Donna Lambo-Weidner–What Was on Her. . .

Hi Everyone! And welcome to Donna Lambo-Weidner!

Donna is here to celebrate her debut picture book, There Are No Dragons in this Book, which is slated to come out on March 5. There Are No Dragons in this Book has been hailed by School Library Journal as a “combination of story and mystery,” and by Kirkus Reviews as a “sweetly offbeat adventure.”

What’s more, when There Are No Dragons in this Book hit the Frankfurt Book Fair, its illustrator, Carla Haslbauer was nominated for the Serafina Award, the Fair’s prestigious young talent prize for illustration. Please read on to find out what happened with the nomination. Did Carla win? And you’ll also want to hear where Donna got her inspiration for the book. Because Donna says that every one of her books is “laced with her actual experiences.”

In this book you are guaranteed not to find any dragons. . . .

A clever interactive picture book—sure to keep kids laughing as they look for dragons.

There are no dragons in this book! Wait, is that really true? There was one right here, wasn’t there? Was he hiding in the attic? What do you mean, he’s not alone? Come on, let’s give the book a good shake and see what happens!

Set in a community home with an ensemble of characters–both children and adults–Donna Lambo-Weidner’s debut picture book filled with humor (and dragons) encourages close observation and discovery. Carla Haslbauer’s cheeky, scurrying illustrations are chock-full of funny details and metafictional allusions.

Donna was raised in New York, but was born in Germany, the home country of Carla, her illustrator. That combination gives There Are No Dragons in This Book a sort of magical/Brothers Grimm flair. It also gives the book the charm of a wacky scavenger hunt—because despite what the title tells you, there are indeed dragons in this book.

“There are No Dragons in this Book” by Donna Lambo-Weidner, illustrated by Carla Haslbauer © NorthSouth Books, an imprint of NordSüd Verlag

All you need to do is to keep a sharp eye out for them. In fact, Kirkus Reviews says: this story “will have readers peering into their toilets for a dragon of their own.”

Really? Into their toilets!?!

With that intriguing thought, let me turn things over to Donna to find out about her inspiration, actual experiences, the German connection, and more. Donna joins us from California, where she lives with her husband and Desilu, a rambunctious two-year-old black Labrador retriever, to tell us What Was on Donna Lambo-Weidner’s…

Mind (when she wrote There Are No Dragons in This Book): The idea was sparked while I was on a retreat in the autumn of 2019. It was held in a two-story farmhouse hundreds of years old that rests upon a knoll nestled deep within a vast pine tree forest in southern Germany. Thick, leafy vines dotted with soft, pink roses climbed up the wall outside my room wrapping themselves around the window as well, obstructing the clear view I would otherwise have had to the rolling foothills butting up against the Bavarian side of the alps. Imaginings of dense, thorny bushes surrounding Sleeping Beauty’s castle, as well as Rapunzel’s plight high atop her stone tower filled my head. This led to thoughts of magic, knights, and of course…dragons. But alas, there are no dragons here, I lamented, keeping in mind how excited my five-year-old self would have been if only she could have found one. AND if she had been able to live with one.

“There are No Dragons in this Book” by Donna Lambo-Weidner, illustrated by Carla Haslbauer © NorthSouth Books, an imprint of NordSüd Verlag

Mind (now that the book is about to come out): I’ve got marketing on my mind…and it makes me cringe. At the same time, it makes me smile with excitement at being a published children’s book author. You see, I’m not the most extroverted person in the KidLit world, or on planet Earth, for that matter. BUT I am improving. I’ve learned sometimes you’ve got to walk thru fire to get past the fear standing between you and your goal. Stand tall (all 4’11 in some cases), speak up, and put yourself out there. Hmmm…it looks like there was more on my mind than I thought when you asked the question, Sandra. Thank you for the reminder!

Travel Schedule: Having a German background and lived in Germany for twenty years as an adult, I was over the moon when NorthSouth Books became the publisher for my debut. Since NordSüd Verlag is the parent company, the book first came out in German in August 2023. When I heard my illustrator, Carla Haslbauer, was short-listed for the Serafina Illustration Award for Young Talent I knew I had to be at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the win. I actually had no doubt she’d be the recipient. Well, maybe an itty-bitty bit, but whenever I thought of it, I’d burst into tears. Yes, strange…I know. After the bazillionth time, I booked my flight. Then she did win and, of course, the floodgates opened. Thankfully, plenty of tissues were on hand.

Bedside Table: I’ve recently had to relocate the teetering stack of mostly middle grade novels from the bedside table onto my desk to keep them far from our dog’s inquisitive jaws. The pile includes: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt, Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson, My Name is Hamburger by Jacqueline Jules, as well as The Skull by Jon Klassen, Beasts and Beauty – Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani and a few picture books: Welcome to the Wonder House by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard with illustrations by Deborah Freedman, Ziggy’s Potato; A Holocaust Story by Sharon Sorokin with illustrations by Helen Cann, and Mashkiki Road: The Seven Grandfather Teachings by Elizabeth S. Barrett with illustrations by Jonathan Thunder. I plan on adding BEAR’S BIG IDEA to the top of the heap when it releases in September.

Desk: Right now I’m working on a middle grade novel that pits a pack of pirates against a cursed polar bear. I also have a few picture book projects in the works. They focus on a vast cast of characters…chickens, trolls, platypuses, elephants…. Not all in one story, but hmm, there’s a thought.

Ha! I look forward to seeing that, Donna! I also look forward to hearing how your middle grade featuring pirates and a cursed polar bear is laced with “actual experiences.” But for now, let me say thank you for taking time out of your writing day to tell us about There Are No Dragons in This Book and to share some of its fun and funny pages! Oh, and congratulations to Carla and the whole team for the Serafina Award. After all, an award doesn’t come without a story and a publisher behind it.

THANK YOU Sandra for the opportunity to share my book baby with you and your readers!

You can learn more about Donna Lambo-Weidner at her website donnalamboweidner.com, on her blog donnaweidner.com, on Facebook at Donna Lambo-Weidner, Children’s Author and on Instagram @donna.weidner.

If you would like to pre-order There Are No Dragons in This Book, you can find it on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Books-a-Million. Or for access to all of the above visit Simon and Schuster by clicking the book below.