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Little Thoughts Press Issue Eleven: Stirring Words with a sneak peek of the poem "My Grandmother's Words" by Barbara Bleiman. Barbara Bleiman is a London-based ex-English teacher and education consultant at the English and Media Centre (EMC), with a keen interest in poetry. She has written a book about English teaching, What Matters in English Teaching , and has published two novels and two collections of short stories. She is also a children’s poet, with several poems up on the Dirigible Balloon website and one in their anthology Surfing the Sky . She was a featured poet in Northern Gravy (Issue 13), has a poem in Tyger Tyger Issue 9, and in a forthcoming MacMillan anthology of poetry for teens. Her debut collection of children’s poetry Snap! Poems for Children was published in July 2025 (Blue Door Press) and is available on Amazon. Little Thoughts Press: The wistfulness in "My Grandmother’s Words" is quite touching. If you had a chance to talk with your grandmother today about her “puree of languages,” what would you say to her? Barbara Bleiman: I’d ask my grandmother all about her past, her childhood and her experiences of growing up in South Africa as the child of immigrants from Eastern Europe, where her parents spoke one language, Yiddish, while the community spoke English and Afrikaans. In typical teenage fashion, all I could think of was my feelings of embarrassment at her oddity when she visited us in England, rather than wanting to find out more about her and her life. Now, through my education work, I’ve become fascinated by children’s complex linguistic heritage and how that enriches and shapes their identity. It makes me much more curious—and celebratory—about my own.  Little Thoughts Press: Have intergenerational relationships been a recurring theme in your writing, or is this the first time you have explored this theme? If the former, how have you touched on these relationships in other pieces of writing? Barbara Bleiman: I’ve written a novel, Off the Voortrekker Road , about my South African family. It focuses particularly on my father’s childhood and early adulthood under apartheid. My grandmother’s story is told there, in fictional form—a much more sympathetic portrayal of her life than my teenage self ever managed to conjure up, trying to understand the complexities of her world, her family, her financial difficulties and the tensions in her marriage. In my more recent poems for children, I often find myself writing about parent/child or grandparent/child relationships, inspired by watching and participating in the everyday interactions, arguments and emotionally resonant moments with my own grandsons. Poems in my recent collection , Snap!  include several in the voices of children, feeling cross or sad, being silly, interacting with each other, their parents or with Granny and Grandpa. I love the way poetry offers children ways of recognising and thinking about their own feelings and experiences. And I especially love it when my poems allow children to laugh about these things. Several of my poems also aim to provoke laughter about silly grown-ups like me!   Little Thoughts Press: It can be hard for children to imagine a time when their grandparents will no longer be around. What sorts of questions would you recommend that young writers ask their grandparents, while they still can? Barbara Bleiman: I’d recommend asking questions with a ‘Tell me about…’ opening. Tell me about what it was like when you were a child. Tell me about your parents. Tell me about the games you played. Tell me about a time when you were sad. Tell me about your friends.  I was very lucky that, despite living half way across the world, my grandfather (my mother’s father) wrote long letters to me and my brother, telling us about his life, so we had that opportunity to hear his stories and he opened up a window for us into another time and world. Either in conversation, or in writing, these windows expand one’s own world. Little Thoughts Press: Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now? Why do you love it? Barbara Bleiman: I love ALL words, so, strangely perhaps, having a favorite word doesn’t really feature for me. I’m not a fan of ‘big words’ for their own sake, though I do really love the sound of words, especially in combination with each other. It’s usually the context and the combinations that really float my boat. So, for instance, in Snap!  The word ‘no’ always gives me a little thrill when I read it aloud in the poem ‘The Wheels of the Bus Have Fallen Off’ and I see children’s reactions to these lines: ‘Oh no, oh no, oh, no, oh no,/Oh no, now what can we do?’ The exaggerated repetition of that simple word, and the rhythm of the line, works much better for me than having come up with a more elaborate word like ‘disaster’, ‘catastrophe’, ‘calamity’ or ‘cataclysm’.  (Having said that, if I found a good excuse to match ‘cataclysm’ with ‘barbarism’ or ‘optimism’ or ‘cannibalism’ in a poem, I’d be pretty pleased with myself!) Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids? Barbara Bleiman: I’m always spurred on by having an audience for my writing. Many years ago, I wrote two children’s novels, prompted by my own children’s reading interests. I had an agent who almost got one of them published but not quite! More recently, I found myself making up little rhymes for my grandson but, much to his annoyance, when he said, ‘Again!’ or ‘More!’ I couldn’t remember them well enough to repeat them. So I started writing them down. And then, bit by bit, I found myself getting them accepted onto websites, into magazines or anthologies, and finally into a published collection of my own, Snap! . The joy of writing for children is getting their honest, unvarnished reactions. My grandsons sometimes give me a thumbs up, laugh uproariously and ask for repeats—but sometimes I get a thumbs down, telling me that a poem was no good. Both reactions are important for a writer. When I’ve performed the poems, or seen photos of children reading the book, I love the reactions. Children are the best audience one could hope for! Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Barbara Bleiman: Strangely, I have very few memories of my early reading of children’s picture books—apart from a terrifying copy of Struwelpeter— poems with moral warnings and ghastly pictures that gave me nightmares. I wonder whether there were fewer picture books around in 1960s childhoods, or families just didn’t buy them for their children? I suppose I must have read some, along with the Janet and John  books that taught me how to read. Later, I loved C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  series. I’m not generally a big fan of fantasy, nor was I then, but those children and their adventures felt real to me. I stepped through that wardrobe with them. Likewise with The Borrowers, living under the floorboards. Maybe it was the transformation of life in a boring, ordinary house that felt so special in both of these books.  By the time I was ten or eleven, the local librarian started suggesting adult novels to me, literally taking me through the swing doors from the children’s to the adult library and metaphorically helping me step into new territory. From then on it was Jane Austen, Jean Plaidy and romantic historical fiction. I’d said goodbye to books for children, until I came back to them with my own children and discovered a whole new world of writers. Little Thoughts Press: And what about today? Any kid-lit writers you love and want to shout out? Barbara Bleiman: I love what’s going on in poetry and verse novels at the moment. Sarah Crossan is a superb YA verse novelist, as is Tia Fisher. I also highly rate Coral Rumble’s recent book Jakub’s Otter , which is very inventive in the way it includes poetry, written by one of the child characters. Poets like Sarah Ziman, Attie Lime, Joshua Seigal, A.F. Harrold and Carole Bromley are all writing brilliantly for children, and, of course, Michael Rosen. In fiction, there are some stunning writers. Geraldine McCaughrean is an all-time favourite but there are newer writers too, especially writers of color like Sita Brahmachari (with her new book Phoenix Brothers ) and Hiba Noor Khan with her marvellous book Safiyyah’s War , a wonderful story about the Great Mosque of Paris and the role it played in rescuing Jews from the Nazis.  I also love the way some writers are managing to write really high quality, accessible books for struggling readers that are full of interest, complexity and depth. Barrington Stoke is a UK publisher specialising in these. Anthony McGowan’s series of books including Lark and Brock, and Keith Gray’s The Climbers  are all absolutely terrific. Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers? Barbara Bleiman: 1. Read. Every writer draws on their reading. You can barely start writing a line of a poem or a sentence of a story without your own reading influencing it, consciously or subconsciously. The more you read, the more ideas and options are available to you, with chances to borrow, imitate, adapt and try out the things you yourself most like as a reader. 2. Be fearless and take risks. Everything good starts off with an experiment—‘what if I do this?’ Being playful and exploring different options can take you to surprising places. Your brain is a thinking, feeling, flexible thing, filled with half-memories and ideas that surface in ways that aren’t always predictable or planned for, especially with poetry and storytelling! Get going, be open to all those unplanned things and be unafraid to see what happens and where that leads you. Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Barbara Bleiman: Of course I’d love more children to read the poems in Snap!   It’s available in both paperback and hard cover. I also wonder if your readers might like to see another poem I wrote recently about that same grandmother and my grandfather, exploring their past lives? It shows what a different world they came from and perhaps explains why I found the gulf between their world and mine so huge.  My Grandfather’s General Store In Parow, Cape Town, 1940s My grandfather owned a general store, like no shop you’ve ever seen before. On an empty street, in a long ago place filled to the brim, not an inch of spare space with wood and leather, glue and flax seed tacks, screws and nails, sacks of chicken feed paint and paraffin, hinges and locks hammers and chisels, rubber tubes in a box bicycle tyres and sheets of clear glass door knobs and handles in shiny gold brass broken fig biscuits in a big row of jars a few wooden toys and small Dinky cars biltong – dried meat – hanging on hooks manuals and machine instruction books bricks and cement out in the yard pipes for plumbing and a steel fireguard. My grandfather worked in the store every day the little bell tinkled and customers came  to buy, to chat, to hear all the news to scan the goods, to pick and choose. No plastic bags, no swipe-your-card tills no delivery vans, no credit card bills. Just grandpa and grandma and their general store open at 7, closed at 4  when they’d pull down the blinds  and lock the door.

