About
Lisa Rogers became inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian.
Her forthcoming picture book, JOAN MITCHELL PAINTS A SYMPHONY: LA GRANDE VALLÉE SUITE, illustrated by Stacy Innerst (Calkins Creek/Astra, 2025), about the abstract expressionist's creative process, was deemed "simply marvelous" in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
Lisa’s picture book, BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE MUSIC OF JOHN CAGE, illustrated by Il Sung Na (Random House/Anne Schwartz Books, 2023) is a 2024 SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Award winner, a SCBWI Crystal Kite Finalist, and a Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Award Notable Book, and a Bank Street Best Children's Book. It received starred reviews from Booklist, The Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly, and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She was selected as a PB Rising Stars mentor for 2024.
Her debut picture book, 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS AND “THE RED WHEELBARROW,” illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Random House/Schwartz & Wade, 2019), received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, is a Bank Street Best Children’s Book, a Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, an ALSC Notable Books shortlist book, and a winner of the Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Award and the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award.
HOUND WON’T GO, a rhyming picture book illustrated by Meg Ishihara (Albert Whitman, 2020), is a 2021 Massachusetts Must-Read book and was inspired by her rescue dog. DISCOVER HER ART: WOMEN ARTISTS AND THEIR MASTERPIECES, coauthored with Jean Leibowitz, (Chicago Review Press, 2022), received praise for its inclusive group of artists. She’s also the author of RONALD REAGAN: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY (Random House, 2023) and the best-selling ELVIS PRESLEY: A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK BIOGRAPHY (Random House, September 2024).
Two picture book biographies are forthcoming, including WOODY’S WORDS: WOODROW WILSON RAWLS AND “WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS,” illustrated by Susan Reagan (Astra/Calkins Creek, Fall 2025).
Lisa’s poem was selected as the title poem for IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY (Candlewick, 3/24/2025) edited by Irene Latham and Charles Waters.
Her poems are included in GNOMES & UNGNOMES: POEMS OF HIDDEN CREATURES (2023) and FRIENDS AND ANEMONES: OCEAN POEMS FOR CHILDREN (2020), both Writers’ Loft Press.
Lisa holds degrees in English from The College of William & Mary and Boston College and received her master's in library science from Southern Connecticut State University.
A former daily news reporter and editor, Lisa lives outside Boston with her husband and obstreperous hound and is a four-time runner of the Boston Marathon. Visit her at: lisarogerswrites.com.
Featured Work
Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage
Open this unique picture book and meet John Cage, the pioneering, inspiring composer who believed all sound—from the crash of a slamming door to the whirr of a blender to the whoosh of the wind—was music.
For John Cage, music was everywhere: in the hum of the refrigerator, the screech of a garbage truck, the patter of the rain. But other people disagreed. They felt that, surely, a pianist on stage must actually play their piano to create music…not just sit there. And in no way was it melodic to turn a musician’s mic on and off as they do play their instruments–it was just chaos!
John Cage found sound in silence, and knew that all noises were unique. All you had to do was listen to hear it.
Told in second person and paired with exciting illustrations as innovative as Cage’s music, here is a picture book–perfect for any budding musician–that celebrates the genius of a nonconforming musician who always stayed true to his artistic vision.
Other Works
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Elvis Presley: A Little Golden Book Biography
2024
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Ronald Reagan: A Little Golden Book Biography
2023
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Discover Her Art: Women Artists and Their Masterpieces
2022
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Hound Won't Go
2020
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16 Words: William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow"
2019
Awards and Recognition
- 16 WORDS: WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AND "THE RED WHEELBARROW:" Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Award, Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, Bank Street Best Children's Book, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice, ALSC Notable shortlist. Starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.
- BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE MUSIC OF JOHN CAGE: 2024 Golden Kite Honor Award winner, 2024 SCBWI Crystal Kite Finalist, Boston Authors Club Julia Ward Howe Award Notable Book, Bank Street Best Children's Book. Starred reviews from Booklist, The Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly. Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
- HOUND WON'T GO: 2021 Massachusetts Must-Read, Massachusetts Center for the Book
