Episode 1 — Liz Garton Scanlon

How do life disruptions, beginner’s luck, and creative play lead to a published book?

In this episode of My First Book Story, Meredith Davis talks with award-winning author Liz Garton Scanlon about the surprising chain of events that led to her first picture book, A Sock Is a Pocket for Your Toes. Liz shares how motherhood, losing her home in a devastating flood, and encouragement from fellow writers opened the door to creativity and possibility.

Books mentioned

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/006053890X">A Sock Is a Pocket for Your Toes (Amazon)

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416985808">All the World (Caldecott Honor — Amazon)

• https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Liz+Garton+Scanlon+Bibsy+Cross">Bibsy Cross series (Amazon)

• https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399233872">The Dog Who Had Kittens (Amazon)

Links

• https://www.lizgartonscanlon.com">Liz Garton Scanlon

• https://www.scbwi.org">Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators

• https://meredithldavis.com">Meredith Davis

• https://myfirstbookstory.com/episodes/liz-garton-scanlon.html">Full show notes & timestamps

Theme music by Nate Davis

Produced by Clay Davis

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with a friend and leave a review so more people can discover these stories. To find links to our guest and books mentioned, visit the episode webpage. INSERT LINK (when you first post, don’t hyperlink, as soon as I post Substack one of us goes in and adds link-show me how to do this)

Welcome to My First Book Story, the podcast where children’s author Meredith Davis interviews successful writers about their journeys to publishing their very first book.

Whether you’re still dreaming of your debut, working on your next contract, or chasing an entirely different creative goal, these short, inspiring interviews will encourage you to keep going.

From decade-long persistence to overnight breakthroughs, each guest’s path to publication is unique — but every story ends with a book in readers’ hands.