Little Thoughts Press Issue Eleven: Stirring Words with a sneak peek of the poem "A Pebble Remembers" by Mona Voelkel. The poem is accompanied by artwork by Kim Wagner Nolan. Mona Voelkel is a reading specialist and writer. Words are the heartbeat of her teaching and writing life so she is especially honored to contribute to Stirring Words. Her poetry has been published by The Dirigible Balloon and The Milford Journal. A new picture book, Moon Choo-Choo , illustrated by Nancy Kincade, is a rhyming celebration of creative collaboration. She was born in the Bronx, lives in Westchester County, New York, and loves to spend time with friends. Little Thoughts Press: " A Pebble Remembers"   is a very creative way of introducing young readers to an element of medieval life. Did you know from the start that you wanted to explain how a trebuchet works by telling a story from a pebble’s point of view? Or did you come to this realization after you’d started working on the poem?  Mona Voelkel: I loved  the word "trebuchet," and wondered if I could write a poem about this medieval boulder-throwing machine. My first drafts focused on the boulder, not the pebble. It took several drafts (and feedback from writing partners) for the pebble's voice to emerge. Once that happened, the poem became the story of a pebble sharing its regret about the damage caused when it was a boulder. Little Thoughts Press: How would you advise young writers who are interested in history to approach writing stories or poems about historical subjects?   Mona Voelkel: Know your historical subject well. Make a list of twenty questions about your topic that intrigue you and research the answers. Then, set a timer for seven minutes and write what comes to mind about your topic. Underline the words, phrases, or sentences that most appeal to you and use those as a possible way to begin your poem or story. Little Thoughts Press: Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now? Why do you love it? Mona Voelkel: I just read an essay by Mary Ruefle with the phrase, "wild forest blood runs in your veins," and I love that because it feels mysterious and elusive. I also love the word "serendipity" because I am thrilled by the people, places, and things that pop up unexpectedly in my life. Little Thoughts Press: Why did you choose the word(s) you chose to feature in your Stirring Words piece? Mona Voelkel: I originally described some of the people inside the castle as "servants" but then changed that to "vassals" to better fit the medieval setting. I also changed the word "fraction" to "fragment" because it was more of a "rock" word. Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids? Mona Voelkel: I think I got started writing kid-lit by having the honor, over 25 years as a reading specialist, of reading notable children's literature (poems, picture books, novels) to my students and seeing how books can comfort, transport, educate, and uplift us. After I retired from the classroom in 2021, I started writing for adults and children full-time, even though I was not sure if it was something I could do. I took the advice I would give my students: "Just write and see what happens." The most challenging part is always when a story or poem is not working and I feel like there is no way I can fix it. I have learned, over time and from my experiences guiding young writers, that feeling is part of the writing process. I developed strategies (put the draft in a drawer for a few days, ask for help, work on another project) to ride that wave. By far, the most rewarding part of writing for kids is being able to encourage young writers. At a recent school visit, a 3rd-grader asked me, "Did you always know you were going to be a writer?" I replied, "No, because I never thought that was something I could do." I want every child to know that writing is something they can do to express themselves, as an outlet for their creativity, and as a possible career. Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Mona Voelkel: Growing up in the Bronx, I practically lived in the Fordham Road branch of the New York Public Library. The Poky Little Puppy , Dick and Jane , The Hundred Dresses, The Nancy Drew Series , The Once and Future King, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Shakespeare were my favorites growing up.  My parents were both from Ireland so I was also influenced by their oral stories of growing up in rural Leitrim and Sligo, and my father's ghost and fairy stories, along with his ballads. Little Thoughts Press: And what about today? Any kid-lit writers you love and want to shout out? Mona Voelkel: So many! I especially love Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Suzy Levinson, Kristine O'Connell George, Dashka Slater, Katey Howes, Joyce Sidman, Julia Donaldson, Jon Klassen, Marzieh Abbas, Lisa varchol Perron, and Julie Fogliano. Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers? Mona Voelkel: Read. Read. Read. Take yourself seriously as a writer by giving yourself the gift of time to write. Draw your story or poem out first, if that's what you want to do. Jot down wonders and noticings in a notebook. Have fun! Enter writing contests and submit to magazines like Little Thoughts Press . Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Mona Voelkel: I would love to give a special shout-out to the amazing illustrators of the Stirring Words  issue, including Kim Wagner Nolan, who brought my poem to life with her gorgeous illustration.   "A Pebble Remembers" is also a poem in my upcoming poetry collection, Pebble Ponderings , which I am currently querying. I am also excited that my new poem, "The Boat Beach" will be included in the December 2025 "Better Together" issue of Little Thoughts Press .   I also want to thank you, Claire, for creating such a gorgeous magazine for writers and readers of all ages. Each edition is a joy to behold and is infinitely inspiring. I feel so honored to have my work appear on your pages alongside writers I so admire.

