Marla Frazee

Gordon Korman

Kwame Alexander

Tom Angleberger

Grace Lin

Brian Selznick

Rita Williams-Garcia

Alex Gino

Gail Carson Levine

Candace Fleming

Linda Sue Park

Thanhha Lai

Elissa Brent Weissman

R. J. Palacio

Chris Grabenstein

Peter Lerangis

Kathi Appelt

Eric Rohmann

Dan Santat

Chris Gall

Tim Federle

Cynthia Leitich Smith

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Ashley Bryan

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Yuyi Morales

From award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman comes a collection of quirky, smart, and vulnerable childhood works by some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators—revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today. Everyone’s story begins somewhere… For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license. For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who liked to draw. For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother’s Day—and perfected through draft after discarded draft. For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words, and pictures, and stories. Your story is beginning, too. Where will it go?

Your Favorite Authors and Illustrators Share Fun, Inspiring, and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They Wrote and Drew as Kids

Our Story Begins

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