christmas story coloring book. This is my first time creating a coloring book. It is about two small sparrows who build a nest for baby Jesus as a gift to him and his mother. I also have a picture book out on submission to some publishers and I’m working on another picture book and an illustrated chapter book.

I can’t wait to see the coloring book! As one of your critique partners, I’ve seen this work-in-progress many times!

Thank you, Angie for pairing me up with WMU to create this book. It was a joy to work with you on this project.

I totally agree! A pleasant fellowship!

As an illustrator, when I am illustrating a biography, I always feel like I get to know the characters that I illustrate in a unique way. As they live in my mind for the months that I attempt to portray them visually, I wonder about what it would be like to meet them in person. I wonder how they endured the great challenges on their chosen paths, and with Lottie and Annie, I wondered about the steps that God used to lead them into their call.

Thank you so much for sharing inside information about your process of illustrating Meet Lottie and Annie. A labor of love!

If you would like your own copy of Meet Lottie and Annie, you can find it here.

Celebrate World Kindness Day Today – November 13! PLUS #Giveaway

Be Kind, Make Friends, wmu.com/be-kind-make-friends/
World Kindness Day
November 13

Each year on November 13, we celebrate World Kindness Day, “a day to celebrate and promote positive human interactions.” We focus on showing kindness in ways big and small. Every kindness extended to others spreads goodwill and lightens the load of stress people shoulder as they go about their days.

Need more info and ideas? I found Awareness Days very helpful. I especially like the list of ideas and the #hashtags to use when sharing and talking about World Kindness Day (and kindness in general).

Some things you could do include showing random acts of kindness, volunteering, donating to a charitable cause, and teaching kindness to children and young people.

Not quite two years old, my picture book Be Kind, Make Friends, helps preschoolers and the younger audience learn about showing kindness and making friends. I’m glad to have this resource to encourage us to celebrate kindness every day! Do you know of any other resources to help promote kindness to the younger crowd? Add them to the comment section so we can all hear about them.

What will you do to celebrate World Kindness Day?

To celebrate World Kindness Day, I’m giving away one copy of Be Kind, Make Friends to someone who comments on this blog post (US only). Let us know how you would use Be Kind, Make Friends with someone in your world. Winner chosen in one week on November 20. Check back next Thursday to see who won!

Happy World Kindness Day! Thank you for being a part of this blog world!

November 10, 2025
by Angie Leave a comment

Way Past Shame by Hallee Adelman, SEL Picture Books Author

Way Past Shame

Written by Hallee Adelman

Illustrated by Karen Wall

(Albert Whitman & Co., 2025)

Have you ever said or done something that you felt ashamed of doing? Oh, boy. I sure have. Kids have some of the same experiences but often don’t know what to do about it, what to say, or even what it is that they are feeling.

Enter Hallee Adelman, author of several social emotional learning (SEL) picture books. Hallee’s books are just right for helping young readers (and listeners) identify their feelings, give name to those feelings, talk about the feelings, and consider things they can do about the situations they find themselves in.

Hooper feels so much shame for something he did that he wants to hide. He is not happy with what he did. But he doesn’t know what to do.

With a compelling story and colorful illustrations, Way Past Shame lets readers experience Hooper’s feelings and discover what he does about those feelings as he finds a way past shame.

Hallee has an entire series of Way Past Books (see the sticker above, I’ve Got Great Big Feelings, for a list of all 10). She provides lesson plans for each on her website. Check out the great resources and ideas she sent me with a copy of Way Past Shame. Stickers, magnet words for a magnetic dry erase board, button, stickers, Any Way You Slice It game with actions to do with those feelings, and a lesson plan.

I’ve read several of Hallee’s books, and I wish I had them when I was a teacher. They would make great resources for families, teachers, and counselors. Each topic is an open door to begin discussing different situations and feelings.

Thank you, Hallee, for sending me a copy of this just right book and all the special tools to use with it! I love the personalized notes too!