Little Thoughts Press Issue Eleven: Stirring Words with a sneak peek of the poem "Pandemonium" by Rachel Burrows. The poem is accompanied by artwork of musical instruments by Imogen Hartland. Rachel Burrows and her stories grew up in Wales though she now lives near Stonehenge with her family and dog, Fennel. Her children’s poems can be found in The Dirigible Balloon , Tyger Tyger , The Toy , The Yorkshire Times , Northern Gravy and Little Thoughts Press . She has read her poetry and stories on BBC Radio and Book Jive Live and recently featured as Brian Moses’ Guest Poet. She shortlisted for Write Mentor’s Picturebook Competition 2023 and The Cheshire Novel Kids Prize 2025 and longlisted in The Guppy Open Submission 2025. Little Thoughts Press: One of the things that drew us to "Pandemonium" as we were selecting pieces for this issue was its quirky humor, with lines like “Carlos killed the bassoon like a pro.” How do you decide whether to inject humor into the story or poem that you’re working on? Rachel Burrows: I don’t ever try to—it just happens. And sometimes it doesn’t! It’s funny you should choose that line as an example because I wondered if it was too serious! My favourite line is the trombone one—just because I can imagine it so clearly—poor old Trent! I used to sit in front of the brass section in the orchestra at school and they always did things like squirting us with water, so it has links to good memories too. I’m a bit scared of poems that are very sweet or cute—I’ll always add something to surprise or tickle. My poems about nature are my least humorous—I really try hard to just convey my awe in those—they don’t need me as a sidekick! Little Thoughts Press:  Your classroom experience really shines through in "Pandemonium." In what sorts of ways does your experience working in schools influence your writing for children?  Rachel Burrows: You get to know what makes a room full of kids laugh or gasp! I do love a reaction! I think I have a good memory for funny events that have happened in the classroom but also I remember funny things that happened at school to me. Sometimes these make for better poems as we used to have far more freedom—so there were far greater mishaps! When I write a poem about a class, I am the child not the teacher in it. At the moment I work with teenagers who have had a really bad time. I write poems to help me process some of the things I know they have been through. These tend to be for older children and adults to read though. Little Thoughts Press: Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now? Why do you love it? Rachel Burrows: Flabbles! It’s a word my kids made up to describe our dog’s jowls. Jowls is quite an ugly word to describe such lovely soft, whiskery things! He is a pointer x labrador and has a very floppy face—his flabbles sometimes get caught on his teeth giving him a very goofy smile.  Little Thoughts Press: Why did you choose the word(s) you chose to feature in your Stirring Words piece? Rachel Burrows: I like to use prompts from online poetry groups to inspire me. One week it was pandemonium. I love the word because I hear it in the South Wales accent that I grew up with—it sounds very lyrical and goes on forever! When I realised euphonium sort of rhymed with it, the poem took off. Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids? Rachel Burrows: I only started writing for children three years ago when I left the primary classroom. I wrote a lot of poetry as a child though. The most challenging thing for me is levelling it right. I am very sensitive to things being patronising, but I don’t want my poems to be difficult either. I love the range of things you can talk about in children’s poems—fox’s bums, snail parties and crocodile dentists, to name just a few! Those kinds of things still delight me and make me laugh! I can have fun illustrating them too.  Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Rachel Burrows: I loved Peter Pan and Wendy —it was one of the first I read independently. My dad always used to read me Milly-Molly-Mandy and I especially like the map at the front of those books. I struggled to find fiction that I enjoyed after about 12 and read a lot of non-fiction about nature. Little Thoughts Press: And what about today? Any kid-lit writers you love and want to shout out? Rachel Burrows: So many! I wish we had the choice of today when I was young. Picturebooks: anything by Jon Klassen, Wolf Erlbruch and a new favourite, Chloe Savage. Middle Grade: everything by Zillah Bethall, Katya Balen, Sophie Anderson, Phil Earle, Matt Goodfellow. YA: anything by Anthony McGowan and Sarah Crossan Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers? Rachel Burrows: Don’t try to rhyme! Concentrate of choosing exactly the right word for that moment, not one that rhymes! Controversial! I like to reread my work to see if I can ‘feel it’, and if I can’t, I go and make it bigger or better. It’s like what they say about dancing—dance as if no one is watching, well I think you should write as if no one is reading! Read it out loud to yourself—if you  like it, job done! Don’t tell your teachers I said that! Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Rachel Burrows: Maybe what am I most proud of writing? My friend, the poet Mark Bird, asked me to contribute a poem to an anthology he was compiling for the family and school friends of two of his kindergarten students who were lost in the Air India crash. It was the hardest and easiest thing I have ever written. I am so pleased I could do something at such an awful time for them. I am waiting for a few adult poems to appear in anthologies. One is about being 12 and not loving pop music like my best friend did.  You can check out more of my poems on The Dirigible Balloon and Brian Moses’ blog site .

Riley T. is seven years old. She is going into 2nd grade. She likes to play tennis. She also enjoys crafting and reading. One day, she would like to travel to Paris, France! Her illustration, Lemonade on the Water, for our Stirring Words issue was inspired by the word summer. Be sure to check out Riley's poems "What is Red?" and "Spring," along with our interview with Riley here .

Gobbledygook by Flora Mitchell Flora Mitchell , aged 4, loves face painting and tigers. Although she can't talk yet, she has a lot to say. Flora enjoys playing and drawing with her sister Leonor. This is her very first submission. Her illustration, Gobbledygook, for our Stirring Words issue was inspired by the word gobbledygook.

