FEBRUARY 2023 O AUTHOR STUDY O VOL. 13 O NO.

15 FA MILY E DI T ION 5+

Grace Lin writes

and illustrates
children’s books.
Learn about
her work.

timeforkids.com
 CAREERS
DANIELLE TAIT (5)
Grace Lin spends a few hours each day writing. She likes to
take a walk before writing, to clear her mind.
Grace Lin didn’t grow up seeing
other kids like her. She was the only
Asian American in her class. She
connected with books. “I felt like
books were my friends,” she told
TIME for Kids. “Books never made
me feel weird about who I was.”
Lin started making books of her
own. “Whenever there was a school
project, I always made a book,” Lin
says. Now, she has published more
than 20 books.
COVER: DANIELLE TAIT
2 TIME FOR K IDS February 2023
Some of Lin’s stories are based on
her daughter (left).
Lin loves to draw. She believes
drawings are important in books.
Becoming a Story Maker
One of Lin’s teachers encouraged her
to enter a book-making contest. That
was in middle school. Lin won fourth
place. “I never saw anyone that
looked like me as an author and
an illustrator,” she says. The contest
motivated her. It showed she could
become a children’s book author.
For college, Lin went to the
Rhode Island School of Design. She
learned to be an illustrator there.

As an illustrator, Lin wants her drawings and
stories to show diversity. Here, she illustrates
her book Mulan: Before the Sword.
Finding a Friend
Lin’s books are based on her life
and family. A Big Mooncake for
Little Star is one of her favorites.
It was inspired by her daughter.
It won a Caldecott Medal. Caldecott
awards are for the best picture books
of the year.
Lin believes that pictures are
important in children’s books. She
wants kids to see themselves in her
work. “Children’s books are their first
COMING SOON
Lin’s latest is called Once upon a Book. She says
it was inspired by seeing her daughter read at the
library. “I liked the image so much,” Lin says. She
decided to draw what she saw.
This book is special. Usually, when Lin makes
a book, “the story has to come first,” she says.
This time, the art came first. Then Lin cowrote the
book with her friend Kate Messner. Once Upon a
Book hits stores in February.
exposure to art and culture,” she
says. “I hope when kids read my
books, they find a friend that they
want to keep forever.”
—By Ellen Nam
illustrator noun: a person who makes pictures to
go with a book
inspire verb: to give someone the desire to do
something
Get more at timeforkids.com. 3
 ARTS

STORY STRUCTURE
Stories can be fun to read. They can Stories have ups and down. That’s
also be fun to write. How do you make what makes them exciting. Learn the
a great story? Think of a roller coaster! parts of a story below.

TURNING POINT
INTRODUCTION

PROBLEM
ENDING

WETCAKE/GETTY IMAGES. BACKGROUND: EYEWAVE/GETTY IMAGES

The beginning of a story is the introduced in the middle of the story.

INTRODUCTION. That’s where the So is the TURNING POINT. That’s the
reader meets the important most exciting part of the story. It often
characters. It sets a reader up to includes the solution too.
understand the rest of the story. The ENDING ties it all together.
The PROBLEM is something the The reader sees what happened to
main character must deal with. It is the characters in the story.
TIME for Kids Edition 2 (ISSN 2156-9169) is published weekly and mailed monthly from October through May, except for a combined December/January issue, by Time USA, LLC. Volume #13, Issue #15. Principal Office: 3 Bryant Park, New York, NY 10036. Periodical
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4 TIME FOR K IDS February 2023

Please recycle this magazine.
 Mason Langer
Meet Mason. He’s one of the 10 outstanding
kids selected to be a TFK Kid Reporter this
school year. Mason is 12 years old and lives in
Morristown, New Jersey. Read more about him!

I want
to be a movie
Five things --I can’t live without:
director, writer,
My family
or critic.
My friends
My dog
Movies
Opinions

One thing
hardly anyone
knows about I do not
me? enjoy playing
competitive
sports.

PHOTOS OF MASON LANGER COURTESY

MASON LANGER (2)

6 TIME FOR K IDS February 2023

 My favorite
team is the
New York
I look up to
Steven Spielberg,

NTS!
Roger Ebert, and
Jordan Peele.
GI A
FROM TOP: STEVE GRANITZ—FILMMAGIC; STEPHEN LOVEKIN—GETTY IMAGES; UNIQUE NICOLE—GETTY IMAGES

My pet peeve:
It’s a tie between strange meals and overcomplicated
stories and plotlines.
My dream:
To interview any acclaimed movie director; to review a
movie or other pop-culture release; to meet people who
have uplifting stories.
Favorite thing to do

ANDRESR— GET TY IMAGES

in free time:
Watch movies
My most prized
possession:
Limited-edition Freddie
Mercury Funko Pop! doll.
(He’s adorable!)
My proudest
accomplishments:
Completing a course at NJ Film School and writing my own
short films. I also survived living at home 24/7 with my
parents for months durisng the pandemic.
My favorite book:
The Phantom Tollbooth,
by Norton Juster
My favorite book
genres:
Action-adventure and thrillers
My favorite
musical group:
Queen

BACKGROUND: SEAN GLADWELL—GETTY IMAGES (DESK AND

NOTEBOOK); GIZELKA/GETTY IMAGES (FOOTBALL); KARANDAEV—
GETTY IMAGES (HIGHLIGHTER); T KIMURA—GETTY IMAGES (TICKET);
XXMMXX/GETTY IMAGES (POPC0RN)

Get more at timeforkids.com. 7

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