Author Chat with Lindsay Bonilla (The Storyteller), Plus Giveaway! ~ US ONLY!

Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Lindsay Bonilla!

Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!

Meet the Author: Lindsay Bonilla

Lindsay Bonilla (lindsaybonilla.com) is a professional storyteller and author whose previous picture books include Parents’ Choice Award winner Polar Bear Island, I Love You with All of My Hearts, and The Note Who Faced the Music. She lives with her husband, two wild and creative kids, and her dog, Blitzen, in North Canton, Ohio.

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About the Book: The Storyteller

Featuring an evocative text and luminous paintings, this stunning book celebrates the power of stories—how they connect us, inspire us, and keep memories alive.

Griffin’s grandmother spins the most marvelous stories, from breathtaking fairy tales to fascinating family lore. These stories fuel his imagination and fill their days with magic. So when he sees her once-bright spark begin to fade, Griffin is scared to think of the future. Fortunately, though, he has her stories to guide him—and to remind him that he is braver than he could ever imagine.

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~Author Chat~

YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

I really wanted to write a love letter to the art of storytelling — a book that would capture how
magical and important it is. I’d been working as a professional storyteller for some years, visiting
schools and libraries. Before my performances, kids would ask, “What are you going to do?”
When I replied, ‘I’m going to tell you a story,’ more often than not, their response would be,
“You mean you’re going to read us a book?” I realized that many kids believed stories lived
exclusively on a page. And while I love books, I wanted kids to know that that’s not the case.
Stories live in our minds, our hearts, our imaginations! Before we can read or write, we are
already storytellers.

YABC: What spread in the book is your favorite, and why?

My favorite spread is the one near the end with the fairy tale creatures crying from the clouds as
Griffin and his grandmother share a final embrace. Illustrator Noar Lee Naggan blurred the lines
between the real world and the fairy tale world so perfectly throughout the book, just the way I
imagined it, and that spread in particular captures that feeling for me.

YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer
from then to now?
I’ve learned that you need equal parts humility and confidence to be a writer. You need to be humble
enough to take feedback, to learn, to grow, to improve, to realize all that you still don’t know. But you
also need a lot of confidence, because you will spend a lot of time staring at your words and wondering,
“Is this good enough? Will anyone ever want to read this?” There’s a lot of rejection involved with being
an author. If you don’t believe in yourself and your work and surround yourself with people who believe
in you, it can be easy to lose heart.

YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?

I love how it captures both the magic AND relationship that are at the heart of storytelling. The way the
Grandmother is weaving a story as Griffin sits mesmerized makes you feel like time has stopped, and
they are in their own world. That’s the power of a great story!

YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?

I recently got the book ANIMALS IN PANTS (by Suzy Levinson and illustrated by Kevin Howdeshell and
Kristen Howdeshell) from the library. It’s a book of hysterical poetry with fantastic illustrations. My kids
LOVE it and ask for it to be read on repeat. Any book that gets them that excited makes me thrilled — so
I know we’ll be adding it to our collection.

YABC: What’s up next for you?

I have a picture book titled YOU’VE GOT THIS (illustrated by Keisha Morris) coming out in August from
Holiday House. The book is meant to empower kids to face their fears by showing them that they can do
anything!

YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
I want readers to know that we are ALL storytellers. Telling stories is at the core of what makes us
human. It’s how we connect with others and how we make sense of our world. The stories we tell
ourselves and the ones we pass down to our children matter. They become the compass that guides us
and the tools that help us navigate the difficult times in our lives.
The Storyteller’s last words are: “Keep the stories alive, my love.” That is my charge to readers too! And
don’t just tell, LISTEN. Active listening is one of the greatest gifts you can give another person. It’s a way
of saying, “You matter and what you say matters.” In the age of distraction that we live in, giving
someone your undivided attention is a huge gift.

YABC: What would you say is your superpower?

I really wasn’t sure about this, but when I mentioned the question to a dear writer friend who has seen
me perform, without skipping a beat, she said, “That’s easy! Your superpower is drawing others into the
stories you tell. By making your stories interactive, you energize and engage your audience so that in the
end, they become storytellers too!”

YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?

Read. Read. Read in your genre.

Don’t be in a hurry. It takes the time it takes (and sometimes that time element is out of our control!) so
enjoy the journey. And remember, the greatest gift of the writing journey may not be a shelf full of
published books (although that’s amazing!), but rather beautiful friendships formed over poring over
beautiful words together.

YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?

The way I got the name for the young boy, Griffin, in THE STORYTELLER, is pretty neat. In the summer of
2018, I was sitting in a coffee shop in a small town in Ohio. I was in between storytelling performances
for the library summer reading program and had just begun working on my first draft of THE
STORYTELLER. A woman came into the coffee shop and started talking to the barista. I overheard her say
that her son’s name was Parker. Parker happened to be the name of the main polar bear in my book,
POLAR BEAR ISLAND, which would be coming out in a few months.
Later, I struck up a conversation with the woman and when I told her about the polar bear named
Parker in my book, she said, “No way! My son LOVES polar bears. In fact, we just re-did his entire
bedroom in a polar bear theme.” Then she said, “I have another son named Griffin. You don’t happen to
have any books with a character named Griffin, do you?” I told her I did not. But as soon as I sat back
down, I knew that Griffin (the name of the legendary mythical creature!) was the perfect name for the
story-loving boy in my book!