Snoozy Platypus by Leonor Mitchell Quirky Uniraffee by Leonor Mitchell Leonor Mitchell , age 6, likes bats (at the moment) because she likes scary stuff. She enjoys spending time with her friends and cuddling up with her sister, Flora. When she grows up, she wants to be an engineer to help nature. She lives with her Mummy, Daddy and sister, Flora. Her illustration Snoozy Platypus , for our Stirring Words issue, was inspired by the word snoozy, and her illustration Quirky Uniraffee was inspired by the word quirky.

Blue The ocean water With many animals living in it Big strong waves Crashing everywhere in the oceans The light blue sky With a little breeze in it The nighttime sky With cozy noises like owls hooting Sadness Slowly dripping down your face Water sources Flowing rapidly on earth Ice cold Gatorade And the sweetness on your tongue Blue jays sitting in the trees And tweeting happily The full moon shining brightly in the night sky Calmness Feeling everyone that is quiet and kind A Cunning shark Swimming fiercely in the water Shine pearls Sitting in a clam’s mouth Rain pouring Down from the clouds Spring is Here The winter Snow melts Long green grass Blowing in the cool breeze The beautiful sun Shining brightly in the sky Delightful flowers Start to appear Finally nice To go play outside The nba playoffs Are starting now Drowsy bears Coming out of a long hibernation Rabbits hopping wildly Through grassy meadows Foxes hunting In the dark forests Farmers Growing new crops Charming babies Are born Lincoln Chung is a sixth grader who enjoys competitive swimming and playing with his brother. Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now?  My favorite word is 'transmit'. Your poem, "Blue" is all about the color blue. Why did you choose this color and word as a subject for a poem? Blue is my favorite color. My class assignment was to write a poem about a color. And in your poem "Spring is Here," you lead the reader through the changing of the seasons with a range of images that signal the arrival of spring. What words stand out most in your mind when you think of spring? Words that stand out in my mind when I think about spring: green and flowers. What is your favorite topic to study in school? Science  What book are you currently reading or read most recently? Would you recommend this book to other readers? I am reading The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, and I like it.

Tick- Tock - Who’s There? By Sayla Martinson The old clock hangs from the wall in the old laundry room where people rarely go, sad as can be. As sad as rain on a little kid’s birthday. “Oh, look at the time!” said the old man who lived in the house with his wife and his two children. “We must get going!” As soon as the clock heard that word, it perked up with a ding! It had not heard those words in forever! Six and a half months to be exact. It had been counting. “These people never go places, they're such couch potatoes,” the clock said angrily. “They hardly ever go places, but when they do, they don’t tell me where they're going! I get so mad with these people sometimes!” the clock screamed. “They just leave me here in this dirty laundry room, lonely as can be, and don’t even bother to tell me where they're going! I just want to be useful!” the clock screamed even louder. “Why are you screaming so loud?” came an unknown voice. “Who are you?” said the clock. “I am the clock right next door,” said the unknown voice. “WHAT???” said the clock, shocked. “I am the clock right next door, in the living room,” the living room clock repeated calmly. “I heard you! But I didn’t even know you existed!” said laundry room clock. “I might be the reason nobody ever looks at you because they look at me every day,” said the living room clock. “EVERY DAY?” screamed the laundry room clock. “Yes, every day. But can you please stop screaming? You are hurting my gears,” said the living room clock. “Yes, sorry I am just so excited because we can be friends and I won’t be lonely anymore!” said the laundry room clock with a thankful sigh. “Wait, you’re lonely?” asked the living room clock. “Yes, I am lonely every day,” said the laundry room clock. Excitedly, the other clock said, “OMG! Same here!” “Does this mean I will be useful being your friend?” said the laundry room clock. “I believe so!” said living room clock. “YAY!” yelled the laundry room clock. “Wait, if we're going to be friends, you need to work on that screaming issue,” said the living room clock. “Oh alright. I’ll try my best,” said the laundry room clock. “Hey, do you think there are any other clocks in this house we haven’t met?" “Great, thanks,” said living room clock. “Hmmmm maybe there are!” Just as the living room clock asked that, the house began to shake with the ticking of arms. “WHOA! What is that?” asked the laundry room clock. Creeeeeeek went the door. The family was back from seeing the movie, Wicked! As they stepped through the door, the ticking stopped immediately. The mom, Kathryn, said, “I loved that movie. It made me cry!” “I liked it too!” said the dad, Ian. “Wait, what's that loud ticking sound?” said their daughter, Sayla. Ian said, “It sounds like it’s coming from the laundry room.” “Clock, what did I tell you about the screaming?” whispered the living room clock. “Oh right, sorry! I'm just so, so, so excited that I have a friend now! And maybe more!” said the clock in the laundry room. “Me too,” the other clock replied, “but make sure you are quiet around the people!" Sayla Martinson is a 5th grade student from Chicago, Illinois. While in school, Sayla enjoys reading, writing, and being with her friends. When Sayla grows up, she wants to be a first grade teacher. Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now?  My favorite word right now is probably wise because right now I am trying to be wise with my decisions, big or small.  Your story, "Tick-Tock Who's There?" brings a clock to life. Can you tell us a bit about why the word tick-tock stood out to you as the inspiration for this story and why you chose to personify the clock? The phrase tick-tock stood out to me because that is the phrase that all of the other characters hear when the clocks are having their conversations. I chose to personify the clocks because then the readers can know more about what’s happening between the clocks and feel more involved in the story. What is your favorite topic to study in school? My favorite topic to study in school right now is definitely reading/writing. I love reading and being creative with my writing skills, and I find reading and writing fun.  What is the most interesting thing you recently learned? The most interesting thing that I have learned recently is the difference between 3rd person limited and 3rd person omniscient in reading and writing class.  What book are you currently reading or read most recently? Would you recommend this book to other readers? I am currently reading two books. Those books are Whale Eyes and The Final Gambit . I would definitely recommend The Final Gambit and the two books before it in the series. I have just started Whale Eyes , and so far, I would recommend it.

