In the 1920s, 58 dolls were sent as ambassadors of friendship from the children of Japan to the children of the United States. About three feet tall, these dolls had human hair and came dressed in kimonos and accompanied by accessories such as tea sets and parasols. The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson is the [...]

Kirby Larson wasn’t expecting to write historical fiction when the story of Hattie Inez Brooks found her. Her books before Hattie Big Sky were written for younger readers, but as Larson says, “You never know where life is going to take you. Sometimes there’s a story that takes hold of your heart and there you [...]

Author Kirby Larson recently featured an essay I wrote for her on her blog about authors and book clubs connecting. Kirby is one of the first authors I heard of who met with a mother-daughter book club near her home some years back. Read what I have to say on Kirby’s blog about this winning [...]

  Just over a year ago I met author Kirby Larson while we were attending a Kidlit Blogging Conference here in Portland. I had interviewed Kirby about her writing life and her book, Hattie Big Sky, by email before that, but we hadn’t met in person until then. We got to know each other a [...]