The Porchlight: Episode 33 with Cate Berry

Courage to Create

Join Bethany Hegedus as she interviews friend and fellow author, Cate Berry, about Cate's debut picture book, PENGUIN AND TINY SHRIMP DON'T DO BEDTIME (Balzer + Bray 2018). The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books has said that "The story is a smartly comedic entry in the genre of the anti-bedtime story, and the exclamatory dialogue-only text adds energy and humor. This will be a joyous bedtime read.” Cate is a seventh generation Texan with an MFA in Children's Literature from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also teaches at The Writing Barn and is a longtime member of SCBWI and The Writer's League of Texas. Cate speaks at schools, libraries, and conferences year round. Visit her online at cateberry.com. In this entertaining and inspiring episode, Bethany and Cate discuss the circuitous journey of the literary life, the walls women must scale to break into comedy, and they even sing a little! The episode also touches on how important inclusivity and diversity are in picture books and how all children's writers need to be aware of avoiding stereotypes in their work. Both writers agree that children love to feel empowered, and a good book can do that. Finally, they discuss how they find time to squeeze writing in, even at the most unlikely places.