What is Red? Red is ladybugs’ wings. Baseball stripes are red on a white ball. Red is fire burning. Cardinals are red and a sign of heaven. Red is the stripes on the American flag. Rose petals are red in spring. Strawberries are red that I have for lunch. Red is a watermelon in summer. The Emergency sign is red. Red is crabs on a beach. Spring S oftball season for me P raying at lenten time R inging church bells at Holy Thursday mass I mportant to keep God in your hearts N ature is pretty when trees bloom G od’s trees and flowers are growing Riley T. is seven years old. She is going into 2nd grade. She likes to play tennis. She also enjoys crafting and reading. One day, she would like to travel to Paris, France! Our Stirring Words issue is all about odd, interesting, or inspiring words and phrases. What is your favorite word right now?  Ganache (chocolate) — I love to bake and watch baking shows! Your poem is all about the color red. Why did you choose this color and word as a subject for a poem? I chose red because I thought that nobody else would choose it. It’s a unique color to write about. I wanted to write about something different from everybody else.  What is your favorite topic to study in school? My favorite topic in school is reading.  What is the most interesting thing you recently learned? I recently learned that some $2 bills can be worth a lot of money! What book are you currently reading or read most recently? Would you recommend this book to other readers? I am reading The Baby-Sitter’s Club series. Yes! I would recommend it to kids 6 years and older.

The illustration, I Heard a Song, by Imogen Hartland in Little Thoughts Press Issue Ten: An Ekphrasis Adventure. Lisa Roullard lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her family and Onyx the black cat.  In addition to writing and reading, she loves baking pie (and eating it warm), tending her flower garden, and spending time with friends.  Her poems for kids can be found in Little Thoughts Press , The Dirigible Balloon , The Toy ,   and Parakeet. Little Thoughts Press: Our Ekphrasis Adventure issue is about using visual art as inspiration for poetry and storytelling. What stood out to you in the illustration you chose to write about? What in the image served as the initial spark for your poem? Lisa Roullard: The girl.  Why, I wondered, was she out there on the rock at night when the waves were so choppy? (Admittedly, I was not focused on Imogen’s title, I Heard a Song.)  It seemed significant that the girl’s rainslicker was the same color as the lighthouse light.  Little Thoughts Press:  One of the things I loved most about your poem “On the Rock by the Lighthouse” is how you very directly utilize the images in Imogen Hartland’s illustration, I Heard a Song, but then expand the reader’s vision beyond the frame by introducing a boat we cannot see. This is a really effective way to pull the reader further into the poem by giving them a role in the narrative. Can you talk about why you made this choice to center the poem around an image just out of frame and what effect you think it has on how readers connect to both your poem and Imogen’s illustration?  Lisa Roullard: Since lighthouses have to do with safety, and in some cases, rescue, it seemed like the girl was headed toward whatever was outside the frame.  This felt compelling to me and I knew there had to be more to the story.  I wrote the poem after several years of helping my child through a difficult time.  And although I wasn’t thinking about that directly as I wrote, I felt both like the girl and the person in the boat during that time.   Sometimes I’ve felt like both at once.  So, maybe readers will connect to the poem and the illustration by recognizing we all need help sometimes and that it’s okay to receive it.  It’s also important to offer help, so I hope readers might consider that too.   Little Thoughts Press: This issue is all about celebrating and spotlighting artists. Do you have a favorite artist, or a picture book, comic, or graphic novel that you love and want to shout out? Lisa Roullard: Beth Krommes is one of my favorite picture book illustrators.  I love her style, specifically how she works detail and color into her engravings.  I love studying each spread.  Currently I have Where the Deer Slip Through  propped up in my office.  I know the late Katey Howes would’ve loved the illustrations Beth created for it.   Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids? Lisa Roullard: I’ve wanted to write kid-lit since college and took my first online class in picture book writing about 20 years later.  I studied creative writing (mainly poetry) in college and graduate school, but the focus wasn’t kid-lit.  So, for me, the most challenging aspect is word choice.  I never want to talk down to kids.  I also feel it’s important for kids to expand their vocabularies so I don’t shy away from words that might be considered “big” or “hard” or “unusual.”   I can’t recall at what age my mom started telling me, “I’m not your walking dictionary.  Go look it up!” when I asked her what a word meant.  I know this helped me expand my vocabulary.  Thanks, Mom! Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Lisa Roullard: A few favorites that my parents read me were Never Tease a Weasel and the Little Golden Book Home for a Bunny .  Once I was reading on my own I loved Roald Dahl, especially James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .  I also loved the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books by Betty MacDonald and Bedknobs and Broomsticks  by Mary Norton.  Charlotte’s Web  by E.B. White was another favorite, as were The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I also enjoyed Judy Blume’s books, especially Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers? Lisa Roullard: Write about what you’re interested in, even if you don’t know much about it yet.  You can learn as you go. Know that many experienced writers are doing this too.  It’s never too early (or late) to learn! Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Lisa Roullard: No.  As for news, I recently received an Honorable Mention in the Lyrical Language Lab’s Second Annual Summer Poetry Contest for kid-lit.  This year’s theme was mask poems and mine is titled “Thesuarus’s First Love Letter.”  You can read it and the other top nine poems at https://www.reneelatulippe.com/winners-summer2025/ .