I have featured Hallee a couple of times on the blog. Read more:

Way Past Worried

The Strongest Thing, When Home Feels Hard

Amazon Blurb:

Hooper and Bax are the final two competitors in the school spelling bee. Bax didn’t spell his word correctly, and now it’s Hooper’s turn. He’s sure he knows how to spell the word he’s given, but the pressure of all those eyes on him makes him second guess his answer. Hooper looks around the room and spots the word on a poster. Now he has a decision to make: will he tell someone about what he’s seen, or take the easy win?

October 20, 2025
by Angie Leave a comment

And the winner of a copy of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle is . . .

Monet helped me choose a winner (though mostly she wanted to chew on the papers).

Congratulations, Lisa K Davis! You have won a copy of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle by Laura Sassi from Paraclete Press.

Please contact me with your email and mailing address so I can share them with Laura and Paraclete Press to get your copy on the way.

Thank you, Laura, for visiting the blog and sharing about friendship and pumpkins and your new book Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle! This is one of my new favorites about fall and friendship! Thank you, Paraclete Press, for publishing this adorable book and giving a copy to one of my readers.

Have a beautiful day, friends!

October 13, 2025
by Angie 7 Comments

Five Ways to Foster Friendship with Pumpkins by Author Laura Sassi +Giveaway

Author of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle (Paraclete Press, 2025) Laura Sassi is here to share a special blog post about encouraging littles to grow friendships. Paraclete Press is offering to give a copy of Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle to one reader who comments below on this blog (US only). Be sure to read to the end for details and comment on this post. Thank you, Laura and Paraclete Press!

Now, let’s hear about 5 ways to foster friendship with pumpkins. Welcome, Laura!

Five Ways to Foster Friendship with Pumpkins

Children love the pumpkin patch setting of my newest book, Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle, because we all love pumpkins! And since celebrating friendship (despite misunderstandings) is a central theme in the story, I thought it would be fun to share five ideas for fostering friendship with our kids using pumpkins! I hope they spark even more ideas for celebrating friendship, pumpkins, and thankfulness.

1. Take a field trip to a pumpkin patch with your child and a friend or group of friends. Explore the pumpkin patch together. Look for the tallest, plumpest, biggest pumpkin, etc. Count all the pumpkins you see in a row. Maybe even enjoy a cup of cider or water while sitting on pumpkins! Afterwards, give thanks together for special friends and special days like this.

2. With parental supervision, using fresh or canned pumpkin, have your child and a friend bake a pumpkin treat to eat…together! Have the children take turns as they stir, mix, pour, etc. When the treat is ready to eat, cut a slice for each friend to enjoy. Before taking that first nibble be sure give thanks, once again, for the wonderful gift of friendship and good food.

3. Ahead of time, get a pumpkin for your child and each friend. Then, set up a painting station outside and paint some pumpkins! (Alternatively, carve the pumpkins—but this is harder for our littlest friends.) As the children enjoy each other’s pumpkin-y creations, encourage them to let each other know that they appreciate their friendship.

4. Have your child and a friend gather a few of their favorite stuffed animals, then have a pumpkin-themed story time! Check my guest post at Read, Discuss, Do for some of my favorite fall picture books that include pumpkins. Do you think my newest book Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle is on the list? Yes!

5. Organize a pumpkin-themed “act of kindness” for your child and a friend to participate in together. This could be something as simple as baking a pumpkin treat (see idea #2) and then delivering it to a neighbor in need. Other ideas might include making cards that feature a pumpkin (and a short hand-written note of encouragement) to mail to shut-ins, for example, or others going through a hard time.

Wow, great ideas! Thank you, Laura! I love that you shared ideas for fostering friendships that were based on pumpkins. It’s the perfect time of year for pumpkin fun. In fact, today I had to harvest my pumpkin patch. There were SO many pumpkins (over 100!). I bet some of them would work just right with your ideas. I am thankful for God blessing our pumpkin crop this year!

