by Pat McCaw | Nov 3, 2019 | Pat's Chat, picture books, Uncategorized, Writing tips
Writing a picture book is hard. Very hard. The sweet books you read to your children are poured over by their author with scrutiny for every word on the page. When I’m told, “I’ve always wanted to write a picture book – I have so many ideas!” That is fantastic! But...
by Pat McCaw | Feb 8, 2019 | Pat's Chat, picture books
I grew up in rural Iowa and rarely saw a person of color, I had no experience with sexual identity issues, and my religious knowledge consisted of what I learned at Sunday school. With continued education, life experience, and traveling outside of my...
by Pat McCaw | Dec 6, 2018 | book review, Pat's Chat, picture books, Uncategorized
I’m positive that kids get tired of hearing – “things are different than when I was a kid” . . . but they are! In my opinion, children face different social pressures, cyber bullying, and have to watch out for “drugs” in all forms...
by Pat McCaw | Apr 4, 2018 | Pat's Chat, picture books
Picture books can save the world . . . I’m sure of it. I addressed this topic focusing only on anxiety in Pat’s Chat – May 2017, but it’s worth revisiting in more depth. Picture books are not just a sweet, innocent source of entertainment for children, but they...
by Pat McCaw | Sep 17, 2017 | Pat's Chat, picture books
Writing a picture book is NOT easy. It’s complicated, challenging, and requires the precise combination of words to tell a story with a story arc containing conflict with a resolution in exactly 32 pages. Sounds easy, right? Everyone seems to think so....
by Pat McCaw | Aug 20, 2017 | Pat's Chat, picture books
News headlines of hate and people run down in the streets. How do we talk to our children about this? I live in Midwest Iowa in a predominantly white, rural community. I know white privilege, but my goal is to learn, understand, listen and respect everyone equally. In...