The illustration, Portrait Painting, by Olivia McGinty in Little Thoughts Press Issue Ten: An Ekphrasis Adventure. Ian Brownlie lives with his family in Marlow, Bucks (UK). His work has been longlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition and Searchlight's Best Novel Opening award. He has had children's poetry published in The Dirigible Balloon , Tyger Tyger and The Toy magazine, and recently had a poem included in the anthology Sky Surfing (which can be purchased at dirigibleballoon.org/shop ). He can often be found procrastinating on BlueSky: @ ianbrownlie.bsky.social . Little Thoughts Press: Our Ekphrasis Adventure issue is about using visual art as inspiration for poetry and storytelling. What stood out to you in the illustration you chose to write about? What in the image served as the initial spark for your poem? Ian Brownlie: I loved the picture by Olivia McGinty, it made visual art as an activity feel so happy and vibrant. I was impressed that Olivia had chosen to recreate the portrait itself in her picture, along with the subject of the painting, giving us two different views of her. It works really well. So the spark was really just being drawn in by that, then wondering what other kind of things this artist might get up to. Little Thoughts Press:   I love the way your poem “Ali the Artist” captures the way children so often fully throw themselves into their hobbies and activities, almost becoming obsessed with them for periods of time. Here, wherever Ali goes, whatever she's doing, she's capturing those sights and experiences in her artwork. With all the demands of adult life, we have a tendency to lose a little bit of that youthful obsession with the activities that bring us joy. In what ways does writing allow you to tap into some of that childlike ability to give yourself over to a creative activity just for the pleasure of it? When writing for kids specifically, what do you do to connect yourself to the emotions of childhood, the difficulties and the joys that are unique to growing up? Ian Brownlie: Yes, exactly! Ali enjoys art so much that it takes over every aspect of her life. And the rat-a-tat-tat rhyming of the poem hopefully pulls the reader along on that journey with her. Writing for children is very freeing, and there’s a huge pleasure in creating something silly or magical or just true that could resonate with children and lead them to think about things differently. Or just make them laugh. I think humour for its own sake is underrated in most creative fields. Little Thoughts Press: This issue is all about celebrating and spotlighting artists. Do you have a favorite artist, or a picture book, comic, or graphic novel that you love and want to shout out? Ian Brownlie: That’s tough, there’s so much great stuff I could pick. I couldn’t get enough Asterix books when I was young, and they are essentially graphic novels. At least half of the humour is in the brilliant pictures. The detail in Richard Scarry’s Busytown books meant you could read them over and over again. Chris Riddell is my favourite illustrator at the moment, especially his beautiful Ottoline and Goth Girl books. Little Thoughts Press: How did you get started writing kid-lit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about writing for kids? Ian Brownlie: I had a really good idea for a children’s book sometime in the late 1990s. So I sat on that for a couple of decades, waited until my own children were too old to want to read my books, then decided to start actually writing something for kids! Honestly, I think it was reading to my children as they grew up that reignited my love of children’s books, and gave me the desire to write them. It just took me a while to get round to it. The most rewarding part of writing is the reaction you get when showing your new work to somebody (as long as the reaction is good, obviously.)  The most challenging part is making time to write. I work part-time in the kitchen of a very small school for children with additional needs, and I have been known to lose myself in a poem about a yeti who is good at typing while trying to make spaghetti carbonara! Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Ian Brownlie: I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books, and frequently cheated by keeping a finger in the previous page when I made a decision! I also re-read Roald Dahl’s The Twits quite a bit, as well as a long-forgotten book with the great title: Help! I am a Prisoner in a Toothpaste Factory . Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young writers? Ian Brownlie: Keep reading and keep writing. And always be open to learning new things about language and writing, because there will always be new things to learn. Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Ian Brownlie: I’m still working on getting my first book out there! There are links to the poems I’ve written for various publications on my Bluesky account: ‪@ ianbrownlie.bsky.social ‬ Also: my lucky number is 27 and my favourite punctuation mark is two full stops..

