26 Aug Janice Hechter and WHERE ARE THE WOMEN? The Girl Scouts’ Campaign for the First Statue of Women in Central Park and A GIVEAWAY!

I want to welcome author/illustrator, Janice Hechter, to the blog today. Her wonderful book, Where Are the Women? The Girl Scouts’ Campaign for the First Statue of Women in Central Park reinforces my belief in the statement, “Let the children lead.” When a group of New York City Girl Scouts learned that there were no statues of women in Central Park, they organized to work towards changing that. That was then. If you walk through Central Park now, things are different, and this book explains who we should thank.  Where Are the Women?  tells the story of these young girls and their efforts to change the status quo.  Hechter’s kid-friendly text and illustrations create a story that should be in every classroom. 

EL: Welcome, Janice!  Thank you for writing such an interesting book. I noticed that most of your books are non-fiction. Did you set out to do this, or do you come across something that really interests you and decide to write about it?

JH: I exclusively wrote fiction picture books for many years, enjoying the freedom to make up my own story and dialogue. One day, at the start of the Covid pandemic, I once again read an article about a true event that intrigued me. I had read about it before, but it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a great topic for a picture book. I received so much interest in this manuscript from both agents and publishers, and even had it under contract. Although my contract was canceled, ever since I wrote that initial story, I continued writing true, previously unexplored picture book stories. I honed my craft in writing nonfiction, taking many webinars on the topic, and I still do. Each individual book necessitates its own unique method of research. Some require many interviews, while others involve genealogical research and scouring through old scrapbooks and newspapers. While I enjoy the side benefit of meeting new people through interviews, I also enjoy digging for clues and hidden histories through research. I revel in the challenge of taking little-known, factual events and distilling them into succinct, child-friendly stories.

EL: What inspires you?

JH: Lately, true stories about powerful women who have contributed to society through transformative achievements. Many of these once highly recognized women have fizzled into obscurity. My goal is to recover their forgotten stories and spread awareness of their accomplishments to new generations of children.

EL: Do you have any words of advice for aspiring kidlit writers/illustrators?

Since 2020, SCBWI has been offering webinars from chapters all over the country, as well as some in other countries. I would suggest taking advantage of those classes. This has opened up so many opportunities for learning the craft of children’s book writing and illustrating at a nominal cost.

Another tip I recommend is using OneNote, when writing nonfiction. It lets you keep all your research articles in one place, as well as view and update your document on any device. It also has tabs to compartmentalize items for better organization. And save every article when conducting research, even if you doubt that you will use it. It’s a lot easier than having to later search for source material to document what you have written.

EL: Do you have anything else in the pipeline you can talk about?

JH: On March 3, 2026, my new nonfiction book, The Power of Her Paintbrush, will hit the shelves! I both wrote and illustrated this book for Kar-Ben, an imprint of Lerner. It is the story of Theresa Bernstein, a talented female artist who refused to remain on the sidelines at a time when art critics and juries ignored women’s art.

EL: Congrats! I’m looking forward to reading it. As an author/illustrator, what usually comes first? The words or the images?

JH: I always work on the text first. But, before I begin the illustrations, I wind up eliminating a lot of the text and show it in the illustrations instead. Being an author/illustrator allows me the freedom to edit both text and art, so that they fit seamlessly together.

EL: I am in awe of people like you who can excel in both writing and illustrating.  Janice, thank you so much for joining us and sharing wonderful insights.  Please visit Janice’s website at

www.janicehechter.com

Where Are the Women? is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and many independent bookstores.

And now it’s time for a

Janice is happy to offer a copy of her book to one lucky winner. To get in the running, please comment on this post and let me know if you’re a subscriber or if you have shared this post to get an extra chance to win.

Until next time,

Ellen 

On a personal note, I’m currently scheduling school author visits for the 2025-2026 school year. I’d love to visit YOU or a school near you! Please check out

 https://ellenleventhal.com/school-visits/

Ellen Leventhal is an amazing presenter who tailors her presentations to meet the needs of all students and age levels.  I am amazed at how she can talk about her love of writing, how to become a writer, encouraging students to do what they love and how we can all be kind into a 45 minute presentation. A school visit from Ellen Leventhal is a treat for everyone!  Suzanne Ritchey:  Carroll T Welch Elementary School Clint, TX