Friends, Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle is an adorable book about friendship. To get your name in the hat for a chance to win a copy, make sure to leave a comment below. Maybe you can share something you enjoy doing with pumpkins and friends, or maybe you have another idea of a fun activity littles can do with pumpkins and friends. Do share! We love ideas AND littles!

A winner will be chosen in one week, Monday, October 20.

Thank you, Laura, for being our guest today! Congratulations on your newest book!

October 3, 2025
by Angie 6 Comments

Fun with Haiku: PEEK-A-BOO HAIKU by Danna Smith

PEEK-A-BOOK HAIKU a lift-the-flap book

Written by Danna Smith

Illustrated by Teagan White

Little Simon (2023)

This adorable board book has it all: board book quality, gorgeous illustrations, perfect little nature-based haiku poems, lift-the-flaps (always a favorite with the young crowd), hide-and-seek animals. PEEK-BOO-HAIKU is written across the seasons, so add that to its charm and discussion possibilities.

I love to write haiku, and Danna is one of the best haiku writers I’ve had to pleasure to interact with. I’ve admired many of her books. PEEK-A-BOO HAIKU is now one of my mentor texts.

PEEK-A-BOO HAIKU will make a wonderful gift for my almost 11-month-old granddaughter. IF I can give it away. Or maybe she gets her own copy.

Haiku + animals + nature + lifting flaps + hide-and-seek + seasons + board book + illustrations. Keeper!

May 8, 2025
by Angie 3 Comments

Book Share and Author Illustrator Interview: Tinker, Where Are You? by Beverly Love Warren

Tinker, Where Are You?

Written and illustrated by Beverly Love Warren

(April 16, 2025)

Welcome to Book Share! Today I’d like to share about one of my critique partner’s new books, Tinker, Where Are You? by Beverly Love Warren. It’s always thrilling to see a new book come out in the world, but when I was a part of reading and critiquing the book along its journey to publication, that makes it much sweeter!

Beverly has stopped by my blog today to share more about her new book. Hi, Beverly! Let’s hear more about Tinker!

What was the inspiration for your book?

My desire was to write a story with a message that I believed in. When I was little, I wanted a pet, but a family member was allergic to cats and dogs, so I bought a hamster and a turtle. Fast forward to now, and I knew the turtle would be featured in the story and the clever escape of my hamster would figure into the plot.

While revising the story I discovered that too many turtle picture books existed on the market, so Tinker became a lizard. Although it was horrible to have lost my hamster, it would have been a disaster if I had lost my friend’s pet while it was under my care. As the main character, what would I do and how would this effect my relationship with my friend? Of course, I wanted the story to have a good ending, so Tinker is found in the end, but what if the main character concluded she must give up her dream of owning a fish to keep from disappointing her friend?

Initially the inspiration for this tale was my pets, but it also came from Luke 6:38 (found in the Bible) which essentially says, “Give and it will be given back to you.” My heart’s message in writing Tinker is to encourage children to think creatively as they try to solve their problems, but even more importantly, it is that they would see the reward in being a good friend.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I am unfamiliar with anoles other than as pets, so I enjoyed the warm tropical environment in this book. I must say that Tinker is adorable, and I liked reading about the responsibility Hannah shows while she cares for Tinker and performs her other chores.

Tell us about your writing and illustrating process.

Generally, the story comes first. It is written and revised until my critique partners and I agree that it is finished. But while I am in the revising process, I will begin the character sketches and will decide what medium and style I would like to use for the final art. Once I’ve made my choices, I will begin the storyboard or dummy book. Sometimes the text may get altered slightly as I am working on the sketches, so it fits the illustrations better. After I finish the final storyboard, I enlarge those sketches, trace and tweak them, and then get them scanned. From there I will add the color using Procreate in my iPad to complete the illustrations.