The illustration, 51st Street, by Kim Wagner Nolan in Little Thoughts Press Issue Ten: An Ekphrasis Adventure. Kim Wagner Nolan is an author/illustrator and museum exhibition designer, specializing in educational interactive exhibits for children. Her work has been showcased in over a hundred museum and gallery exhibits and has appeared in several print and online publications.   She was the winner of the 50 Precious Words International Writing Contest (2024), the SCBWI Draw This! Contest (12/2024), and she once won two dozen doughnuts in the Krispy Kreme Doughnut painting contest. When she’s not painting for doughnuts, Kim enjoys going on adventures and playing the ukulele for her pet chickens. Find more at kimwnolan.com . Little Thoughts Press: Your illustration, 51st Street, served as inspiration for some of the writing featured in Issue 10: An Ekphrasis Adventure. While creating this piece, did you have a particular story in mind? Or to put it another way, if you had written a poem or story to accompany this illustration, what might you have written?  Kim Wagner Nolan: 51st Street was inspired by real life. The reference I used for the illustration was from a photo I took of the apartment building where I lived on 51st Street in Woodside, Queens, New York. I’ve always lived on the 3rd or 4th floor of every apartment building I’ve called home. All of them had an intercom and buzzer to let people in, but none of them worked, so we’d have to run down four flights of stairs or toss the keys down so our friends could let themselves in. We’d put the keys in a sock or make a little parachute for them so they wouldn’t hurt the person catching them. Little Thoughts Press: Your illustration inspired the poems “Keys for My Sister” by Nick Fordham, “Catch” by Julie Stevens, and “Outside Upstairs” by Hilary Elder. Was there anything that surprised you in how these writers chose to interpret your art? If you are open to sharing, were there any lines or images in these pieces that you thought really captured what you had in your mind when you created this illustration?  Kim Wagner Nolan: I appreciate how different readers interpret my art. It helps me understand where my narrative illustrations are doing a good job of telling the story and where they need improvement.  Nick Fordham's "Keys for My Sister" beautifully conveys a sense of bittersweet longing for happier times. "Catch" perfectly captures the playfulness of the scene. I especially loved how the line, “No one sees us, no one looks up, upstairs, outdoors, so many floors,” in "Outside Upstairs" depicts observing the world from above. It highlights common city life activities like people-watching from windows or fire escapes. Little Thoughts Press: This issue is all about celebrating and spotlighting artists. Do you have a favorite artist, or a picture book, comic, or graphic novel that you love and want to shout out? Kim Wagner Nolan: Oliver Jeffers, Debbie Ridpath-Ohi, London Ladd, and Christopher Denise are just a few but I have a long list of authors and illustrators that I admire. Little Thoughts Press: What initially brought you into the world of kidlit and what do you find most challenging and rewarding about making art that will appeal to children? Kim Wagner Nolan: I was brought into the world of kidlit when I was a kid. I just never left! I’ve always loved drawing and writing stories.  The biggest challenge is staying motivated despite criticism and rejection. The most rewarding part is seeing my art published and enjoyed by children worldwide. Little Thoughts Press: Which kid-lit authors and books were your favorites growing up? Kim Wagner Nolan: My favorite picture books growing up were   Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold and anything by Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, or Shel Silverstein. My favorite middle-grade books were Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson (I still have my original copy), Super Fudge by Judy Blume, The Pinballs by Betsy Byars, and any choose-your-own-adventure book. Little Thoughts Press: What advice would you give to young artists? Kim Wagner Nolan: Study other artists to learn and be inspired, but don’t compare yourself. You have your own unique voice when creating art. Little Thoughts Press: I have asked these questions of the young artists we’ve featured on our blog but I am curious to know your answers as well: What is your favorite thing to draw and how does creating art make you feel?  Kim Wagner Nolan: My favorite thing to draw is animals.   Creating art is a superpower! Artists and writers have the power to create entire worlds and characters with their imagination. I think that’s pretty amazing.  Little Thoughts Press: Is there anything else you wish I had asked? Any upcoming projects, publications, or other news you'd like to share? Kim Wagner Nolan: I’m excited to share that I created the interior spot illustrations for the Stirring Words issue of Little Thoughts Press (Issue 11) ,  which will be available in September 2025.