Tinker, Where Are You? is a part of a collaborative publishing process with one of my critique groups. We each wrote and illustrated our own books and helped one another with both the refining of the stories and the illustrations. Each of us has different strengths to give to the group to help in the creative and publishing process.

That’s a pretty neat way to create a picture book!

What is your favorite part of the creative process and why?

All of it. I am more of an artist by natural abilities, so I might say that illustrating is my favorite part, but honestly, I really enjoy creative writing—both in coming up with the story idea and the revising as well. Telling a tale is fun, but watching a character come to life under my pencil and paint is the icing on a cake.

You do a fantastic job creating both story and illustrations!

What other projects have you illustrated or written?

Back in the dark ages when I began illustrating (LOL), I created a boat load of art for the secular and faith-based educational markets. During that time, and since then, I’ve also illustrated a few books. Tinker is my eighth book. Among the other books are My Child My Princess by Beth Moore, Fishing with Grandpa and Skye by Candace Spizzirri, and Have You Seen Mouse? by me.

I’ve read several of these. Lots of fun!

What is next for you, Beverly?

When I completed the illustrations for Tinker, I immediately began working on the illustrations for Meet Lottie and Annie written by Joye Smith. Meet Lottie and Annie is a picture book for preschoolers. This book tells the story about two women missionaries from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Lottie served in China and Annie served in the US. This was a fun project because I enjoy doing research on historical characters, and I found the lives of these two women to be inspirational. The book is due to be released on June 1, 2025.

As editor for Meet Lottie and Annie, I can say that I cannot wait to hold a copy in my hands. The history and engaging illustrations are wonderful!

Today I am working on marketing Tinker. But I am also thinking about my next book. I have four manuscripts with semi-completed storyboards. It is a matter of deciding which one is the best for me to publish currently. A good thing about being a self-publishing author and illustrator is that I can work at my own pace, which leaves room for me to illustrate other projects as they arrive.

Thanks so much, Angie, for featuring Tinker, Where Are You? on your blog.

You are very welcome, Beverly. It’s always a joy to find out what is going on in your world. Congratulations on Tinker!!

Friends, you can learn more about Beverly here and find her books:

Beverly Love Warren Look for the QR code to get $3 off!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop

Walmart or anywhere books can be ordered.

March 5, 2025
by Angie 4 Comments

Time for Chai (and a Picture Book)

I’m a tea lover, and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of chai tea. But once I read this picture book, I knew I had to follow the recipe for myself and make homemade chai.

Masala Chai, Fast and Slow

Written by Rajani LaRocca

Illustrated by Neha Rawat

Candlewick Press, 2023

I may have mentioned once or twice that I really enjoy reading picture books about food. Being able to learn about traditions and families and such deliciousness is a treat for my heart. Masala Chai, Fast and Slow plus deep sips from a pretty teacup. Ahhh.

I watched a webinar where Rajani was sharing about her picture book and masala chai. Thanks, 12×12! After I requested my library purchase a copy, I was the first one to check it out (I love that). I kept it out for the maximum of time. Later, I checked it out again. But this time (also nearing the maximum time=number of renewals I can do) I made sure to collect all the ingredients to steep my own masala chai.

The recipe makes quite a bit of chai, so I needed to make it on a weekend when I could share. Which is the point of masala chai. Sharing and connecting with family and friends.

I gathered the ingredients suggested by Rajani in the back matter recipe (I love it when recipes are included in a picture book, and back matter is the bomb): milk, black tea bags, cinnamon sticks, black peppercorns, cardamom pods, whole cloves, fresh ginger, and sugar (or honey).

I decided to actually follow the recipe the first time around. Shocker, I know, since I usually wing it when trying new recipes. The resulting chai tea was delicious! Warm, spicy, fragrant. Ahhh. This recipe is a keeper. Good thing too, because I have a big bag of whole cardamom pods.

Masala Chai, Fast and Slow is delighfully tasty. I can’t wait to brew another batch.